Fall 2013 Schedule
September 17, 2013
Koji Hashimoto,
Osaka University
Host:
Heng-Yu Chen
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Condensed Matter Physics from String Theory
Abstract
Superstring theory has been served as a candidate for a theory unifying all matter and forces in the universe. Along its theoretical development, a new "principle" was found: "holographic principle", in other words, "AdS/CFT correspondence". This new principle creates bridges between various subjects in physics: gravity, particle physics, condensed matter and nuclear physics. In this talk, I explain the new principle in plain words, and tell you how it works, how it can be applied, and how it can put an access to grand challenges in physics.
Brief Bio
2000 March, PhD in physics at Kyoto university (physics)
2000 JSPS PD fellow, at KITP Santa Barbara
2001 Assistant professor at university of Tokyo, institute of physics
2010 Associate chief scientist at RIKEN, hosting Mathematical physics laboratory
2012 Professor at Osaka university
Currently working on string theory and its applications, in particular to hadron physics, nuclear physics and condensed matter physics. Hosting Nambu colloquium at Osaka unversity. Also having positions at RIKEN. Team leader at RIKEN iTHES project which unifies theoretical sciences. Editor of international academic journal "Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics". Being interested also in connecting science and art. Editorial committee member of a Japanese monthly magazine "Parity".
Slides
October 1, 2013
Huang-Hsiung Hsu,
Academia Sinica
Host:
Jiunn-Wei Chen
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Interpreting the Warming
Abstract
Global warming is one of the hottest environmental issues in recent years, partly because of the observed warming trend since the early 20th century and repeatedly occurring extreme events such heat waves and record-breaking rainfall. Many of these phenomena have been attributed to the increasing anthropogenic greenhouse effect since the Industrial Revolution. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change (2007) confirmed that “most of the observed increase in global average temperature since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations” and projected further 1.8-4ºC warming by the end of the 21st century. On the other hand, there are continuing arguments and reports against the attribution of the observed warming and increasing extreme events to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect. How do we interpret the mixed information? What are the scientific bases for the IPCC reports? How reliable is the future climate projection? This talk will briefly summarize my person view on these issues and the major scientific findings of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report scheduled to release on 27 September 2013.
Brief Bio
Dr. Huang-Hsiung Hsu was an associate professor and professor at the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan University from 1989 to 2011. He joined the Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica in August 2011. His research interest includes atmospheric general circulation, Asian monsoon, climate variation and change, and climate dynamics. He has been leading a 5–year NSC project “Consortium for Climate Change Study” since August 2011 to implement and develop an Earth System Modeling system in Taiwan. He is also a co-PI of the NSC “Taiwan Climate Change Information and Projection” Project. Dr. Hsu was a lead author in the following two NSC reports: Scientific Report on Typhoon Morakot (莫拉克颱風科學報告) and Climate Change in Taiwan : Scientific Report 2011 (台灣氣候變遷科學報告2011).
Slides
October 8, 2013
Gil Holder,
McGill University
Host:
Yen-Ting Lin
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
The Cosmic Microwave Background in
High Definition
Abstract
High resolution studies of the cosmic microwave background provide new views on neutrinos, dark energy, and cosmological structure formation. This new information comes through an improved understanding of the primary fluctuations imprinted in the early universe, as well as through measurements of the effects of Compton scattering and gravitational lensing by structure in the late universe. I'll report results from the South Pole Telescope, including a recent detection of the characteristic "B-mode" pattern of polarized fluctuations that is caused by gravitational lensing.
Brief Bio
Dr Holder is the Canada Research Chair in Cosmological Astrophysics at McGill University and a senior fellow in the Cosmology and Gravity program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago and did postdoctoral research at the Institute for Advanced Study. His research is at the interface of theory and experiment in measuring large scale structure in the universe, developing new techniques for cosmology.
Slides
October 15, 2013
Maw-Kuen Wu,
National Dong Hwa University
Host:
Jauyn Grace Lin
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
What Have We Learned
from Nano-material Science?
— Study of FeSe Superconductor as an Example
Brief Bio
Prof. Maw-Kuen Wu (吳茂昆) is a Chinese-American physicist specializing in superconductivity, low-temperature physics, and high-pressure physics. He was a professor of physics at Columbia University. He made the historic discovery of superconductivity above 77 K in YBCO in 1987. Wu was then invited to teach at the National Tsing Hua University, and conduct further research in high-temperature superconductivity. He served as Chairman of the R.O.C. National Science Council from 2004 to 2006. He currently serves as both the Distinguished research fellow of the Institute of Physics at the Academia Sinica and the President of the National Dong Hwa University.
Academic Honors
1988 USA Chinese Association of Engineering Annual Award
1988 State of Alabama Resolution
1988 University of Alabama Research Award
1988 U.S.A. National Academy of Science Comstock Prize
1989 Tamkang Golden Eagle Award
1994 Fellow, Chinese Physical Society
1994 Bernd T. Matthias Prize
1995 Y. T. Lee Outstanding Scientist Award
1998 NASA Special Awards
2007 Ettore Majorana-Erice-Science for Peace Prize
2009 Taiwanese-American Foundation (TAF) Award
2010-03 Germany Humboldt Research Award
Slides
October 22, 2013
George Wei-Shu Hou,
National Taiwan University
Host:
Yee Bob Hsiung
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
a Higgstory — Special Colloquium
on the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics
Abstract
History has it that a Higgs boson was discovered through the gluon-gluon fusion process in high energy p-p collisions that, by all counts so far, confirms theoretical prediction. With the 2013 Physics Nobel Prize awarded to Englert and Higgs, we trace the backdrop in the early 1960s, how the separate groups of antagonists were led to propose the now awarded mechanism that allow gauge bosons to become massive through spontaneous symmetry breaking, how the hunting started with the emergence of the Standard Model, culminating in the discovery last year by the gigantic experiments called ATLAS and CMS, operating at the CERN LHC. Anecdotes would be splattered throughout.
Brief Bio
Education
B.S. in Physics National Taiwan University (1980)
Ph.D. in Physics University of California, Los Angeles (1985)
Current Position and Relevant Experience
1985–1987 Postdoctoral Associate University of Pittsburgh
1987–1989 Postdoctoral Fellow Max-Planck-Institut, Munich, Germany
1989–1992 Scientific Officer (5 yr) Paul-Scherrer-Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
1992–1994 Associate Professor National Taiwan University
1994– Professor National Taiwan University
2006– Distinguished Professor National Taiwan University
2008–2010 Director of Physics National Center for Theoretical Sciences, Taipei
2009–2010 Director National Center for Theoretical Sciences, Taipei
Fields of Specialty
Theoretical and Experimental Particle Physics
Major Awards and Honors
NSC Outstanding Research Awards (1998–2000, 2000–2002, 2002–2005)
NSC Distinguished Research Fellow (2005–2008)
NSC Outstanding Research Fellow (2008–2010, transfer to “Academic Summit” Project)
MOE Academic Award (2010)
MOE National Chair (2012-2015)
Fellow of the Physical Society of R.O.C. (1999)
Overseas Chinese Physics Association (OCPA) “Achievement in Asia” Award (2003)
Slides
November 5, 2013
Kian Ping Loh,
National University of Singapore
Host:
Kuei-Hsien Chen
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Interesting Properties of Strained
and Defective Graphene
Abstract
Brief Bio
B.Sc.(Hons), 1994, National University of Singapore
D.Phil.,1996, Oxford University
Postdoc., 1998, National Inst. for Material Science, Tsukuba, Japan
Dr. Loh is currently the Head of Chemistry Department, NUS
He is the recipient of 2013 ACS Nano Lectureship
Awards:
Singapore Millenium Foundation Research Horizon Award 2010
Dean’s Chair Professor 2010
Outstanding Chemist Award, 2009
Faculty Young Scientist Award, NUS, 2009
University Young Scientist Award, NUS, 2008
National Research Foundation CRP 9.7 million award, 2007
Slides
November 12, 2013
Ue-Li Pen,
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
Host:
Yen-Ting Lin
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Astrophysical Tests of Quantum Gravity
Abstract
I discuss possible observational consequences of quantum black holes. This year, the first pulsar in orbit about a black hole was discovered. We argue that some solutions to Hawking's information loss problem, for example fuzzballs, may result in changes of lensed pulsar coherence, analogous to the Aharonov-Bohm effect. We speculate on future experimental technologies which may improve the observational prospects.
Brief Bio
Prof. Pen is a world renown cosmologist, working on a wide variety of topics ranging from cosmic string and topological defects, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich simulations, gravitational lensing, cosmic reionization and MHD simulations. He is also an expert on numerical simulation techniques and parallel computing. He was a NTU undergrad in math, obtained his PhD from Princeton University in 1995, and was a Harvard University Junior Fellow before joining the faculty at the University of Toronto and the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) in 1998. He is currently a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research senior fellow and the associate director of CITA. Recently his research is focused on cosmological applications of the hydrogen hyperfine transition 21-cm line, and pulsar scattering phenomena.
Slides
November 19, 2013
Ignatios Antoniadis,
CERN
Host:
Jiwoo Nam
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
The Hidden Dimensions of the Universe
Abstract
Particle physics studies the elementary constituents of matter and their fundamental forces. Very short distances are explored by particle collisions at very high energies, creating conditions similar to those governing the Universe just after the Big Bang. In particular, the recent discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the most powerful machine of colliding protons around Geneva, confirmed the remarkable success of the Standard Theory of particle physics and is now entering into new unexplored territories of physics beyond our current understanding of Universe.
Among theoretical proposals, string theory unifies all known physical theories of fundamental interactions including gravity in a single coherent framework. Despite naive expectations, there are good reasons to believe that its ``hidden" dimensions may be much larger than what we thought in the past and they become within experimental reach in the near future, together with the strings themselves. In my talk, I will give an elementary introduction of this idea and describe the main experimental predictions.
Brief Bio
Education
1977 : Diploma Degree in Mathematics, Univ. of Athens
1978 : DEA de Physique Th´eorique, Paris
1980 : Th`ese de 3e cycle, Ecole Normale Sup´erieure, Paris
1983 : Th`ese d’Etat, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris (EP)
Academic Position
1982-86 : Attach´e de Recherches in CNRS, EP
1983-86 : Research Associate at SLAC, Stanford, California
1986-92 : Charg´e de Recherches in CNRS
1986-88 : Fellow at CERN, Geneva
1992- : Directeur de Recherches in CNRS, EP
1996-97 : Scientific Associate at CERN, Geneva
1997- : Professeur charg´e des cours, EP (part time)
2000- : Senior Staff Member at CERN
Administrative Positions
1992- : Coordinator of European Networks
1999- : Physics Panels in European Commission
1999-00 : Particle Physics Group leader, EP
2000-01 : CNRS Commission for Theoretical Physics
2000- : Invited Editor of the ‘Comptes Rendus’ of the French Academy of Sciences
2001- : Evaluation panels (U Paris 6, DFG, Uppsala U, Greece)
2005-11 : Greece-CERN cooperation national committee
2007-09 : Senior jury of Institut Universitaire de France
2009- : Academic co-director of the HEP Master EP-ETHZ
2011- : CERN-TH Unit Head
2013- : Council of National Technical University of Athens
Academic Prices
1995 : Scientific Prize of Bodossaki Foundation on Particle Physics, Greece
1995 : ‘Honoris Causa’ of Ioannina University, Greece
2000 : Silver medal of CNRS
2002 : Special Prize of the French Physical Society (SFP)
2008 : ERC Advanced Award, European Commission
Slides
November 26, 2013
John Ellis,
King's College London
Host:
Xiao-Gang He
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Particle Physics after the Discovery
of the Higgs Boson
Abstract
The discovery of the Higgs boson by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, described recently in a colloquium here by George Hou, opens up new perspectives in particle physics. This colloquium will describe ideas for possible new physics beyond the Standard Model, much of it motivated by astrophysics and cosmology, such as dark matter. This colloquium will also discuss prospects for discovering new physics with the LHC and other possible future accelerators.
Brief Bio
John Ellis currently holds the Clerk Maxwell Professorship of Theoretical Physics at King's College in London. After obtaining a PhD from Cambridge University and post-doctoral positions at SLAC and Caltech, from 1973 to 2011 he worked at CERN (Geneva), where he was Theory Division Leader for six years.
His research interests focus on the phenomenological aspects of elementary particle physics and its connections with astrophysics, cosmology and quantum gravity. Much of his work relates directly to experiment: interpreting results of searches for new particles and exploring the physics that could be done with future accelerators. A proposal he made in 1976 led to the discovery of the gluon in 1979, and he was one of the first to study how the Higgs boson could be produced and discovered. He has authored nearly a thousand scientific papers, with over fifty thousand citations in total. He is currently very active in efforts to understand the Higgs particle discovered recently at CERN, as well as its implications for possible new physics such as dark matter. He has long been an early protagonist of new particle accelerator projects, including the Large Electron-Positron (LEP), Large Hadron Collider (LHC), Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) and now future very large circular colliders at CERN. He is also known for his relentless efforts to promote global collaboration at CERN.
John Ellis was awarded the Maxwell Medal (1982) and the Paul Dirac Prize (2005) by the Institute of Physics. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1985 and of the Institute of Physics in 1991, and is an Honorary Fellow of King's College Cambridge and of the Serbian Physical Society. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Southampton, Uppsala University, the St Kliment Ohridski University, the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and the University of Cape Town.
Slides
December 3, 2013
Robert Williams,
Space Telescope Science Institute
Host:
Yen-Ting Lin
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Hubble Space Telescope:
Piecing Together the Evolution of the Universe
Abstract
In orbit for 23 years and still operating well, in planning and development for 15 years before that, HST---at $7.5 billion---has been the most expensive scientific project in history until CERN’s LHC. It’s unique features of high spatial resolution, ultraviolet sensitivity, and low sky background together with its unified, well calibrated, publicly available data archive have produced many notable astronomical discoveries. Highlights of Hubble Telescope’s scientific mission will be discussed in the context of processes that have been key to our current understanding of the evolution of the universe from the earliest times to the present epoch. These include gravitational lensing, the Hubble deep fields which have revealed early galaxy formation, galaxy mergers that form black holes, and the initial attempts of analysis of the atmospheres of planets around other stars.
Brief Bio
Dr. Robert Williams is Distinguished Research Scholar at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, after having served as Director of the Institute from 1993 to 1998. The STScI operates the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA. Prior to this position, Dr. Williams was Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona for 18 years, and was Director of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile for 8 years. Dr. Williams' research specialties are nebulae, novae, and emission‐line spectroscopy and analysis. He was also President of the International Astronomical Union, and is adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.
During his tenure as the STScI Director, he devoted his director's discretionary time of the Hubble Space Telescope to image an ordinary patch of the sky, which came to be known as the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). The HDF data had profound impact in extragalactic studies, in that it allowed astronomers to peek to the dawn of galaxy formation, and it promoted large scale collaborations of the community to gather data together. For his leadership in the HDF project, he was awarded the Beatrice Tinsley Prize in 1998, and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in 1999.
Slides
December 10, 2013
Cheng Chin,
University of Chicago
Host:
Yuan-Huei Chang
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
From Cosmology to Cold Atoms:
Observation of Sakharov Acoustic Oscillations
in Quenched Atomic Superfluids
Abstract
Sakharov acoustic oscillation, conventionally discussed in the context of early universe evolution and the anisotropy of cosmic microwave background radiation, is the manifestation of interfering acoustic waves generated in an ideal fluid. We report a laboratory simulation of Sakharov oscillations in an atomic superfluid by quenching the the interactions between atoms and monitoring the subsequent density fluctuations. Sakharov oscillations are identified as the multi-peak structure in the density fluctuations, resembling that of the cosmic microwave background radiation. From the Sakharov oscillations, we determine the sonic horizon, providing new perspectives to extend quantum simulation to other intriguing cosmological and gravitational phenomena.
Brief Bio
Cheng Chin is a professor at the James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute, and the Department of Physics at the University of Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University and completed his postdoc research at Innsbruck University in Austria. He conducts experimental research on ultracold atoms. He has received the Sloan Fellowship (2006), Packard Fellowship (2006), OCPA Young Research Award (2006), NSF CAREER Award (2008), IUPAP Young Scientists Prize (2008), I. I. Rabi Prize (2011) and Humboldt Fellowship (2013).
Slides
December 17, 2013
Paul Nation,
Korea University
Host:
Lance Labun
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Exploring the Classical-Quantum Transition
Using Optomechanical Systems
Abstract
Understanding how the classical world emerges from the counterintuitive rules of quantum mechanics has been one of the longstanding goals in physics. Our intuition, and education, tells us that “small” objects such as atoms behave quantum mechanically, while “large” everyday things are firmly grounded in the classical domain. However, is this insight correct? Or is it possible to place a macroscopic object in a quantum mechanical state? Theoretical work over the last two decades has answered this last question affirmatively, provided that the ever present effects of the environment to which every object is coupled can be mitigated.
Here we will explore the generation of macroscopic quantum states of a mechanical resonator in an optomechanical setup. Making use of tools developed in quantum optics, we show that quantum states of a mechanical oscillator can be generated in an analogue of a micromaser, in absence of any atom-like subsystem, thus exhibiting single-atom masing effects in a system composed solely of oscillator components. The connection to the micromaser allows for a physical understanding of how nonclassical states arise in this system, and how best to maximize these signatures for experimental observation.
Brief Bio
Paul Nation is a theoretical physicist working on a multitude of quantum physics related topics such superconducting circuit devices, quantum optics, and computational methods for solving quantum dynamics. He received his B.S. (2005) from Utah State University and Ph.D. (2010) from Dartmouth College. He has held postdoctoral positions at the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Tokyo, and the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.
Slides
December 24, 2013
Kerson Huang,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Host:
Yuan-Huei Chang
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Higgs and the Cosmos
Abstract
The vacuum is filled with complex scalar fields, such as the Higgs field. These fields serve as order parameters for superfluidity (quantum phase coherence over macroscopic distances), making the entire universe a superfluid. We review a model that attributes dark energy to the energy density of the cosmic superfluid, and dark matter to local fluctuations of the superfluid density.
Brief Bio
Kerson Huang is Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at MIT. His research area included particle theory, statistical physics, biophysics, and most recently, cosmology. He is the author of several physics textbooks, including Quantum Field Theory, and Statistical Mechanics. He has translated "The Rubaiyat" from English to classical Chinese quatrains, and the Chinese classic "I Ching" into English. He has published two volumes of poetry.
Slides
December 31, 2013
Jhih-Wei Chu,
National Chiao Tung University
Host:
Jiunn-Wei Chen
Time: 2:20 pm -3:20 pm
Place: Room 104, CCM-New
Phys. building
Title:
Special Seminar for 2013 Nobel Chemistry Prize:
The Past, Current, and Future
of Multiscale Simulation
Abstract
In this talk, I will present the history and my perspectives of the Nobel chemistry prize announced earlier this year. The background for the development of multiscale simulation methods, the ideas and implementation being formed, and the impact of these researches will be addressed. The context for the discussion of which will include some of my research endeavors. I will also remark on the current status and future perspectives of multiscale simulation in chemistry, physics, and biology from my point of view.
Brief Bio
Professor Jhih-Wei Chu is a world leading expert in using computers to simulate biosystems. He is interested in understanding how a complex system acquires functionalities from its building blocks and their structures and dynamics. In the meantime, he also develops multiscale computational schemes to make such simulations possible.
Prof. Chu got his BS degree from the Chemical Engineering department of NTU, Ph. D from MIT and after a postdoc term at Utah, he joined the faculty Berkeley in 2006. He came back to Taiwan from Berkeley this year. Now he is professor of Biological Science and Technology at National Chiao Tung University.
He has received several prestigious awards, including the International Outstanding Junior Scholars, Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship in 2013; Chancellor’s Faculty Partnership Award, UC Berkeley in 2009; and the Hewlett-Packard Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in 2007.