Spring '13 -- Prof. Wesley Smith

PHYSICS 301 -- Physics Today/Undergraduate Colloquium

Description: A series of weekly presentations and discussions of current research topics in physics by the scientists involved in those studies. this course is designed to expose students to the topics and excitement of the research frontier. Each lecture will be given by a different researcher who will describe his/her field and his/her own work. Opportunities will be offered for students to become involved in research work. This course is designed to help foster contact between students and faculty to enable opportunties for independent study, directed study, or senior thesis projects with faculty in subsequent semesters. Students will learn about a broad variety of physics research and how this research is carried out. Further information may be found on the course web page:
http://www.hep.wisc.edu/wsmith/p301syl.html

Credits: 1 Credit, may not be repeated for credit.

Prerequisites: Physics 207-208 or equivalent.

Meetings: Tuesdays, 1:20 - 2:10, 2223 Chamberlin.

Recommended Text: Invitation to Contemporary Physics, 2nd edition, Q. Ho-Kim, N. Kumar & C.S. Lam, World Scientific Press, 2004.

Coursework: Describe a particular piece of physics research being actively pursued this year. The paper is due for submission by a pdf file (MS-word is accepted but not preferred) that has your name and "301" in the file name in an email to Prof. Smith by 5:00 PM CDT on May 7. The topic selected with a one page outline must be submitted in class on April 9. The paper must be typed double spaced, use proper footnotes and have a total length of not less than 7 and not more than 10 pages. The primary resource for this paper is the Physics Dept. Library . The librarian, Kerry Kresse , will be able to assist you. Honors students must proceed under the direction of a faculty member of their own choice.

Office Hours: By appointment, 4275 Chamberlin, 262-4690. wsmith@hep.wisc.edu , http://www.hep.wisc.edu/wsmith/

Course schedule:

Speaker Title Date
Wesley Smith The Higgs Boson January 22, 2013
Segev BenZvi TeV Gamma-ray Astronomy with HAWC January 29, 2013
Albrecht Karle High Energy Neutrinos with Ice Cube February 5, 2013
Michael Ramsey-Musolf The Origin of Matter February 12, 2013
Sue Coppersmith Quantum Computing February 19, 2013
Karsten Heeger Recent Discoveries in Neutrino Physics February 26, 2013
Mark  Eriksson Spin Quantum Dots for Spin Qubits March 5, 2013
Dan McCammon X-ray Astronomy March 12, 2013
Clint Sprott Chaos March 19, 2013
John Kelley Askaryan Radio Array at the South Pole April 2, 2013
Yang Bai Dark Matter: Here, There & Everywhere April 9, 2013 (Outline Due)
Mark Saffman Quantum Information Science w/Neutral Atoms April 16, 2013
Franz Himpsel Photovoltaics April 23, 2013
Maxim Vavilov Quantum Control & Quantum Measurement April 30, 2013
Karsten McCollam Magnetic Confinement in Plasma Physics May 7, 2013 (Paper Due)

 

 (Get course poster here).