Happening @ Michigan https://events.umich.edu/list/rss RSS Feed for Happening @ Michigan Events at the University of Michigan. Understanding Complexity (January 21, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70492 70492-17600719@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (50+)

The course will cover complexity science, introducing the core concepts and discussing ideas such as emergence, using twelve DVD lectures from the Teaching Company by University of Michigan Professor Scott Page. We’ll view two 30-minute lectures per class, each followed by 20 minutes for questions and discussion. The study group leader worked 27 years as a research physicist for Ford and taught physics at several levels, including graduate level at Wayne State University. At OLLI, he has taught 16 physics-related classes. The Study Group for those 50 and over led by Richard Chase is held Tuesdays January 21 through February 25.

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Class / Instruction Wed, 18 Dec 2019 11:55:36 -0500 2020-01-21T13:00:00-05:00 2020-01-21T15:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (50+) Class / Instruction Study Group
CM-AMO Seminar | Probes of Novel Electronic States in Mesoscopic and 2D Quantum Materials (January 21, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71240 71240-17794027@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

Recent advances in the development of exfoliated 2D materials and other mesoscopic systems (e.g. semiconducting nanowires) have led to the discovery of intriguing topological, magnetic, and superconducting states. However, many bulk probes which have been invaluable in understanding complex electronic states such as those found in high-temperature superconductors are no longer applicable. Additionally, many scanned probes which can study physics on the nanoscale are incompatible with the highest quality, state-of-the-art 2D materials-based devices which rely on encapsulation with hexagonal boron nitride. In this talk I will present magnetic imaging studies of more traditional mesoscopic systems, including imaging current distributions in micron-scale devices and studying novel nanowire-based superconducting devices. Secondly, I will describe more recent work realizing low-disorder graphene devices which facilitated the discovery of new topological states of matter. Finally, I will discuss prospects for studying 2D materials both with magnetic imaging and on-chip THz spectroscopy using superconductivity in exfoliated flakes as an example.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 21 Jan 2020 18:17:05 -0500 2020-01-21T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-21T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Department Colloquium | Nuclear Physics from the Standard Model (January 22, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70952 70952-17760228@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, January 22, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

I will discuss the status and future of calculations of nuclei based on the Standard Model of particle physics. With advances in supercomputing, we are beginning to quantitatively understand nuclear structure and interactions directly from the fundamental quark and gluon degrees of freedom. Recent studies provide insight into the neutrino-nucleus interactions relevant to long-baseline neutrino experiments, double beta decay, and theory predictions of dark matter cross-sections at underground detectors. I will also address new work constraining the gluonic structure of nuclei, which will be measurable for the first time at a future electron-ion collider, and explain how machine learning tools are providing new possibilities in this field.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:16:59 -0500 2020-01-22T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-22T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Growth and Grit - Developing a Mindset For Success (January 22, 2020 5:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70897 70897-17735191@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, January 22, 2020 5:30pm
Location: Undergraduate Science Building
Organized By: Science Learning Center

What if your ability to succeed in your classes was determined in part before you even stepped into the classroom? What is the one quality you need to overcome adversity academically and in life? This workshop will detail the research of Dr. Carol Dweck and her groundbreaking work on the concept of mindset. Students will learn how to abandon a debilitating fixed mindset in favor of a growth mindset, leading to success in areas they once considered too difficult. The workshop will also introduce students to the research of Dr. Angela Duckworth, and how a growth mindset can lead to the development of grit, an essential characteristic to overcoming our fear of failure.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 15 Jan 2020 10:16:28 -0500 2020-01-22T17:30:00-05:00 2020-01-22T19:00:00-05:00 Undergraduate Science Building Science Learning Center Workshop / Seminar
Exploring Pluto and Beyond (January 23, 2020 6:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71483 71483-17834193@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, January 23, 2020 6:30pm
Location: GG Brown Laboratory
Organized By: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Alice Bowman, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and New Horizons Mission Operations Manager (MOM), talks about the voyage of NASA’s historic mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt– which culminated with the first flight past the distant dwarf planet on July 14, 2015 and the first encounter with a Kuiper Belt object (KBO) on January 1, 2019.

She’ll speak about this continuing journey through the eyes of the APL mission operations team and describe some of the technical, scientific, and personal challenges of piloting the New Horizons spacecraft across the solar system on its voyage to the farthest reaches of the planetary frontier.

Food and beverages will be provided.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 15 Jan 2020 14:30:58 -0500 2020-01-23T18:30:00-05:00 2020-01-23T20:00:00-05:00 GG Brown Laboratory American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Lecture / Discussion Alice Bowman, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, New Horizons Mission Operations Manager
Supporting Students and Colleagues with Mental Health Challenges, a Practical Workshop (January 24, 2020 11:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/71744 71744-17877259@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 24, 2020 11:00am
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Physics Workshops & Conferences

Based on faculty interest, the Physics DEI committee is sponsoring an interactive workshop focused on practical strategies for supporting students and colleagues who may be experiencing mental health challenges. Refreshments will be served.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 20 Jan 2020 10:50:17 -0500 2020-01-24T11:00:00-05:00 2020-01-24T12:00:00-05:00 West Hall Physics Workshops & Conferences Workshop / Seminar West Hall
HET Seminar | Bit threads and holographic monogamy (January 24, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71113 71113-17777078@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 24, 2020 3:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Entanglement entropies are well-studied in holographic field theories thanks to the Ryu-Takayanagi formula. Bit threads offer a conceptually and technically powerful new way to think about this formula. In this talk, after introducing bit threads, I will use them to give a new understanding of the so-called monogamy property of holographic entropies. The resulting picture will lead to an intriguing conjecture about the general entanglement structure of holographic states.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 08 Jan 2020 14:28:52 -0500 2020-01-24T15:00:00-05:00 2020-01-24T16:00:00-05:00 West Hall Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion West Hall
HEP-Astro Seminar | New Result on K+→π+vv^- from the NA62 Experiment (January 27, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71101 71101-17777061@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, January 27, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

The decay K+→π+vv^-, with a very precisely predicted branching ratio of less than 10exp(-10), is one of the best candidates to reveal indirect effects of new physics at the highest mass scales. The NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS is designed to measure the branching ratio of the K+ → π+vv^- with a decay-in-flight technique. NA62 took data so far in 2016-2018. Statistics collected in 2016 allowed NA62 to reach the Standard Model sensitivity for K+→π+vv^- entering the domain of 10exp(-10) single event sensitivity and showing the proof of principle of the experiment. Thanks to the statistics collected in 2017, NA62 surpasses the present best sensitivity. The analysis strategy is reviewed and the preliminary result from the 2017 data set is presented.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 27 Jan 2020 18:17:00 -0500 2020-01-27T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-27T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Special HEP-Astro Seminar | When Stars Go Nonlinear: Large Amplitude Tides and Stellar Oscillations (January 28, 2020 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71215 71215-17787739@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 2:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

Tides significantly impact the structure, evolution, and fate of many types of close binary systems, including short-period exoplanets, stellar binaries, and coalescing binary neutron stars. In many of these systems, the tide’s amplitude is so large that it cannot be treated as a small, linear perturbation to the background star. In this talk, I will show that nonlinear effects can greatly enhance the rate of tidal dissipation and thus the rate of binary evolution. As examples, I will describe how nonlinear tides influence the orbital decay of hot Jupiters and the gravitational-wave signal of coalescing binary neutron stars and white dwarfs. I will also discuss the nonlinearity of oscillation-modes in solar-like stars, which are excited by turbulent motions within the convective envelope. The rich oscillation spectra observed by space missions such as Kepler and TESS has revolutionized the field of asteroseismology and yielded a wealth of information about the internal and global properties of thousands of stars.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 28 Jan 2020 18:16:58 -0500 2020-01-28T14:00:00-05:00 2020-01-28T15:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
HET Brown Bag | Statistical inference of dark matter substructure with weak and strong gravitational lensing (January 29, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71096 71096-17777057@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, January 29, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Randall Laboratory
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Dark matter structures are expected to exist over a large range of scales, and their properties and distribution can strongly correlate with the underlying particle physics. In this talk, I will describe two separate methods to statistically infer the properties of dark matter substructure using (astrometric)-weak and strong lensing observations, respectively. In the first part of the talk, I will describe how the motion of subhalos in the Milky Way induces a correlated pattern of motions in background celestial objects---known as astrometric weak lensing---and how global signatures of these correlations can be measured using the vector spherical harmonic decomposition formalism. These measurement can be used to statistically infer the nature of substructure, and I will show how this can be practically achieved with future astrometric surveys and/or radio telescopes such as WFIRST and the Square Kilometer Array. Next, I will describe a novel method to disentangle the collective imprint of dark matter substructure on extended arcs in galaxy-galaxy strong lensing systems using likelihood-free (or simulation-based) inference techniques. This method uses neural networks to directly estimate the likelihood ratios associated with population-level parameters characterizing substructure within lensing systems. I will show how this method can provide an efficient and principled way to mine the large sample of strong lenses that will be imaged by future surveys like LSST and Euclid to look for signatures of dark matter substructure. I will emphasize how the statistical inference of substructure using these techniques can be used to stress-test the Cold Dark Matter paradigm and probe alternative scenarios such as scalar field dark matter and enhanced primordial fluctuations.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 30 Jan 2020 14:11:30 -0500 2020-01-29T12:00:00-05:00 2020-01-29T13:00:00-05:00 Randall Laboratory Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion Randall Laboratory
HET Seminar | Spacetime fluctuations in AdS/CFT (and experiment) (January 29, 2020 2:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71579 71579-17842686@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, January 29, 2020 2:30pm
Location: Randall Laboratory
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Please note special time and location:
Wednesday 29th January, 2:30 - 3:30
3481 Randall Lab

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Lecture / Discussion Fri, 17 Jan 2020 13:25:41 -0500 2020-01-29T14:30:00-05:00 2020-01-29T15:30:00-05:00 Randall Laboratory Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion Randall Laboratory
DCMB Seminar Series (January 29, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71998 71998-17911963@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, January 29, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Palmer Commons
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Talk Title: Experimental and computational strategies to aid compound identification and quantitation in metabolomics

Abstract: Over the past two decades, metabolomics as a technique has moved from the primary domain of analytical chemists to more widespread acceptance by biologists, clinicians and bioinformaticians alike. Metabolomics offers systems-level insights into the critical roles small molecules play in routine cellular processes and myriad disease states. However, certain unique analytical challenges remain prominent in metabolomics as compared to the other ‘omics sciences. These include the difficulty of identifying unknown features in untargeted metabolomics data, and challenges maintaining reliable quantitation within lengthy studies that may span multiple laboratories. Unlike genomics and transcriptomics data in which nearly every quantifiable feature is confidently identified as a matter of course, in typical untargeted metabolomics studies over 80% of features are frequently not mapped to a specific chemical compound. Further, although many metabolomics studies have begun to stretch over a timeframe of years, data quantitation and normalization strategies have not always kept up with the requirements for such large studies. Fortunately, both experimental and computational strategies are emerging to tackle these long-standing challenges. We will report on several techniques in development in our laboratory, ranging from chromatographic fractionation and high-sensitivity data acquisition, to computational strategies to aid in tandem mass spectrometric spectral interpretation. These developments serve to facilitate analysis for both experts and novice users, which should ultimately help improve the biological insight and impact gained from metabolomics data.

BlueJeans livestreaming link: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/rbuvycdc

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Lecture / Discussion Fri, 24 Jan 2020 11:07:13 -0500 2020-01-29T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-29T17:00:00-05:00 Palmer Commons DCMB Seminar Series Lecture / Discussion
Department Colloquium | New Ideas in Dark Matter Detection (January 29, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71102 71102-17777062@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, January 29, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

The nature of the dark matter remains one of the most compelling outstanding questions in physics. Theoretical and experimental focus has been directed in the last several decades on New Physics at the weak scale, including the search for dark matter as a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP). We are now looking beyond the WIMP window towards light hidden sectors, and new ideas to search for dark matter must be found. I describe some of these new ideas, including collective excitations in polar materials and superfluid helium, as well as low-gap targets like Dirac semimetals.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 29 Jan 2020 18:17:10 -0500 2020-01-29T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-29T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Make It Stick - Research-Based Learning Strategies You Need to Know (January 29, 2020 5:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70899 70899-17735192@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, January 29, 2020 5:30pm
Location: Undergraduate Science Building
Organized By: Science Learning Center

The study and learning strategies students often bring to college are often insufficient to help them succeed at the university level. Particularly in challenging STEM courses, students can't simply memorize or cram their way to a good grade. This workshop will focus on the popular learning strategies to avoid, as well as the top three strategies you don't know but are shown by research to be the most effective for long-term learning.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 15 Jan 2020 10:18:11 -0500 2020-01-29T17:30:00-05:00 2020-01-29T19:00:00-05:00 Undergraduate Science Building Science Learning Center Workshop / Seminar make it stick by Brown, Roediger III, and McDaniel
NERS Colloquium: Medical Imaging Advances: Do All Bell-and-Whistle Options Impact Patient Care? (January 31, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70139 70139-17540914@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 31, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Learn about the development of Computed Tomography from its inception in the early 1970s to the present; the medical applications of CT (e.g., diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology, and interventional CBCT); and the current state of how CT improvements are driven. The theme of the discussion will be to highlight the key technological advances that increased the value of CT in medicine. Examples of advancements with unquestionable benefit to patient care and other “advancements” with motivation rooted in unwarranted fear over radiation dose will be covered. This discussion will be presented in a manner suitable for the non-medical imaging expert to convey the larger themes related to technology advancement in the space of medical imaging.


Speaker: Timothy Szczykutowicz, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Medical Physics

Dr. Szczykutowicz is an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Departments of Radiology, Medical Physics, and Biomedical Engineering. He received his Bachelors of Science in Physics from the SUNY University at Buffalo in 2008. He was active in medical physics at Buffalo in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Rudin with the Toshiba Stroke Research Center, working on vessel sizing and detector performance characterization. After his undergraduate studies, Dr. Szczykutowicz came to the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he earned his Masters and PhD in Medical Physics, receiving mentorship from Doctors Charles 'Chuck' Mistretta and Guang-Hong Chen. His dissertation was on fluence field modulated CT, a promising x-ray imaging technique that allows for imaging dose to be tailored to individuals. After his dissertation work, Dr. Szczykutowicz spent a year as a doctrinal fellow and imaging physics resident with the Department of Medical Physics at the UW before being appointed as a clinical health sciences Assistant Professor. The clinical and research activities of Dr. Szczykutowicz include: optimizing CT scan protocols, monitoring patient dose, developing new metrics to define image quality in the clinical setting, developing protocol management methodologies, fluence field modulated CT, dual energy CT, and assisting in various projects related to cone beam CT.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 14 Jan 2020 13:45:32 -0500 2020-01-31T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-31T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar Speaker: Timothy Szczykutowicz
HEP-Astro Seminar | Ultra-Low Energy Calibration of the LUX and LZ Dark Matter Detectors (February 3, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71241 71241-17794028@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 3, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is a 250 kg active mass dual-phase time-projection chamber (TPC) operating at the 4850 ft level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, SD. Various sources, including ^{127}Xe, D-D neutrons, ^{83}mKr, Tritium, and AmBe neutrons are used to perform calibrations of detector responses to electron recoils (ER) and nuclear recoils (NR). I will present an ultra-low energy calibration of ER using an intrinsic ^{127}Xe source and of NR using a short pulsed D-D neutron generator. Radioactive isotope ^{127}Xe is formed in the LUX LXe volume due to cosmogenic activation before the detector was moved one mile underground. A measurement in the early stage of the LUX WS2013 science run unveils ~0.9 million ^{127}Xe atoms in the LUX LXe volume, which provides an ideal source for low energy calibrations. ^{127}Xe decay is a form of electron capture in which a high energy gamma (> 200 keV) is emitted, followed by an associated low energy X-ray cascade over the energy range of 190 eV to 33.2 keV. The relatively long mean free path (mfp) of the gamma-ray (> 0.9 cm) allows the EC decay to produce clearly identified 2-vertex events in the LUX detector. We observe the K (33.2 keV), L (5.2 keV), M (1.1 keV), and N (190 eV) shell cascade events and verify the relative ratio of observed events for each shell. We extract the means and sigmas of the charge signal yields associated with the K, L, M, and N shell events. The N shell cascade analysis includes single extracted electron (SE) events and represents the lowest-energy electronic recoil in situ measurements that have been explored in liquid xenon. A short pulsed D-D neutron NR calibration was performed in situ in the LUX detector in June 2016 after the completion of the LUX WS2013-16 science run. The calibration incorporates a pulsing technique with narrow pulses (20 us / 250 Hz). We have measured, with low systematics, the absolute rates of NR events with ionization signals down to 2 extracted electrons and zero, one or greater detected scintillation photons. A calibration measurement with absolute event rates of charge-only S2 events for the first time in a Xe TPC provides an important probe for ultra-low energy measurements of LXe Qy. This technique provides direct measurements of scintillation and charge yields down to (Ly) 0.45 keVnr and (Qy) 0.27 keVnr, respectively. New calibration results on ultra-low energy nuclear recoil yields are crucial to determine physics search sensitivities for large mass LXe TPCs (LZ experiment) for low mass WIMPs (< 10 GeV) and for coherent neutrino scattering (e.g. ^8B solar neutrino).

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 03 Feb 2020 18:16:42 -0500 2020-02-03T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-03T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Science as Art Contest Submission Deadline (February 5, 2020 11:55am) https://events.umich.edu/event/48786 48786-17963888@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 5, 2020 11:55am
Location: Hatcher Graduate Library
Organized By: Arts at Michigan

Arts at Michigan, ArtsEngine and the Science Learning Center invite you to submit artwork to the 2020 Science as Art exhibition. University of Michigan undergraduate students are invited to submit artwork expressing a scientific principle(s), concept(s), idea(s), process(es), and/or structure(s). The artwork may be visual, literary, musical, video, or performance based. A juried panel using criteria based on both scientific and artistic considerations will choose winning submissions.

Deadline for submissions is Wednesday February 5th!

A number of submissions will be selected for prizes, some of which will be on display and/or performed during the Awards Ceremony and/or displayed in an online Contest Gallery. The entry selected for “Best Overall” will be awarded a cash prize, with smaller cash awards in other categories.

For full information, visit: tinyurl.com/scienceasart2020

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Exhibition Thu, 30 Jan 2020 11:47:29 -0500 2020-02-05T11:55:00-05:00 2020-02-05T23:59:00-05:00 Hatcher Graduate Library Arts at Michigan Exhibition Science as Art logo
HET Brown Bag | The supersymmetric Cardy formula from effective actions (February 5, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72126 72126-17940004@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 5, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Randall Laboratory
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

In this talk I will discuss supersymmetric Cardy formulae in d=4 and d=6. These formulae govern the universal behavior in the high-temperature regime of supersymmetric partition functions — or, in the case of the superconformal index, they govern the high-energy asymptotics of SUSY operators at large energy. I will outline the proof of the Cardy formulae for theories with moduli spaces of vacua, which relies on an effective supersymmetric Chern-Simons action in d-1 dimensions. I will argue that this effective action is universal and intimately related to perturbative as well as global gravitational anomalies. Finally, I will discuss some immediate consequences of our results and briefly compare and distinguish our results to other proposed Cardy formulas.

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Lecture / Discussion Fri, 07 Feb 2020 13:38:08 -0500 2020-02-05T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-05T13:00:00-05:00 Randall Laboratory Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion Randall Laboratory
Department Colloquium | Approaches to Fully-3D Dedicated Molecular Breast Imaging (February 5, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71066 71066-17770769@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 5, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

The Multi-Modality Imaging Lab at Duke has developed and characterized several dedicated (human) breast imaging devices which offer no compression (no pain!), fast scans, low dose imaging with ionizing radiation for the patient, and fully-3D, isotropic, high resolution quantitative in vivo image information for physicians. The first is a “one-stop” dedicated breast imaging system for utilizing in vivo molecular imaging with Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) using a 4x5 array of 4x4cm^2 pixelated CZT modules combined with low dose x-ray Computed Tomography (CT) utilizing a 40x30cm^2 CsI(Tl) flat-panel detector coupled to a TFT array. The subsystems were developed individually, then hybridized onto a single platform, allowing fully-3D motions of each subsystem. The 3D acquisitions facilitate overcoming sampling insufficiency issues associated with cone-beam CT imaging in the pendant breast frame. Novel x-ray filtering leading to quasi-monochromatic spectra have enabled low dose CT imaging comparable with standard mammography, providing quantitative accuracy within a few percent of NIST values, while optimizing dose efficiency for image quality. Next is a clinically available cardiac SPECT imaging system utilizing 19 compact (8x8cm^2) CZT cameras with pinhole collimators reconfigured for uncompressed, pendant breast and chest wall imaging. The third system utilizes LGSO scintillation crystals coupled to compact position-sensitive photodetectors in two opposed 15x20cm^2 flat panels enabling fully-3D acquisition for dedicated breast Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging; this open system can be combined with dedicated CT. The most current system design is for dual PET-MRI breast imaging using an ultra-high sensitivity configuration of PET detector modules to image both breasts simultaneously, and is evaluated by Monte Carlo techniques. These systems can be used to detect occult disease not otherwise seen in contemporary x-ray mammography or tomosynthesis, improve the specificity of cancer diagnosis, and monitor therapeutic response in patients, without causing additional pain (or fear) for the patient.

SHORT BIO: Martin Tornai is an Associate Professor of Radiology (tenured) and Biomedical Engineering, and a faculty member of the Medical Physics Graduate Program at Duke University. He has an undergraduate degree in physics from Cornell and a PhD in biomedical physics from UCLA. Upon completing his doctoral research on intraoperative nuclear imaging devices in 1997, he was recruited to the Duke faculty where he has engaged in numerous activities locally, nationally and internationally. He is a founding faculty member of Duke’s Medical Physics Graduate Program which will celebrate it’s 15th anniversary, and is active on many administrative committees, teaching, and student research committees, helping guide students in their research efforts. His research interests include dedicated nuclear (SPECT & PET) and x-ray based (CT) breast imaging devices, with which several dozen women have been clinically scanned. Along with his numerous MS, PhD and post-doctoral students and various colleagues, he has published over 150 original papers, proceedings articles, and book chapters. His newer interests include dosimetry for nuclear medicine theranostic applications.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 05 Feb 2020 18:17:08 -0500 2020-02-05T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-05T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Startup Career Fair (February 7, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72206 72206-17957291@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 7, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Duderstadt Center
Organized By: MPowered Entrepreneurship

Startup Career Fair provides students with the opportunity to pursue their passion and get paid for it. From Productiv in San Francisco to Choco from Berlin, world-renowned startups with mission-driven teams are waiting to hire you.

We invite you to join us on February 7 from 12-4pm at the Duderstadt Center on North Campus. Register by February 4th and you'll be entered into a lottery for an invitation to our exclusive networking breakfast with recruiters. Can’t wait to see you #Launch.

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Careers / Jobs Wed, 29 Jan 2020 13:06:39 -0500 2020-02-07T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-07T16:00:00-05:00 Duderstadt Center MPowered Entrepreneurship Careers / Jobs #Launch
HET Seminar | Large Signals in the Cosmological Collider (February 7, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71950 71950-17903308@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 7, 2020 3:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Cosmological inflation gives a unique opportunity of probing physics at high energies. In particular, non-Gaussianities contain information on new physics particles being produced through the interaction of the inflatons. In this talk, I will discuss the size of such signals and highlight the scenarios in which we expect it to be observable.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 23 Jan 2020 11:53:59 -0500 2020-02-07T15:00:00-05:00 2020-02-07T16:00:00-05:00 West Hall Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion West Hall
Saturday Morning Physics | The Universe Caught Speeding: Dark Energy, Two Decades After (February 8, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/70879 70879-17726703@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, February 8, 2020 10:30am
Location: Weiser Hall
Organized By: Saturday Morning Physics

In the late 1990s cosmologists discovered that the expansion of the universe is speeding up, not slowing down as expected. This discovery, honored with the Physics Nobel Prize in 2011, has generated waves in the field of cosmology and presents us with a grand mystery: what is the origin and nature of dark energy, the stuff that causes the accelerated expansion? Professor Huterer will review the exciting new developments in this field, including hints for new physics lurking in the data, and the upcoming ground and space telescopes dedicated to solve the dark energy mystery.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 31 Jan 2020 16:43:26 -0500 2020-02-08T10:30:00-05:00 2020-02-08T11:30:00-05:00 Weiser Hall Saturday Morning Physics Workshop / Seminar Dark matter density (left) transitioning to gas density (right). Credit: Illustris Simulations
Special CM-AMO Seminar | Coherent Control of Quantum Pathway Interferences in Spinor Rubidium Condensates (February 10, 2020 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72526 72526-18011608@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 10, 2020 2:00pm
Location: Randall Laboratory
Organized By: Department of Physics

Ultracold atoms are amongst the excellent test beds to study coherent quantum chemistry due to capabilities of controlling quantum states of the atoms with precision. In my talk, I will discuss how to control quantum pathway interferences in an ultracold molecule formation that is induced by a laser light, a process known as photoassociation (PA). We utilize a Rb-87 Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) apparatus where all-optically-trapped condensates are prepared in superposition of different spin states in the F=1 hyperfine level. By controlling the cumulative phase of the reactants taking different scattering channels, we interferometrically control the normalized PA rate with perfect visibility. To control the relative phase between the two quantum pathways (scattering channels of spin 0 pairs and spin +1/-1 pairs), we exploit the inherent quadratic energy shift at low magnetic bias field strengths and a free evolution time after a spin population transfer with an RF pulse. Our method also serves as a robust measurement technique to determine quadratic Zeeman energy splitting.

Short bio:
Dr. Hasan Esat Kondakci received his Ph.D. in 2015 from CREOL, the College of Optics & Photonics at the University of Central Florida, where he studied photon statistics in disordered lattices under the supervision of Prof. Bahaa Saleh (primary) and Prof. Ayman Abouraddy. Following his Ph.D., he worked on diffraction-free space-time light sheets and coherence phenomena in Prof. Ayman Abouraddy's lab at CREOL. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Yong Chen's lab at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Purdue University. His current research interests include spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates, photo-association of ultracold atoms, and deterministic state rotations in d-dimensional Hilbert space.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 10 Feb 2020 18:16:48 -0500 2020-02-10T14:00:00-05:00 2020-02-10T15:00:00-05:00 Randall Laboratory Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar Randall Laboratory
HEP-Astro Seminar | Low-energy Nuclear Recoils for Fun and Profit (February 10, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71764 71764-17879416@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 10, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

I will discuss the rapidly-changing panorama of experiments seeking to measure the faint signals produced by keV and sub-keV nuclear recoils in radiation detectors. The initial interest in this area originated from searches for dark matter WIMPs, but has expanded with the demonstration of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. I will elaborate on the difficulties involved in understanding the response of detecting materials to this type of interaction, including some recent developments. I will also emphasize the opportunities for nuclear recoil detectors in areas beyond dark matter detection.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 10 Feb 2020 18:16:48 -0500 2020-02-10T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-10T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
HET Brown Bag | The Large-Misalignment Mechanism for Compact Axion Structures (February 12, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72413 72413-18000398@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 12, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Randall Laboratory
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Axions are some of the best motivated particles beyond the Standard Model. I will show how the attractive self-interactions of dark matter (DM) axions over a broad range of masses, from 10^−22 eV to 10^7 GeV, can lead to nongravitational growth of density fluctuations and the formation of bound objects. This structure formation enhancement is driven by parametric resonance when the initial field misalignment is large, and it affects axion density perturbations on length scales of order the Hubble horizon when the axion field starts oscillating, deep inside the radiation-dominated era. This effect can turn an otherwise nearly scale-invariant spectrum of adiabatic perturbations into one that has a spike at the aforementioned scales, producing objects ranging from dense DM halos to scalar-field configurations such as solitons and oscillons. This "large-misalignment mechanism" leads to various observational consequences in gravitational lensing and interactions, baryonic structures and star formation, direct detection (including for the QCD axion), and stochastic gravitational waves.

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Lecture / Discussion Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:06:00 -0500 2020-02-12T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-12T13:00:00-05:00 Randall Laboratory Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion Randall Laboratory
Department of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics (DCMB) Weekly Seminar (February 12, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72535 72535-18015945@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 12, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Palmer Commons
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract:
Normal mechanical function of the heart requires that ATP be continuously synthesized at a hydrolysis potential of roughly -60 kJ mol-1. Yet in both the aging and diseased heart the relationships between cardiac work rate and concentrations of ATP, ADP, and inorganic phosphate are altered. Important outstanding questions are: To what extent do changes in metabolite concentrations that occur in aging and heart disease affect metabolic/molecular processes in the myocardium? How are systolic and diastolic functions affected by changes in metabolite concentrations? Does metabolic energy supply represent a limiting factor in determining physiological maximal cardiac power output and exercise capacity? Does the derangement of cardiac energetics that occurs with heart failure cause exercise intolerance?

To answer these questions, we have developed a multi-physics multi-scale model of cardiac energy metabolism and cardiac mechanics that simulates the dependence of myocardial ATP demand on muscle dynamics and the dependence of muscle dynamics on cardiac energetics. Model simulations predict that the maximal rate at which ATP can be synthesized at free energies necessary to drive physiological mechanical function determine maximal heart rate, cardiac output, and cardiac power output in exercise. Furthermore, we find that reductions in cytoplasmic adenine nucleotide, creatine, and phosphate pools that occur with aging impair the myocardial capacity to synthesize ATP at physiological free energy levels, and that the resulting changes to myocardial energetic status play a causal role in contributing to reductions in maximal cardiac power output with aging. Finally, model predictions reveal that reductions in cytoplasmic metabolite pools contribute to energetic dysfunction in heart failure, which in turn contributes to causing systolic dysfunction in heart failure.

BlueJeans Livestream Link: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/rbuvycdc

3:45 p.m. - Light Refreshments served in Forum Hall Atrium
4:00 p.m. - Lecture in Forum Hall

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 05 Feb 2020 08:41:29 -0500 2020-02-12T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-12T17:00:00-05:00 Palmer Commons DCMB Seminar Series Lecture / Discussion
Ace Your Courses: Metacognition is Key! (February 13, 2020 5:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70903 70903-17735208@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, February 13, 2020 5:00pm
Location: Undergraduate Science Building
Organized By: Science Learning Center

Have you ever found yourself putting forth a great deal of effort into your courses, but not feeling like you are actually learning or are left unsatisfied with your grade? This workshop, based on the work of Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire, will enable you to analyze your current learning strategies, understand exactly what changes you need to implement to earn an A in your courses, identify concrete strategies to use during the remainder of your semester, and become a more efficient learner.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 15 Jan 2020 10:19:28 -0500 2020-02-13T17:00:00-05:00 2020-02-13T18:30:00-05:00 Undergraduate Science Building Science Learning Center Workshop / Seminar Teach Yourself How to Learn by Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire
HET Seminar | Globally consistent three-family Standard Models in F-theory (February 14, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72170 72170-17948640@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 14, 2020 3:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

We present recent advances in constructions of globally consistent F-theory compactifications with the exact chiral spectrum of the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model. We highlight the first such example and then turn to a subsequent systematic exploration of the landscape of F-theory three-family Standard Models with a gauge coupling unification. Employing algebraic geometry techniques, all global consistency conditions of these models can be reduced to a single geometric criterion on the base of the underlying elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau four-folds. For toric bases, this criterion only depends on an associated polytope and is satisfied for at least quadrillion bases, each of which defines a distinct compactification. We conclude by pointing out important outstanding issues.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 28 Jan 2020 14:33:28 -0500 2020-02-14T15:00:00-05:00 2020-02-14T16:00:00-05:00 West Hall Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion West Hall
Saturday Morning Physics | Ocean Modeling: Big Computers, Big Science (February 15, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/71160 71160-17783477@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, February 15, 2020 10:30am
Location: Weiser Hall
Organized By: Saturday Morning Physics

In this talk, Professor Arbic will describe how ocean circulation models work and how they predict physical motions in the ocean, including currents, eddies, and tides. He will discuss the many applications of ocean models, including short-term ocean forecasting, national security applications, longer-term global change predictions, and preparing for satellite ocean monitoring missions. The talk will focus on the work done in our group here at University of Michigan, with a focus on oceanic eddies and tides.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 11 Feb 2020 09:29:14 -0500 2020-02-15T10:30:00-05:00 2020-02-15T11:30:00-05:00 Weiser Hall Saturday Morning Physics Workshop / Seminar The Pleiades Supercomputer which some of the models Professor Arbic uses runs on. (NASA)
MCIRCC Re-Imagining Critical Care Seminar Series (February 17, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71948 71948-17903306@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 17, 2020 3:00pm
Location: North Campus Research Complex Building 10
Organized By: Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care (MCIRCC)

“Innovation Fundamentals & Opportunities in Critical Care Biomarker Discovery”

Frederick Korley MD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Korley's research activities involve translation of novel diagnostics to inform clinically rational, timely, and cost-effective diagnosis of cardiac and brain injury in the emergency department. The goal of his traumatic brain injury work is to improve the acute care diagnosis, risk-stratification and treatment of TBI by identifying distinct molecular subtypes of TBI that will allow for targeted treatment and improved outcomes.

DETAILS & REGISTRATION:
http://bit.ly/FrederickKorley

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 23 Jan 2020 12:02:33 -0500 2020-02-17T15:00:00-05:00 2020-02-17T16:00:00-05:00 North Campus Research Complex Building 10 Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care (MCIRCC) Workshop / Seminar MCIRCC Re-Imagining Critical Care Seminar Series with Dr. Frederick K. Korley Flyer
HEP-Astro Seminar | Better Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay through Biochemistry (February 17, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72039 72039-17916368@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 17, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

The goal of future neutrinoless double beta decay experiments is to establish whether neutrino is its own antiparticle, by searching for an ultra-rare decay process with a half life that may be more than 10^27 years. Such a discovery would have major implications for cosmology and particle physics, but requires ton-scale detectors with backgrounds below 1 count per ton per year. This is a formidable technological challenge that has prompted consideration of unconventional solutions. I will discuss an approach being developed within the NEXT collaboration: high pressure xenon gas time projection chambers augmented with single molecule fluorescent imaging-based barium tagging. This combines techniques from the fields of biochemistry, super-resolution microscopy, organic synthesis and nuclear physics, possibly enabling the first effectively background-free, ton-scale neutrinoless double beta decay technology.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 17 Feb 2020 18:16:52 -0500 2020-02-17T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-17T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
HET Brown Bag | SYK, Chaos, and higher-spin (February 19, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72542 72542-18015954@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Randall Laboratory
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

I will discuss two related topics in the talk. In the first part, I will discuss a 2-dimensional SYK-like model whose moduli space consists of both a chaotic regime and corners with emergent higher-spin symmetry. This model provides a manifest realization of the widely believed connection between SYK-like models and higher-spin theories. In the second part, I will discuss a general class of coupled quantum systems that share a somewhat surprising property: their ground states approximate the thermofield double state to very good accuracy. This provides a practical way to prepare the thermofield double state.

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Lecture / Discussion Fri, 21 Feb 2020 09:37:44 -0500 2020-02-19T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-19T13:00:00-05:00 Randall Laboratory Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion Randall Laboratory
CRLT Physics Workshop | Moving the Needle: Shifting the Conversation Around Sexual Harassment (February 19, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72372 72372-17998152@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 3:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Physics Workshops & Conferences

Part research presentation, part embodied case study, and part community conversation, Moving the Needle: Shifting the Conversation around Sexual Harassment challenges participants to expand their understanding of what sexual harassment is, how it impacts individuals and communities, and what makes an environment ripe for its presence. Using the NASEM consensus study report as both grounding and springboard, this session eschews a "tips and tricks" workshop model, instead pointing attendees toward the ongoing reflective practices that individuals and communities will need to commit to in order to address the culturally embedded problem of sexual harassment.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 12 Feb 2020 11:35:07 -0500 2020-02-19T15:00:00-05:00 2020-02-19T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Physics Workshops & Conferences Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Life In Graduate School Seminar | How to Find a Postdoc Position (February 21, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72814 72814-18079325@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 21, 2020 12:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Life in Graduate School Seminars

Three people with postdoc hunting experience in high energy experiment, computational condensed matter and experimental condensed matter will be invited and present their experience and lessons in finding postdoc positions.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 12 Feb 2020 13:31:43 -0500 2020-02-21T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-21T13:00:00-05:00 West Hall Life in Graduate School Seminars Workshop / Seminar West Hall
HET Seminar | Conical singularities of G2-manifolds in mathematics and physics (February 21, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72414 72414-18000399@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 21, 2020 3:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

I will first give an introduction to and brief history of G2 geometry, to compare and contrast it to Calabi-Yau geometry. G2 manifolds are important in physics because they admit parallel spinors. It is of interest to construct compact examples with singularities. I will then give a survey of some of my work that is related to conical singularities of G2 manifolds, including: desingularization, deformation theory, and a possible strategy to construct such G2 conifolds. This will include some (separate) joint works with Dominic Joyce and Jason Lotay. No previous exposure to G2 geometry will be assumed, but the focus will be more mathematical than physical. I am hoping that some of you can teach me more physics during the day.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 03 Feb 2020 14:25:52 -0500 2020-02-21T15:00:00-05:00 2020-02-21T16:00:00-05:00 West Hall Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion West Hall
Saturday Morning Physics | The Truth About Entropy (February 22, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/71162 71162-17783480@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, February 22, 2020 10:30am
Location: Weiser Hall
Organized By: Saturday Morning Physics

Crystalline forms of matter, from ice to diamond, are highly ordered with atoms lined up neatly in rows. Do these crystals have low or high entropy? We are taught that entropy implies disorder, so crystals must have low entropy...or do they? In this talk, find out how some ordered crystal phases of matter can have more entropy than their disordered phases, and why this matters.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 05 Feb 2020 14:54:49 -0500 2020-02-22T10:30:00-05:00 2020-02-22T11:30:00-05:00 Weiser Hall Saturday Morning Physics Workshop / Seminar Crystalline structures pc: NASA David Weitz
HEP-Astro Seminar | SuperTIGER in Antarctica: The Hunt for Ultra-Heavy Cosmic Rays (February 24, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71016 71016-17768617@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 24, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

The Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER) experiment measures the abundances of the merely relativistic and rare ultra-heavy cosmic rays (UHCR) beyond 26Fe produced in neutron-capture processes. Since the galactic cosmic rays do not point back to their sources we must search for other clues of their origins, and some handles on this are their energy spectra and their detailed elemental and isotopic compositions. The predecessor TIGER instrument made preliminary measurements of UHCR abundances resolving individual elements from 30Zn to 40Zr with two Antarctic flights (2001-2002, 2003-2004) totaling ~50 days. These data support a model of galactic cosmic-ray origins with a dominant contribution from OB association massive star clusters where the source material is enhanced by the outflow and super nova ejecta of these stars (~20%), and in which the more refractory elements that condense into dust grains are preferentially accelerated (~4x) over the volatile ones found as gas. SuperTIGER is over four times the size of TIGER, and with its first 55 day Antarctic flight (2012-2013) confirmed the TIGER findings through 40Zr with good statistics, and with the inclusion of data from a second flight (2019-2020) will extend preliminary UHCR abundance measurements through around 56Ba. Our UHCR observations to date show the galactic cosmic-ray source is enhanced by massive star products over solar system (~5 billion year old ISM), which means this comparatively fresh sample of galactic material can shed light on which heavier elements are significant products of massive stars and their associated supernova (SN) nucleosynthesis. This could help provide constraints on models for the synthesis of heavy elements in binary neutron star mergers (BNSM), for which evidence has been observed in ejected material seen in optical observations following LIGO event GW170817. BNSM are rarer than SN by several orders of magnitude or more, and are unlikely to have contributed to the observed fluxes of the UHCR. I will present on the SuperTIGER science, and the unique challenges and charms of scientific ballooning in Antarctica.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 24 Feb 2020 18:16:44 -0500 2020-02-24T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-24T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Complex Systems Seminar | Studying dynamics using computational polynomial optimization (February 25, 2020 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/72568 72568-18018165@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 11:30am
Location: Weiser Hall
Organized By: The Center for the Study of Complex Systems

Many complex systems are governed by nonlinear ODEs or PDEs that cannot be solved exactly. Various properties of such solutions can be inferred by constructing auxiliary functions that satisfying suitable inequalities. The most familiar example is the construction of Lyapunov functions to infer stability of particular states, but similar approaches can produce many other types of mathematical statements, including for systems with chaotic or otherwise complicated behavior. Such statements include estimates of time-averaged quantities and extreme transient behavior, approximation of nonlinear stability properties, and design of controls. In many cases, the search for the auxiliary function that implies the strongest mathematical statement can be posed as a convex optimization problem. Such problems can be studied analytically or computationally, but in most cases computation is needed to find solutions that are close to optimal. Of particular use are computational methods of polynomial optimization, where the optimization constraints include polynomial inequalities. This talk will provide an overview of different ways in which auxiliary functions can be used to study nonlinear ODEs and PDEs, as well as how polynomial optimization can be used to implement these methods computationally. Methods will be illustrated using applications to various complex systems.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 05 Feb 2020 16:00:00 -0500 2020-02-25T11:30:00-05:00 2020-02-25T13:00:00-05:00 Weiser Hall The Center for the Study of Complex Systems Workshop / Seminar David Goluskin
CM-AMO Seminar | Emergent Ultrafast Structural Dynamics in Complex Oxides and 2D Materials (February 25, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72099 72099-17939962@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

New properties emerge when material systems “scale up” via uniquely connected individual element, or “scale down” by reducing dimensionality and resulting in symmetry breaking. In this talk, I will show recent efforts to use light pulses at terahertz and x-ray frequencies to stimulate and track emergent dynamical properties of materials on ultrafast time scales. In the “scale-up” example, we observed a new set of collective excitations in polar vortices, named vortexons. A unique soft mode is identified as a pair of oscillating vortex cores that can be significantly tuned by thermal strain around room temperature. The discovery of tunable vortexons opens a new avenue for high-frequency dielectrics and optoelectronics applications. In the “scale-down” example, I will show the distinct structural dynamics of monolayer crystals WSe2 from their bulk counterparts. We found the absorbed optical photon energy is preferably coupled to the in-plane lattice vibrations within one picosecond whereas the out-of-plane lattice vibration amplitude remains unchanged during the first ten picoseconds, marking the distinct structural dynamics of monolayer crystals from their bulk counterparts. Looking into the future, the recent progress of developing multimodal, multiscale x-ray imaging platform will be discussed to go beyond the ensemble average for studying nanoscale ultrafast dynamics.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 25 Feb 2020 18:16:47 -0500 2020-02-25T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-25T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Professor Fred C. Adams, the Ta-You Wu Collegiate Professorship in Physics, Inaugural Lecture (February 25, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70341 70341-17584116@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Palmer Commons
Organized By: The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

The fundamental constants of nature must fall within a
range of values in order for the universe to develop structure and
ultimately support life. This talk considers current constraints on
these quantities and assesses the degree of tuning required for the
universe to be viable. In the realm of particle physics, the relevant
parameters are the strengths of the fundamental forces and the
particle masses. Additional astrophysical parameters include the
cosmic energy density, the cosmological constant, the abundances of
ordinary matter and dark matter, and the amplitude of primordial
density fluctuations. These quantities are constrained by the
necessity that the universe lives for a long time, emerges from its
early epochs with an acceptable chemical composition, and successfully
produces galaxies. On smaller scales, stars and planets must be able
to form and function. The stars must have sufficiently long lifetimes
and hot surface temperatures. We also consider potential fine-tuning
related to the triple alpha reaction that produces carbon, the case of
unstable deuterium, and the possibility of stable diprotons. For all
of these issues, the goal is to delineate the range of parameter space
for which universes can remain habitable. In spite of its biophilic
properties, our universe is not optimized for the emergence of life,
in that the proper variations could result in more galaxies, stars,
and potentially habitable planets.

Further Information: This collegiate professorship was named in honor
of Ta-You Wu, a graduate of the Michigan Physics Department and
recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University. He was
one of the central figures of the 20th century in both the Chinese and
Taiwanese physics communities. Adams received his PhD at U. C.
Berkeley, where his advisor was Professor Frank H. Shu, who in turn
has close ties to Ta-You Wu and his family. Naming this Collegiate
Professorship after Ta-You Wu honors Prof. Wu, the Michigan Physics
Department, and Adams' PhD mentor (Shu).

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 06 Feb 2020 11:41:33 -0500 2020-02-25T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-25T17:30:00-05:00 Palmer Commons The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Lecture / Discussion Events Calendar
HET Brown Bag | Binary Black Holes and Scattering Amplitudes (February 26, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72746 72746-18070550@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Randall Laboratory
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

We develop a systematic framework for describing binary dynamics using modern tools from quantum field theory. Our approach combines onshell methods such as generalized unitarity and the double-copy construction with effective field theory methods for integration and matching. As a first application, we derive a new result in general relativity: the third post-Minkowskian correction to the conservative two-body Hamiltonian for spinless black holes. Prospects and challenges for applying quantum field theory for the gravitational wave physics program are discussed.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 11 Feb 2020 14:35:40 -0500 2020-02-26T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-26T13:00:00-05:00 Randall Laboratory Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion Randall Laboratory
Department Colloquium | High Energy Physics Under The Higgs Lamppost (February 26, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72100 72100-17939963@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

For the past half a century, high energy physics has achieved uninterrupted successes. With the milestone discovery of the Higgs boson at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), high energy physics has entered a new era. The completion of the “Standard Model” (SM) implies, for the first time ever, that we have a relativistic, quantum-mechanical, self-consistent theoretical framework, conceivably valid up to exponentially high energies, even to the Planck scale. Yet, the SM leaves many unanswered questions both from the theoretical and observational perspectives, including the nature of the electroweak superconductivity and its phase transition, the hierarchy between the particle masses and between the observed scales, the nature of dark matter etc. There are thus compelling reasons to believe that new physics beyond the SM exits. We argue that the collective efforts of future high energy physics programs, in particular the future colliders, hold great promise to uncover the laws of nature to a deeper level.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 26 Feb 2020 18:17:07 -0500 2020-02-26T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-26T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Mohler Prize Lecture (February 26, 2020 7:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70223 70223-17549993@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 7:00pm
Location: Michigan League
Organized By: Department of Astronomy

James Webb Space Telescope: What Happens after the Hubble Space Telescope?

The Hubble Space Telescope has delivered beautiful images and great results for far more years than originally planned. NASA is working on a successor, JWST, which will be launched in 2021. Many technical challenges have had to be overcome to make this telescope a reality. Many of these challenges stem from the large size of JWST and its unique architecture. The science that it promises to deliver ranges from characterizing the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars to finding the most distant galaxies.

Lecture: Michigan League - Michigan Room (2nd Floor)
Reception Following: Michigan League - Kalamazoo Room (2nd Floor)

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 11 Dec 2019 14:40:29 -0500 2020-02-26T19:00:00-05:00 2020-02-26T20:00:00-05:00 Michigan League Department of Astronomy Lecture / Discussion Dr. Marcia Rieke
Astronomy Colloquium Series Presents (February 27, 2020 3:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70221 70221-17549990@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, February 27, 2020 3:30pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Astronomy

“The Next Step in Deep Extragalactic Surveys”

The original rationale for the James Webb Space Telescope was detecting the first light in the Universe, meaning the first stars and galaxies. This goal has remained as one of the key drivers for the hardware development albeit with the footnote that only the first galaxies, not literally the first individual stars, can be detected. Two of the instruments teams, the NIRCam and NIRSpec Teams, have joined forces to produce a legacy survey with both multi-wavelength imaging and multi-object spectroscopy
using JWST. Expected results as illustrated by a mock catalog and a data challenge will be presented.


Please note: Should you require any accommodations to ensure equal access and opportunity related to this event please contact Stacy Tiburzi at 734-764-3440 or stibu@umich.edu.

Tea will be served beforehand from 3:00-3:30pm in Serpens.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 23 Jan 2020 13:05:14 -0500 2020-02-27T15:30:00-05:00 2020-02-27T16:30:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Astronomy Lecture / Discussion Dr. Marcia J. Rieke
CM Theory Seminar | Lattice Models and Monte Carlo Solutions for Quantum Criticality (February 27, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72904 72904-18090326@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

In this talk, I will review recent developments in a priori and a posteriori numerical strategies in dealing with quantum many-body systems. Thanks to these philosophical and numerical advancements, novel paradigms in condensed matter and high energy physics such as non-Fermi-liquid, quantum criticality and emergent gauge-field coupled with matter field can be readily accessed with large-scale numerical simulations. These results in turn inspire further analytical and numerical progress towards the complete understanding of few important quantum many body physics problems.

References:
1. TOPICAL REVIEW, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 31, 463001 (2019)
2. PNAS August 20, 2019 116 (34) 16760-16767
3. Phys. Rev. X 9, 021022 (2019)

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 27 Feb 2020 18:16:59 -0500 2020-02-27T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-27T17:00:00-05:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Henry Russel Lecture 2020 | Carbon vs. Carbon Diaoxide: Using Carbon-Based (Organic) Electronics for a More Sustainable Planet (February 27, 2020 4:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/73069 73069-18138327@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:30pm
Location: Rackham Graduate School (Horace H.)
Organized By: Department Colloquia

Professor Forrest is also the
Paul G. Goebel Professor of Engineering
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Professor of Professor of Material Science and Engineering.

Please see more information here: https://record.umich.edu/articles/russel-lecture-fighting-climate-change-with-organic-electronics/

Reception immediately following the lecture.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 19 Feb 2020 09:59:15 -0500 2020-02-27T16:30:00-05:00 2020-02-27T17:30:00-05:00 Rackham Graduate School (Horace H.) Department Colloquia Lecture / Discussion Image of Stephen Forrest
2020 MASSEY TBI GRAND CHALLENGE KICKOFF (March 5, 2020 8:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/69927 69927-17489276@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, March 5, 2020 8:30am
Location: North Campus Research Complex Building 18
Organized By: Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care (MCIRCC)

The Massey TBI Grand Challenge supports high-impact proposals by funding milestone-driven research over a 12-month timeframe.

This event is made possible thanks to a generous gift from the Joyce and Don Massey Family Foundation. Up to $650,000 is available in 2020 to fund the development of diagnostic, device, therapeutic, or health IT solutions that address the initial ‘golden hours’ of care after severe traumatic brain injury (generally the first 48 hours). Additionally, this year ALL current/past awardees and new awardees will be eligible for the Schwabauer Accelerator Award of $40,000. This will be a separate application.

Note: To be considered for funding, you must attend the Grand Challenge event.

Keynote Speaker:
Odette Harris, MD, MPH, Stanford University School of Medicine

DETAILS & REGISTRATION:
http://bit.ly/2020-TBI-Grand-Challenge

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Other Thu, 23 Jan 2020 12:04:54 -0500 2020-03-05T08:30:00-05:00 2020-03-05T16:00:00-05:00 North Campus Research Complex Building 18 Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care (MCIRCC) Other 2020 Massey TBI Grand Challenge
HEP-Astro Seminar | Shedding 'Nu' Light on the Nature of Matter: The Search for Majorana Neutrinos (March 9, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72101 72101-17939964@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, March 9, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

Why is the universe dominated by matter, and not antimatter? Neutrinos, with their changing flavors and tiny masses, could provide an answer. If the neutrino is a Majorana particle, meaning that it is its own antiparticle, it would reveal the origin of the neutrino’s mass, demonstrate that lepton number is not a conserved symmetry of nature, and provide a path to leptogenesis in the early universe. To discover whether this is the case, we must search for neutrinoless double-beta decay, a theorized process that would occur in some nuclei. By searching for this extremely rare decay, we can explore new physics at energy scales that only existed in the seconds following the Big Bang.

Detecting this extremely rare process, however, requires us to build very large detectors with very low background rates. Experiments using germanium detectors, like the Majorana Demonstrator, which is currently running, and LEGEND-200, which is moving forward quickly, are a promising strategy to explore lifetimes of up to 10^{28} years. The current generation of experiments have achieved the lowest backgrounds of any technique, and have a clear path forward to move to the ton-scale. I’ll present recent results from the Demonstrator, an update on LEGEND-200’s progress, and prospects for LEGEND-1000.

Reaching lifetimes beyond 10^{28} years, however, will require new techniques and kiloton-scale detectors. NuDot is a proof-of-concept liquid scintillator experiment that will explore new techniques for isotope loading and background rejection in future detectors. I’ll discuss the progress we’ve already made in demonstrating how previously-ignored Cherenkov light signals can help us distinguish signal from background, and the technologies we’re developing with an eye towards the coming generations of experiments.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 09 Mar 2020 18:16:42 -0400 2020-03-09T16:00:00-04:00 2020-03-09T17:00:00-04:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
CM-AMO Seminar | Double Feature (March 10, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72102 72102-17939965@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, March 10, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

Pfaffian Formalism for Higher-Order Topological Insulators

Higher-order topological insulators (HOTIs) are characterized by gapless modes that occur at lower-dimensional boundaries than the conventional (first-order) topological insulators (TIs). For example, a 3D second-order TI has gapless 1D hinge modes and gapped 2D surface and gapped 3D bulk, whereas a 3D first-order TI has gapless 2D surface modes. In general, n-th order TI in d-dimensional space has gapless modes at (d-n) dimensional boundary.

In this work, we generalize the Pfaffian formalism, which has been playing an important role in the study of time-reversal invariant first-order topological insulators, to 3D chiral higher-order topological insulators protected by the product of four-fold rotational symmetry C_4 and the time-reversal symmetry T. This Pfaffian description reveals a deep and fundamental link between TIs and HOTIs, and allows important conclusions about TIs to be generalized to HOTIs. In particular, we can generalize Fu-Kane's parity criterion for TIs to HOTIs, and also present a general method to efficiently compute the Z_2 index of 3D chiral HOTIs without a global gauge.

Spatially Coherent Lasing in an Atomically-Thin Heterostructure

Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are a promising gain media for the next generation of semiconductor lasers and nanophotonics. They have advantages over the traditional III-V semiconductors because they exhibit strong light-matter interaction, are flexible and compact, and allow easy integration with various substrates. Utilizing these advantages, we engineer a lasing device with a rotationally aligned WSe2-MoSe2 van der Waals heterostructure integrated with a one-dimensional (1D) silicon nitride (SiN) grating resonator. Angle-resolved micro-photoluminescence and spatial coherence measurements show signatures of lasing, which include bright emission intensity and formation of extended spatial coherence. This work establishes 2D semiconductor heterostructures as a new type of gain medium.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 09 Mar 2020 12:48:01 -0400 2020-03-10T16:00:00-04:00 2020-03-10T17:00:00-04:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
DCMB Weekly Seminar (March 11, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/73002 73002-18123077@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 4:00pm
Location:
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract:

In this talk, some major challenges are reviewed of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address the needs of medicine and healthcare. These challenges include technical issues such as data-related and/or algorithmic challenges that the use of AI for medicine would present. The speaker then presents some potential solutions in form of novel algorithmic approaches that may at least partially address some of these challenges.

BlueJeans livestream: https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/rbuvycdc

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 11 Mar 2020 08:49:28 -0400 2020-03-11T16:00:00-04:00 2020-03-11T17:00:00-04:00 DCMB Seminar Series Lecture / Discussion
Department Colloquium | Spins and Photons for Quantum Information Technologies (March 11, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72134 72134-17942180@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 4:00pm
Location: West Hall
Organized By: Department of Physics

Large scale quantum networks are envisioned for secure quantum communication between any two points on earth and for the creation of various cryptographic protocols. Quantum networks are also a model for distributed quantum computing. Quantum emitters featuring spin-photon interfaces and quantum memories are crucial elements in the nodes of such networks. Non-classical states of light, such as single and entangled photons, are also critical for novel quantum technologies. Key questions are therefore how to control the nodes of these networks and how to produce the desired photonic states. I will give and overview of the field and present our work focusing on the control of spins and the deterministic generation of highly entangled photonic states from spinful quantum emitters such as color centers and semiconductor quantum dots.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 11 Mar 2020 18:16:43 -0400 2020-03-11T16:00:00-04:00 2020-03-11T17:00:00-04:00 West Hall Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar West Hall
Annual Symposium in Biophysics (March 13, 2020 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/69839 69839-17472589@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 13, 2020 8:00am
Location: Michigan Union
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

TBD

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Conference / Symposium Mon, 02 Dec 2019 08:43:25 -0500 2020-03-13T08:00:00-04:00 2020-03-13T17:00:00-04:00 Michigan Union LSA Biophysics Conference / Symposium Michigan Union
Biophysics- Talk Title: TBD (March 27, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/64276 64276-16274486@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 27, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Abstract: TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 10 Jul 2019 09:39:47 -0400 2020-03-27T12:00:00-04:00 2020-03-27T13:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Biophysics Talk Title: TBD (April 3, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/64277 64277-16274487@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 3, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Abstract: TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 10 Jul 2019 09:41:12 -0400 2020-04-03T12:00:00-04:00 2020-04-03T13:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
CANCELLED: The Power of Neutron Fluctuation Analysis (April 10, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71274 71274-17794080@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 10, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Cancelled.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 12 Mar 2020 11:35:31 -0400 2020-04-10T16:00:00-04:00 2020-04-10T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar NERS
Biophysics Talk Title: TBD (April 17, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/64278 64278-16274488@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 17, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Chemistry Dow Lab
Organized By: LSA Biophysics

Abstract: TBD

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 10 Jul 2019 09:42:41 -0400 2020-04-17T12:00:00-04:00 2020-04-17T13:00:00-04:00 Chemistry Dow Lab LSA Biophysics Workshop / Seminar Chemistry Dow Lab
Physics Graduate Student Symposium | Holographic Tests of Quantum Gravity (June 18, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/74945 74945-19110565@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, June 18, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

String theory provides the most consistent framework for quantum gravity and to investigate the quantum effects on gravity within this theory, I focus on the holographic principle. The most successful realization of holography is the duality relating certain quantum theories and gravity theories. This duality gives a dictionary translating concepts from one theory to that of the other, providing a new methodology to study physical systems that was not possible prior to this correspondence. I utilize the strength of holography by developing tools for string theory using quantum theory guidance. It is in this setting that new methods are established for gravity to match with the expected quantum prediction. I will discuss some recent examples where the expressions I obtain on the gravity side agree with the quantum side, providing another check on holography while further deepening our understanding of string theory.

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Conference / Symposium Tue, 16 Jun 2020 08:34:43 -0400 2020-06-18T12:00:00-04:00 2020-06-18T12:50:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
Physics Graduate Student Symposium | Axion Cosmology and Detection (June 25, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75032 75032-19173382@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, June 25, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Evidenced by astrophysical and cosmological observation, dark matter comprises the dominant fraction of matter in the universe. However, its particle nature is as of yet unknown, representing arguably the most tantalizing hint for searches for new fundamental physics beyond the Standard Model. In this talk, I will review the status of searches for a particle dark matter known as the axion, which is theoretically well-motivated and largely experimentally unprobed, with emphasis on its unique cosmology and ongoing efforts towards its indirect detection. I will also briefly discuss new results from the Xenon1T experiment which report a 3.5 sigma detection of a solar axion.

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Conference / Symposium Wed, 24 Jun 2020 11:42:35 -0400 2020-06-25T12:00:00-04:00 2020-06-25T12:50:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
Are You Listening to Your Gut? A Study on the Stomach-Brain Interaction (July 16, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75192 75192-19322498@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, July 16, 2020 12:00pm
Location:
Organized By: Department of Physics

As humans, we eat and drink every day, and our stomachs help to digest food continuously. The stomach is essential for a high-quality life, but it works so quietly that we hardly notice it. Does our stomach work independently? Does our brain watch out for and control the digesting process? To answer these questions, I will talk about current understandings of the stomach-brain interaction and introduce our work about how the brain intrinsically interacts with the stomach.

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Conference / Symposium Mon, 13 Jul 2020 11:42:44 -0400 2020-07-16T12:00:00-04:00 2020-07-16T12:50:00-04:00 Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
Physics Graduate Student Symposium | Eliminating Artifacts in Astronomical Images Using Deep Learning (July 23, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75256 75256-19379437@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, July 23, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Polarization measurements done using Imaging Polarimeters such as the Robotic Polarimeter are very sensitive to the presence of artifacts in images. Artifacts can range from internal reflections in a telescope to satellite trails that could contaminate an area of interest in the image. With the advent of wide-field polarimetry surveys, it is imperative to develop methods that automatically flag artifacts in images. In this paper, we implement a Convolutional Neural Network to identify the most dominant artifacts in the images. We find that our model can successfully classify sources with 98% true positive and 97% true negative rates. Such models, combined with transfer learning, will give us a running start in artifact elimination for near-future surveys like the Wide Area Linear Optical Polarimeter (WALOP). This work was done at the Astronomy department of the California Institute of Technology in the US with Dr. Ashish Mahabal, Prof. Anthony Readhead, Prof. Kieran Cleary, Prof. A. N. Ramaprakash and Dr. Gina Panapoulou. This was a collaborative work with the PASIPHAE group which stands for Polar-Areas Stellar-Imaging in Polarization High-Accuracy Experiment. Pasiphae is an international collaboration between the University of Crete, Caltech, the South African Astronomical Observatory, the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the University of Oslo. This experiment aims to map, with unprecedented accuracy, the polarization of millions of stars at areas of the sky away from the Galactic plane, in both the Northern and the Southern hemispheres.

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Conference / Symposium Mon, 20 Jul 2020 13:27:49 -0400 2020-07-23T12:00:00-04:00 2020-07-23T12:50:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
Physics Graduate Student Symposium | Dark Matter Detection in LZ (July 30, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75355 75355-19444218@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, July 30, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Dark matter is a mysterious substance that pervades the universe and affects its evolution via gravity. The particulate nature of dark matter is unknown, although several theoretical candidates have been proposed. One such candidate is the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP), which several experiments over the last decade have sought to discover. Among the forthcoming generation of these experiments is LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ), an underground tonne-scale detector employing liquid xenon to search for faint dark matter interactions. This talk will go over the operating principle of the detector, its sensitivity to physics beyond WIMPs, hardware challenges to achieve these science goals, and the simulation and analysis tasks in preparation for LZ's first data.

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Conference / Symposium Tue, 28 Jul 2020 18:26:23 -0400 2020-07-30T12:00:00-04:00 2020-07-30T12:50:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
Physics Graduate Student Symposium | Branching Rules and LieART 2.0 (August 6, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75414 75414-19487379@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, August 6, 2020 12:00pm
Location:
Organized By: Department of Physics

There is a natural connection between particle physics and representation theory. In particular, we often embed the Standard Model in a larger gauge group (such as in Grand Unified Theories) and spontaneously break the symmetry back down to the Standard Model at low energies. Particles naturally live in representations of this larger gauge group, and the branching rules of these representations tell us how GUT representations break into Standard Model representations. Hence, the computation of these branching rules tells us much about the physics of these theories.

In this talk, I will first give an introduction to the necessary details about Lie algebras, discuss their internal structure and representations, and explain what precisely we mean by "branching rules" and how one would compute these rules. The second part of the talk will focus on my previous work at Vanderbilt on the LieART (Lie Algebras and Representation Theory) Mathematica program, extending it to compute almost all branching rules.

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Conference / Symposium Mon, 03 Aug 2020 11:26:05 -0400 2020-08-06T12:00:00-04:00 2020-08-06T12:50:00-04:00 Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
U-M Physics/Biophysics REU Zoomposium 2020 (August 6, 2020 1:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75461 75461-19497318@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, August 6, 2020 1:30pm
Location:
Organized By: Department of Physics

Join the Zoom Meeting, https://umich.zoom.us/j/94566285238
Meeting ID: 945 6628 5238
Passcode: REU2020 (or 5783131 if you are connecting by phone or room system).





The schedule of talks is as follows:
1:30 Benjamin Bogart
1:45 Abby Davenport
2:00 Furyel Ahmed
2:15 Emma Steinebronn
2:30 break
2:45 Leah Rosenberg
3:00 Shannon Gray
3:15 Adrian Crawford
3:30 Andres Cook
3:45 break
4:00 Elaine Gillard
4:15 Mario Gallardo
4:30 Connor Davis
4:35 Thomas Baer
5:00 fin

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Conference / Symposium Thu, 06 Aug 2020 15:42:33 -0400 2020-08-06T13:30:00-04:00 2020-08-06T17:00:00-04:00 Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
Physics Graduate Student Symposium | Reduced Order Models using Graph Theoretic Approaches for Physical Systems (August 13, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75632 75632-19552843@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, August 13, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Physical systems are conventionally studied using experiments, that may be costly, exceedingly difficult, or infeasible. Alternatively, various computational approaches, have proven rigorous and successful, but still suffer from being generally resource-intensive and occasionally difficult to interpret. Particularly for classes of systems that can be described by partial differential equations, such as for example multi-component crystalline solids undergoing mechanical deformations, and changes in chemical potential, high-fidelity solutions generally contain up to tens of millions of degrees of freedom. New methods must, therefore, be developed that represent this information in a lower-dimensional space, allowing for more efficient, and intuitive computations.

In this talk, I will be introducing a novel graph-theoretic approach for reduced-order modelling of a wide class of systems, allowing for more efficient and effective data-driven simulations. Concepts in graph theory will be introduced, including a rigorous non-local discrete calculus, and I will describe how states of a system and their relationships can be represented using this formalism. I will then discuss the numerical methods for computing a reduced-order model for quantities of interest and will show some preliminary results, indicating the validity and possible exciting future applications of this general framework.

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Conference / Symposium Tue, 11 Aug 2020 12:46:48 -0400 2020-08-13T12:00:00-04:00 2020-08-13T12:50:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
Physics Graduate Student Symposium | Challenges to LCDM, and How We Explore Beyond (August 20, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75766 75766-19600133@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, August 20, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

LCDM is the most successful cosmology model in the past decades, proven by multiple independent observations including CMB, Supernovae, Large scale structures, etc. LCDM states that our flat universe (mostly) consists of dark matter and dark energy. However, as the precision of cosmological probes increases, some anomalies that cannot be perfectly explained by LCDM start to show up. Among them the most statistically significant one is the 4-5 \sigma discrepancy between early and late universe Hubble constant. In this talk, I will briefly summarize the facts we know about Hubble constant measurements, and present the current discussions in the field on the Hubble tension. After that, I will use my recent effort on resolving this tenison by decaying dark matter cosmology as an example, to demonstrate where such anomalies lead us to and how we explore beyond LCDM.

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Conference / Symposium Mon, 17 Aug 2020 13:46:03 -0400 2020-08-20T12:00:00-04:00 2020-08-20T12:50:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Conference / Symposium
HEP-Astro Seminar | Physics With the Same-Sign Dilepton and Multilepton Events (August 31, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75787 75787-19607999@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, August 31, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Despite the discovery of a Higgs-like particle in 2012, there are still many unanswered questions. Studying events with the same-sign dilepton and multilepton (SSML) may help to gain insight into those questions. SSML events have relatively low rates in the Standard Model (SM) and are expected in many extensions to the SM. In this presentation, I will give an overview of physics and challenges related to the analyses of SSML events, focusing on the analyses I worked on, namely, studies of ttH and ttW production and evidence for four-top production with the ATLAS detector.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 01 Sep 2020 13:30:21 -0400 2020-08-31T16:00:00-04:00 2020-08-31T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
NSF GRF Webinar (September 3, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76148 76148-19669618@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, September 3, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships (ONSF)

REGISTER HERE: https://myumi.ch/wlKOk

NSF Graduate Research Fellowships provides $138,00 for research-based masters and PhD students in STEM and Social Science fields (three-year annual stipend of $34,000 along with a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees paid to the graduate institution).

This webinar is for undergraduate seniors, 1st and 2nd year graduate students in NSF-approved fields (see the NSF-GRFP webpage for a list of fields). Rising juniors who may apply in the future are also welcome. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents. Applicants from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in their fields are especially encouraged to apply. For more information about eligibility, please see this NSF video: https://vimeo.com/361402315

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 26 Aug 2020 12:25:59 -0400 2020-09-03T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-03T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships (ONSF) Livestream / Virtual NSF Webinar
Minicolloquium | Surface Dimer Engineering of Highly Mismatched Alloys (September 4, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76652 76652-19735012@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 4, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Minicolloquia

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 04 Sep 2020 18:15:27 -0400 2020-09-04T13:00:00-04:00 2020-09-04T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET Seminar | Partially Composite Supersymmetry (September 4, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76190 76190-19671625@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 4, 2020 3:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Partial compositeness can be used to explain the Standard Model fermion mass hierarchy and predict the sfermion mass spectrum in a supersymmetric model. It assumes that the Higgs and third-generation matter superfields are elementary, while the first two matter generations are composite, with a linear mixing between elementary superfields and supersymmetric operators with large anomalous dimensions. This gives rise to a split-like, supersymmetric model that intricately connects the sector responsible for the generation of flavor with supersymmetry breaking to produce a unique sparticle spectrum. The inverted sfermion mass spectrum can be probed at future flavor violation experiments such as Mu2e or searches for the electron and neutron electric dipole moment.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 26 Aug 2020 17:33:00 -0400 2020-09-04T15:00:00-04:00 2020-09-04T16:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Seminar Series (September 9, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76946 76946-19780535@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, September 9, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract: Birth defects that interfere with craniofacial development can result in cognitive, neurosensory, and neuroendocrine defects that create life-long burdens for care. The forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, five facial prominences, and pituitary gland develop between the first and second month of gestation in humans. Genetic defects that disrupt these processes cause a spectrum of disorders that range from holoprosencephaly (HPE) and septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) to pituitary hormone deficiencies. We screened a large cohort of Argentinean patients with congenital hypopituitarism and related disorders for mutations in known genes and identified novel pathogenic variants and examples of digenic disease. However, the majority of patients did not receive a molecular diagnosis, indicating the high degree of genetic complexity underlying these disorders and the need for additional gene discovery. The majority of known hypopituitarism genes were discovered through basic research in pituitary cell lines and mutant mice. To identify novel regulatory genes for pituitary organogenesis we analyzed differential binding of a key pituitary-specific transcription factor, POU1F1, in cell lines that represent pituitary progenitors and differentiated cells. We discovered that POU1F1 binding is associated with bZIP transcription factors in progenitors and with bHLH factors in differentiated cells. We also applied single cell RNA sequencing technology to analyze gene expression during pituitary organogenesis and discovered novel transcription factors that are candidates for driving cell specification as well as unique, rare cell types that are likely differentiation intermediates. Bioinformatic analyses have played key roles in advancing our knowledge of neuroendocrine birth defects and normal pituitary organogenesis.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 09 Sep 2020 08:26:42 -0400 2020-09-09T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-09T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Lecture / Discussion Sally Camper, Ph.D., Margery Shaw Distinguished University Professor of Human Genetics, Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan
Minicolloquium | Coulomb Explosion of Cold Non-Neutral Rubidium Plasma (September 11, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76960 76960-19782522@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 11, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

We study the expansion of a cold, non-neutral ion plasma into the vacuum. The plasma is prepared by UV (355-nm) photo-ionization of Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap. We report on the formation and persistence of shock shells in the Coulomb-exploding plasma, as well as external-field-induced plasma focusing effects. Simulated results from a trajectory model and a fluid model verify the formation of shock shells. The computational analysis allows us to calculate time- and position-dependent density, temperature, and Coulomb coupling parameter, reaffirming the presence of shock shells and strong coupling in our experiment. Among other insights, the analysis further reveals the time scale of disorder-induced heating, the build-up of pair correlations, adiabatic expansion, and ballistic cooling.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 11 Sep 2020 18:15:35 -0400 2020-09-11T13:00:00-04:00 2020-09-11T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Identifying Emergency Funds and How to Advocate for Making Room in Your Financial Aid Package (September 11, 2020 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/75507 75507-19513173@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 11, 2020 2:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: CEW+

Advance registration is required; look for the Zoom link at the bottom of your confirmation email after registering.

This session will provide information about how you can seek emergency funds should you experience an emergency situation or one-time, unusual, unforeseen expense while in school. Information about the types of situations that qualify for emergency funds and where to seek funding will be covered during this presentation.

RSVP HERE: http://www.cew.umich.edu/events/identifying-emergency-funds-and-how-to-advocate-for-making-room-in-your-financial-aid-package

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Livestream / Virtual Tue, 18 Aug 2020 14:02:34 -0400 2020-09-11T14:00:00-04:00 2020-09-11T15:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location CEW+ Livestream / Virtual A jar of spilled change
HEP-Astro Seminar | The Low-energy Electronic-recoil Excess in the XENON1T Dark Matter Experiment (September 14, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76887 76887-19774587@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, September 14, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

The XENON1T liquid xenon time projection chamber is the most sensitive WIMP dark matter detector to date. Though the main WIMP search is performed by selecting for nuclear recoils, electronic-recoil events can also hold evidence for new physics, such as solar axions, bosonic dark matter, or neutrino magnetic moments. The low backgrounds achieved in this experiment allow for precision searches, even at low recoil energies. I will discuss the recent results of the electronic-recoil search in XENON1T and the implications for new physics channels.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 14 Sep 2020 18:15:44 -0400 2020-09-14T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-14T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Virtual Seminar featuring Gioele La Manno, Ph.D. (EPFL Life Sciences Early Independent Research Scholar (ELISIR) (September 18, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77057 77057-19836073@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 18, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

I will present our comprehensive single-cell transcriptome atlas of mouse brain development spanning from gastrulation to birth. In this atlasing effort, we identified almost a thousand distinct cellular states, including the initial emergence of the neuroepithelium, different glioblasts, and a rich set of region-specific secondary organizers that we localize spatially. In this context, I will provide an example of how the spatially-resolved transcriptomic data can be particularly useful to interpret the complexity of such complex atlases.

Continuing in this direction, I will show the approach that we recently proposed as a general way to spatially resolve different types of next-generation sequencing data. We designed an imaging-free framework to localize high throughput readouts within a tissue by combining compressive sampling and image reconstruction. Our first implementation of this framework transformed a low-input RNA sequencing protocol into an imaging-free spatial transcriptomics technique (STRP-seq).

Finally, I will showcase the technique with the profiling of the brain of the Australian bearded dragon Pogona vitticeps. With this analysis, we revealed the molecular anatomy of the telencephalon of this lizard and provided evidence for a marked regionalization of the reptilian pallium and subpallium.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 16 Sep 2020 11:27:53 -0400 2020-09-18T12:00:00-04:00 2020-09-18T13:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Lecture / Discussion Gioele La Manno, Ph.D. (EPFL Life Sciences Early Independent Research Scholar (ELISIR) École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne ‐ EPFL Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)
Minicolloquium | Precision Particle Physics (September 18, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77263 77263-19830115@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 18, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

The nature and interactions of the most fundamental pieces of the universe is one of the deepest intellectual pursuits and the focus of particle physics. Probing at this level can be done by using the highest energies to explore physics at short range, which is the realm of high energy particle physics. Our approach, in contrast, is to develop the tools and to make precise measurements of the properties of atoms and nuclei that would be slightly altered by short-range physics. Our focus is on the magnetic and electric dipole moments of an elementary fermion: the muon, a hadron: the neutron, and an atom: 129Xe. The magnetic moment of the muon is slightly affected by interaction with the quantum vacuum, and the Standard Model can predict this to parts-per-billion, also the level at which we can measure in an ongoing experiment at Fermilab. The electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron also arises due to interactions with the vacuum, but has not yet been observed and is the focus of a new experiment rapidly coming together at Los Alamos. We have recently set the most precise limit on the 129Xe EDM and are planning the next generation of measurements. As we pursue these measurements, we have developed new approaches to magnetometry that are both essential for these experiments and have broad applications. In this talk I will expand on the motivations and describe PhD research opportunities in our lab.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 18 Sep 2020 18:15:38 -0400 2020-09-18T13:00:00-04:00 2020-09-18T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HEP-Astro Seminar | Dynamics of the Outer Solar System: from Neptune to Planet Nine (September 21, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76888 76888-19774588@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, September 21, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

The Kuiper belt, found beyond the orbit of Neptune, consists of a population of small, icy bodies that orbit the Sun. Due to perturbations from the giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), the orbits of these objects slowly evolve with time. In this talk, we will analyze the orbital dynamics of the Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) both with numerical simulations and with a theoretical Hamiltonian approach. We will discuss the structure of the outer Solar System and focus on the most extreme sub-population of objects: the long-period high eccentricity class. The orbits of these extreme KBOs all appear to point in the same direction in physical space; this anomalous signal cannot be explained by the currently known eight-planet Solar System. In order to understand their origin and dynamics, we introduce the hypothesized Planet Nine to the distant Kuiper belt. We find that the presence of Planet Nine allows for two stable populations of objects - the aligned and anti-aligned KBOs - in agreement with observations. We will discuss the mechanisms that lead to this stability, and focus on a fascinating process called resonance hopping, in which a KBO rapidly transitions from one resonance to another with Planet Nine. By tying together studies of observed KBOs with more general analyses of the evolution of synthetic test particles, we elucidate the dynamics of the outer Solar System in and out of the Planet Nine context.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 21 Sep 2020 18:15:44 -0400 2020-09-21T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-21T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Virtual Seminar (September 23, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77143 77143-19798542@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Talk title: Decision Support System Applications in Dentistry

Dr. Lucia Cevidanes is the Thomas and Doris Graber Professor of Dentistry and Associate Professor at the Department of Orthodontics at the University of Michigan, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. She is a practicing clinician who has published over 150 manuscripts on 3D imaging for which she has received research grants from the American Association of Orthodontics Foundation and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Her work has been recognized by the American Association of Orthodontists Thomas M. Graber Award, the B F Dewel Award, Milo Hellman Award, and the Wuehrmann award from the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology. Her interests include Artificial Intelligence and 3D Imaging to solve difficult clinical problems in dentistry, studying current and new treatment approaches and technical procedures, and understanding treatment outcomes for craniofacial anomalies and dentofacial deformities.

Zoom Link: https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Lecture / Discussion Fri, 11 Sep 2020 15:27:53 -0400 2020-09-23T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-23T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Lecture / Discussion Dr. Lucia Cevidanes is the Thomas and Doris Graber Professor of Dentistry and Associate Professor at the Department of Orthodontics at the University of Michigan
Department Colloquium | How Often Do Muon Neutrinos Turn Into Electron Neutrinos? (September 23, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77184 77184-19820168@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

The properties of the neutrino are imprinted on the evolutionary history of our Universe. In particular, the mass of the neutrino and its behavior has affected matter dominance, galactic structure, heavy element creation, and many other fundamental characteristics of the cosmos. Towards a complete understanding of the neutrino, the remaining mysteries mainly revolve around answering a singular question: How often do muon neutrinos turn into electron neutrinos? The multi-faceted answer is one of the keys to bringing us into the age of astroparticle physics, in which we relate the smallest (particle) and largest (cosmic) scales.

In this talk, I will present our work in studying muon-to-electron neutrino mixing at both short and long distances, utilizing powerful accelerators and ultra-large detectors in the US and Japan.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 23 Sep 2020 18:15:50 -0400 2020-09-23T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-23T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET Seminar | Modularity of supersymmetric partition functions (September 25, 2020 11:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/77378 77378-19846060@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 25, 2020 11:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

In this talk, I will present a novel modular property of 4d N=1 supersymmetric partition functions of supersymmetric theories with R-symmetry. It is a generalization of the modular invariance of the supersymmetric partition function of two-dimensional supersymmetric theories on a torus i.e. of the elliptic genus. It comes from requiring consistency of partition functions under gluing and, among other things, can be used to rederive the supersymmetric Cardy formula for four-dimensional gauge theories that has played a key role in computing the entropy of supersymmetric black holes.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 21 Sep 2020 08:12:34 -0400 2020-09-25T11:00:00-04:00 2020-09-25T12:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
Minicolloquium | Bound State Structure and Formation in Quantum Chromodynamics (September 25, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77557 77557-19885802@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 25, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the quantum field theory describing the strong interaction, which binds quarks and gluons into hadrons, the “atoms” of QCD. Due to a property known as confinement, quarks and gluons can never be observed in isolation but rather only in bound states, adding challenge but also rich complexity to the study of QCD. The Aidala group’s research focuses on the internal structure of the proton, in particular on spin-spin and spin-momentum correlations within the proton, and recently extended their work to study additionally the mechanisms by which scattered quarks and gluons form new hadronic bound states. The group’s activities on the PHENIX and sPHENIX experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and as part of the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider will be discussed. Prospects for the future Electron-Ion Collider to be built at Brookhaven National Lab will furthermore be presented.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 25 Sep 2020 18:15:58 -0400 2020-09-25T13:00:00-04:00 2020-09-25T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HEP-Astro Seminar | Highlights from Recent LIGO and Virgo Observations (September 28, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76889 76889-19774589@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, September 28, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

More than a century ago Albert Einstein realized that his newly created General Theory of Relativity implied that gravity propagates like light. These gravitational waves are minute disturbances of space itself, which can arise from distant and massive but compact bodies, such as black holes and neutron stars. Now that these ghostly waves have been detected by the LIGO and Virgo interferometers, physicists and astronomers are confirming Einstein's predictions (as usual), while probing some of the most exotic phenomena in the Universe. Insights from discoveries made so far, including some surprising new objects, will be presented, along with the potential for new discoveries that will make gravitational waves critical to the next century of astronomy and cosmology.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 28 Sep 2020 18:15:42 -0400 2020-09-28T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-28T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET BROWN BAG | New Physics and the Black Hole Mass Gap (September 30, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77301 77301-19836071@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, September 30, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

In this talk I will demonstrate the potential of the black hole mass gap to probe new physics. The mass gap, in which no black holes can be formed, is a standard prediction of stellar structure theory. I will show that new physics that couples to the Standard Model can act as an additional source of energy loss in the cores of population-III stars, dramatically altering their evolution, resulting in large shifts of the gap. The gravitational wave observations by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration will bring the edges of the black hole mass gap in sight in the coming years, making this a promising novel probe of new physics.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 06 Oct 2020 14:11:20 -0400 2020-09-30T12:00:00-04:00 2020-09-30T13:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Virtual Seminar - Xiaotian Zhang, Ph.D. (September 30, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77549 77549-19883820@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, September 30, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract: The human genome is organized into small compartments to allow for the proper gene expression regulation in the physiological process. With the advance of next-generation sequencing and imaging technologies, we can now investigate how the genome is folded into 3D space and how the 3D genomic organization regulates gene expression in development and disease. Currently, most of the studies are focusing on CTCF and cohesion complex which partner together to facilitate the formation of topological associated domains (TAD). The presenter will mainly discuss his recently published work on the DNA methylation -3D genomics cross-talk. Unpublished work on the 3D genomics in AML will be discussed as well.

Short bio: Xiaotian Zhang obtained his Ph.D. at Baylor College of Medicine with Dr. Margaret Goodell on the role of DNA methylation synergy in leukemia development. He was previously the Van Andel special postdoc fellow in Gerd Pfeifer lab working on the 3D genomics in normal hematopoietic stem cell and leukemia. He is now a Research track faculty (Research Investigator) in Pathology Department under Tomek Cierpicki working on the HOXA regulation in leukemia development. Xiaotian's research focuses on the epigenetic regulation of key pathogenic genes in leukemia, particularly on high order chromatin structure in disease. He published on Nature Genetics, Molecular Cell and Blood as the first author and corresponding authors.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 22 Sep 2020 09:31:31 -0400 2020-09-30T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-30T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Lecture / Discussion Xiaotian Zhang, Ph.D., Research Investigator in the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan
Physics Special Department Colloquium | Scientific Espionage, Open Exchange, and American Competitiveness (September 30, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76450 76450-19717145@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, September 30, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

In 2015, Xiaoxing Xi was wrongfully arrested by the FBI in a case of alleged racial profiling. Since speaking out about his experience and the consequences for academic freedom, he was awarded the 2020 Andrei Sakharov Prize from the American Physical Society, which is awarded biannually to human rights advocates in the physics community.

Presentation abstract:
Amid rapidly escalating tension between the United States and China, professors, scientists, and students of Chinese ethnic origin as well as those engaging in academic collaborations with China are under heightened scrutiny by the federal government. Law enforcement officials consider collaborating with Chinese colleagues “by definition conveying sensitive information to the Chinese.” In 2015, I became a casualty of this campaign despite being innocent. This experience gave me insights into the challenges Chinese scientists face and the immediate threat to the open environment in fundamental research on university campuses.

In this talk, I will highlight the JASON Report on Fundamental Research Security, commissioned and endorsed by the National Science Foundation. It opposes profiling Chinese scholars based on the actions of the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party, supports reaffirmation of NSDD-189, which made unrestricted fundamental research a federal policy and proposes addressing foreign influence on US research within the framework of research integrity. I urge the audience to rally around the JASON Report and speak up to defend liberty and safeguard America's research enterprise.

Co-sponsored by Indigo: The LSA Asian and Asian-American Faculty Alliance and the U-M Association of Chinese Professors.

Please register here for the webinar: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5ZfAAGdLTgylS04ds7ayuw

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Presentation Thu, 24 Sep 2020 14:13:32 -0400 2020-09-30T16:00:00-04:00 2020-09-30T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Presentation Event Poster
Minicolloquium | Shedding New Light on Photosynthesis With Multispectral Multidimensional Spectroscopy (October 2, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77811 77811-19933599@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 2, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

The primary events of photosynthesis occur on ultrafast timescales with high quantum efficiency. Elucidating the design principles of photosynthetic systems remains an outstanding challenge that has the potential to impact our design of artificial light-harvesting materials. I will discuss our development of a multispectral multidimensional spectrometer (MMDS) enabling measurements spanning the ultraviolet, visible and mid-infrared as well as combination spectroscopies, over timescales of femtoseconds to seconds. I will illustrate some of the capabilities of the MMDS instrument through our efforts to probe the electronic structure and charge separation mechanisms of several light-harvesting systems.


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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 02 Oct 2020 18:15:46 -0400 2020-10-02T13:00:00-04:00 2020-10-02T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Saturday Morning Physics VIRTUAL Event | Exploring Titan with Dragonfly! (October 3, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/77279 77279-19830131@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, October 3, 2020 10:30am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Saturday Morning Physics

Youtube Event Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4dh-dv4AxQ
(Link will be active at 10:30 am on 10/3/20.) See saturdaymorningphysics.org for more details.

Dr. Ann Parsons will give a "live" lecture with a "live" Q&A after the talk.

NASA has recently selected the Dragonfly Mission to study the surface chemistry of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan! Dragonfly will land on Titan and then fly to dozens of different locations over its surface to study its prebiotic chemistry and to look for potential biosignatures.

We celebrate the James Robert Walker Lecture on this occasion.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 22 Sep 2020 16:05:39 -0400 2020-10-03T10:30:00-04:00 2020-10-03T11:30:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Saturday Morning Physics Workshop / Seminar Dragonfly Mission Image
HEP-Astro Seminar | Observation of Production of Three Massive Gauge Bosons (October 5, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76890 76890-19774590@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, October 5, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

The three massive gauge boson VVV (V = W, Z) production at the LHC is interesting because measurements of such processes can probe the interactions between massive bosons including the Higgs. Up until recently, such measurements have remained elusive because of low production cross sections. This talk will discuss the recent CMS result of first observation (5.7σ) of combined VVV production at the CERN LHC and evidences for WWW (3.3σ) and WWZ (3.4σ) productions individually. Finally, I will briefly discuss the future of the physics program of the rare multi-boson processes.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 05 Oct 2020 18:15:44 -0400 2020-10-05T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-05T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
RNA Seminar featuring: Chase Weidmann, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (October 5, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76147 76147-19665691@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, October 5, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Center for RNA Biomedicine

ZOOM REGISTRATION REQUIRED: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_y9HTFl5RSOSJTJ5qtlhVcw

Keywords: mRNA regulation, noncoding RNA, RNA Structure, RNP granules

Abstract:
Chase Weidmann, Ph.D. has contributed broadly to the field of RNA Biology during his career, studying mechanisms of codon bias during translation, post-transcriptional regulation of mRNAs by RNA-binding proteins, the folding of long non-coding RNAs, and how RNA-protein interaction networks contribute to the function and assembly of functional RNP particles. Chase developed a chemical probing strategy and next-gen sequencing technology, called RNP-MaP, that maps the location of and cooperation between multi-protein networks on RNAs in live cells. Going forward, Chase is interested in understanding how alterations in RNA-binding protein profiles, a cell’s “RBPome”, confer deleterious activities onto noncoding RNAs in human disease, especially in cancer. To further empower this work and his future research program, Chase is now generating and integrating protein mass spectrometry data into his RBPome projects.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 16 Sep 2020 09:01:52 -0400 2020-10-05T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-05T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Center for RNA Biomedicine Lecture / Discussion photo
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Seminar (October 7, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78232 78232-19996937@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, October 7, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract: The chromosomes of the human genome are organized in three-dimensions by compartmentalizing the cell nucleus and different genomic loci also interact with each other. However, the principles underlying such nuclear genome organization and its functional impact remain poorly understood. In this talk, I will introduce some of our recent work in developing machine learning methods by utilizing whole-genome mapping data to study the higher-order genome organization. Our methods reveal the spatial localization of chromosome regions and exploit chromatin interactome patterns within the cell nucleus in different cellular conditions, across mammalian species, and also in single-cell resolution. We hope that these algorithms will provide new insights into the principles of nuclear spatial organization.

Bio: Jian Ma is an Associate Professor in the Computational Biology Department within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He was previously on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His lab develops algorithms to study the structure and function of the human genome with a focus on nuclear organization, gene regulation, comparative genomics, and single cell biology. He received several awards, including an NSF CAREER award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is the Contact PI of a UM1 Center project in the NIH 4D Nucleome Program (Phase 2; 2020-2025). https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~jianma/

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Tue, 06 Oct 2020 12:47:39 -0400 2020-10-07T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-07T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual
CGIS Virtual Study Abroad Fair (October 8, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77893 77893-19943564@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, October 8, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Center for Global and Intercultural Study

Study abroad is not just for juniors. It's not just for language and international studies majors. It's not just for students from certain communities or socioeconomic backgrounds. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you’re studying, a study abroad experience is available to you during your time at Michigan.

Whether you want to develop the skills you’ll need to compete in a global economy, cultivate your language competencies, or build meaningful connections with people from around the world, this is the best time in your life for a global experience.

Studying abroad often proves to be a pivotal experience, but deciding which program is the best fit can be daunting as you consider questions such as: How will this enhance my course of study? When should I go? For how long? Where? Can I afford it? How do I prepare? Will my credits transfer? The CGIS Study Abroad Virtual Fair is the best time to get all of your questions answered!

During the day of the virtual fair, you'll have instant access to academic advisors, education abroad advisors, Office of Financial Aid & LSA Scholarship Office representatives, and program representatives as well as scheduled events throughout the fair!

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Fair / Festival Tue, 29 Sep 2020 22:20:17 -0400 2020-10-08T12:00:00-04:00 2020-10-08T16:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Center for Global and Intercultural Study Fair / Festival Image300
Minicolloquium |Physics with ZEUS (October 9, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78179 78179-19989041@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 9, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Minicolloquium link: http://myumi.ch/AxgeZ

The multipetawatt laser ZEUS will be a new NSF funded midscale international user facility based at the University of Michigan. It is under construction and due to be completed in 2023. Once constructed, it will be the most powerful laser pulse in the US. In this talk I will describe the physics motivation for ZEUS and the experiments it will enable, including plasma-based particle acceleration, ultra-short duration coherent photon sources, and probing the physics of strong fields including matter-from-light experiments.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 09 Oct 2020 18:15:43 -0400 2020-10-09T13:00:00-04:00 2020-10-09T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET Seminar | A Double Copy for Celestial Amplitudes (October 9, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77375 77375-19846053@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 9, 2020 3:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Seminar link:http://myumi.ch/O4P7E

Celestial amplitudes which use conformal primary wavefunctions rather than plane waves as external states offer a novel opportunity to study properties of amplitudes with manifest conformal covariance and give insight into a potential holographic celestial CFT at the null boundary of asymptotically flat space. With the notion of energy traded for the conformal dimension under the Lorentz group acting on the celestial sphere, energetically soft theorems of QFT scattering amplitudes are replaced by "conformally soft" theorems. Moreover, since translation invariance is obscured in the conformal basis, features of amplitudes that heavily rely on it, such as the remarkable relations between gauge theory and gravity amplitudes known as the double copy, appear to be lost. My main focus in this talk is to show that there exists nevertheless a well-defined procedure for a celestial double copy. This requires a generalization of the usual squaring of numerators to first promoting them to generalized differential operators acting on external wavefunctions, and then squaring them. I will end with recent results on how to obtain celestial loop amplitudes from tree level ones.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:48:33 -0400 2020-10-09T15:00:00-04:00 2020-10-09T16:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
Saturday Morning Physics VIRTUAL Event | The Degree of Fine-Tuning in our Universe – and Others (October 10, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/77280 77280-19830132@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, October 10, 2020 10:30am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Saturday Morning Physics

Professor Fred Adams will give a pre-recorded lecture with a "live" Q&A after the talk.

Youtube Event Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPs7-svpZW8 (Link will be active at 10:30 am on 10/10/20.) See saturdaymorningphysics.org for more details.

The fundamental constants of nature must fall within a range of values in order for the universe to develop structure and ultimately support life. The relevant parameters include the strengths of the fundamental forces, particle masses, cosmic energy densities, abundances of ordinary matter and dark matter, and the amplitude of primordial density fluctuations. This talk considers current constraints on these quantities and assesses the degree of tuning required for the universe to be viable.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:16:09 -0400 2020-10-10T10:30:00-04:00 2020-10-10T23:30:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Saturday Morning Physics Workshop / Seminar Saturday Morning Physics Talk Photo
Science Success Series | Overcoming the Fear of Failure in Personal and Academic Pursuits (October 12, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76330 76330-19687523@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, October 12, 2020 3:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Science Learning Center

In this workshop, we'll build on the lessons of growth mindset and put failure into practice, with activities that allow us to focus on the learning that goes along with mistakes. This way, we can create environments that allow for innovation, personal, and professional growth.

Register on Sessions: https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/session/29116

Email ScienceSuccessSeries@umich.edu with any questions.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 28 Aug 2020 17:08:58 -0400 2020-10-12T15:00:00-04:00 2020-10-12T16:30:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Science Learning Center Workshop / Seminar
HEP-Astro Seminar | Building DESI - The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (October 12, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76911 76911-19776575@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, October 12, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is a multi-object fiber spectrograph on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. DESI consists of a new wide-field optical corrector and a 3-degree focal plane with 5000 robotic fiber positioners feeding into ten broadband spectrographs. The large number of spectra obtained in a single exposure will enable a five-year spectroscopic survey of over a third of the sky. DESI will obtain redshifts for more than 35 million objects including luminous red galaxies, emission line galaxies and quasar Ly-a forest spectra, creating the most detailed 3-dimensional map of the universe to date.

The DESI focal plane is composed of ten identical wedge-shaped petals which were integrated and tested at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and installed at Kitt Peak during the Summer of 2019. DESI completed commissioning in March 2020 just days before mountain operations had to be put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During Commissioning, 12 million on-sky spectra were taken and two dark time mini surveys were completed. Following a brief overview of DESI I will highlight some of the milestones during construction and installation of the DESI instrument. I will close by touching on some of the results from the commissioning phase.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 12 Oct 2020 18:15:43 -0400 2020-10-12T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-12T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Seminar (October 14, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78234 78234-19996940@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract: Gaussian processes provide flexible non-parametric models of data and we are using them to model temporal and spatial patterns in gene expression. Single-cell omics measurements are destructive and one cannot follow the high-dimensional dynamics of genes across time in one cell. Similarly, the spatial context of cells is often lost or only known with reduced resolution. Computational methods are widely used to infer pseudo-temporal orderings of cells or to infer spatial locations. We show how Gaussian processes (GPs) can be used to model temporal and spatial relationships between genes and cells in these datasets. As examples I will show how we use Bayesian GPLVMs with informative priors to infer pseudo-temporal orderings for single-cell time course data [1] and branching GPs to identify gene-specific bifurcation points across pseudotime [2]. Gene expression data are often summarized as counts and there may be many zero values in the data due to limited sequencing depth. We therefore recently extended these methods to use negative binomial or zero-inflated negative binomial likelihoods and we show that this can lead to much improved performance over standard Gaussian noise models when identifying spatially varying genes from spatial transcriptomics data [3].

[1] Ahmed, S., Rattray, M., & Boukouvalas, A. (2019). GrandPrix: scaling up the Bayesian GPLVM for single-cell data. Bioinformatics, 35(1), 47-54.

[2] Boukouvalas, A., Hensman, J., & Rattray, M. (2018). BGP: identifying gene-specific branching dynamics from single-cell data with a branching Gaussian process. Genome biology, 19(1), 65.

[3] BinTayyash, N., Georgaka, S., John, S. T., Ahmed, S., Boukouvalas, A., Hensman, J., & Rattray, M. (2020). Non-parametric modelling of temporal and spatial counts data from RNA-seq experiments. Bioarxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.29.227207

Short bio: Magnus Rattray is Professor of Computational and Systems Biology at the University of Manchester and Director of the Institute for Data Science & AI. He works on the development of methods for machine learning and Bayesian inference with applications to large-scale biological and medical datasets. He has a long-standing interest in longitudinal data analysis and a more recent interest in modelling single-cell, spatial omics and live cell imaging microscopy data. He is a Fellow of the ELLIS Health Programme and the Alan Turing Institute and his research is funded by a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Tue, 06 Oct 2020 13:35:21 -0400 2020-10-14T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-14T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual Magnus Rattray, PhD (Professor of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Manchester)
Department Colloquium | The Increasing Peril From Nuclear Arms: And How Physicists Can Help Reduce the Threat (October 14, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78291 78291-20004836@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Department Colloquium Link: http://myumi.ch/GkgBm

With geopolitical and technological changes mostly driven by the nuclear weapons states, we are slipping towards a new arms race and deterioration of the multi-decade arms control regime. This talk will describe the current critical situation, feasible steps to reduce the nuclear threat, and a new project sponsored by the American Physical Society to engage physical scientists in advocacy for nuclear threat reduction.

The colloquium will be followed by a short meeting for those interested in learning about the APS Physicists Coalition for Threat Reduction.

To learn more about the Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction, visit: https://www.aps.org/policy/nuclear/index.cfm

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 23 Oct 2020 08:04:45 -0400 2020-10-14T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-14T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Minicolloquium | Shedding Light on Quantum Materials (October 16, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78432 78432-20044395@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 16, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Minicolloquium Link: http://myumi.ch/AxgeZ

Quantum materials are the vast varieties of materials where interactions introduce collective behaviors that cannot be inferred from individual electrons or atoms. One manifestation of emergent behaviors is the formation of spontaneous symmetry breaking phases and their collective excitations. In this talk, I will show how we use ultrashort laser pulses to study an interesting symmetry breaking phase, the ferro-rotational phase that is characterized by the ordering of head-to-tail loops of electric dipoles, and probe its dynamics.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 16 Oct 2020 18:15:44 -0400 2020-10-16T13:00:00-04:00 2020-10-16T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET Seminar | Neural Networks and Quantum Field Theory (October 16, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77379 77379-19915834@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Seminar link: http://myumi.ch/O4P7E

We propose a theoretical understanding of neural networks in terms of Wilsonian effective field theory. The correspondence relies on the fact that many asymptotic neural networks are drawn from Gaussian processes, the analog of non-interacting field theories. Moving away from the asymptotic limit yields a non-Gaussian process and corresponds to turning on particle interactions, allowing for the computation of correlation functions of neural network outputs with Feynman diagrams. Minimal non-Gaussian process likelihoods are determined by the most relevant non-Gaussian terms, according to the flow in their coefficients induced by the Wilsonian renormalization group. This yields a direct connection between overparameterization and simplicity of neural network likelihoods. Whether the coefficients are constants or functions may be understood in terms of GP limit symmetries, as expected from 't Hooft's technical naturalness. General theoretical calculations are matched to neural network experiments in the simplest class of models allowing the correspondence. Our formalism is valid for any of the many architectures that becomes a GP in an asymptotic limit, a property preserved under certain types of training.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 05 Oct 2020 09:05:30 -0400 2020-10-16T15:00:00-04:00 2020-10-16T16:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
Saturday Morning Physics VIRTUAL Event | Smart Maritime Propulsion and Energy Harvesting Concepts (October 17, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/77281 77281-19830134@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, October 17, 2020 10:30am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Saturday Morning Physics

Professor Julie Young will give a pre-recorded lecture with a "live" Q&A after the talk.

YouTube Event Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zey20C9_c1M
(Link will be active at 10:30 am on 10/17/20.) See saturdaymorningphysics.org for more details.

Some of the topics covered in this talk include, how can we design smart marine propulsion and energy harvesting devices to keep our oceans blue? What are the interesting physics fundamentals that govern how bodies move in water? How can we take advantage of advances in materials, manufacturing, sensing, and control?

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 22 Sep 2020 16:08:28 -0400 2020-10-17T10:30:00-04:00 2020-10-17T11:30:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Saturday Morning Physics Workshop / Seminar Saturday Morning Physics Logo
HEP-Astro Seminar | Flavour Anomalies and Exotic States at the LHCb Experiment (October 19, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77812 77812-19933600@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, October 19, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

Over the past 5 years, the LHCb collaboration has performed a suite of measurements involving the properties of B-hadron decays that appear to be in tension with SM predictions.These measurements point to the existence of a new particle, such as a Lepto-Quark, with non-universal lepton couplings. At the same time, the LHCb collaboration has revealed the existence of multiple new exotic hadrons with different quark content that could provide new insight into our understanding of the strong interaction. In this seminar, we will review both these topics, their interpretations, as well as plans with upcoming upgrades of the detector.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 19 Oct 2020 18:15:41 -0400 2020-10-19T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-19T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
CM-AMO Seminar | Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of Emergent Topological Matter (October 20, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78489 78489-20052308@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

CM-AMO Seminar link: http://myumi.ch/yK177

The search for topological matter is evolving towards strongly interacting systems including topological magnets and superconductors, where novel effects emerge from the quantum level interplay between geometry, correlation, and topology. Equipped with unprecedented spatial resolution, electronic detection, and magnetic tunability, scanning tunneling microscopy has become an advanced tool to probe and discover the emergent topological matter. In this talk, I will review the proof-of-principle methodology to study the elusive quantum topology in this discipline, with particular attention on the studies under a vector magnetic field as the new direction, and project future perspectives in tunneling into other hitherto unknown topological matter.

Key references:

Jia-Xin Yin et al. Nature 583, 533-536 (2020).
Jia-Xin Yin et al. Nature 562, 91-95 (2018).
Jia-Xin Yin et al. Nature Physics 15, 443–448 (2019).
Jia-Xin Yin et al. Nature Physics 11, 543 (2015).
Jia-Xin Yin et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 217004 (2019).
Jia-Xin Yin et al. Nature Communications 11, 4003 (2020).
Jia-Xin Yin et al. Nature communications 11, 4415 (2020).

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 20 Oct 2020 18:15:42 -0400 2020-10-20T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-20T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Seminar (October 21, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78531 78531-20058232@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, October 21, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract
Although machine learning applications are now pervasive to every industry, adoption into healthcare remains a challenging and arduous process. Barriers to implementation include clinician trust, algorithm credibility and actionability, promoting clinician literacy in machine learning methods, and mitigating unintended consequences.

In the high-risk operating room setting, anesthesiologists are recognized leaders in patient safety, and manage uncertainty through careful considerations of risk and benefit based upon a thorough understanding of disease processes and treatment mechanisms. In this talk, the speaker highlights how obstacles to implementation of machine-learning based healthcare applications can be mitigated, and how an understanding of such applications can be promoted among clinically-minded anesthesiologists who may not necessarily be expert data scientists.

Short Bio:
Dr. Mathis has research interests in improving perioperative care for patients with advanced cardiovascular disease, particularly for patients with heart failure. As part of the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group (MPOG), an international consortium of perioperative databases for which U-M serves as the coordinating center, he serves as Associate Research Director and plays a lead role in integration of MPOG data with data from national cardiac and thoracic surgery registries. He also has interests in leveraging novel data science methods to understand patterns within highly granular intraoperative physiologic data, studying hemodynamic responses to surgical and anesthetic stimuli as a means for early detection of cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 14 Oct 2020 11:43:15 -0400 2020-10-21T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-21T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual Image which promotes the content of Dr. Mathis' talk (https://jamanetwork.com/collections/5584/critical-care-medicine)
Rackham/Sweetland Workshops on Writing (October 22, 2020 9:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/78490 78490-20052309@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, October 22, 2020 9:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Sweetland Center for Writing

This workshop offers students tips and ideas for writing more competitive fellowship proposalsin STEM disciplines. The workshop will include an overview of the types of criteria that reviewers use in evaluating proposals as well as ideas for what to include in your proposal and how to structure content.

Presented by Larissa Sano, Sweetland Center for Writing

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 13 Oct 2020 12:36:06 -0400 2020-10-22T09:00:00-04:00 2020-10-22T10:30:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Sweetland Center for Writing Workshop / Seminar
Dr. Nahum Melamed on Asteroid Interception (October 22, 2020 7:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78685 78685-20105421@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, October 22, 2020 7:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Join the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics this Thursday, October 22nd, for a lecture by Dr. Nahum Melamed on Applying Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Solutions to the Problem of Asteroid Interception for Planetary Defense.

Dr. Melamed is a project leader in the Embedded Control Systems Department in the Guidance and Control Subdivision at The Aerospace Corporation who validates and certifies the flight software and mission parameters for the Delta IV launch vehicles, and conducts planetary defense technical and policy studies. He earned a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech.

If you're interested please add your name to the spreadsheet linked below.

When: Thursday, 22 October 2020 at 7pm ET (4pm PT)
Where: Zoom (see link below, passcode 424378)

We hope to see you there!!

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 20 Oct 2020 10:08:36 -0400 2020-10-22T19:00:00-04:00 2020-10-22T20:15:00-04:00 Off Campus Location American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Lecture / Discussion lecture flyer
Minicolloquium | Understanding Self-Organization of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells (October 23, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78664 78664-20099532@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 23, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Minicolloquium Link: http://myumi.ch/AxgeZ

Human pluripotent stem cells resemble the cells of the early human embryo and have the potential to differentiate into any cell type of the body. Remarkably, they have an intrinsic ability to self-organize into embryo-like or organ-like structures and will spontaneously form spatial patterns in a dish through interplay of biochemical signaling networks and cell mechanics. Understanding how they do this will both answer fundamental questions about developmental biology and aid countless therapeutic applications. The quantitative toolkit of physics is essential to unravel the mechanisms that underlie the complex spatiotemporal behavior of these cells as they self-organize. I will discuss how quantitative experiments with stem cells have led us to challenge existing models for cell differentiation and pitch a project to explore how physical forces influence cell fate decisions.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 23 Oct 2020 18:15:38 -0400 2020-10-23T13:00:00-04:00 2020-10-23T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET Seminar | Feynman Integrals and Intersection Theory (October 23, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77380 77380-19846064@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 23, 2020 3:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Seminar Link: http://myumi.ch/O4P7E

Singularity structure of scattering amplitudes is as intricate as it is inscrutable. Work in this area over the recent years has been hinting at an existence of a “scalar product” between Feynman integrals, which would tell us how to characterize their analytic behavior. In this talk I will explain how to formulate this notion using the tools of intersection theory as well as review its theoretical and practical applications.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 14 Oct 2020 22:05:17 -0400 2020-10-23T15:00:00-04:00 2020-10-23T16:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
Special Joint Seminar - Hosted by DCMB, Department of Mathematics, and the Smale Institute (October 26, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78673 78673-20099541@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, October 26, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Dr. Leland Hartwell won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2001 for the discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle.

“We want our students to have an authentic experience of science. Nearly all science activities designed for schools require the students to demonstrate an established scientific principle by getting the right answer. Getting the “right” answer is not authentic science. Science is the exploration of the unknown – the answer cannot be known.“
- Leland Hartwell

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Livestream / Virtual Mon, 19 Oct 2020 13:04:27 -0400 2020-10-26T12:00:00-04:00 2020-10-26T13:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual Dr. Leland Hartwell, Nobel Laureate
HEP-Astro Seminar | Neutron Stars as Axion Laboratories (October 26, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78679 78679-20101506@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, October 26, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

The QCD axion is a well-motivated dark matter candidate that may also solve the strong CP problem related to the absence of the neutron electric dipole moment. Multiple experimental efforts are currently racing to try to discover this particle in the laboratory. However, in this talk I will show that astrophysical observations are also a promising path towards detecting the axion and related axion-like-particles, which arise in some String Theory compactifications. I will focus in particular on neutron stars as laboratories for searching for axions, leveraging the strong magnetic fields in these systems. I will discuss two recent neutron star axion searches in my group, one in the radio band and one in the X-ray band, that probe new regions of axion parameter space and perhaps even uncover hints of new physics.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 26 Oct 2020 18:15:38 -0400 2020-10-26T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-26T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
DCMB / CCMB Seminar (October 28, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78528 78528-20058229@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, October 28, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract: Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) allows researchers to examine the transcriptome at the single-cell resolution and has been increasingly employed as technologies continue to advance. Due to technical and biological reasons unique to scRNA-seq data, clustering and batch effect correction are almost indispensable to ensure valid and powerful data analysis. Multiple methods have been proposed for these two important tasks. For clustering, we have found that different methods, including state-of-the-art methods such as Seurat, SC3, CIDR, SIMLR, t-SNE + k-means, yield varying results in terms of both the number of clusters and actual cluster assignments. We have developed ensemble methods, SAFE-clustering and SAME-clustering, that leverages hyper-graph partitioning algorithms and a mixture model-based approach respectively to produce more robust and accurate ensemble solution on top of clustering results from individual methods. For batch effect correction, we have developed methods based on supervised mutual nearest neighbor detection to harness the power of known cell type labels for certain single cells. We benchmarked all methods in various scRNA-seq datasets to demonstrate their utilities.

Short bio: Yun Li, PhD is an Associate professor of Genetics and Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Li is a statistical geneticist with extensive experiences with method development and application on genotype imputation (developer of MaCH and MaCH-admix), genetic studies of recently admixed population, design and analysis of sequencing-based studies, analyses of multi-omics data including mRNA expression, DNA methylation and chromatin three dimensional organization. Dr. Li has been playing an active role in genetic studies of complex human traits resulting many GWAS and meta-analysis publications, including >30 in Nature, Science, Cell, and Nature Genetics. Dr. Li has been leading multiple R01 projects on statistical method development for complex trait genetics. Dr. Li has also been the Director for the Data Science Core of IDDRC (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center). Dr. Li has received many awards and became the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher due to her high impact scientific work. Specifically, her work has been cited >60,000 times with h-index of 64 and i10-index of 113.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 14 Oct 2020 10:41:20 -0400 2020-10-28T16:00:00-04:00 2020-10-28T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual Yun Li, PhD (Associate Professor of Genetics & Biostatistics; Adjunct Associate Professor, Applied Physical Sciences at School of Medicine, Genetics at University of North Carolina)
Minicolloquium | Using Physics to Function: Phases and Fluctuations in Cell Plasma Membranes (October 30, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78914 78914-20154723@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 30, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Minicolloquium link: http://myumi.ch/AxgeZ

The thermodynamic properties of plasma membrane lipids play a vital role in many functions at the mammalian cell surface. Some functions are thought to occur, at least in part, because plasma membrane lipids have a tendency to separate into two distinct liquid phases. We propose that these lipid mediated functions occur because the plasma membrane is biologically tuned close to a miscibility critical point at physiological temperature. In this talk, I will briefly summarize experimental support for this hypothesis, and discuss ongoing research in the Veatch lab aimed at understanding if and how cells exploit critical phenomena in membranes to accomplish biological functions.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 30 Oct 2020 18:15:33 -0400 2020-10-30T13:00:00-04:00 2020-10-30T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HEP-Astro Seminar | First Evidence for Higgs Boson Decay to Muons (November 2, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77200 77200-19822146@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, November 2, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

Probing the Higgs boson coupling to the muon is one of the last experimentally accessible frontiers In the direct measurement of Higgs boson couplings at the LHC. This seminar will highlight the first evidence for the rare Higgs boson decay to muons, achieved by the CMS Collaboration using the full dataset collected at 13 TeV during Run-2 of the LHC. This milestone was achieved earlier than expected thanks to the excellent performance of the CMS detector, with high-precision tracking and muon reconstruction systems, and also through the development of novel analysis strategies that include intensive use of machine learning techniques. The first set of measurements of the Higgs boson properties through the muon decay channel is also presented, with the observed signal well consistent with the standard model predictions.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 02 Nov 2020 18:15:31 -0500 2020-11-02T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-02T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET Brown Bag | Detecting terrestrial dark matter traffic jams (November 4, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79063 79063-20184347@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 4, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Subcomponent dark matter having large interactions with the standard model or with itself can accumulate terrestrially over the age of the earth leading to massive build-ups. This thermalized population is too cold to be visible in traditional direct detection. In this talk I outline a few detection strategies including accelerating this slow dark matter with metastable nuclear isomers or with electrostatic accelerators like LUNA. Intriguingly such a terrestrial component could explain the neutron bottle-beam anomaly and can cause anomalous heating in cryogenic detectors.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 05 Nov 2020 14:52:45 -0500 2020-11-04T12:00:00-05:00 2020-11-04T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
MIPSE Seminar | Quantum Hydrodynamics and Rayleigh-Taylor Instability (November 4, 2020 3:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76466 76466-19717159@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 4, 2020 3:30pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE)

The seminar is free and open to the public.
To request the Zoom link, please send an email to:
mipse-central@umich.edu

Abstract:
Matter at extreme pressures, temperatures, and densities characterizes a wide variety of natural and man-made phenomena, including interiors of Jovian size planets, hyper-velocity meteor impacts, the burning core of stars, thermonuclear burning inertial confinement fusion capsules. Matter at these conditions defines the exciting and challenging field of High Energy Density Physics (HEDP). Besides vast experimental resources, there exists a rich set of computational tools that model the micro to macro regimes of HEDP. Recently, there has been a resurgence in interest in using a “simpler” approach to investigating HEDP based on quantum hydrodynamics. Quantum Hydrodynamics (QHD) has a long and interesting history, dating back to the first developments by Madelung and Bohm. In this talk, we discuss the historical and recent developments in QHD, including pitfalls, as applied to quantum many-body systems relevant to HEDP regimes. We will present three different approaches to deriving the QHD equations-Madelung, Bloch, and Wigner and discuss their pros and cons. Finally, the role that Rayleigh-Taylor hydrodynamic instabilities play is discussed within the QHD formalism.

About the Speaker:
Frank Graziani received a BS in physics from Santa Clara U., and a PhD in physics from UCLA. He was a postdoctoral fellow at U. Colorado and U. Minnesota working in cosmology and particle physics; and worked with NASA on exoplanet dynamics and star formation. Dr. Graziani joined Lawrence Livermore National Lab. in 1989 where he worked in radiation transport and plasma physics. He has held many leadership positions at LLNL, including group leader, V&V Leader, PI for LDRD-Strategic Initiatives, lead for the National Boost Initiative and Assoc. Division Leader for computational physics. He now directs the High Energy Density Sciences Center. He has won four DOE Defense Program Awards of Excellence, the LLNL Director’s S&T Award and is a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff. His research interests include the micro-physics of dense plasmas and HED education. Dr. Graziani is editor of two books on computational methods and a book on warm dense matter physics.

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Livestream / Virtual Tue, 01 Sep 2020 10:59:54 -0400 2020-11-04T15:30:00-05:00 2020-11-04T16:30:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE) Livestream / Virtual Dr. Frank Graziani
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Seminar (November 4, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78770 78770-20121164@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 4, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract: Metabolomics is a powerful approach to characterize small molecules produced in cells, tissues, and other biological systems. Metabolites are direct products of enzymatic reactions and provide a snapshot of cellular activities. Metabolomics-based research has already had a profound impact on biomarker discovery, nutritional analysis, and other biomedical and biological discoveries. The most pressing problem in metabolomics however is identifying compounds in the sample-under-study from the metabolomics measurements. Current analysis tools are capable of annotating only a small portion of sample measurements.

In this talk, we present machine learning solutions to three challenges related to the interpretation of metabolomics data. To mimic the function of a mass spectrometer in generating a mass spectrum, we use graph neural networks to translate a molecular structure into its respective spectral signature. To interpret the biological measurements in the context of the biological sample, we use Bayesan learning to deduce the likelihood of pathway activities. To suggest putative candidate molecules that are biologically relevant matches to the measured spectra, we explore several methods for predicting possible enzymatic products. We discuss several results, highlighting the value of using machine learning for advancing metabolomics analysis.

Short bio: Soha Hassoun is Professor and Past Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Tufts University. Soha received her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from South Dakota State University, the Master's degree from MIT, and the Ph.D. degree from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington in Seattle. Soha’s lab uses Machine Learning to develop analysis and discovery tools for synthetic and systems biology, with a focus on enzyme promiscuity prediction and metabolomics analysis. Soha was a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, and several technical and service awards from various professional societies. She provided technical leadership for several conferences including ICCAD and DAC. She co-founded the International Workshop on Bio-Design Automation in 2009. Soha serves on the board of the Computing Research Association's Committee on Widening Participation in Computing Research.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Thu, 22 Oct 2020 11:33:23 -0400 2020-11-04T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-04T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual
LAGS Seminar | My Private Sector Journey and Activities after Grad' School (November 6, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78856 78856-20133191@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 6, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

After graduating from the University of Michigan, I moved from a traditional academic career path to working in the private sector. There are so many options out there after graduate school, that are worth mentioning. A few projects that I have worked on at my company will be presented. These projects have applications in remote sensing. The pros and cons of working in my company and some of my activities with other organizations will be shared.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 06 Nov 2020 18:15:32 -0500 2020-11-06T12:00:00-05:00 2020-11-06T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Minicolloquium | Exploring and Engineering New Electronic Behavior in Two-Dimensional Materials (November 6, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78773 78773-20123133@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 6, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Minicolloquium Link: http://myumi.ch/AxgeZ

The electronic properties of most everyday materials can be well understood in the single-particle picture, that of independent electrons interacting with their environment. When interactions between electrons are important, however, the collective and correlated behavior of electrons can be beautiful, complicated, counter-intuitive, and sometimes even useful. I will outline how we can engineer and search for new correlated electronic states starting from ‘Scotch tape exfoliation’ of atomically thin materials (such as graphene) as a basis for new types of devices. Then, I will discuss how my research group plans to use low-temperature electronic transport and spatially-resolved magnetic measurements to uniquely demonstrate the behavior of correlated electrons in 2D materials, highlighting some of my previous work on the fractional quantum Hall effect and superconductivity as concrete examples.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 06 Nov 2020 18:15:31 -0500 2020-11-06T13:00:00-05:00 2020-11-06T14:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET Seminar | Direct Detection Signals from Absorption of Fermionic Dark Matter (November 6, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77382 77382-19846065@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 6, 2020 3:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Seminar link: http://myumi.ch/O4P7E

Absorption of fermionic dark matter leads to a range of distinct and novel signatures at dark matter direct detection and neutrino experiments. We study the possible signals from fermionic absorption by nuclear or electron targets, which we divide into two classes of four Fermi operators: neutral and charged current. In the neutral current signal, dark matter is absorbed by a target nucleus or electron and a neutrino is emitted. For nuclear targets, this results in a characteristically different nuclear recoil energy spectrum from that of elastic scattering. For electron targets, we calculate electron recoil spectra in xenon-based detectors for sub-MeV dark matter. The charged current channel is specific to nuclear targets and leads to induced beta decays in isotopes which are stable in vacuum as well as shifts of the kinematic endpoint of beta spectra in unstable isotopes. Last, we present UV completions of the four Fermi operators which give rise to these signals and study the prospects of seeing an absorption signal in light of other constraints, such as dark matter decays and mediator searches.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 29 Oct 2020 15:23:29 -0400 2020-11-06T15:00:00-05:00 2020-11-06T16:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
HEP-Astro Seminar | The Higgs Decay to Two Muons and Other Results From the ATLAS Dilepton Spectra (November 9, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79147 79147-20217701@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, November 9, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

Collisions of protons at the LHC that produce pairs of leptons offer a unique window into the dynamics and interactions of fundamental particles. This seminar will present two recent results based on data from such collisions that was recorded by the ATLAS experiment. First, is the search for the Higgs boson decaying to two muons. This Standard Model process is the only available opportunity to study the Higgs coupling to a second generation fermion. Second, is a search for new physics beyond the Standard Model that may produce non-resonant features in the dilepton mass spectra. Such an effect would be present if fermions are composed of smaller component particles. Both studies make use of new experimental and statistical techniques that improve their sensitivity and reliability.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 09 Nov 2020 18:15:30 -0500 2020-11-09T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-09T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Funded Summer Research! (November 10, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78017 78017-19955538@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships (ONSF)

REGISTER: https://myumi.ch/bvnN2

Attend this session to explore fully-funded summer research programs available to U-M undergraduates! Examples include the Amgen Scholars Program, NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates, DAAD Research Internships in Science & Engineering, and more!

Learn more: https://lsa.umich.edu/onsf/summer-programs.html

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Livestream / Virtual Thu, 01 Oct 2020 09:07:18 -0400 2020-11-10T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-10T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships (ONSF) Livestream / Virtual Microscope
HET Brown Bag Seminar | UV/IR Mixing and the Hierarchy Problem (November 11, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79274 79274-20262820@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 11, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

The persistence of the hierarchy problem points to a violation of effective field theory expectations. A compelling possibility is that this results from a physical violation of EFT, which may arise from correlations between UV and IR physics—as is broadly demanded by gravity. I will discuss Noncommutative Field Theory as a toy model of UV/IR mixing, where an emergent infrared scale is generated from ultraviolet dynamics. I’ll explore a variety of such theories to develop a picture of how this feature appears, and to glean lessons to guide the realization of UV/IR mixing in more realistic theories.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 23 Nov 2020 11:23:52 -0500 2020-11-11T12:00:00-05:00 2020-11-11T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Seminar (November 11, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79286 79286-20264787@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 11, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract: There is a growing understanding that stress and depression during the process of training to become physicians is high. In this talk, we will discuss how we have used mobile and wearable data as well as genomics to understand the prevalence in the US and China, drivers and possible solutions about training physician depression and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them in the two countries.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Mon, 09 Nov 2020 14:13:58 -0500 2020-11-11T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-11T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual Drs. Margit Burmeister and Srijan Sen
Department Colloquium | Small Galaxies, Big Science: Fundamental Physics from the Faintest Galaxies (November 11, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79309 79309-20272769@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 11, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Department Colloquium Link: http://myumi.ch/GkgBm

The existence of dark matter, which makes up roughly 85% of the matter in the Universe, indicates a critical gap in our understanding of fundamental physics. To date, we have been unable to directly detect or produce this mysterious substance in terrestrial laboratories. However, we have learned an enormous amount about dark matter from astronomical observations. In particular, the smallest, faintest, and most dark-matter-dominated galaxies have proven to be exceptional laboratories for studying the fundamental properties of dark matter. Our Milky Way galaxy is surrounded by dozens of these ultra-faint "dwarf" galaxies, which have only recently been discovered thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity of digital sky surveys. As telescopes grow larger and more powerful, we continue to find fainter, more distant, and more dark-matter-dominated galaxies inhabiting our "cosmic backyard". I will describe recent advances in searches for the faintest galaxies, and how observations of our tiny galactic neighbors can help address one of the foremost open questions in physics.

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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 11 Nov 2020 18:15:31 -0500 2020-11-11T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-11T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Minicolloquium | Cosmology in the Era of Multi-Messenger Astronomy With Gravitational Waves (November 13, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79310 79310-20272770@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 13, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Minicolloquium Link: http://myumi.ch/AxgeZ

Motivated by the exciting prospect of a new wealth of information arising from the first observations of gravitational and electromagnetic radiation from the same astrophysical phenomena, the Dark Energy Survey (DES) has established a search and discovery program for the optical transients associated with LIGO/Virgo events (DESGW). Using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), DESGW has contributed to the discovery of the optical transient associated with the neutron star merger GW170817, and produced the first cosmological measurements using gravitational wave events as standard sirens. After three successful observing campaigns, I present, in this talk, an overview of our results and their implications for the emerging field of multi-messenger cosmology with gravitational waves and optical data.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 13 Nov 2020 18:15:28 -0500 2020-11-13T13:00:00-05:00 2020-11-13T14:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Saturday Morning Physics VIRTUAL Event | The Light Fantastic (November 14, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/77282 77282-19830135@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, November 14, 2020 10:30am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Saturday Morning Physics

Professor Alec Thomas will give a pre-recorded lecture with a "live" Q&A after the talk.

Youtube Event Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGJg-eJF61c (Link will be active at 10:30 am on 11/14/20.) See saturdaymorningphysics.org for more details.

Since the invention of Chirped Pulse Amplification (Strickland and Mourou, Physics Nobel 2018), lasers have become increasingly powerful by squeezing energy into inconceivably short pulses. The pulses of intense light produced by these lasers, such as the new ZEUS facility being constructed at U-M, can generate precision beams of high energy particles for new technologies, produce the conditions of extreme astrophysical environments in the laboratory and create matter from (almost) nothing.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 22 Sep 2020 16:09:15 -0400 2020-11-14T10:30:00-05:00 2020-11-14T11:30:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Saturday Morning Physics Workshop / Seminar Saturday Morning Physics Logo
HEP-Astro Seminar | Generic Objects of Dark Energy (GEODEs): Implications for Black Hole Evolution and Cosmology (November 16, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79229 79229-20233424@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, November 16, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

Resolution of the averaging ambiguity in Friedmann cosmology has revealed that the interiors of ultrarelativistic objects are tightly coupled to cosmological dynamics. General relativity now predicts that measurable energy shifts, like the well-known photon redshift, occur in all material with equation of state magnitude greater than 0.01. Objects that mimic classical black holes, but contain dark energy interiors (GEODEs), can undergo a pronounced cosmological blueshift. In particular, each member of a GEODE population can gain energy proportional to the physical volume of the universe, while the population itself disperses in volume with the cosmological expansion.The resulting physical dark energy density is constant in time, mimicking a cosmological constant. Assuming that stellar collapse remnants realized by Nature are actually GEODEs, we discuss the implications for quasar masses at high redshift and the black hole mass function as measured by LIGO at low redshift.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 16 Nov 2020 18:15:23 -0500 2020-11-16T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-16T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
11th MIPSE Graduate Student Symposium (November 17, 2020 3:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78525 78525-20058225@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 3:30pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE)

The 11th Annual MIPSE Graduate Student Symposium will be held virtually on November 17 and 18, 2020. The Symposium will be an opportunity for all U-M and MSU students involved in plasma research and, in particular, students pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Plasma Science and Engineering, to present the results of their investigations, learn about the research of their fellow students, and network with MIPSE faculty and staff. All MIPSE students are encouraged to participate in the Symposium. All presentations will be considered for the Best Presentation Award, co-sponsored by KLA.

More information:
https://mipse.umich.edu/symposium_2020.php

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Conference / Symposium Wed, 14 Oct 2020 10:01:16 -0400 2020-11-17T15:30:00-05:00 2020-11-17T18:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE) Conference / Symposium MIPSE Graduate Student Symposium 2019
Professor Bing Zhou, Donald A. Glaser Collegiate Professorship in Physics, Inaugural Lecture (November 17, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77615 77615-19887833@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 17, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Advances in physics research rely heavily on innovations of new technology and detector development. Invention of the bubble chamber by Donald A. Glaser, a Michigan faculty who won the 1960 Nobel Prize in physics, enabled discoveries of many new particles (resonances), which set the experimental foundation of building the quark model. Over the past five decades from bubble chamber to wire chamber, the particle detector size grew from a table-top box to a football field, such as the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In modern particle experiments, thousands of physicists and engineers worldwide work together to build the most powerful microscopes to study particle physics at the most fundamental level to unlock the mysteries in nature. With an outstanding Michigan team, we designed, built, and operated the largest precision muon detector for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC over the past twenty years. This detector is crucial for the Higgs boson discovery in 2012, which was regarded as a scientific breakthrough in particle physics. The discovery opened a new window for research into the properties of the Higgs boson and the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism, which has unique significance for the dynamics of the Standard Model of particle physics and stretches the horizons of even the most ambitious future-collider proposal.

Hi there,

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Nov 17, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Professor Bing Zhou, the Donald A. Glaser Collegiate Professorship in Physics, Inaugural Lecture, November 17, 2020

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://umich.zoom.us/j/97294250053
Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +16468769923,,97294250053# or +13017158592,,97294250053#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 646 876 9923 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799
Canada: +1 778 907 2071 or +1 204 272 7920 or +1 438 809 7799 or +1 587 328 1099 or +1 647 374 4685 or +1 647 558 0588
Webinar ID: 972 9425 0053
International numbers available: https://umich.zoom.us/u/adfgVHK3RZ

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 11 Nov 2020 13:33:51 -0500 2020-11-17T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-17T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Lecture / Discussion image
From Sky Surveys to Cancer: Spatial Data Everywhere (November 18, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78283 78283-20002866@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 3:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Michigan Institute for Data Science

The talk describes a 25 year journey leading from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to a wide range of projects in data science. There are many common threads: the need for extreme interactivity, the need for flexible data aggregation and the commonality of spatial data. The size of data sets have grown almost a million fold, but user expectations for almost instant results has not changed. The talk will describe the gradual evolution of the SciServer, and how new interactive metaphors to interact with hundreds of terabytes of turbulence simulations emerged. We will discuss how machine learning and AI tools are transforming science, from simulations to how large experiments are designed and executed. We will also emphasize that much of these new developments still rely on having unique high value data sets at our fingertips, and how the long term survival of these is entering a critical, endangered phase.

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Presentation Fri, 13 Nov 2020 12:16:36 -0500 2020-11-18T15:00:00-05:00 2020-11-18T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Michigan Institute for Data Science Presentation https://umich.zoom.us/j/96874360760
11th MIPSE Graduate Student Symposium (November 18, 2020 3:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78525 78525-20058226@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 3:30pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE)

The 11th Annual MIPSE Graduate Student Symposium will be held virtually on November 17 and 18, 2020. The Symposium will be an opportunity for all U-M and MSU students involved in plasma research and, in particular, students pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Plasma Science and Engineering, to present the results of their investigations, learn about the research of their fellow students, and network with MIPSE faculty and staff. All MIPSE students are encouraged to participate in the Symposium. All presentations will be considered for the Best Presentation Award, co-sponsored by KLA.

More information:
https://mipse.umich.edu/symposium_2020.php

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Conference / Symposium Wed, 14 Oct 2020 10:01:16 -0400 2020-11-18T15:30:00-05:00 2020-11-18T19:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE) Conference / Symposium MIPSE Graduate Student Symposium 2019
MIPSE Seminar | Lasers, Z Pinches, and Nuclear Weapons: The Importance of Plasma Physics to the NNSA (November 18, 2020 3:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76470 76470-19717163@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 3:30pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE)

The seminar is free and open to the public.
To request the Zoom link, please send an email to:
mipse-central@umich.edu

About the Speaker:
Dr. Sarah Nelson, a nuclear and radiochemist, is Deputy Director of the Office of Experimental Science for the NNSA Office of Defense Programs. Sarah earned her BS from U. California Santa Barbara and doctorate from U. California Berkeley studying odd-Z transactinide compound nucleus reactions including the discovery of the new isotope 260Bh. Prior to joining NNSA, Sarah was the Roger Batzel Fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in nuclear chemistry diagnostic development for NIF and analysis of nuclear systems for domestic counterterrorism applications, co-discovering 14 new transactinide isotopes. Sarah also was selected as a Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellow of The National Academies in 2012. Prior to NNSA, Sarah was also with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on assignment with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. She has received numerous awards including the DTRA/US STRATCOM Center for Combatting Weapons of Mass Destruction Director’s Award, LLNL’s Excellence in Publication Award in Basic Science, and the Gordon Battelle Prize for Scientific Discovery.

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Livestream / Virtual Tue, 01 Sep 2020 11:12:17 -0400 2020-11-18T15:30:00-05:00 2020-11-18T16:30:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE) Livestream / Virtual Dr. Sarah Nelson
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Seminar (November 18, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79290 79290-20264791@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Abstract: Genetic variation affecting gene expression is wide-spread within and among species. This variation reflects the combined actions of mutation introducing new genetic variants and selection eliminating deleterious ones. Comparative studies of gene expression in fruit flies, yeast, plants, and mice have shown that the relative contributions of cis- and trans-acting variants to expression differences change over evolutionary time, indicating that selection has different effects on cis- and trans-regulatory variants. To better understand the reasons for this now widely observed pattern, we have been systematically studying the effects of mutation and selection on expression of the TDH3 gene of the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This work has revealed differences between cis- and trans-regulatory mutations in their frequency, effects, and dominance. Differences in pleiotropy are also generally assumed to exist between cis- and trans-regulatory that affect their evolutionary fate, but have been difficult to measure. In this talk, I will discuss how newly arising cis- and trans-regulatory mutations affecting expression of this focal gene are structured within the regulatory network, their pleiotropic effects on expression of all other genes in the genome, and how these pleiotropic effects influence fitness. A computational model of regulatory evolution integrating empirically observed differences in properties of cis- and trans-regulatory mutations will also be presented and discussed.

Patricia Wittkopp received a BS from the University of Michigan, a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, and did postdoctoral work at Cornell University. In 2005, she began a faculty position at the University of Michigan, where she is now the Sally L. Allen Collegiate Professor and Arthur F Thurnau Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, and is a member of the Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics. Her research investigates the genetic basis of phenotypic evolution, with an emphasis on the evolution of gene expression. She was a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fellow, an Alfred P Sloan Research Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, and a recipient of a March of Dimes Starter Scholar Award, the Margaret Dayhoff Mid-Career Award from the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution, and the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Mon, 09 Nov 2020 15:12:34 -0500 2020-11-18T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-18T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual
Department Colloquium | Catching and Reversing a Quantum Jump Mid-Flight (November 18, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79260 79260-20243268@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Department Colloquium Link: http://myumi.ch/GkgBm

Measurements in quantum physics, unlike their classical physics counterparts, can fundamentally yield discrete and random results. Historically, Niels Bohr was the first to hypothesize that quantum jumps occurred between two discrete energy levels of an atom. Experimentally, quantum jumps were directly observed many decades later in an atomic ion driven by a weak deterministic force under strong continuous energy measurement. The times at which the discontinuous jump transitions occur are reputed to be fundamentally unpredictable. Despite the non-deterministic character of quantum physics, is it possible to know if a quantum jump is about to occur? Our work1 provides a positive answer to this question: we experimentally show that the jump from the ground state to an excited state of a superconducting artificial three-level atom can be tracked as it follows a predictable “flight” by monitoring the population of an auxiliary energy level coupled to the ground state. The experimental results demonstrate that the evolution of the jump — once completed — is continuous, coherent, and deterministic. Based on these insights and aided by real-time monitoring and feedback, we then pinpoint and reverse one such quantum jump “mid-flight”, thus deterministically preventing its completion. Our findings, which agree with theoretical predictions essentially without adjustable parameters, lend support to the modern formulation of quantum trajectory theory; most importantly, they may provide new ground for the exploration of real-time intervention techniques in the control of quantum systems, such as the early detection of error syndromes.

1. Z. Minev et al., Nature 570, 200–204 (2019)

Short Bio:

Michel Devoret graduated from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications in Paris in 1975 and started graduate work in molecular quantum physics at the University of Orsay. He then joined Professor Anatole Abragam's laboratory in CEA-Saclay to work on NMR in solid hydrogen, and received his PhD from Paris University in 1982. He spent two post-doctoral years working on macroscopic quantum tunneling with John Clarke's laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. He pursued this research on quantum mechanical electronics upon his return to Saclay, starting his own research group with Daniel Esteve and Cristian Urbina. The main achievements of the "quantronics group" were in this period the measurement of the traversal time of tunneling, the invention of the single electron pump (now the basis of a new standard of capacitance), the first measurement of the effect of atomic valence on the conductance of a single atom, and the first observation of the Ramsey fringes of a superconducting artificial atom (quantronium). He became director of research at the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA) at Saclay. In 2007, Michel has been appointed to the College de France, where he taught until 2012. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003) and a member of the French Academy of Sciences (2008). Michel has received the Ampere Prize of the French Academy of Science (together with Daniel Esteve, 1991), the Descartes-Huygens Prize of the Royal Academy of Science of the Netherlands (1996) and the Europhysics-Agilent Prize of the European Physical Society (together with Daniel Esteve, Hans Mooij and Yasunobu Nakamura, 2004). He is also a recipient of the John Stewart Bell Prize, which he received jointly with Rob Schoelkopf in 2013. In 2014, he has been awarded, together with John Martinis and Rob Schoelkopf, the Fritz London Memorial Prize. He received the Olli Lounaasma Prize in 2016.

Currently the F. W. Beinecke Professor of Applied Physics at Yale University -- which he joined in 2002 -- he focuses his research on experimental solid state physics with emphasis on quantum mechanical electronics (a.k.a. "quantronics") for quantum information processing. In this new type of electronics, electrical collective degrees of freedom like currents and voltages behave quantum mechanically. Such mesoscopic phenomena are particularly important in quantum circuits based on Josephson junctions, which is his main research goal. He currently focuses on the new phenomena of fault-tolerant quantum operations and remote entanglement.


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Workshop / Seminar Wed, 18 Nov 2020 18:15:22 -0500 2020-11-18T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-18T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Gigliola Staffilani (MIT) to give MCAIM Colloquium (November 18, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79435 79435-20325793@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Michigan Center for Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics

Abstract: In recent years great progress has been made in the study of dispersive and wave equations. Over the years the toolbox used in order to attack highly nontrivial problems related to these equations has developed to include a variety of techniques from Fourier and harmonic analysis, analytic number theory, math physics, dynamical systems, probability and symplectic geometry. In this talk I will introduce a variety of problems connected with dispersive and wave equations, such as the derivation of a certain nonlinear Schrodinger equation from a quantum many-particles system, periodic Strichartz estimates, the concept of energy transfer, the invariance of a Gibbs measure associated to an infinite dimension Hamiltonian system and non-squeezing theorems for such systems when they also enjoy a symplectic structure.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 17 Nov 2020 09:56:08 -0500 2020-11-18T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-18T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Michigan Center for Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics Workshop / Seminar Gigliola Staffilani, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
LAGS Seminar | Writing Books, Ticking Off Billionaires, and Other Fun Things You Can Do With a PhD in Physics from the University of Michigan (November 20, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/78857 78857-20133192@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 20, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

Working as a science communicator can be rewarding, frustrating, surreal, and terrifying — not too different from academia. But how do you go from a graduate program in physics to a career in science communication? In this talk, author and journalist Adam Becker will discuss how he made that transition, and share his advice for those interested in becoming professional full-time science communicators. Since completing his PhD in physics at Michigan in 2012, Adam has written for many publications, including the New York Times, the BBC, NPR, Scientific American, and New Scientist. He's written a critically-acclaimed book, What is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics, which the New York Times Book Review called "a thorough, illuminating exploration of the most consequential controversy raging in modern science." Adam has also appeared on numerous podcasts and radio shows, recorded a series of animated videos with BBC Earth, and earned the ire of Sheldon Glashow. He will leave plenty of time at the end of his talk for questions.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 20 Nov 2020 18:15:20 -0500 2020-11-20T12:00:00-05:00 2020-11-20T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Minicolloquium | Controlling Light-Matter Couplings for New Science & Technology (November 20, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79426 79426-20321866@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 20, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Minicolloquium Link: http://myumi.ch/AxgeZ

Control and understanding of light and matter coupling are ubiquitous and of fundamental importance in modern science and technology. Recently developments in materials, photonics and condensed matter physics have opened doors to exciting new opportunities to create light-matter coupled systems unavailable before, which on one hand may provide an experimental testground of novel nonlinear, many-body and/or quantum phenomena, and on the other hand may serve as a bridge between such phenomena and better technology for the future. I will discuss a few recent work and some possible future topics under this theme, using unconventional semiconductor exciton-polariton systems and two-dimensional materials.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 20 Nov 2020 18:15:20 -0500 2020-11-20T13:00:00-05:00 2020-11-20T14:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HET Brown Bag Seminar | When High Energy Meets High Intensity (November 25, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79475 79475-20335628@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, November 25, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

TBD

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 07 Dec 2020 11:19:35 -0500 2020-11-25T12:00:00-05:00 2020-11-25T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
HEP-Astro Seminar | New Results on Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering From COHERENT (November 30, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/77398 77398-19848060@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, November 30, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) is a process in which a neutrino scatters off an entire nucleus at low momentum transfer, and for which the observable signature is a low-energy nuclear recoil. It represents a background for direct dark matter detection experiments, as well as a possible signal for astrophysical neutrinos. Furthermore, because the process is cleanly predicted in the Standard Model, a measurement is sensitive to beyond-the-Standard-Model physics, such as non-standard interactions of neutrinos. It was measured for the first time by the COHERENT collaboration using the high-quality source of pion-decay-at-rest neutrinos from the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a CsI[Na] scintillator detector. COHERENT has recently observed CEvNS in argon, a lighter nucleus, also. This talk will describe COHERENT's recent results, the status and plans of COHERENT's suite of detectors at the SNS, and future physics reach.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 30 Nov 2020 18:15:20 -0500 2020-11-30T16:00:00-05:00 2020-11-30T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
CSCS Seminar | Developing a systematic approach to modulate the emergence of consciousness from pharmacologically-and pathologically induced unconsciousness (December 1, 2020 11:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/76220 76220-19677552@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, December 1, 2020 11:30am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: The Center for the Study of Complex Systems

ZOOM MEETING LINK: myumi.ch/v2ZYv

Re-scheduled from earlier this fall.

ABSTRACT:
Why is it so difficult to develop a systematic approach to modulate the recovery of consciousness from pharmacologically and pathologically induced unconsciousness? Three things are required to develop a systematic approach; a reliable neural activity that corresponds to consciousness, a reliable brain stimulation to induce the target neural activity, and a mechanism to guarantee the induced neural activity results in consciousness. However, no single neural activity or a mechanism has been identified yet as a neural correlate of consciousness, suggesting that consciousness might emerge through complex interactions of spatially and temporally distributed brain functions. Accumulating evidence from computational model and empirical studies suggest that brain criticality – a balanced state between order and disorder, stability and instability, incoherent and synchronized connectivity at a global network level, is a necessary condition for the emergence of consciousness. Thus, in our research project, we hypothesized that with modulating brain network criticality, we may be able to control the state transition during the loss and recovery of consciousness in general anesthesia and coma. In this talk, I will introduce our current project that aims to develop a systematic method to precisely evaluate a brain state in altered states of consciousness and to control the emergence from unconsciousness, which is based on highly advanced methods in physics, network science, and neurobiology of consciousness.

Please join us 15 minutes before and after the seminar for a social coffee hangout. Put your speakers and video on and say hi to old friends or go to the 'lounge' and chat with an acquaintance

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Livestream / Virtual Mon, 23 Nov 2020 16:33:23 -0500 2020-12-01T11:30:00-05:00 2020-12-01T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location The Center for the Study of Complex Systems Livestream / Virtual Photo of UnCheol Lee
MIPSE Seminar | Exploring Transformative Startup Solutions for Magnetically Confined Fusion Plasmas (December 2, 2020 3:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/76473 76473-19717165@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 3:30pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE)

The seminar is free and open to the public.
To request the Zoom link, please send an email to:
mipse-central@umich.edu

Abstract:
The potential to use fusion as a carbon-free, fuel-abundant energy source to meet the world’s growing energy demands has motivated significant US and international research. One research path to realize fusion energy involves tokamaks that magnetically confine hot plasmas in the shape of a torus. Almost every tokamak fusion reactor in the world relies on magnetic induction from a central solenoid to drive the current necessary to create a fusion grade plasma. Minimizing or eliminating the need for a central solenoid in a tokamak would greatly simplify the construction and reduce the cost of these devices, increasing their viability for commercial energy production. Solenoid-free startup techniques such as helicity injection (HI) and radiofrequency (RF) wave injection offer the potential of reducing the technical requirements of, or possibly the need for, a central solenoid. A major upgrade is underway for the spherical tokamak, Pegasus-III at the U of Wisconsin. The new facility will be a dedicated US platform to study innovations in plasma startup techniques, allowing for studies of both HI and RF during plasma initiation, ramp-up and sustainment. Experimental plans for RF heating and current drive in the microwave regime will be presented. The new capabilities of Pegasus-III will provide a bold test of the viability of a non-solenoidal compact tokamak using reactor relevant techniques.

About the Speaker:
Prof. Diem’s research interests are in experimental plasma physics for fusion energy development with emphasis on validating numerical models with experimental data. She focuses on utilizing radio frequency (RF) waves to heat and drive current in magnetically confined plasmas. Prof. Diem’s current research is focused on electron Bernstein wave and electron cyclotron heating and current drive experiments on Pegasus-III at UW-Madison as well as collaborations domestically and internationally on RF injection in magnetically confined fusion plasmas. Prof. Diem received her PhD in Plasma Physics from Princeton U. where she developed diagnostics to study electron Bernstein wave emission and mode conversion on the National Spherical Tokamak at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. She received a BS in Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics from UW-Madison. Prior to joining the faculty at UW-Madison, Prof. Diem was a Research and Development Staff Scientist in the Fusion Energy Division at Oak Ridge National Lab. and was on long-term assignment at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility at General Atomics in San Diego, CA.

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Livestream / Virtual Tue, 01 Sep 2020 11:32:57 -0400 2020-12-02T15:30:00-05:00 2020-12-02T16:30:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE) Livestream / Virtual Prof. Stephanie Diem
DCMB / CCMB Weekly Seminar (December 2, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79631 79631-20436379@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

ABSTRACT: The brain is made of networks of neurons that send information to each other via spikes. Sleep and wake are the most clearly definable brain states and each exerts unique effects upon neural network spiking activity. We used large-scale recordings in the frontal cortex of mice and rats to examine the activity of neurons during wake/sleep cycles and found that a novel form of homeostatic action is taken by sleep: homogenization of firing rates. Whereas it was previously believed that sleep simple decreased firing rates, we found that this was much more true of the most active neurons only, thereby reducing the variance of the population.

To extend this observation of homeostatic forced during sleep we also examine how sleep and wake states interact with learning and performance, which is also facilitated by sleep. We have therefore begun to record before, during and after learning sessions to determine how learning interacts with the usual homeostatic effects of sleep. Further we can also record how waking changes in brain states such as motivation and attention modulate firing and information processing by neurons during behavior itself.

Finally, our end-goal to translate these kinds of basic neurobiologic observations in healthy rodents to states of stress or treatments of stress. Unfortunately the chronic stress states of relevance to psychiatric disease do not last seconds but days and weeks. We have therefore begun to build new long-term recording environments to enable future experiments over these time-spans.

BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Watson is an assistant professor in psychiatry at the University of Michigan. He grew up in Ann Arbor and then obtained his BA from Cornell University and his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. During his Ph.D. he used two-photon microscopy to study the behavior of neurons in local cortical microcircuits. During his doctoral work he also participated in technical development of multi-beam two photon imaging techniques. Upon graduation from medical school, Dr. Watson pursued a residency in Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College as well postdoctoral work at New York University. He received the National Institute for Mental Health’s Outstanding Resident Award, the American Psychiatric Association’s Lilly Research Fellowship and the Leon Levy Neuroscience Fellowship. He did a fellowship with Dr. Gyorgy Buzsaki at NYU to record ongoing activity in naturally behaving and sleeping animals wherein he showed that sleep reorganizes neuronal firing architecture in the neocortex in previously unknown ways. He is now combining his electrical recordings with behavioral tools to deepen his understanding of both use and regulation of cortical brain circuits.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Tue, 01 Dec 2020 09:45:44 -0500 2020-12-02T16:00:00-05:00 2020-12-02T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual
LAGS Seminar | What does an alternative career look like and how does a PhD set you up for success? (December 4, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79679 79679-20448275@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, December 4, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

Dr. Rohan Hoare traveled from Melbourne, Australia, and Monash University to receive his PhD in atomic physics from Harvard in 1993. With his PhD in hand, he began his career in management consulting with McKinsey and Company for a decade and has since been an executive, president and CEO of seven companies in the health care industry. Most recently he is the cofounder of Brainmatterz, a sleep apnea detection company in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Hoare will talk about his path, what guided his opportunities and choices and what some employers may be looking for by hiring Physics PhDs.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 04 Dec 2020 18:15:17 -0500 2020-12-04T12:00:00-05:00 2020-12-04T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Minicolloquium | DM searches at U-M (December 4, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79624 79624-20432422@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, December 4, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a dark matter experiment under construction at the 4850’ level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. The experiment utilizes a two-phase time projection chamber (TPC), containing seven active tonnes of liquefied xenon, to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Auxiliary veto detectors, including a liquid scintillator outer detector, improve rejection of unwanted background events in the central region of the detector. LZ has been designed to explore much of the parameter space available for WIMP models, with excellent sensitivity for WIMP masses between a few GeV and a few TeV. With data taking expected to begin in a few months, this talk will report the current status of the LZ experiment, the contributions of U-M to LZ and the connection to other areas of particle physics.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 04 Dec 2020 18:15:17 -0500 2020-12-04T13:00:00-05:00 2020-12-04T14:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
HEP-Astro Seminar | Measurements of the Hubble Constant Using Gravitationally Lensed Quasars (December 7, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79640 79640-20438358@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, December 7, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Department of Physics

Please contact Beth Demkowski, demkowsk@umich.edu for Zoom link.

The current discrepancy between early- and late-Universe measurements of the Hubble constant (H0) highlights the need for additional independent and precise probes. Gravitationally lensed quasars can provide one such probe. Quasars are galaxies with an active galactic nuclei (AGN), usually a black hole, whose light output varies over time. We can measure the light output over time from each image of the lensed quasar. The different travel time for the light from each image means that the variations show up at different times for each image. Measuring the time delay between pairs of images and combining it with a model of the lens allows one to infer H0.

Over the past decade a number of improvements in both the data quality and modeling techniques have allowed the measurement of H_0 from time-delays to start to fulfill its promise of being competitive with other traditional methods such as the cosmic distance ladder.

I will present the current state of the H0 measurement from gravitationally lensed quasars and discuss future prospects.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 07 Dec 2020 18:15:21 -0500 2020-12-07T16:00:00-05:00 2020-12-07T17:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Department of Physics Workshop / Seminar
Bioethics Discussion: Annihilation (December 8, 2020 7:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/58833 58833-14563725@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 7:00pm
Location: Lurie Biomedical Engineering
Organized By: The Bioethics Discussion Group

A discussion on our obliteration.

[Video-conference link: https://umich.zoom.us/j/94651294615]

A few readings to consider before oblivion:
–– Bioethics and the Metaphysics of Death
––The Ontological Representation of Death: A Scale to Measure the Idea of Annihilation Versus Passage
––The Nonidentity Problem and Bioethics: A Natural Law Perspective
––Controversies in the Determination of Death: A White Paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics

For more information and/or to receive a copy of the readings visit http://belmont.bme.umich.edu/bioethics-discussion-group/discussions/052-annihilation/.

––
When the server hosting this blog is turned off, where does the website go: https://belmont.bme.umich.edu/incidental-art/?

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 08 Dec 2020 15:46:52 -0500 2020-12-08T19:00:00-05:00 2020-12-08T20:30:00-05:00 Lurie Biomedical Engineering The Bioethics Discussion Group Lecture / Discussion Annihilation
HET Brown Bag | Scattering Amplitudes for Monopoles: Pairwise Little Group and Pairwise Helicity (December 9, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79741 79741-20483901@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, December 9, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

On-shell methods are particularly suited for exploring the scattering of electrically and magnetically charged objects, for which there is no local and Lorentz invariant Lagrangian description. In this talk we show how to construct a Lorentz-invariant S-matrix for the scattering of electrically and magnetically charged particles, without ever having to refer to a Dirac string. A key ingredient is a revision of our fundamental understanding of multi-particle representations of the Poincar\'e group. Surprisingly, the asymptotic states for electric-magnetic scattering transform with an additional little group phase, associated with pairs of electrically and magnetically charged particles. The corresponding ``pairwise helicity'' is identified with the quantized ``cross product'' of charges, e_1 g_2 - e_2 g_1, for every charge-monopole pair, and represents the extra angular momentum stored in the asymptotic electromagnetic field. We define a new kind of pairwise spinor-helicity variable, which serves as an additional building block for electric-magnetic scattering amplitudes. We then construct the most general 3-point S-matrix elements, as well as the full partial wave decomposition for the 2\to 2 fermion-monopole S-matrix. In particular, we derive the famous helicity flip in the lowest partial wave as a simple consequence of a generalized spin-helicity selection rule, as well as the full angular dependence for the higher partial waves. Our construction provides a significant new achievement for the on-shell program, succeeding where the Lagrangian description has so far failed.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 07 Dec 2020 07:53:41 -0500 2020-12-09T12:00:00-05:00 2020-12-09T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion
Department of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics Weekly Wednesday Seminar (December 9, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79756 79756-20484062@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, December 9, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: DCMB Seminar Series

Learning objectives:

1. Discuss the conceptual distinction and clinical utility of self-reported race/ethnicity and genetic ancestry in childhood asthma.
2. Discuss the role of genetic ancestry and socio-environmental exposures in childhood asthma.
3. Discuss ancestry-specific polygenic risk scores, precision medicine and childhood asthma disparities.

Short bio: Dr. Mersha is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Asthma Research and leads the Population Genetics, Ancestry, and Bioinformatics (pGAB) Laboratory (https://research.cchmc.org/mershalab/Home.php).
Dr. Mersha’s research combines quantitative, ancestry and statistical genomics to unravel genetic and non-genetic contributions to complex diseases and racial disparities in human populations, particularly asthma and asthma-related allergic disorders. Much of his research is at the interface of genetic ancestry, statistics, bioinformatics, and functional genomics, and he is interested in cross-line disciplines to unravel the interplay between genome and envirome underlying asthma risk. His long-term research goal is to understand and dissect how biologic predisposition and environmental exposures interact to shape racial disparities in complex disorders.

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/93929606089?pwd=SHh6R1FOQm8xMThRemdxTEFMWWpVdz09

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Livestream / Virtual Mon, 07 Dec 2020 11:27:42 -0500 2020-12-09T16:00:00-05:00 2020-12-09T17:15:00-05:00 Off Campus Location DCMB Seminar Series Livestream / Virtual Tesfaye ("Tes") Mersha, PhD (Associate Professor, Division of Asthma Research at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center)
HET Brown Bag | Looking forward to new Physics with FASER (December 16, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/79760 79760-20486020@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, December 16, 2020 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics

Physics searches and measurements at high-energy collider experiments traditionally focus on the high-pT region. However, if particles are light and weakly-coupled, this focus may be completely misguided: light particles are typically highly collimated around the beam line, allowing sensitive searches with small detectors, and even extremely weakly-coupled particles may be produced in large numbers there. The recently approved FASER experiment will use the opportunity and extend the LHC's physic potential by searching for long-lived particles and studying neutrino interactions at TeV energies. In this talk, I will present the physics potential of FASER for new physics searches, neutrino physics, QCD as well as cosmic ray and cosmic neutrino measurement, aiming to stimulate a fruitful discussion with my audience.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 10 Dec 2020 11:19:12 -0500 2020-12-16T12:00:00-05:00 2020-12-16T13:00:00-05:00 Off Campus Location Leinweber Center for Theoretical Physics Lecture / Discussion