Seminars

Upcoming Seminars



High Energy seminar: "Precision Physics & Proton Structure at the LHC"

Johannes K. L. Michel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, 3C6

The LHC precision program critically relies on precise theory predictions for Standard-Model baseline rates to identify possible deviations due to New Physics and extract Standard Model…



Astrophysics seminar: "Ultralight sails for interstellar space travel"

Deep Jariwala and Igor Bargatin (University of Pennsylvania)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, 4C6

We argue that light sails with nanometer-scale thicknesses that are rapidly accelerated to relativistic velocities by lasers must be significantly curved in order to reduce their intrafilm mechanical…



Condensed and Living Matter Seminar: "Neuronal biomechanics measured using combined atomic force – traction force microscopy"

Christian Staii (Tufts University)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, A8

During brain development neurons grow axons and dendrites that extend from the cell body and connect with other neurons to form neuronal circuits. Axons navigate over long distances (10-100 times…



High Energy seminar: "TBA"

John T. Giblin, Jr. (Kenyon College)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, 3C6


Condensed and Living Matter Seminar: "TBA"

Francesco Zamponi (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, A8

Past Seminars



Primakoff Lecture: “From Nonlinear Optics to High-Intensity Laser Physics”

Donna Strickland (University of Waterloo)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, A8

The laser increased the intensity of light that can be generated by orders of magnitude and thus brought about nonlinear optical interactions with matter. Chirped pulse amplification, also known as CPA, changed the…



High Energy seminar: "Black hole Love story"

Ram Brustein (Ben-Gurion University)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, 3C6

The response of a gravitating object to an external tidal field is encoded in its Love numbers, which identically vanish for classical black holes in 4 spacetime dimensions. I will explain why for quantum…



Astrophysics seminar: "Characterizing Distant Worlds: Atmospheric Observations of Exoplanets with Hubble & JWST"

Munazza Alam (Carnegie Earth & Planets Laboratory)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, 4C6

In the past two decades, we have discovered thousands of planets outside of the Solar System, many of which are nothing like our own. We can learn a great deal about the properties of…



Condensed and Living Matter Seminar: "Semiconductor moiré materials: a new platform for strong correlation and topology"

Jie Shan (Cornell University)
- David Rittenhouse Laboratory, A8

When two van der Waals materials of slightly different orientations or lattice constants are overlaid, a long-wavelength moiré pattern emerges. In semiconductors or semimetals, the low-energy physics can…



Elon Musk Public Lecture: "Cosmic Inflation: My journey to the edge of science"

Andreas Albrecht (Department of Physics & Astronomy, UC Davis)
- Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall (HH100)

In 1982, while a grad student at Penn, my advisor and I wrote a paper that has since become very famous.