Browsing School of Physics Colloquia Series by Title
Now showing items 59-78 of 103
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The Physics of How Viruses Make New Viruses
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-03-12)The viruses that infect bacteria have a hallowed position in the development of modern biology, and once inspired Max Delbruck refer to them as "the atom of biology". Recently, these viruses have become the subject of ... -
Physics of Morphogenetic Matter
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021-11-08)My lab studies how the movement and shape of living cells is controlled by living materials constructed by protein assemblies within the cell interior. In this talk, I will describe my lab’s recent efforts to understand ... -
Physics of the Piano
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-10-01)Why does a piano sound like a piano? A similar question can be asked of virtually all musical instruments. A particular note, such as middle C, can be produced by a piano, a violin, and a clarinet. Yet, it is easy for even ... -
Protecting the Space Environment: Sustainability and Security
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2022-03-07)In recent years, the number of objects in space has grown rapidly, and this growth is projected to continue to accelerate over the next decade. There has also been increased military activity in space, including rendezvous ... -
Protein Association in Dilute and Crowded Solutions
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-11-09)Most biological processes are mediated by mediated by protein association, and often are under kinetic rather than thermodynamic control. We have developed the transient-complex theory for protein association, which presents ... -
Quantum Crystals, Quantum Computing, Quantum Cognition
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-10-05)Quantum mechanics is down to earth - quite literally - since the electrons within the tiny crystals found in a handful of dirt manifest a dizzying world of quantum motion. Each crystal has it’s own unique choreography, ... -
Quantum FM Radio for Quantum Computing
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-03-27)Individual superconducting qubits have seen impressive improvements in nearly all aspects over the past decade and now sit at the threshold of being able to perform quantum error correction. Scaling to larger numbers of ... -
Quantum Magnetism from the Iron Age to Today
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021-04-12)The quantum theory of magnetism has provided many durable paradigms for quantum phases of matter, including intrinsically quantum disordered states, symmetry-protected topological phases, and quantum spin liquids. It also ... -
Recipe for a Habitable Planet
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020-09-21)The discovery of numerous small exoplanets has brought the search for life beyond the Solar System into sharp focus on many potentially habitable worlds where life may exist. However, many factors and processes can affect ... -
Revisiting and Repurposing the Double Helix
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020-08-31)DNA is an iconic molecule that forms a double helical structure, providing the basis for genetic inheritance, and its physical properties have been studied for decades. In this talk, I will present evidence that sequence ... -
Reviving Creativity in Our Introductory Physics Labs
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-01-30)Approaching a question without fear, coming up with an idea, designing a test to see if the idea might be right, revising the idea (or the question), and trying again when your results take you someplace unexpected. These ... -
Scalable Technologies for Quantum Computing with Trapped Atomic Ions
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-09-17)From the earliest days of the field of quantum information, trapped atomic ions have had great potential as qubits. Trapped-ion experiments have separately demonstrated the individual ingredients believed necessary for ... -
School of Physics Annual Chair's Address
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013-08-26)Pablo Laguna, newly appointed chair of the School of Physics, spoke about his view of the field, the school and his plans for faculty, students and outreach. -
The Search for Modulated Superconductivity
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-11-03)In the mid 60's, theoretical physicists came to the conclusion that a strong magnetic field could lead to a superconducting state where magnetism and superconductivity are interleaved on the nano-scale: tidal wave like ... -
Search Levitation by Casimir forces in and out of equilibrium
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-11-27)A generalization of Earnshaw's theorem constrains the possibility of levitation by Casimir forces in equilibrium. The scattering formalism, which forms the basis of this proof, can be used to study fluctuation-induced ... -
Seeing the Light: J. C. Bose and Table-Top Experimental Science
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-09-28)The eye and brain work together to form our impressions of reality. Our perspectives of what is happening around us can be influenced by perceptual reference frames and feedback loops. The complexity of visual processing ... -
Self-propelled topological defects
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020-10-26)Active materials such as bacteria, molecular motors and eukaryotic cells continuously transform chemical energy taken from their surroundings to mechanical work. Dense active matter shows mesoscale turbulence, the emergence ... -
SETI: Any Closer to a Discovery?
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2018-09-24)Are we alone in the universe? The scientific hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence is now well into its fifth decade, and we still haven’t discovered any cosmic company. Could all this mean that finding biology beyond ... -
Single-Atom Optical Clocks
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2013-10-21)With the availability of spectrally pure lasers and the ability to precisely measure optical frequencies, it appears the era of optical atomic clocks has begun. At the expense of signal-to-noise ratio, in one project at ... -
Sloppy models, differential geometry, and why science works
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020-09-28)Models of systems biology, climate change, ecology, complex instruments, and macroeconomics have parameters that are hard or impossible to measure directly. If we fit these unknown parameters, fiddling with them until they ...