Physics Colloquia
The Department of Physics's invites to open talks. We serve refreshments.
31 August 2018 - Big data - from academia to business (Boston consulting group)
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Title: Big data – from academia to business
Speaker: Lukasz Bolikowski, Lead data scientist, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG gamma)
Abstract: Lukasz Bolikowski, computer science PhD from Polish Academy of life Sciences and former Head of Data Analysis Laboratory at ICM, University of Warsaw will talk about his transition from academia to working in the data science team of the global consultancy Boston Consulting Group.
With his 10+ years of experience in academia as a background he will present examples of work he is now doing and what type of value that can be created.
14 September 2018 - SFF PoreLab
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Speaker: Professor Alex Hansen
Title: A Generalized Thermodynamics for Porous Media Flow
Abstract: I will describe one of the research activities in PoreLab: how to construct a formalism using thermodynamics as a palimpsest to describe the simultaneous flow of two immiscible fluids in a porous medium. Thermodynamics is the closest thing to a free lunch in physics: it is just amazing how much mileage one gets from just a small set of assumptions. One may think of these being the three laws of thermodynamic, but when looking very closely, there is another powerful principle lurching behind them. It is this principle that makes thermodynamics work - and it is this principle we transcribe. The result is... well, you'll see.
28 September 2018 - TBA
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
19 October 2018 - Anders Malthe-Sørenssen, Centre for computing in science education, UiO
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Title: Fornyelse av realfagsutdanningen ved å integrere programmering - erfaringer fra UiO
Abstract: Bruk av databeregninger og programmering har blitt et grunnleggende verktøy i alle realfagene både i forskning og industri, men det har tradisjonelt ikke vært en integrert del av undervisningens innhold eller form. Vi har integrert beregninger i utdanning fra første dag på tvers av alle realfaglige bachelorprogrammer ved UiO. Det gjør det mulig for oss å legge om hvordan vi underviser de grunnleggende fagene.
Vi kan nå i større grad la studentene arbeide med realistiske, anvendte problemstillinger tidlig i studiet, og vi kan la studentene lære gjennom den samme arbeidsflyten som karakteriserer den profesjonelle utøvelsen av faget. Dette åpner for nye pedagogiske angrepsmåter som aktiviserer både studenter og undervisere. Vi presenterer her eksempler på hvordan programmering har blitt integrert i studieprogrammer og fag fra fysikk til biologi og hvilke effekter dette har på studentenes forståelse og ferdigheter.
26 October 2018 - The redefinition of the kilogram (Justervesenet)
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Title: Present and future of the International System of Units
Abstract: Basically all of our physical measurements are based on the International System of Units (SI) - at least they should be. In November 2018, the 26th General Conference on Weights and Measures will take place in Paris to decide upon a redefinition of the SI, specifically of the ampere, kelvin, kilogram, and mole - four of the seven SI base units. I will present today's SI and why it ought to be changed at all, and what the benefits of such a redefinition might be. Also, I will go through some of the historical developments that have led to the status quo and whether this upcoming redefinition is going to be the ultimate state.
Since 1983, the SI has existed in its current form. The definition of the ampere has since suffered from a lack of any practical realization. The kelvin has been defined through material properties, the kilogram through a specific material object, and the mole through material properties. The problems with the current SI definitions are numerous. The guiding principle of the proposed revision is to define the base units through fundamental physical constants only - apart from the second. In the new SI, the ampere is going to be defined by the elementary charge. Similarly, the kelvin is going to be defined by the Boltzmann constant, the kilogram by the Planck constant, and the mole by the Avogadro number. The definitions of the second and metre will not change. The candela will, in principle, not be redefined, but the wording is going to change slightly.
9 November 2018 - SFF QuSpin (Professor Arne Brataas)
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Title: Center for Quantum Spintronics
Abstract: Center for Quantum Spintronics started September 1, 2017. QuSpin is one out of two centers of excellence (SFF) at the Department of Physics that is funded by Resarch Council of Norway. The SFF program gives Norway´s best scientists the opportunity to organize their research in centers in order to reach ambitious scientific goals. In less than a year, QuSpin has grown rapidly and includes now more than 60 Master Students, PhD Students, Post-doctoral researchers, and Professors.
I will present why QuSpin matters. I will introduce the people involved, the vision, the main hypothesis, the key research areas, and some recent ground breaking results.
23 November 2018 - Dark Matter (Professor Are Raklev)
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Title: Dark Matter - why? what? what?
Abstract: Some 80% of all the matter in the Universe seems to be made up by a new kind of stuff, conveniently named dark matter. This talk will be an introduction to why we believe there is such a thing as dark matter, what we are doing to try to identify it, and what we think it might be.
The talk will be aimed at the level of a beginning graduate (master) student.
30 November 2018 - Laser Physics (Professor Irina Sorokina)
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Title: Innovations in Laser Physics win the Nobel Prize 2018
Abstract: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics to Arthur Ashkin, Donna Strickland, and Gérard Mourou for “groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics.” The award recognizes laser inventions/techniques that enable break-throughs in both, basic science and technology.
Both laser related inventions made in the middle of eighties – the optical tweezers suggested by Arthur Ashkin and the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique enabling ultrashort, high-intensity laser pulses suggested by Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou – produced an immense impact on science and technology. The impact that has been acknowledged in several other Nobel Prizes that were directly related to these inventions. For example, Optical tweezers provided the foundation for the 1997 Nobel Prize, awarded for trapping atoms. More recently, researchers at Harvard University were able to ‘build’ a single molecule from a sodium and a cesium atom. The high intensity pulses created by CPA are routinely used now in laser eye surgery and for micro-machining of glasses, metals, and semiconductors.
Beyond this, CPA enabled several more recent ultra-short pulsed laser related Nobel Prizes, including the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2005 awarded to Roy J. Glauber, Theodor W. Hänsch, John L. Hall for "for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique" as well as the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Ahmed H. Zewail for using ultrashort laser pulses to observe molecules moving during chemical reactions.
The talk will review the foundations as well as provide some examples of applications of these laser techniques where the impact on science and technology is immense as these laser related discoveries truly revolutionized our understanding about nature and provided means to control it.
7 December 2018 - TBA
Place: D5-175
Time: 14:15
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
