Events

Modern astronomy involves complex data generating mechanisms, complex data collection mechanisms, and complex underlying physics questions, resulting in an abundance of complex statistical challenges. In particular, astronomers may rely on computer simulators to model complex physics, creating a need for statistical methodology that combines these simulators with astrophysical data to perform inference.

Amateur astrophotography has undergone a profound transformation over the past twenty years, driven by the advent of digital cameras, along with increasingly affordable large-aperture telescopes. Amateur astronomers today use backyard equipment to produce stunning images that surpass those taken at big observatories only a few decades ago, while some use very modest equipment to produce work of soaring creativity.

Title: "Magnetoelectric generation of a Majorana-Fermi surface in Kitaev's honeycomb model"

I will start with a review of how General Relativity can be treated as a quantum field theory, as well as some of its limitations. After a general discussion of the Arrow of Causality in QFT, I will turn to gravity with quadratic curvature terms, which is a potential UV completion of General Relativity. This forms a renormalizable QFT, although it is one with some non-standard features.

Upcoming measurements of large-scale clustering in the universe promise to provide new insights into cosmology and fundamental physics, but a variety of modelling and analysis challenges must be addressed if this promise is to be fully realized. In this talk, I will discuss one such challenge: the modelling uncertainty associated with so-called "baryonic effects," specifically the influence of gas dynamics and feedback from active galactic nuclei on the large-scale distribution of matter.

Experimental research in a full-size wave energy system has been conducted over the past 10 years with 6 deployments to solve the problem of producing continuous electrical power for at least 8,000 hours per year from energy dense water waves.

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are galactic-scale low-frequency (nHz - μHz) gravitational wave (GW) observatories, which aim to directly detect GWs from supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries (≥ 10⁷ M_⊙). SMBH binaries are predicted products of galaxy mergers and are a crucial step in galaxy formation theories. The primary source of gravitational radiation in the nHz regime is expected to be a stochastic background formed from the cosmic population of SMBH binaries.

In most materials, electrons move around and scatter

Abstract: Just as the discovery of semiconductors revolutionized the electronic industry in the twentieth century, Quantum Materials hold the key to advanced technological properties. There is much basic scientific research still necessary to unveil the tantalizing potential of Quantum Materials. To that end, my research program is focused on advancing our ability to design, synthesize and characterize Quantum Materials, in particular Quantum Magnets.

Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), in the outer Solar System, provide a unique laboratory for studying the formation of small bodies. I will summarize our state of understanding of planetesimal formation in the Kuiper Belt as informed by: the size distribution of KBOs as measured through reflected optical light and occultations; the dynamical stability of Kuiper Belt binaries; the orbital stability of the classical Kuiper Belt; and the imaging returned from the New Horizons mission.

Abstract:

"Good is the enemy of great." There are bad, good and great ways of being an academic scientist and faculty member. In this talk, we aim to provide some perspectives and insights on growth, success and well-being in the academic context. It is important for trainees and junior faculty members to be well informed of what may lie ahead in the academic world, and for all of us to share information, experience and perspectives on how to navigate successful and satisfying careers.

Objectives:

Abstract: Topological superconductors represent a fundamentally new phase of matter. Similar to topological insulators, the non-trivial topological characteristics of a topological superconductor dictate the presence of a topological edge states composed of Bogoliubov quasiparticles which live inside and span the superconducting gap.

Molecular interactions lie at the core of biochemistry and biology, and their understanding is crucial to the advancement of biotechnology, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Most existing tools make “ensemble” measurements and report a single result, typically averaged over millions of molecules or more.

Recent observations of binary black hole and binary neutron star mergers have ignited interest in the formation and evolution of compact-object binary systems. However, by the time a compact-object binary merges and produces gravitational-wave/electromagnetic signals that we can observe, much of the evolutionary history of the stellar progenitors is washed away. By combining binary population synthesis simulations with observations, we can work to constrain the uncertain processes that govern the evolution of binary stars, from zero age main sequence through to compact object formation.