2012 EAPS Lecture Series: From Measurements to Models in the Earth System
Dan Cziczo
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
This year's theme highlights the synergy of field work, laboratory studies and modeling required to improving our understanding of the Earth. The series features talks in the areas of atmospheric, oceanic and geological processes. Members of the EAPS community and select external speakers will cover topics in each area from the perspective of field, laboratory and modeling studies.
Contact: Vicki McKenna, 54-911B, x3-3380, vsm@mit.edu
Sponsor: Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Atmospheric Field Studies: Atmospheric chemistry field experiments from UAVs to stratospheric aircraft
Mark Zondlo Princetown University
Understanding the issues of global climate change and air quality requires robust measurements of atmospheric trace gas constituents. Large scale horizontal features are well-captured by satellite measurements, but small scale processes such as cloud formation are not, resulting in the largest uncertainty in predicting future climate. High-resolution, airborne-based measurements provide new insights to these processes.
Mon Jan 9, 12-01:00pm, 54-915
Atmospheric Model Studies: Atmospheric Organic Aerosol: what we can learn from the combination of satellite observations, aircraft measurements and gl
Colette Heald
Organic aerosol are the least well understood component of the atmospheric aerosol budget - they have myriad sources, and undergo complex physical and chemical transformations. It has been challenging to use models to investigate the air quality and climate impacts of these particles. Recent efforts use both satellite and aircraft measurements to provide "top-down" constraints on the global organic aerosol budget.
Wed Jan 11, 12-01:00pm, 54-915
Atmospheric Lab Studies: From methane to macromolecules: Laboratory studies of atmospheric organic chemistry
Jesse Kroll
Organic compounds in the atmosphere play a major role in air quality and climate. Lab. studies have focused on the reactions of volatile organic molecules with 1-5 carbon atoms. Recently there has been increased interest in less volatile, larger species and in understanding the reactions that underlie the formation and evolution of atmospheric particulate matter.
Fri Jan 13, 12-01:00pm, 54-915
Geology Model Studies: An exhumation history of continents over billion-year time scales
Terry Balckburn
Mon Jan 23, 12-01:00pm, 54-915
Geology Lab Studies: A day at the plastic beach: Defects and disequilibrium in wave-generated sand ripples
Taylor Perron
Sand ripples generated by water waves have been studied for many
years, yet we know surprisingly little about how these patterns adjust
as waves change. Laboratory wave tank experiments can
reveal the meaning of irregularities in wave ripples
seen in modern environments and in the rock record.
A simplified model can capture some of the main
adjustment mechanisms of wave ripples.
Wed Jan 25, 12am-01:00pm, 54-915
Geology Field Studies: Origin of sulphide deposits at Sudbury using laser ablation time of flight or laser ablation multicollector ICPMS
Jacob Hanley Department of Geology, St. Mary’s University
Fri Jan 27, 12-01:00pm, 54-915
Oceanic Field Studies: Tracing Pb sources into the marine environment by isotopic event fingerprinting
Ed Boyle
Mon Jan 30, 12-01:00pm, 54-915
Oceanic Lab Studies
Jeff Seewald Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutiion, Marine Chemistry and
Wed Feb 1, 12-01:00pm, 54-915
Oceanic Model Studies
Scott Doney Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Fri Feb 3, 12-01:00pm, 54-915
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Animating New Physics
Douglas Sweetser '84
No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Please register using the link below to let us know you which session(s) you plan to attend.
Web: https://alum.mit.edu/smarTrans/register-login.vm?eventID=60861&groupID=194
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-200, (617) 252-1143, ebyrne@mit.edu
Sponsor: Alumni Association
Quaternion Quantum Field Theory Demystified
Douglas Sweetser '84
Four rules will be used to rewrite any physics equations with
quaternions: 1) keep 4-vectors together 2) drop all factors of i 3) write all constants 4) make terms dimensionless. This approach will be applied to Newton's second law, the uncertainty principle, the Schrodinger wave equation, the Klein-Gordon equation and the Dirac equation. Last through this much hard core math and get a "Nerds Know"
bumper sticker.
Wed Jan 18, 03-05:00pm, 3-270
Analytic Animations Using Quaternions
Douglas Sweetser '84
Rene Descartes gave us analytic geometry. Modernize this tool to make animations from the same expressions. When animated, triangles and squares are fleeting but of interest to physicists. See a real spacetime cube. A vast new way of thinking visually about time's relationships with space is opening up.
Thu Jan 19, 03-05:00pm, 3-270
Derive the Maxwell Equations and More
Douglas Sweetser '84
Tell God what to say using quaternions. The Maxwell equations will be derived. Repeated the derivation with a different multiplication rule leading to field equations that unify a linear approach to gravity and the standard model symmetries. All this fits on a t-shirt which will be given to participants for free. A dinner will follow at the Asgard Bar & Grill.
Fri Jan 20, 03-05:00pm, 3-270
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Astronomy with Gravitational Waves
Professor Scott Hughes
Wed Jan 25, 02-02:30pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Gravitational waves, a fundamental prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity, are generated by very dense, massive, violently dynamic astrophysical systems. By measuring these waves, we could open an observational "window" onto these processes. In this talk, I describe in more detail the promise that gravitational waves offer as an observational tool for astrophysics, and why measuring these waves poses such a large experimental challenge.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Black Holes Lurking Across the Milky Way
Michael Nowak
Fri Jan 20, 02-02:30pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
It was in 1967 episode (or stardate 3113.2) that Capt. Kirk and the Enterprise encountered an "uncharted black sun", and were hurled backwards in time. In the intervening 45 years, black holes have gone from things of science fiction to (nearly undisputed) scientific fact. This has been in large part thanks to a series of X-ray satellite missions which have discovered the emissions of hot gas plunging into and/or being expelled from the deep gravitational potential well of the black hole. In this talk I will highlight the discoveries we have made about black holes in our own Galaxy. I will describe how we have gone from merely discovering black holes to now attempting to study them in sufficient detail to determine whether or not the bending of spacetime close to the black hole predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity is actually occurring.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Dark Energy: The Greatest Mystery in the Universe
Prof. Edmund Bertschinger
Tue Jan 24, 02-03:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
By studying distant galaxies, supernovae, and cosmic radiation, astrophysicists have concluded that two-thirds of the mass-energy density in the universe is in a bizarre form unlike atomic matter or any other particles hypothesized by physicists. Why do we think it's there? Why do we care? What is it? How might we find out?
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Detecting Gravitational Waves
Professor Nergis Mavalvala
Wed Jan 25, 02:30-03:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Gravitational waves from astrophysical systems cause tiny changes in the distance between massive objects, or "test particles". We can detect these waves by measuring displacements of 10^-18 m rms (1/1000 of an atomic nucleus!). I will describe how we can make such precise measurements, both on the Earth and in space, and show recent experimental data from gravitational-wave observatories.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Dissecting the X-rays from Supernova Remnants
Dr. Laura Lopez
Mon Jan 30, 02-02:30pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Supernovae are the explosive ends of the lives of massive stars. As the most energetic events in the Universe, supernovae can outshine their host galaxies, and these explosions produce and distribute almost all the elements in the periodic table. The metal synthesized during supernovae emit copious X-rays, and we can study these X-rays to discern the nature of the explosions, even thousands of years after the supernovae occur. In my presentation, I will highlight what astronomers have learned about these explosions from X-ray observations of the historical remnants from supernovae that happened in our own Milky Way galaxy.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Graphene - Why the hype?
Dr Hui Ying Hoh
Fri Jan 20, 12-01:00pm, 56-180
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Signup by: 10-Jan-2012
Limited to 27 participants.
Single session event
Have you heard of graphene? Graphene is a single sheet of graphite, made up of one layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal structure like chicken wire. Since the groundbreaking experiments by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, research interest in this material grew exponentially, and the two scientists were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Just 5 years after their pioneering work!
Touted as ‘”the next big thing”, graphene is harder than diamond, stronger than steel and more electrical conducting than copper. Want to know more about this new yet old material, understand the hype about it in the research community and how it will impact our lives in the near future? Join us for an introductory talk on this two-dimensional form of carbon. No background knowledge required. Topics covered include its discovery, production, properties and possible applications.
Dr Hui Ying Hoh obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry in the National University of Singapore (NUS) under the supervision of Professor Kian Ping Loh. Her dissertation involves the study of functional carbon-based materials such as graphene and diamond.
Contact: Dr Hui Ying Hoh, hoh.hui.ying@gmail.com
Sponsor: SpousesandPartners@mit
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Health and Safety Issues of Nanomaterials
Marilyn Hallock
Thu Jan 19, 11am-12:00pm, 46-3189
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
The exciting field of nanotechnology is creating the next industrial revolution in engineering. It is also creating the new field of nanotoxicology. Are nanoparticles more toxic than dust particles we normally work with? Could carbon nanotubes possibly be the next asbestos? Come find out what we know and don't know and how to work safely in your laboratory with nanomaterials. Will include update of this year's research findings on nanotoxicology.
No prerequisite.
Contact: Marilyn Hallock, N52-496, x3-0344, hallock@mit.edu
Sponsor: Environment, Health and Safety Office
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Imaging Relativistic Outflows from Quasars using the Chandra X-ray Observatory
Herman L. Marshall
Tue Jan 17, 02-02:30pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
One of the first discoveries made with the Chandra X-ray Observatory was finding very strong X-ray emission from quasar jets, millions of light years from the central black holes. Jets are highly focused outflows of magnetized plasma that are moving at nearly the speed of light on a scale of light years from the supermassive black holes that inhabit the cores of many active galaxies and their bright counterparts, the quasars. The jet can transport a huge fraction of the total energy liberated by matter infalling onto the black hole out into intergalactic space. With Chandra images of the X-rays from jets, we infer that the flow is still highly relativistic even as the plasma exits the host galaxy's gravitational influence.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Looking for the First Stars with a New Radio Telescope in Western Australia
Prof. Jacqueline Hewitt
Mon Jan 23, 02-02:30pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
The most distant structures astronomers observe are those encoded in the Cosmic Microwave Background, tracing primordial density fluctuations that later collapse to form the first stars and galaxies. Before the first stars formed, the universe consisted mainly of dark matter and hydrogen gas. Neutral hydrogen gas emits and absorbs radio waves at a characteristic frequency of 1.4 GHz, which in the first stars should be redshifted to a frequency of about 100 MHz. Radio astronomers, including some of us at MIT, are building a novel low-frequency radio telescope in Western Australia to search for hydrogen signals from the first stars.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Prof. Jacqueline Hewitt, 37-241, (617) 253-1456, jhewitt@mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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MICRO-X: A New Era of High Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy
Professor Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano
Mon Jan 30, 02:30-03:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Micro-X is an X-ray spectroscopic sounding rocket telescope which will fly a next-generation detector system using superconducting transition-edge sensors (one of the world's most sensitive thermometers) to measure the energy of incoming X-rays from diffuse X-ray emitting objects at resolutions 30-60 times better than the current state-of-the art CCDs. Micro-X's first flight in 2011 will observe the Puppis A supernova remnant, obtaining an exquisite spectrum which will allow detailed analysis of the physical state of the plasma. By measuring the spectra from this line-rich source, Micro-X will measure the temperature, velocity, turbulence, and composition of Puppis A with unprecedented detail.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:a Quantum Money from Knots
Professor Edward Farhi
Fri Jan 13, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Money, either in the form of bills or information on a computer, should be impossible to copy and also verifiable as good money when tendered to a merchant. Quantum mechanics may make this possible to achieve with far greater security than can be achieved without quantum mechanics. I will discuss Quantum Money generally and present our scheme which uses ideas from Knot Theory. Quantum Money may be the basis of E-commerce on a future quantum internet and would not require communication with a central server such as a credit card company or PayPal.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:b Looking for the First Stars with a New Radio Telescope
Professor Jacqueline Hewitt
Fri Jan 20, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None
The most distant structures astronomers observe are those encoded in the Cosmic Microwave Background, tracing primordial density fluctuations that later collapse to form the first stars and galaxies. Before the first stars formed, the universe consisted mainly of dark matter and hydrogen gas. Neutral hydrogen gas emits and absorbs radio waves at a characteristic frequency of 1.4 GHz, which in the first stars should be redshifted to a frequency of about 100 MHz. Radio astronomers, including some of us at MIT, are building a novel low-frequency radio telescope in Western Australia to search for hydrogen signals from the first stars.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:c Blasts from the Past: Dissecting Supernovae in the Nearby Universe
Dr. Laura A. Lopez, Postdoctoral Fellow
Mon Jan 23, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Supernovae are the explosive ends of the lives of massive stars. They are the most energetic events in the Universe, outshining even their host galaxies and producing almost all the elements in the periodic table. Each year, several hundreds of supernovae are found by dedicated robotic telescopes, and studies of these explosions reveal insights about everything from how stars evolve to the expansion history and fate of the Universe. In this talk, I will highlight recent discoveries on the nature of supernova explosions, and I will discuss some of the outstanding questions which physicists will be investigating in the next few years.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:d Technology Through the Eyes of a Combat Reconnaissance Pilot
Captain William Koch
Tue Jan 24, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
I am a Captain in the US Army and am currently enrolled in the graduate Physics program, preparing to return to the United States Military Academy to teach core physics to the cadets. From June 2004 through this past summer, I flew the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Scout/Reconnaissance helicopter through two unit train-ups and two deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom, spending almost two and a half years in the combat environment. This seminar will be a discussion of the current fielded technology of U.S. Army Scout/Cavalry Aviation, including a discussion of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior reconnaissance helicopter and a light overview of other Army Aviation assets. This seminar will offer a personal view of current advantages and limitations as a result of the technology installed on U.S. Army helicopters.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:e What Topology Teaches Us About the Electronic Properties of Solids
Dr. David Hsieh, Pappalardo Fellow
Wed Jan 25, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
The electronic properties of solids are usually determined by their band structure, the energy-momentum dispersion relation of electrons in a periodic atomic lattice. However there exists a special class of materials whose properties are strongly influenced by the wave function composition of their band structure, and whose description is deeply connected to the topology of shapes and objects. The past few years have witnessed a rapid rise in the number of such "topological materials" and we will find out why they have attracted such fundamental and technological interest.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:f A 9 Billion Dollar Venture to Shake Up the Laws of Nature
Professor Iain Stewart
Fri Jan 27, 01:30pm-02:30am, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Physics as we know it can be described at a fundamental level by four forces: gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force of radioactive decays, and the strong force that binds quarks into a proton. They drive an enormously rich variety of interesting physical phenomena, whose study populates the subfields of physics in our department. An interesting question is whether nature stopped at just four. Indeed the standard model of particle physics hypothesizes a fifth "force" caused by Higgs bosons, and a main purpose of the Large Hadron Collider experiment at CERN is to shake up the known laws of nature by discovering new forces. In this lecture I will describe how we make predictions for what the experiment will see based on known physics, which are crucial input to finding new forces. I'll explain why a fundamental tool is careful and imaginative organization of Taylor series, as well as why these series are somewhat trickier than the ones you've met so far in 8.0X.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:g Higgs Boson Hunt at the LHC
Professor Markus Klute
Mon Jan 30, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
After decades of preparation, the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are taking first steps toward resolving many long-standing puzzles in particle physics. The expectations for an early discovery of new physics were high. In the first 1/fb no evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model was found. This talk summarizes the current experimental status of and strategies used by the CMS Collaboration in the search for new physics, with an emphasis on the search for a Higgs boson.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:h Creating the Hottest Matter in the Universe with the Large Hadron Collider
Professor Bolek Wyslouch
Tue Jan 31, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Each year, for about four weeks at a time, the Large Hadron Collider is configured to collide heavy nuclei. The extremely hot matter created in these collisions exhibits unusual properties. The high density plasma of quarks and gluons behaves like a strongly interacting liquid and it absorbs fast moving partons. We use large particle detectors and clever experimental techniques to understand its properties. In this talk I will introduce the overall research program and present the latest results.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:i Gravitational Lensing is Fantastic!
Dr. Simona Vegetti, Pappalardo Fellow
Wed Feb 1, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Light does not always travel in a straight line. The gravitational pull of massive objects as galaxies and galaxy clusters deflect passing light rays and produce a detectable distortion and magnification of the background source. If the alignment between the source and the gravitational lens is good enough, multiple images are formed. The images that are so created, are very beautiful and intriguing, but most importantly they can be used to learn something about the Universe. During this talk, I will present some of the most interesting astrophysical applications of gravitational lensing and show that lensing is a very powerful tool to study galaxy formation but also to constrain the properties of dark matter and dark energy.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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MIT Physics Lecture Series:j The Biophysical Borderline: Exploring the Boundary Between Inanimate and Living Matter
Professor Jeremy England
Fri Feb 3, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Living things are good at collecting information about their surroundings, and at putting that information to use through the ways they interact with their environment so as to survive and replicate themselves. Thus, talking about biology inevitably leads to talking about decision, purpose, and function. At the same time, living things are also made of atoms that, in and of themselves, have no particular function. Rather, molecules and the atoms from which they are built exhibit well-defined physical properties having to do with how they bounce off of, stick to, and combine with each other across space and over time. Making sense of life at the molecular level is all about building a bridge between these two different ways of looking at the world. In this lecture we will discuss the ways in which a deep understanding of statistical physics can help to illuminate the inner workings of biological systems.
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 253-4855, denisew@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
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New Visions of the Center of Our Galaxy
Frederik K. Baganoff
Tue Jan 17, 02:30-03:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
A new generation of telescopes and instruments have revealed the core of our galaxy, the Milky Way, in spectacular detail. On the smallest scales, ground-based infrared telescopes -- using adaptive optics to correct for atmospheric distortion -- have traced the path of a star that passed within just 17 light-hours or 11 billion miles of the dark massive object at the dynamical center of the galaxy. An analysis of the star's motion indicates that the dark object has a mass of about 3.7 millions suns, and provides the strongest evidence to date for the existence of a supermassive black hole. X-ray observations from space have detected massive flares from just outside the event horizon of the black hole. Observatories around the world are trying to monitor these flares across the electromagnetic spectrum to measure the physical properties of the hot, highly magnetized plasma on which the black hole feeds.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Observing the Violent Universe with the Chandra X-ray Observatory
Prof. Claude Canizares
Thu Jan 12, 03-04:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched into orbit 12 years ago by the Space Shuttle Columbia. Like the Hubble telescope, Chandra is one of NASA's premier space astronomy facilities. But while Hubble detects visible light, Chandra measures X-rays. This high energy radiation reveals some of the most energetic and explosive events in the cosmos, including black holes, quasars, and supernovae. This talk will describe the technology that made Chandra possible, much of it developed at MIT, and sample some scientific results about the violent universe.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Plasma Science and Fusion Center IAP Series
Martin Greenwald, Abhay Ram, Peter Catto, Paul Rivenberg
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
This series introduces plasma physics research and areas of related interest at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center. See URL below.
Web: http://www.psfc.mit.edu/
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, x3-8101, rivenberg@psfc.mit.edu
Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Fusion Energy 101
Jeffrey Freidberg
A presentation of the basic principles of magnetic fusion research, including the role fusion might play in the world's energy supply, and the surprisingly difficult scientific and engineering problems that must be overcome. The talk will conclude with a status report of the world’s current fusion research program, and how fusion might likely compete economically once the technical problems are solved.
Mon Jan 9, 11am-12:00pm, NW17-218
Plasma Nuclear Science - A New Field of Research
Johan Frenje
A report on the first use of laser-driven Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) experiments for studies of basic nuclear physics. These experiments were carried out at the OMEGA laser facility and the National Ignition Facility (NIF), in which spherical capsules were spherically irradiated with powerful lasers to compress and heat the fuel to high enough temperatures and densities for significant nuclear reactions to occur.
Mon Jan 9, 02-03:00pm, NW17-218
Stellarator Physics and Reactor Prospects
Per Helander Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
Stellarators have always constituted an important part of the fusion program, but their properties are not very well known in the plasma physics community. This talk will give an overview of the physics of these devices, in particular how they resemble and differ from tokamaks. The scope will be broad, ranging from early ideas to recent developments and reactor prospects.
Tue Jan 10, 11am-12:00pm, NW17-218
Research on the National Ignition Facility (NIF)
Otto Landen Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The inertial confinement approach to fusion relies on “imploding" a mm-scale capsule filled with a mixture of deuterium (D) and tritium (T) to high density. The challenges in uniformly and efficiently compressing ICF capsules at NIF using laser-produced x-rays from a high Z enclosure (“hohlraum”) will be described in context of the latest NIF hohlraum and capsule performance tuning and cryogenic implosion results.
Tue Jan 10, 03pm-04:00am, NW17-218
Turbulent Heating of the Corona and Solar Wind
Stuart Bale University of California, Berkeley
The coming decade will be a golden age for coronal and heliospheric physics. This talk details several NASA space missions and the NSF's Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, which will provide high spatial resolution magnetic field and plasma observations of the sun's transition region and corona. The Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus missions will dive deep into the heliosphere to make low altitude in situ measurements.
Wed Jan 11, 11am-12:00pm, NW17-218
Exploring Plasmas Near Mercury: Solar Wind Driving and Surface Interactions
Thomas Zurbuchen University of Michigan
The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft entered orbit about Mercury on March 18, 2011. Primarily using a novel plasma mass spectrometer and the magnetic field instrument (MAG), MESSENGER has been observing Mercury’s violent space environment and its impact on Mercury’s magnetosphere, surface interaction and exosphere. Prof. Zurbuchen will discuss the latest findings.
Wed Jan 11, 03-04:00pm, NW17-218
Alcator C-Mod: The Little Tokamak that Could
Steve Scott
In 2007, the United States joined the ITER fusion experiment, which is expected to generate significant amounts of fusion power for the first time in 2026. Despite its modest size, MIT's Alcator C-Mod routinely produces plasma conditions that are surprisingly close to those expected in ITER. This talk will describe the research carried out by C-Mod in support of ITER and future fusion reactors.
Thu Jan 12, 11am-12:00pm, NW17-218
Tour of Alcator C-Mod
Roman Ochoukov
Visit the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, a well-tested approach to fusion research that has direct applications to ITER, the world's largest tokamak, currently under construction in France.
Thu Jan 12, 01:30-02:30pm, NW17-218
Multi-scale Physics of Materials for Fusion and Fission Energy
Brian D. Wirth University of Tennessee
Radiation damage, and its consequence to material properties, is a central issue in many advanced technologies. This presentation will introduce the inherently multiscale nature of irradiation effects in materials, and then describe a multiscale research paradigm based on close integration of materials modeling and advanced experimental characterization required to better understand irradiation effects.
Thu Jan 12, 03-04:00pm, NW17-218
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Revealing Titan's Secrets
Dr. Peter Ford
Wed Jan 18, 02-02:30pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Surrounded by a deep atmosphere, methane clouds, and hydrocarbon hazes, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has long resisted our attempts to understand its present conditions and past history. With the arrival of the Cassini orbiter and Huygens probe in 2004, a variety of instruments have observed Titan at many wavelengths, revealing a body that bears many similarities to Earth: rivers, lakes, rain, dunes, and a surface that is one of the youngest in the solar system. This talk will concentrate on recent attempts to answer some of the most baffling questions about this giant moon: how, why, and when did it form, and from what materials? is there an ocean hidden deep beneath its surface? and why do the dunes point in the "wrong" direction?
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Superwinds in Accreting Black Hole Binaries
Joseph Neilsen
Fri Jan 20, 02:30-03:30pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Although black holes are often thought of as cosmic vacuum cleaners, consuming everything nearby (even light), the feeding process for astrophysical black holes is much more complicated. Accretion releases prodigious quantities of energy, which can actually drive infalling gas away from the black hole, sometimes in the form of relativistic jets, and sometimes as winds that may carry away the equivalent of 1/3 of the mass of the moon per day! I will discuss how we observe this surprising behavior, and what it tells us about black hole astrophysics.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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The History and Physics of Nuclear Weapons
Kosta Michael Tsipis
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Four lectures on the history and physics of nuclear weapons:
Lecture 1
The history and Physics of the genesis of nuclear weapons.
Lecture 2
The physics of a nuclear weapon.
Lecture 3
The effects of a nuclear detonation.
Lecture 4
Nuclear proliferation and the NPT (nuclear proliferation treaty).
Contact: Kosta Michael Tsipis, tsipis@mit.edu
Sponsor: Mechanical Engineering
The History and Physics of the Genesis of Nuclear Weapons
Kosta Michael Tsipis
The history and Physics of the genesis of nuclear weapons: Bequerel, Marie Curie, Rutherford, Bohr, Szilard, Hahn-Strassman, Szilard Fermi at Columbia, Szilard-Teller visit to Einstein, VanBush, Leslie Groves, Oppenheimer, Los Alamos. The Physics: Missing mass and binding energy of nucleons in a nucleus, chain reaction in U235 + neutron
Mon Jan 23, 01-02:00pm, 4-231
The Physics of a Nuclear Weapon
Kosta Michael Tsipis
The physics of a nuclear weapon: critical mass; the engineering of a Uranium bomb, of a Plutonium bomb. The Hydrogen bomb.
Wed Jan 25, 01-02:00pm, 4-231
The Effects of a Nuclear Detonation
Kosta Michael Tsipis
The Effects of a nuclear detonation: Thermal effects, Blast overpressure and dynamic pressure, Prompt ionizing radiation, Radioactive fallout, Ozone Depletion, The Electromagnetic Pulse.
Mon Jan 30, 01-02:00pm, 4-231
Nuclear Proliferation and the NPT (Nuclear Proliferation Treaty)
Kosta Michael Tsipis
Parastatal entities can acquire a nuclear explosive three ways: Steal one (Russia, Pakistan), buy one (Pakistan, North Korea) or make a crude one from purloined U or Plutonium. Proliferation and national States: Enrichment of U235 as the nexus between nuclear power and nuclear weapons (India, Pakistan, South Africa, Iran, N.Korea). Signatories and non signatories of the NPT.
Wed Feb 1, 01-02:00pm, 4-231
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The Space Nanotechnology Lab: High Resolution X-Ray Optics with Nanometer Precision
Ralf Heilmann
Mon Jan 23, 02:30-03:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
The Space Nanotechnology Lab (SNL) develops advanced lithographic and nano-fabrication technology for building high performance space instrumentation, as well as nanometer-accuracy metrology and assembly technology. Contributions to the currently orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory and the future Constellation-X mission are described.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Tour of the ACIS/CCD lab
Steve Kissel
Schedule: TBD
Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 18-Jan-2012
Limited to 15 participants.
Single session event
Prereq: Attendance of same day MKI sessions
In this tour, we will introduce the participant to the CCD detector development at MIT.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Tour of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) Lab
Professor Nergis Mavalvala
Wed Jan 25, 03:15-04:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 23-Jan-2012
Limited to 16 participants.
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Attendance of same day MKI sessions
Visitors will be taken on a tour of the LIGO prototyping facilities at MIT. These include a full-scale prototype of the LIGO vacuum chambers, laser, isolation and suspension systems, and laboratories for thermal and optical noise measurements.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Tour of the MICRO-X Lab
Professor Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano
Mon Jan 30, 03:15-04:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 26-Jan-2012
Limited to 12 participants.
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Attendance of same day MKI sessions
Visit the MICRO-X Lab sites as they get ready for launch. This MIT-lead project is in the integration and testing phase and the tour will provide a glimpse at the actual rocket hardware
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Tour of the Operations Control Center for the Chandra X-ray Observatory
Norbert S. Schulz
Tue Jan 17, 03:15-04:00pm
Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 13-Jan-2012
Limited to 20 participants.
Single session event
Prereq: Attendance of same day MKI sessions
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the world's most powerful X-ray telescope, allowing scientists to study the origin, structure and evolution of our universe in greater detail than ever before. The spacecraft and science instruments are controlled from the Operations Control Center (OCC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We will take our visitors on a tour of the OCC and show where scientists and engineers direct the flight and execute the observing plan of Chandra, and where they receive the scientific data from the observatory. During the tour the visitors will learn about the basics of X-ray astronomy and about the latest, exciting discoveries made by MIT scientists with data acquired with Chandra.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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Tour of the Space Nanotechnology Lab
Ralf Heilmann
Mon Jan 23, 03:15-04:00pm, Marlar: 37-252
Signup by: 20-Jan-2012
Limited to 6 participants.
Single session event
Prereq: Attendance of same day MKI sessions
During the tour of the SNL's three clean rooms visitors will see sophisticated optical (interference lithography stations for the fabrication of submicron period gratings, high power UV laser, metrology station for optics shape measurements, sub-nanometer resolution interferometers, etc.) and mechanical systems (XY-air-bearing stage, sub-micron accuracy alignment system, environmental enclosure, active vibration isolation, etc.) that support the development of thin-foil x-ray optics and gratings.
Web: http://space.mit.edu/home/nss/iap2012/iap_activities_2012.html
Contact: Norbert S. Schulz, NE80-6075, (617) 258-5767, nss@space.mit.edu
Sponsor: Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
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