The dynamics of Earth’s radiation belts remain one of the central challenges in space weather research. Despite decades of satellite observations, predicting when and how the belts will intensify or decay remains difficult. This seminar will discuss recent work combining multi-mission datasets from 36 multi-agency satellites to produce the highest-resolution phase space density (PSD) observations of the outer belt to date, and how these have been used to identify dominant acceleration and loss mechanisms. New developments in data-assimilative modelling through the Radiation Belt Forecasting Model and Framework (RBFMF) will also be discussed, including how diminishing real-time data coverage affects operational hindcasts. The results highlight the need for continuous, strategically placed measurements through the heart of the radiation belts and improved understanding of which orbital configurations most effectively enhance prediction capability.

Extreme precision radial velocity (EPRV) measurements, capable of capturing signals with an amplitude of just 10-30 cm/s, are needed to uncover low-mass planets and inform planet formation scenarios, calculate planetary interior composition, and constrain atmospheric models.  This need has given rise to innovation in precision spectroscopy at all levels--from the instrumentation to the extraction software through to the astrophysics guiding the final derived RV measurements.  I will give an overview of recent advances across the EPRV community and how they shape the future of the field.  Building on a baseline of now 6+ years of EPRV-quality data, we can finally start to explore information-complete algorithms to find Earths, optimize instrumentation, and image stellar surfaces.

As educators, we would like to prepare our students for 21st century physics careers. Overall, to ensure all students will become successful scientists, physics departments need to be able to provide evidence to make sure that we are reaching these goals. The field of Physics Education Research has made major contributions to various educational practices and materials to reform instruction in order to recruit and retain more students. However, while many research-based instructional strategies in physics have continued to advance, reform in undergraduate physics assessment tools has had limited space in these conversations. In this talk, I will motivate the need for the next generation of physics assessment tools and present a few projects that my physics education research lab at Michigan State University has been working on. In particular, I will discuss our efforts to build a more diverse set of tools to use within our classrooms in order to better understand our students’ learning as well as how we can best support them throughout their time in higher education.

In this talk I will discuss the workings of the NIST timescale which generates UTC(NIST). Additionally, in support of the timescale, our group is also developing a singly-trapped ⁸⁸Sr+ ion based clock. While the S1/2 -> D5/2 transition in the ⁸⁸Sr+  ion system can support high precision, our initial goals of uncertainty at below a part in 1016 are comparatively modest. Our primary objective is rather high operational uptime in pursuit of frequent comparison with atomic clocks within the ensemble that forms the timescale. These frequent measurements will allow measurement and correction of the frequency drifts and random-walk of phase in the timescale with a lower noise floor and faster feedback than is possible with current two-way time transfer techniques. The strontium ion is an excellent candidate for a robust frequency standard as lasers at the necessary wavelengths (within 400-1200 nm) are all mature technologies and a single ion system with a “magic” trap RF drive frequency can enable low systematic uncertainty without significant experimental overhead. Comparison with the NIST-F4 cesium fountain enables absolute frequency measurements of the optical transition.

Speaker Bio: 
Alejandra is a staff scientist in the Time Realization and Distribution group. She works on the timescale (an ensemble of atomic clocks) that generates the NIST realization of UTC, yielding the official US timing signals. Additionally, she works on developing an atomic optical frequency reference based on singly trapped strontium ions. This frequency reference aims to support the timescale as a high uptime optical standard for frequency calibration. Her education includes a B.S in physics from Stanford University and Ph.D. work at JILA (University of Colorado Boulder) under Professor Jun Ye implementing a magneto optical trap of diatomic YO molecules (2018). During her postdoctoral years she worked at NIST as an NRC  research associate and later as a term employee in the Ion Storage group on experiments involving quantum logic spectroscopy, both for precision molecular spectroscopy and towards high-fidelity gates for scalable quantum computing (2018-2023). 

Our planetary neighbors hold important clues about the universal limits planetary evolution and atmospheric escape place on habitability. In my work, I take a whole-atmosphere approach to understanding how these objects have evolved, combining ab initio computational modeling, spacecraft mission data analysis, and instrument and mission development to propel the field forward. For Mars and Venus, work done by my group has revealed the dominant mechanism of hydrogen (water) escape currently active at both planets— at Mars, using optically thick radiative transfer analysis of UV remote sensing data combined with photochemical modeling; and at Venus, using comprehensive modeling of nonthermal photochemical escape processes and reanalysis of Pioneer Venus Orbiter in situ data. At Mars, my group has recently begun to use rare observations of aurora that indicate direct solar wind precipitation into the thermosphere to understand how the induced magnetosphere responds to radial (flow-aligned) interplanetary magnetic field conditions, and what lessons such conditions hold for planetary evolution in general. For both planets, I am currently developing a new UV spectrometer design that would improve planetary mission FUV spectral resolution by a factor of 1000 while retaining existing instrument sensitivity. I also PI a mission proposal team developing a new Venus magnetosphere – ionosphere – thermosphere coupling mission, responsive to the recent Heliophysics Decadal, that would use Venus as a laboratory to understand fundamental heliophysics processes. In all of these efforts, my work is and will continue to be amplified by a broad and talented group of students, postdocs, and research scientists, whose work I will highlight.

This training provides an overview of best practices for writing a proposal once you have a brilliant research idea that meets the parameters of a proposal solicitation from a funding source. We will review characteristics of effective and persuasive proposals, key questions your proposal must answer, components of proposal solicitations, and understanding the audience who will review your proposal. We will also review guidelines and components of a proposal budget. 

Explore physics and quantum-related research through student showcases and poster sessions. Hear from industry executives Safy Fishov (AMD) and Billy Landuyt (ExxonMobil), and network with engineers from AMD. Food will be provided!

Visit the Research Expo website to RSVP or Register to present a poster:

• Register to present a poster by March 22.
• RSVP to attend by April 3.

The conventional idea of experimental physical chemistry has been to interrogate molecules under well-defined, usually pristine conditions. An interesting direction to advance experimental physical chemistry is to be able to study chemical dynamics in situ—complex systems that are highly heterogeneous both in space and time. The active feedback-based 3D single-particle μs tracking technique was developed in order to achieve this overarching goal. The technique affords time-dependent single-particle spectroscopy of a freely moving nanoparticle with 10 μs time resolution and <10 nm three-dimensional localization precision. With concurrently developed theories, it enables single-particle dynamic light scattering spectroscopy, which in turn allows the direct measurements of the size, the shape, and the sub-millisecond translation-rotation dynamics of individual fast-moving nanoparticles with a precision that reaches information-theory bounds. The approach also enables experimentally testing basic theoretical concepts that have eluded scientists. Examples include the “hot Brownian motion” theory which describes the random-walk dynamics of a nano-object under far-from equilibrium conditions. Another classical colloidal physics problem is nanoscale direction-dependent diffusivity divergence near a rigid wall. In addition to validating theoretical predictions, the 3D μs tracking technique has also enabled the concept of multi-resolution imaging, which is finding real-life applications in virology and drug delivery.

CU Chemistry Professor Wei Zhang and his team consisting of chemistry, mechanical engineering and industry (RockyTech) collaborators will present an all new show that highlights the past, present and future of plastics. During this show students will learn more about pros and cons of plastics in our daily life, as well as the innovation that fosters sustainability and recyclability of plastics!

Time-domain astronomy is entering a new era. With JWST, we can now discover and study supernovae in the early universe, while the Rubin Observatory and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will find rare transients across wide areas and in unprecedented numbers. These complementary facilities are transforming the transient sky into a laboratory for precision astrophysics and cosmology. In this talk, I will show how these observations are opening new ways to study cosmic expansion and probe the physics of the early universe.  High-redshift Type Ia supernovae allow us to test the stability of the standard candles used to trace cosmic acceleration, while strongly lensed supernovae provide an independent route to cosmological distances through time-delay cosmography. I will highlight recent JWST results on both classes of objects and show how they foreshadow the next decade of time-domain astronomy. Together, JWST, Rubin, and Roman will significantly enhance the role of the transient universe as a precision tool for cosmology.

As exoplanet science moves towards bigger, noisier datasets, smaller signals, and more complicated physical models, statistical inference is becoming more and more essential. In this talk, I’ll give a tour of my group’s work applying cutting-edge statistical methods in order to: 1) push the limits of exoplanet detection methods-- particularly radial velocity and astrometric methods-- expanding our understanding of what types of planets can exist;  2) look for patterns across populations of planets, informing theories about how planets form and evolve; and 3) maximize the utility of future data, particularly from the Gaia, Roman, and Habitable Worlds Observatories. I will also discuss my work on open-source software, highlighting the widely-used Bayesian orbit-fitting package orbitize! and the summer school Code/Astro.

The first year of a Ph.D. is our last opportunity to gather students heading into every research area and tell them one long-form story. Because they have just finished an undergrad degree, it is also our first opportunity to focus on the interconnections that make us so happy doing physics, to break out of the silos bounding undergrad courses. Also, many aspects of Physics culture can at last be expressed in concrete form, including symmetry/geometry as the drivers of physical insight. I'll offer an approach that focuses on crazy phenomena that make us ask, "How could anything like that possibly happen at all?" After so much education, students are sometimes shocked at how many such questions remain; some are delighted by how many of them are tractable with ideas that are in their heads, but not fully interconnected yet.

This century is witnessing a second quantum revolution, and quantum sensing represents an area in which chemists can make significant contributions. Achieving quantum sensing requires more than precise control of quantum states at the molecular level; it is also crucial to organize molecular qubits so that they function effectively in complex environments. In this seminar, I will discuss materials chemistry approaches to molecular quantum sensors, focusing on their extension from biological systems to engineered materials.
We have recently enabled intracellular quantum sensing by developing molecular quantum nanosensors (MQNs). By encapsulating atomically optimized molecular spin qubits within biocompatible nanocrystals, MQNs achieve highly uniform spin energy levels and enable room-temperature optical detection of molecular spin states inside living cells. Compared with existing quantum sensors, MQNs exhibit superior uniformity, making absolute temperature sensing within cells possible—an achievement that has been challenging to realize with conventional platforms.
I will then show how molecular quantum sensing can be extended into chemically programmable materials. By incorporating photoactive chromophores as components of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), these MOFs enable spatial organization and chemical accessibility of molecular qubits. This design allows quantum sensors whose spin coherence times respond to surrounding chemical species at room temperature. Finally, I will discuss how controlled molecular assembly leads to multilevel quantum states (qudits). Through precise chromophore arrangement, singlet fission generates spin-correlated quintet triplet pairs with submicrosecond quantum coherence, expanding molecular quantum sensing beyond two-level systems. Together, these examples illustrate how materials chemistry transforms molecular qubits from isolated spin systems into versatile sensing platforms that function across biological and materials environments.

The Will Lab studies quantum systems of ultracold atoms and molecules. The lab cools atoms and molecules to temperatures less than a millionth of a degree above absolute zero, where atomic behavior is fully governed by quantum mechanics. Under these conditions, the lab controls individual quantum particles and their interactions with high precision using atomic physics tools, enabling novel platforms for many-body quantum physics, quantum simulation, quantum computing, and quantum optics. Their work spans from fundamental physics—including the first molecular Bose–Einstein condensates—to applied quantum technologies such as large-scale atomic tweezer arrays, opening new approaches to quantum information science and quantum networking.

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Condensed matter physics aims to explore and understand various quantum phenomena that emerge from the interactions between nuclei and electrons. Through synthesizing and investigating various crystals, this constructionism approach has led to the discovery of many amazing phenomena, especially when the principles of electron correlation and topology play important roles. The settings of such conventional crystals are often very complicated, making it hard to extract the essential ingredients and understand the underlying physics. In this talk, I will show our efforts on establishing a new paradigm, based on a material known as rhombohedral graphene, which is part of natural graphite. Rhombohedral graphene has the simplest chemistry and structure, yet can be controlled by a set of experimental knobs to exhibit many intriguing phenomena in condensed matter physics. Beyond phenomena that were familiar, I will focus on two newly observed quantum phases of matter, chiral superconductor and fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect. I will show their construction, phenomena, and implications for quantum many-body physics and applications. In the end, I will discuss new opportunities to be explored in this new paradigm.

I will discuss the standards of time and frequency and how these standards have evolved over the centuries. I will present the current definitions of time and frequency and how these definitions are likely to evolve in the coming years.

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