Past Schedules: 2004-2005 | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2008-2009

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"Bose-Einstein Condensation: quantum weirdness at the lowest temperature in the universe"

In 1924 Einstein predicted that a gas would undergo a dramatic transformation at a sufficiently low temperature (now known as Bose-Einstein condensation or BEC). In 1995, my group was able to observe this transformation by cooling a gas sample to the unprecedented temperature of less than 100 billionths of a degree above absolute zero. The BEC state is a novel form of matter in which a large number of atoms lose their individual identities and behave as a single quantum entity, the "superatom". This entity is the atom analogue to laser light, and, although large enough to be easily seen and manipulated, exhibits the nonintuitive quantum behavior normally important only at much tinier size scales. The study and use of the curious properties of BEC has now become an important subfield of physics. I will discuss how we create BEC and some of the subsequent research we have done on it. Interactive applets as a tool for teaching science will be demonstrated in the presentation.

"Arithmetic, Population & Energy: Sustainability 101"

The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.

The talk identifies the exponential function as the function that describes steady growth, and then shows how steady growth gives enormous numbers in modest periods of time. Yet steady growth is the centerpiece of the entire national and global economies. The economic growth is based on the easy availability of fossil fuels, particularly petroleum. The talk examines the dramatic reduction of the life expectancy of a finite non-renewable resource when the rate of consumption of the resource is growing steadily. These results are applied to petroleum and coal. The resulting life-expectancies are very much shorter than those that are quoted by experts, journalists and scientists.

Join us for this interesting talk.

"A Journey to the Earth's Interior"

"Evolution, Intelligent Design Creationism, and Physics"

In the United States, the research and teaching associated with evolutionary theory has been a controversial subject in the public's eye, though not in the scientific community. This past year important court cases and political rhetoric have placed focus on a proposed alternative of intelligent design creationism. This talk will focus on whether this represents new science or an attack on science itself. Drawing on examples within physics we hope to highlight these distinctions and clarify some key issues not presented in full in the popular press.

Download the slides from the presentation here;
2.86 MB

"Physics at the Energy Frontier"

This talk will cover the basic ideas of quantum mechanics in the early 1900s; namely, how concepts such as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, matter waves, and relativity shaped the standard model of particle physics. Some of the most fundamental problems we are contemplating will be discussed: “Why do we have a matter-dominated universe?” “What is dark matter and dark energy?” “Do protons decay?” “Are there extra dimensions?” “What gives mass to particles?” This engaging talk will conclude with a description of a new accelerator being built in Switzerland called the Large Heidron Collidor, or LHC, which will extend the manmade energy frontier by a factor of 7.

John Cumalat is an experimental high-energy physicist. He is professor and current chair of the department of Physics.