Past Events

Formed too Fast? Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn

When
-

Abstract: A growing number of surprisingly massive galaxies are now being found in the first ~billion years after the Big Bang that push the limits of theoretical predictions within Lambda-CDM. Unusually bright high-redshift galaxies discovered by JWST challenge our most fundamental models of how fast stars form. Some of them contain overly massive black holes whose formation is uncharted. Massive dusty starbursts found with ALMA are requiring new explanations about early dust production.

The Physics of Sports!

When
-

It might seem like our favorite athletes defy the laws of physics, but this
is not so - they work with physics, just as we all do.  Come and learn
about how motion, energy, and balance contribute to the things we all do in
sports.  We will have lots of audience participation, including an activity
for everyone who attends!

Graduate Student Seminar Series

When
-

Hello!

The Graduate Association of Students in Physics (GASP) and the JILA Association of Graduate Students (JAGS) are excited to announce the next session of the Graduate Student Seminar Series! Please join us on Thursday, March 13th, at 12:30 in the JILA Auditorium for lunch, with the talks beginning at 12:45.

The talks for this session are:

   Light-assisted Collisions in Optical Tweezers - Steven Pampel, Regal Group
   Observation of field-split crystal electric field levels in CsErSe$_2$ - Hope Whitelock, Lee Group

Atomic scale thermal sciences: from molecular phononics to near-field probing of nonequilibrium heat flow

When
-

Single atoms and molecules are the emerging frontier in engineering applications as they represent the ultimate limit of modern electronic and photonic devices. While controlling at these extremely small scales have become a reality, the understanding of energy transport, conversion, and dissipation properties of these systems is falling behind due to the lack of experimental tools.

From Mars Sample Return to Enceladus plume missions: finding habitable environments and life across the solar system

When
-

Abstract:  Planetary exploration has unveiled environments that could support life today, or in the past, or contain the ingredients of life. Mars was once habitable; Enceladus’ ocean is today, Europa is a question mark, and Bennu contains most of the basic key monomers of life in abiotic form. I will discuss how this all fits together. 
 

Optical Tweezers: Light and Life, Studied One Molecule at a Time

When
-

Abstract: Prominent among biophysical techniques is the optical trap, for which Arthur Ashkin (Bell Labs) received a Nobel Prize in 2018. Among the successes of optical traps have been direct measurements of the steps taken by biological motor proteins, such as kinesin, and by nucleic-acid enzymes, such as RNA polymerase. Optical traps facilitate studies of replication, transcription, and translation at the single-molecule level. They’ve been especially useful in mapping the free-energy landscapes of folding by small, structured RNAs.

The Legacies of Hubble, Webb, and future NASA astrophysics flagship missions

When
-

Abstract: For the past four decades, the Space Telescope Science Institute has served as the bridge between NASA's flagship astrophysics missions and the scientific community through its role as the science operations center for Hubble, Webb, and Roman. The Hubble Space Telescope is celebrating its 35th year of operations, and continues to lead innovative new discoveries with its ultraviolet-optical capabilities and decades of high precision data.

Atomic layer etching of electronic and quantum materials

When
-

Abstract:

Future electronic and quantum devices will require near-atomically-precise nanofabrication processes, but present plasma processing methods create a variety of imperfections that limit device performance. In this talk, I will present atomic layer etching processing for materials including superconducting titanium nitride, lithium niobate, and compound semiconductors which enable etching with Angstrom-scale precision. I will also describe our efforts to validate the process improvements at the device level.

Bio:

What to expect next from NASA’s TESS Mission

When
-

Abstract: The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is NASA’s wide-field optical astrophysical observatory exploring the bright and time-variable sky. Since its launch in 2018, TESS has discovered over 500 confirmed exoplanets and over 6000 additional candidates await confirmation. Dozens of these planets’ atmospheres have been or soon will be explored by the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes.