Cosmology on the Beach! September 1, 2010
Posted by The Quantum Cosmos in : Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASTRO), Cosmology, Gravitation, and Relativity (CGR), Mathematical and Computational Physics (MCP), Nuclear and Particle Physics (NPP) , add a commentApplications are now open for the Essential Cosmology for the Next Generation (aka Cosmology on the Beach) winter school/research conference! The organizers strongly encourage a diverse group of advanced graduate students and postdoc to participate. Instructors include NSBP member Edmund Bertschinger of MIT’s Department of Physics. Here is the full announcement:
ESSENTIAL COSMOLOGY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
(also known as Cosmology on the Beach)
January 10−14, 2011 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
The Conference website and Participant Application form is now available at the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics website.
This meeting is the 3rd annual edition, following the very successful and popular 2009 and 2010 conferences. It is a combination of winter school and research conference, with course lectures, blended with recent research advances in plenary talks, and student/postdoc participation. We encourage a diverse group of advanced graduate students and postdocs interested in attending to apply. The deadline for application is OCTOBER 15, 2010.
LECTURE COURSES:
Ed Bertschinger, Gravity on Cosmic Scales
Neal Katz, Galaxy Formation
Mark Trodden, Particle Physics, LHC, and Cosmology
Licia Verde, Statistical and Numerical Methods in Cosmology
Martin White, Nonlinear Structure in the Universe
HOT RESEARCH TALKS:
to be announced
Organized by the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics and Instituto Avanzado de Cosmologia, Mexico.
A Tribute: Dr. Beth Brown August 13, 2009
Posted by The Quantum Cosmos in : Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASTRO), Cosmology, Gravitation, and Relativity (CGR), History, Policy and Education (HPE) , add a commentLast October, the astrophysical community and NSBP lost a shining star, Dr. Beth Brown. The first Black woman to earn a PhD in astronomy from the University of Michigan, Dr. Brown was an expert in high energy astrophysics as well as an ardent advocate for participation in education and outreach. To honor her memory, Aziza Productions created a memorial film. The Howard University Department of Physics and Astronomy has links to quicktime and windows media formats.
NASA will be remembering the former NASA Administrator Fellow this October at the 2009 Women in Astronomy Conference*, which is dedicated to Dr. Brown. Although she is no longer with us in person, Dr. Brown’s spirit will continue to inspire us all for a long time to come.
*Students, please note that there is travel funding available to attend this conference. See the website for more information.
Herschel Space Telescope Opens Eyes July 10, 2009
Posted by The Quantum Cosmos in : Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASTRO), Cosmology, Gravitation, and Relativity (CGR) , add a commentThe newest addition to the space telescope crew is the Herschel, which is designed, deployed and run by the European Space Agency. Herschel, which can see in the infrared, is joining our much-beloved Hubble (which observes in the visible) and Spitzer (which can see in the infrared). After a month of preparation in space, Herschel opened its eyes in June. Today a sneak preview of the images it will be taking was released:
You’ll notice that the image on the left is from Spitzer. Thanks to the hard work of optical engineers and atomic and condensed matter physicists, technology is improving, and the higher quality image from Herschel is the result. We here at Vector say to Herschel: Welcome! And to its hard working team: Thank you 
But improved technology isn’t the only exciting element of Herschel’s release into the wild. Herschel is also the first major telescope to be named for a female astronomer. It is named for Caroline and William Herschel, the award-winning brother-sister team who lived in 18th and 19th century Germany and England. As time goes on, we hope to see more and more recognition of the contributions of people traditionally underrepresented in science. Kudos to ESA for making strides in this area.
News From The Front, VII: What is Fundamental, Anyway? July 4, 2009
Posted by The Quantum Cosmos in : Cosmology, Gravitation, and Relativity (CGR), Nuclear and Particle Physics (NPP) , add a commentEditor’s note: The following excerpt comes to us from theoretical physicist Clifford Johnson, a professor in the University of Southern California Department of Physics and Astronomy. Professor Johnson’s work primarily focuses on (super)string theory, gravity, gauge theory and M-theory. — CPW
One of the words I dislike most in my field - or more accurately, a common usage thereof - is “fundamental”. This is because it is usually used as a weapon, very often by people in my area of physics (largely concerned with particle physics, high energy physics, origins questions and so forth), to dismiss the work of others as somehow uninteresting or irrelevant. I don’t like this. Never have. Not only is it often allied to a great deal of arrogance and misplaced swagger, it is often just plain short-sighted, since you never know where good ideas and techniques will come from. A glance at the history of physics shows just how much cross-pollination there is between fields in terms of ideas and techniques. You never know for sure where valuable insights into certain kinds of problems may come from.
Fundamental physics is a term I used to hear used a lot to refer to particle physics (also called high energy physics a lot more these days). This was especially true some years back when I was an undergraduate in the UK, and it persisted in graduate school too, and is still in use today, although I think it is declining a bit in favour of less loaded terms. Somehow, a lot of particle physics is regarded as being all about the “what is everything made of at the very smallest scales” sort of question, first discussing atoms, and then atoms being made of electrons surrounding a nucleus, and the nucleus being made of protons and neutrons, and those in turn being made of quarks, and so on, in this was arriving at a list of “fundamental” particles. There’s the parallel discussion about the “fundamental” forces (e.g., electromagnetism and the nuclear forces) being described in terms of exchanges of particles like photons, gluons, and W and Z particles and so forth. There’s no real harm in the use of the term fundamental in this context, but this is about where the word gets elevated beyond its usefulness and starts becoming a hurdle to progress, and then a barrier. Somehow, “fundamental”, meaning “building block” gets turned, oddly, into “most important”. The issue of what the smallest building blocks are gets elevated to the most important quest, when it is in reality only a component of the story. It is rather like saying that the most important things about the Taj Mahal are the beautiful stones, tiles, and other components from which it is constructed.
Perspectives have evolved a bit since my salad days, with the rise of wider recognition of the connection between particle physics, and astrophysics and cosmology. I think that things are (these days) more widely seen to be the more rich interconnected and beautiful landscape of phenomena that they are, but I still find, especially among younger people, the “building block” attitude to be prevalent.
I raise this since sometimes I find that people don’t understand that there are fundamental and vital questions in other areas that connect to so many interesting areas of physics. [...]
Read the rest of the article on Asymptotia here.
The Nature of Time March 14, 2009
Posted by The Quantum Cosmos in : Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASTRO), Cosmology, Gravitation, and Relativity (CGR), Nuclear and Particle Physics (NPP) , add a commentArguably one of the greatest and most fundamental problems in cosmology (alright, alright, all of physics) is trying to understand time. What is it? Why does the arrow of time only point in one direction? Because these questions exist and so do physicists, the study of time is an active field of research. It is a multidisciplinary field, with both physicists and philosophers contributing to it. Because the research is esoteric, finding funding for it is sometimes difficult, which is where organizations like FQXi step in.
FQXi is a vaguely controversial organization funded by the Templeton Foundation (but run by very well-respected physicists) that gives money to scientists who do research on fundamental questions in physics. Recently they had an essay contest, and the topic was the nature of time.
The winning essay is by Julian Barbour, a physicist and philosopher in Oxford, UK. The essay jury commended his essay:
The jury panel admired this essay for its crystal-clear and engaging presentation of a problem in classical dynamics, namely to find a measure for duration or the size of a time interval. The paper argues lucidly, and in a historically well-informed manner, that an appropriate choice for such a measure is not to be found in Newton’s pre-existing absolute notion of time, but rather emerges, in the form of ephemeris time, from the observable motions and the assumption of energy conservation. The paper also suggests how this emergence of duration might be relevant to problems in quantum gravity.
All of the winning essays can be found on the fqxi website. You can also read all of the submissions, including the ones that did not receive prizes. I strongly encourage all physicists, from undergrads to professors emeriti to have a look at the latest in the study of time!
Doing Business with DOE February 10, 2009
Posted by NPPblogs in : Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (AMO), Chemical and Biological Physics (CBP), Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (CMMP), Cosmology, Gravitation, and Relativity (CGR), Earth and Planetary Systems Sciences (EPSS), Fluid and Plasma Physics (FPP), Mathematical and Computational Physics (MCP), Nuclear and Particle Physics (NPP), Photonics and Optics (POP), Physics Education Research (PER), Uncategorized , add a comment
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
· Paid undergraduate science research internships?
· Summer research positions for faculty and student teams at a national laboratory?
· Careers with the Federal government or national laboratories?
· Graduate fellowships and Post-Doc appointments?
The Department of Energy is looking for you…
Come see us in the DOE Pavilion
Learn how you can work alongside scientists and engineers experienced at mentoring who want to transfer science knowledge by collaborative research. These programs are for undergraduate students from four year institutions, community colleges, or for students who are preparing to become K-12 science, math or technology teachers and for undergraduate faculty. Internships are available at all DOE national labs.
Up to 8 qualified undergraduate students will be considered for placement in the summer of 2009. The laboratories also have graduate and post-doc opportunities. We look forward to seeing you in Nashville! Please come join us at Booth 304 and the other booths in the DOE Pavilion in the Exhibit Hall Thursday and Friday or at any of the following activities and workshops:
Physics Diversity Summit: Discussion with Bill Valdez, Director, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists
Date: Wednesday, February 11
Time: 2:00 PM
Workshop: Brookhaven National Laboratory –On Using Photons
Date: Thursday, February 12
Time: 2:00 – 3:30 PM and 4:00 – 5:30 PM
Workshop: Oakridge National Laboratory—On Using Neutrons
Date: Friday, February 13
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM; 5:00-6:30 PM
Doing Business with Department of Energy—Research and Grants
Date: Friday, February 13
Time: 3:00 – 4:30 PM
NSHP & NSBP at their best: Cosmology, Classical and Quantum Gravity January 28, 2009
Posted by The Quantum Cosmos in : Cosmology, Gravitation, and Relativity (CGR) , add a commentIt’s true. On February 12 and 13, the three best sessions of the joint annual meeting of NSBP and NSHP will take place. The Dr. Beth Brown Memorial Cosmology, Classical and Quantum Gravity sessions will be happening at 2 PM and 4 PM on the 12th and at 5 PM on Friday the 13th. Okay, okay, so the cosmologist writing this blog might be a little biased. Maybe all of the sessions at NSHP/NSBP are fantastic. But let me tell you why I think ours are the best!
Our sessions focus on questions about the origins of the universe, its fundamental make up and its evolution. We also study some of the most exotic objects in the universe, from strings to black holes and even stringy black holes.
Speaking of black holes, this year we will be celebrating the life of an extraordinary woman in astrophysics who studied black holes and who died in late 2008. Dr. Beth A. Brown will be honored in a number of ways, and the 4 PM 12 February session will be devoted to her final work. Professor James Lindesay and Dr. Tehani Finch of Howard University will be presenting, along with an introduction by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Other invited speakers this year include Dr. Neil Turok, Director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Professor Jorge Pullin of Louisiana State University, Professor S. James Gates of the University of Maryland, and Professor Edmund Bertschinger, chair of MIT.
Talk titles this year include the tantalizing:
“Addressing a Crisis in Fundamental Physics: Probing the Nature of Dark Energy with Supernovae and Galaxy Clusters”
“Loop Quantum Gravity: What it is and some recent results”
“Formation of black holes and the onset of cosmic acceleration”
Want to know who is giving what talk? Come to our sessions and find out! Check the NSBP schedule and look for the CGR I, II and III sessions.
See you there!