BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Drupal iCal API//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16085 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261113T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261113T100000 SUMMARY:Astrophysics & Space Sciences Seminar with Daniel Baxter CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16083 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261114T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261114T170000 SUMMARY:Physics of Music: Family Fun Day CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16067 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T160000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T173000 SUMMARY:Henric Krawczynski Presents at the A&S Teaching Innovation Showcase CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Do you want a first look at the creative approaches that could change\nthe way courses are taught in Arts & Sciences? The Teaching Innova tion\nShowcase is an opportunity to hear from innovative A&S faculty who a re\ntransforming the classroom learning experience. Our own Henric\nKraw czynski [/people/henric-krawczynski] will present on his teaching\nproject \, PARADIGM SHIFT: AI-ASSISTED BLACK HOLE ANALYSIS -- an effort\nto create opportunities for students to engage in teaching and\nresearch while cond ucting AI-assisted analysis of black holes.\n\nYou can expect:\n\n*    F ast\, fun faculty talks about teaching innovation\n*    Free food and dr inks\n*    Vote to award three $1\,000 prizes\n\nAGENDA:\n\n*    4:00- 5:00PM: Hear from our faculty innovators as they present\ntheir work and c ast your vote for the top presentations.\n*    5:00-5:30PM: Enjoy light bites and discuss the classroom\ninnovations you just learned about!\n\n_T he Teaching Innovation Showcase is hosted by Arts & Sciences in\ncollabora tion with __the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary\nInnovation and E ntrepreneurship_ [https://skandalaris.wustl.edu/]_._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16062 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261019 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261021 SUMMARY:Accelerating Physics with AI: A Scientific Discovery Workshop CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Join leading researchers from academia\, national labs\, and in dustry\nfor two days of invited talks\, collaborative discussions\, and\ni nteractive working groups. Together\, we will identify shared research\nbo ttlenecks\, explore AI-driven solutions\, build new cross-sector\npartners hips to advance scientific discovery\, and find competitive\nprojects for future exploration.\n\n_OPEN TO ALL WASHU FACULTY\, POSTDOCS\, & GRADUATE STUDENTS\, ALONG WITH\nINVITED GUESTS FROM OTHER LEADING UNIVERSITIES AND NATIONAL LABS._\n\n \n X-MICROSOFT-CDO-ALLDAYEVENT:TRUE DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16061 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261009T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261009T100000 SUMMARY:The Physical Foundations of Precision Black Hole Astrophysics with\ nGeorge Wong CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Horizon-scale black hole images offer an exciting new way to st udy\naccretion\, the origins of relativistic jets\, and how spacetime\ngeo metry shapes the light we observe. But interpreting these\nobservations re quires understanding the physical connections between\nplasma motion\, mag netic fields\, and the radiation that reaches us. I\nwill discuss how rece nt analytic and numerical work has clarified the\nphysical mechanisms behi nd these signals\, changing how we interpret\nsimulations and what we can reliably infer from observations. I will\nshow that flows with comparable horizon magnetic flux can sustain\npowerful jets yet exhibit markedly diff erent dynamics and variability\,\ndemonstrating that horizon magnetic flux alone does not determine the\ndynamical state of the accretion flow. I wi ll then use a simple\nrelativistic inflow model to explain how black hole spin and plasma\ninertia shape the magnetic geometry traced by polarized s ynchrotron\nemission\, clarifying the physical basis and limitations of\np olarization-based spin measurements. I will also briefly discuss how\ngrav itational lensing encodes information about spacetime in image\nstructure and time delays\, and what we can recover despite complex\nplasma emission . I will conclude with my view of how these results can\nguide the next ge neration of black hole observations and what those\nmeasurements could tel l us about accretion\, jets\, and spacetime.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDon nell Center for the Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16058 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261204T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261204T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Elizabeth Cobb / Sarah Daly CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16057 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261120T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261120T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Kindle Hon CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16056 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261106T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261106T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Zoe Schlossnagle / Annie Maloney CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16053 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261105T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261105T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Jonathan Ajo-Franklin CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: \n\nTHE FRONTIERS OF FIBER-OPTIC SEISMOLOGY AT HIGH TEMPERATU RES: RICE EGS\nRESEARCH AT UTAH FORGE & CAPE STATION\n\nRecently demonstra ted enhanced geothermal (EGS) approaches utilize the\ntools of unconventio nal oil and gas for geothermal applications\; they\npresent a significant scalable opportunity for low-carbon energy\nproduction. Simultaneously\, a variety of interesting scientific\nchallenges have been exposed during EG S pilot projects over the last\ndecade\, particularly that of understandin g the induced fracture\nnetwork geometry and interactions between such net works and existing\nbasement structural features. We present results from a series of\nstudies utilizing novel high-temperature fiber-optic sensing tools\n(DAS) and imaging algorithms to unravel such interactions at the Ut ah\nFORGE and Cape Station sites. We highlight the use of DAS microseismic \nreflection imaging\, DAS microseismic event characterization\, and\nlow- frequency DAS to better understand these processes at the\nreservoir scale .\n\nBio: Dr. Jonathan Ajo-Franklin is the Carey Croneis professor of\ngeo physics at Rice University and chair of the Department of Earth\,\nEnviron mental\, and Planetary Sciences (EEPS). He is also a visiting\nfaculty sci entist in the Energy Geosciences Division at Lawrence\nBerkeley National L aboratory (LBNL). Jonathan is an applied\ngeophysicist working on problems in the environmental and energy\ndomains including geothermal energy prod uction\, geological carbon\nstorage\, and near-surface hydrogeophysics. Hi s group specializes in\nnew acquisition and processing strategies for time lapse seismology\nincluding distributed acoustic sensing (DAS)\, permanent seismic source\ndevelopment\, and high-resolution ambient noise approache s. He is also\ninterested in the microscale physics and chemistry of geoma terials\nrelevant to interpreting geophysical datasets\, particularly the\ nproperties of fractures and mechanical alterations during reactive\nflow. He led the recently completed Imperial Valley Dark Fiber Project\n(DOE GT O) which explored approaches for geothermal exploration using\nDAS deploye d on telecom fiber and was the PI of FOGMORE@Utah FORGE\, an\nR&D project exploring integrated fiber-optic sensing for geothermal\nreservoir monitor ing. Jonathan received his BA in Computer Science and\nHistory at Rice Uni versity (1998)\, followed by an MS (2003) and PhD\n(2005) in Geophysics at Stanford University. After his postdoctoral\nstudies at MIT’s Earth Res ources Laboratory (2005-2007)\, he spent 12\nyears on the staff at LBNL be fore joining the faculty at Rice EEPS in\n2019.\n \n\n \n\n \n\nHost: D oug Wiens\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16052 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261029T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261029T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Demian Saffer CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:TOLMAN LECTURE\n\nWIRING THE MEGATHRUST: MONITORING THE CREAKS AND GROANS OF A PLATE\nBOUNDARY NEAR THE TRENCH IN THE NANKAI SUBDUCTION Z ONE\n\nSUMMARY: The far offshore reaches of subduction megathrusts - near est\nthe trench - represent a key “blind spot” in our knowledge of\npl ate boundary fault behavior. Yet\, understanding strain accumulation\nand release in this region is central to assessing hazards posed by\nshallow e arthquake rupture and tsunamigenesis. In this talk\, I\ndescribe a promisi ng pathway to use formation pore pressure\, monitored\nin instrumented IOD P boreholes\, to detect deformation in this region\nwith both high sensiti vity and fidelity. Our 16-year dataset (from\n2010-present) captures a fam ily of 13 repeating slow slip events\n(SSE) offshore of SW Honshu Japan\, which occur quasi-periodically on\nthe plate boundary immediately above t he currently locked rupture zone\nof historic great (M8) earthquakes. Of t hese\, most arise\nspontaneously\, and occur at ~1 yr intervals with dura tions of a 1-3\nweeks. The remaining two events are larger\, closer to th e trench\, and\nare triggered by: (1) the 2011 M9 Tohoku earthquake\; and (2) the 2016\nM7 Kumamoto earthquake. In some cases\, the SSE are accompa nied by\nswarms of low-frequency tremor and low-frequency earthquake activ ity\nthat migrate trenchward. For most events\, the data are well fit by\n slip of a few cm on a patch of the plate interface with a dimension of\n20 -40 km. The data are also of sufficiently low noise that we are able\nto e valuate the time evolution of slip\, and capture the migration of\ndeforma tion with exquisite sensitivity\, with detection of as little as\na few mm of slip at the trench (~100 km offshore\, in 4 km water\ndepth!). \n\nTh is increasingly clear picture of fault slip and dynamics provides\nseveral key new insights into the dynamics of the plate boundary.\nFirst\, throug h comparison with other observations\, it enables an\nincreasingly quanti tative understanding of faulting processes that\nunderpin the occurrence o f locking versus slow slip events\, including:\n(1) _in situ_ pore fluid pressure and stress\; and (2) fault friction\nand restrengthening (healin g). Second\, we are able to assess the role\nof slow slip events in the o verall plate motion budget\, and show that\nthey accommodate ~30-50% of ov erall plate convergence. Finally\, the\nrepeating nature of the events\, taken together with apparent\ntriggering by regional earthquakes\, indicat es that the outermost\nreaches of the megathrust are highly sensitive to perturbation and are\nperched near a state of failure. Taken together wit h emerging similar\nobservations at other subduction margins\, these resul ts carry\nimportant implications for geodetic models\, the mechanics of st rain\naccumulation offshore\, and the resulting outlook for hazard associa ted\nwith shallow coseismic slip.\n\n \n\nHost: Phil Skemer\n\n_EEPS Coll oquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16051 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261022T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Adam Forte CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:DOES IT ALL AVERAGE OUT? IMPACTS OF SHORT-TERM VARIABILITY IN C LIMATE\nAND TECTONICS ON LONG-TERM TOPOGRAPHY\n\nTopography represents a r ich archive of both the hydroclimatic and\ntectonic forces that shape it\, but we often consider extremely\nsimplified versions of these drivers whe n interpreting or numerically\nsimulating topography. In detail\, many typ ically assume that\nshort-term spatiotemporal variability effectively “a verages out”\nto a mean or representative value and that the variability is either\nnot important to represent in process models or not interpreta ble from\nlandscapes. Work over the last two decades have challenged this\ nassumption for erosional processes\, showing that temporal variability\ni n stream flow\, when considered in the context of erosion thresholds\,\nma kes fundamentally different predictions for the evolution of\ntopography t han an assumption of a representative discharge. Here I\nbuild on this con cept by considering the importance of spatiotemporal\nvariability in both hydroclimate and tectonics\, in the form of\ndiscrete runoff events and va riable individual earthquake sequences\,\nin building high relief topograp hy. In both cases\, I show that\nshort-term variability on daily to decada l scales in climate and\ntectonics fundamentally alter topography develope d over geologically\nrelevant timescales in ways that are not captured by assuming simple\,\nrepresentative forcing.\n\nHost: Claire Masteller\n\n_E EPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16050 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Casper Graham CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:HYDROMECHANICS OF LABORATORY EARTHQUAKES\n\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16049 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261015T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261015T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Jennifer Middleton CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:GLACIALLY-DRIVEN CHANGES IN SUBMARINE HYDROTHERMAL ACTIVITY\n\n  \n \n \n \nLand-based volcanic systems and geophysical modelling of m id-ocean\nridges suggest that submarine volcanic activity may be influence d by\nglacially driven changes in sea level. Is there evidence for\nglacia lly-paced variation in submarine hydrothermal circulation? In\nthis talk\, I will present a suite of hydrothermal iron flux records\nderived from mi d-ocean ridge sediment cores and explore their\nimplications for marine ir on cycling\, iron delivery to Southern Ocean\nsurface waters\, and possibl e driving mechanisms linking the climate\nsystem and the solid Earth on gl acial timescales. I will also\nelaborate on the utilization of constant fl ux proxies\, the geochemical\ntools that enable reconstruction of hydrothe rmal time series and other\npaleoceanographic flux records from sediments that have accumulated in\ncomplex bathymetric environments.\n\n \n\nHost: Rita Parai\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguso n Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16048 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261009T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261009T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Copland Yong/ Stephanie Zhang CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Copland will present _Effect of Solar Wind Electrons on Stimula ting\nthe Oxidation and Hydroxylation of Lunar Materials-I: Experimental\n Simulation on Fe Metal_\nStephanie will present _Experimental Constrains o n Mg-Suite Source\nDepth through Extrusive Materials_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16047 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261008T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261008T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: David Sandwell CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: \n\nMAPPING THE GLOBAL SEAFLOOR USING SATELLITES AND SHIPS: R ECENT\nIMPROVEMENTS FROM SWOT GRAVITY USING MACHINE LEARNING\n\nVariations in Earth’s gravity field create broad bumps and dips in\nthe ocean surf ace that mirror the mass distribution of seafloor\nfeatures such as ridges \, seamounts\, and trenches. This relationship\nenables scientists to infe r seafloor depth from satellite altimetry\,\nthough fundamental physics li mits the achievable resolution in the\ndeep ocean to about 3–5 km. Over several decades\, successive\naltimeter missions have progressively refine d global seafloor maps\,\nand the new SWOT mission now provides the most p recise marine gravity\nmeasurements to date. In this study\, five research groups applied\nmachine learning to merge SWOT gravity data with ship sou ndings\,\nproducing consistent global bathymetry maps that are 23–46% mo re\naccurate than traditional approaches. The greatest gains are in\nresol ving shallow seamounts and deep trenches\, improving our ability\nto study ocean circulation\, plate tectonics\, and geologic hazards\,\nwhile advan cing the goals of the international Seabed 2030 initiative\nto map the ent ire ocean floor by 2030.\n\nHost: Roger Michaelides\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16046 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261001T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261001T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Brad Foley CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:THE COMPOSITIONAL DIVERSITY OF ROCKY EXOPLANETS: CONSEQUENCES F OR\nEVOLUTION\, TECTONICS\, AND HABITABILITY\n\nThousands of exoplanets ha ve been discovered over the last 30 years\ncovering a wide range of sizes\ , compositions\, interior structures\, and\nstellar radiation environments . Many of these planets are likely rocky\nbased on their bulk density. The variation in rock forming elements\nseen in stars show\, to first order\, that rocky exoplanets could span a\nwide range of mantle mineralogies\, f rom Earth-like olivine-pyroxene\nmixtures to nearly pure olivine or pure p yroxene mantles. Combinations\nof pyroxene and quartz or olivine and peric lase are also possible.\nSuch compositional variation could have profound consequences for the\ntectonics\, evolution\, and habitability of rocky ex oplanets. I will\ndiscuss how rocky planet compositional variations can in fluence their\nlong-term thermal evolution and ability to promote habitabl e surface\nenvironments through volcanism and weathering. I will further s how how\nplanet composition can influence whether planets operate in a\nst agnant-lid or plate-tectonic regime. Planets with sub-equal mixtures\nof t wo or more minerals can more readily generate the weak\nlithospheric shear zones required for plate tectonics by mineral phase\nmixing and grain siz e reduction. Finally\, I will discuss how models of\nexoplanet geological evolution are critical for interpreting\nastronomical observations.  \n\n Host: Phil Skemer\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. F erguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16045 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261015T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261015T140000 SUMMARY:A&S WOWS Virtual Info Session feat. Physics Department CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The Department of Physics at WashU leads various research\ninve stigations across physics and astronomy to advance humanity's\nunderstandi ng of the physical universe\, from subatomic scales of the\nquantum world to the largest structures in the Cosmos. With over 35\nfaculty members and federal and private research grant awards\namounting to over $10M per yea r\, we have an energetic and growing\ncommunity of exceptional physicist s cholars and provide ample\nmentorship and technical and financial resource s to our PhD students\nto help them become impactful leaders in academia a nd beyond.\n\nIn this week's special A&S WOWS session focused on the Dep artment of\nPhysics\, log in and look forward to information on Physics' r esearch\nthrusts and century-old Physics PhD program\, fellowship opportun ities\,\nand life on campus and in Greater St. Louis. This featured sessio n\nwill begin with a ~20-minute presentation and follow that up by\nanswer ing questions. At least one current graduate student will join\nthe sessio n to provide the student perspective.\n\nIn the meantime\, you can learn a bout our current research thrusts on\nour department website [https://phys ics.washu.edu/graduate-program]\,\nwhich spans astronomy and astrophysics\ , particle and nuclear physics\,\ncosmochemistry and astromaterials\, biop hysics\, quantum information\,\nand condensed matter physics. Furthermore\ , the McDonnell Center for\nthe Space Sciences (MCSS) supports the mission s of Physics and other\nresearch initiatives in astrophysics\, and the Cen ter for Quantum Leaps\n(CQL) and the Institute of Materials Science & Engi neering (IMSE)\nenable the development of novel quantum sensing techniques using\nquantum materials.\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16044 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261001T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261001T100000 SUMMARY:A Sharper View of the GeV Sky: High-Resolution Gamma-Ray Astronomy\ nwith a Balloon-Borne Nuclear Emulsion Telescope with Hiroki Rokujo CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Gamma-ray astronomy in the sub-GeV/GeV band has been revolution ized by\nFermi-LAT\, but its angular resolution remains a fundamental limi tation\nfor studying complex regions such as the Galactic Center and for\n resolving fine structures around gamma-ray sources. The GRAINE project\nis developing a balloon-borne gamma-ray telescope based on nuclear\nemulsion \, providing an angular resolution about an order of magnitude\nbetter tha n Fermi-LAT.\n\nI will introduce the unique detector concept of GRAINE and present\nresults from our 2023 balloon flight in Australia\, including\nh igh-resolution observations of the Vela pulsar and the Galactic\nCenter re gion. I will discuss how current and future high-resolution\nobservations can probe the origin and spatial structure of gamma-ray\nemission in the G alactic Center\, including the Galactic Center GeV\nexcess.\n\nFinally\, I will present our plans for the 2028 balloon flight and the\nlonger-term d evelopment of a large-area telescope for long-duration\nballoon observatio ns. In particular\, I will discuss a new hybrid\nconcept combining nuclear emulsion with electronic tracking and\nanticoincidence detectors to overc ome the timing limitations of\nemulsion and enable future long-duration ob servations.\n\n_Please note that this is a special astrophysics seminar on a\nThursday\, instead of Friday!_\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Cente r for the Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16043 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261002 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261004 SUMMARY:Nonlinear Quantum Matter for AI Imaging and Computing Conference CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The symposium is built around a two-way scientific opportunity: AI and\nmachine learning can accelerate the discovery\, simulation\, and\ ncharacterization of quantum materials\, while quantum and nonlinear\nmate rials can provide new physical platforms for AI\, including\nsensing\, ima ging\, memory\, neuromorphic computing\, and information\nprocessing.\n\nT he meeting will explore nonlinear and emergent quantum phenomena\,\nAI-ass isted materials discovery\, advanced characterization\,\nintelligent photo nics\, computational and biomedical imaging\, quantum\nsensing\, and mater ials-enabled computing.\n\nA central goal is to connect researchers across physics\, materials\nscience\, engineering\, photonics\, computer science \, and imaging\nscience\, identify shared challenges\, and stimulate new\n interdisciplinary collaborations. The program will feature invited\ntalks\ , WashU faculty presentations\, a student and postdoctoral poster\nsession \, and a forward-looking discussion on future research and\nfunding opport unities.\n\n_PLEASE REGISTER BY SEPTEMBER 23_\n X-MICROSOFT-CDO-ALLDAYEVENT:TRUE DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16042 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260924T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260924T160000 SUMMARY:High-Energy Neutrinos in the Multi-Messenger Era: From Cosmic\nAcce lerators to Fundamental Physics with Mainak Mukhopadhyay CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The discovery of a diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux by IceCu be has\nopened a new window onto the high-energy Universe\, yet the origin of\nmuch of this emission remains unknown. Identifying the underlying\nso urces requires connecting the physics of cosmic particle\naccelerators to their neutrino signatures and\, increasingly\, combining\nneutrino observa tions with information carried by photons and\ngravitational waves. In thi s talk\, I will discuss how engine-driven\nastrophysical transients provid e promising environments for\nhigh-energy neutrino production\, and how de tailed source modeling can\nconnect their physical properties to observabl e multi-messenger\nsignatures. I will then discuss strategies for identify ing such\npopulations through searches triggered by other messengers\,\npa rticularly gravitational waves. Finally\, I will turn the question\naround and ask what the emerging high-energy neutrino sky can teach us\nbeyond t he astrophysical sources themselves\, highlighting how recent\nIceCube obs ervations can test dark matter scenarios and provide new\nprobes of partic le physics. Together\, these examples illustrate the\ngrowing role of high -energy neutrinos as both messengers of the most\nenergetic environments i n the Universe and probes of fundamental\nphysics.\n\n_This lecture was ma de possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16038 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260917T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260917T160000 SUMMARY:A Collider-\, Cosmology-\, and Astrophysics-Testable Curvaton with\ nTakuya Okawa CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:We show that the primordial curvature perturbations can be real ized by\na light spectator field\, the curvaton\, that decays through a\ns uperrenormalizable interaction with the Higgs. The favored parameter\nspac e can be probed by proposed searches for light Higgs-mixed\nscalars\, as w ell as by cosmological and astrophysical observations.\n\n_This lecture wa s made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16037 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260918T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260918T100000 SUMMARY:Spectral radiative transfer post-processing of GRMHD simulations of \nblack hole accretion with Christopher Nagele CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Spectral observations of accreting black holes are one of our m ost\npowerful tools for understanding these enigmatic objects. Black hole\ nspectra contain complex phenomenology\, including quasi-thermal\ncomponen ts\, power law components\, broadened emission lines and\nspectral state t ransitions in stellar mass black holes (but not\nsupermassive ones). Relat ing these spectra to simulations\, however\,\nhas proven challenging given the many radiative processes at play. We\npresent radiative transfer post -processing of three dimensional\ngeneral relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations. We\npartition simulations into an optically thin cor ona\, in which we solve\nthe radiative transfer problem using a relativist ic Monte-Carlo code\,\nand an optically thick disk body\, in which we solv e for the radiation\nfield and for ionization balance using a Feautrier so lver. Each of\nthese two codes provides the radiative boundary condition f or the\nother\, allowing us to solve for thermal balance throughout the en tire\nsystem\, accounting for all relativistic and radiative effects. We\n discuss the dependence of our predicted spectra on black hole mass\,\nthe origin of broadened Fe K$\\alpha$ emission lines in our\ncalculations\, an d the behavior of polarized X-rays.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Cent er for the Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16030 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260910T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260910T160000 SUMMARY:Producing the GeV Galactic Center Excess via Cosmic Ray-Dark Matter \nScattering with Debopam Goswami CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) has observed a gamma -ray\nexcess from the Galactic Center (GC) with the energy spectrum peaked \naround∼2 GeV\, commonly referred to as the Galactic Center GeV Excess\ n(GCE). This excess has been persistent for 17 years\, with possible\nexpl anations including dark matter (DM) annihilation and unresolved\nmilliseco nd pulsars. In this pursuit to explain GCE\, we propose a\nnovel mechanism for generating gamma rays from the GC via scattering\nof cosmic rays off sub-GeV DM in the Milky Way halo. In this analysis\,\nwe investigate two D M models: (a) an inelastic DM model where the\nlighter DM is up-scattered to a heavier DM\, followed by its subsequent\ndecay producing photons in t he final state\, and (b) an elastic DM\nmodel producing photons in the fin al state via a 2 →3 scattering\nprocess. The fits to the observed GCE sp ectrum obtained from this\nframework for a range of viable model parameter s are comparable to\nthose from DM annihilation and millisecond pulsar sol utions in the\nliterature.\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the Willi am C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16015 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261107T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261107T110000 SUMMARY:When Tiny Crystals Make Big Surprises with Xi Wang CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:What if we could build new materials the way we build with LEGO \, one\nincredibly thin layer at a time?\n\nScientists can now work with c rystals that are only one or a few atoms\nthick. When we stack these tiny sheets\, rotate them\, or place\ndifferent materials together\, surprising things can happen. Electrons\nmay move in completely new ways\, materials can become magnetic\, and\nlight can behave differently. A small twist be tween two layers can\nsometimes change the properties of the whole materia l.\n\nWe will take a journey into a world far too small to see with our\ne yes. We will explore how scientists make these tiny materials\, how we\ndi scover what is happening inside them\, and how simple ideas like\nstacking and twisting can create entirely new behavior. Along the way\,\nwe will s ee how playing with materials at the scale of atoms is\nopening new possib ilities for understanding our quantum world and for\ntechnologies of the f uture.\n\n_This lecture will be recorded and made available for viewing af ter\nthe event. _\n\nWatch past Saturday Science lectures\n[/previous-sat urday-science-lectures]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16014 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261031T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261031T110000 SUMMARY:How Do Unreliable Cells Build a Reliable Embryo? with Tony Tsai CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:_FISHING FOR THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-ORGANIZATION IN DEVELOPMENT _\n\nHave you ever watched a marching band or a drone show? Hundreds of\ni ndividuals coordinate their movements to create patterns and shapes\nfar l arger than themselves. Such performances require intricate\nplanning and r emarkably precise execution.\n\nNow imagine making the challenge harder. W hat if some members of the\nmarching band occasionally lose their way\, ca nnot move properly\, or\nfail to communicate with their neighbors? Could t he group still\nproduce the same beautiful pattern every time?\n\nThis is the remarkable engineering problem that embryos solve every\nday. Millions of cells must collectively build tissues with\nreproducible shapes and pa tterns\, even though individual cells\nexperience noisy signals\, move unp redictably\, and constantly exchange\nneighbors. Somehow\, remarkably reli able structures emerge from\nsurprisingly unreliable components.\n\nHow is such reliability possible?\n\nIn this talk\, we will explore classic and modern ideas in\nDevelopmental Biology about how cells build an embryo. We will\nintroduce classic paradigms in embryo development\, and some new\ni nsights (including work from my lab) that refine our current view. We\nwil l discuss pros and cons of different strategies when collectives of\nindiv iduals need to build structures larger than themselves. \n\n \n\n_This l ecture will be recorded and made available for viewing after\nthe event.  _\n\nWatch past Saturday Science lectures\n[/previous-saturday-science-lec tures]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16013 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261024T110000 SUMMARY:Pulsars\, the Lighthouses of the Cosmos with Alex Chen CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Pulsars are rapidly rotating remnants of stars after they reach the\nend of their lifecycle. They possess some of the strongest magnetic\ nfields known in the universe\, and their densities are so high that\nthei r cores contain exotic states of matter that we still do not quite\nunders tand. I will give an overview on these extreme objects\, and\nexplain how we can use their pulsation to understand how the universe\nworks.\n\n_This lecture will be recorded and made available for viewing after\nthe event.  _\n\nWatch past Saturday Science lectures\n[/previous-saturday-science-l ectures]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16012 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261017T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261017T110000 SUMMARY:What are the Laws Governing the Evolution of The Law? with James\nH olehouse CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:WHY RULES MULTIPLY—FROM TAX CODE TO TOUCHDOWNS TO YOUR DNA\n\ nThe Laws governing society are becoming increasingly complex. Each\nyear tax returns become more difficult to fill out. More forms\, more\nexceptio ns\, more hours spent reading small print. In sports\, with\nevery subsequ ent season more rules are introduced. Each year more time\nis spent delibe rating holding calls\, more tactics are developed to\nexpose new laws\, an d more time is spent with commentators debating the\nins-and-outs of incre asingly nuanced situations. Many people find this\nincrease in bureaucracy excessive\, appealing to the joy of simpler\ntimes. However\, as society evolves so must how society is\nregulated—but is bureaucratic growth rea lly necessary? \n\nIn this talk\, using case studies from governance\, sp orts\, and biology\,\nI will paint a picture of how and why bureaucracies increase in size\nand complexity as they evolve. This picture attempts to unify\ndescriptions of regulatory architectures across all scales of life\ ,\npointing towards a universal Science of Regulation. Using this\nscience \, I will then suggest how principles from cell biology could\nhelp to bet ter regulate society.\n\n_This lecture will be recorded and made available for viewing after\nthe event. _\n\nWatch past Saturday Science lectures\ n[/previous-saturday-science-lectures]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16011 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261002T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261002T100000 SUMMARY:The Galactic Annihilation Line Explorer (GALE) Balloon-borne Missio n\nto Study 511-keV Annihilation Emission Morphology in the Inner Galaxy\n with Makoto Sasaki CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The 511 keV signature of electron–positron annihilation was f irst\nobserved from the Galactic center region in the 1970s\, but the sour ce\nof these positrons is still not well understood.  Measurements by\nOS SE/CGRO in 1990s\, later by SPI/INTEGRAL\, and recently by COSI in the\nba lloon flight\, confirmed that result\, concluding to the ~1x10-3 cm-2\ns-1 flux from a few degree diameter spot at the GC\, but the\nmorphology\, an d consequently an origin of positrons is still\nenigmatic: they can either be produced in unresolved faint point\nsources\, or can be genuinely diff use from of “exotic” nature.\nBeing a subject of a large number of arg uing papers\, this problem\ncannot be resolved by the available observatio n results or by planned\n(COSI) gamma-ray missions\, since none of them ha s a needed angular\nresolution of a fraction of degree\, combined with a p oint source\nsensitivity of 1x10-4 cm-2 s-1to resolve an emission structur e of that\nspot.\n\nThe GALE (Galactic Annihilation Line Explorer) coded-a perture\ntelescope can achieve both the required point-source sensitivity and\nangular resolution in an Ultra-Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) flight\,\ nallowing resolution of this mystery. At the heart of the instrument is\na cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) 3D calorimeter based on well-developed\ncomm ercially available pixel detectors. GALE will combine the CZT\ncalorimeter with a coded-aperture mask (CAM)\, and the resulting\ntelescope will be h eavily shielded with both active bismuth germanium\noxide(BGO) and passive (tungsten) materials. It will use StarSpec’s\nPrecision Attitude Contro l System (PACS) to achieve the requisite\npointing accuracy ( 1’). In th is talk\, the science goals\, GALE\ninstrument design\, anticipated perfor mance and mission will be\ndiscussed.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Ce nter for the Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16000 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260806T110000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260806T130000 SUMMARY:Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15997 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261202T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261202T180000 SUMMARY:WashU Physics Research Symposium CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15996 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261111T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261111T160000 SUMMARY:Edwin Thompson Jaynes Fellowship Symposium CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15995 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261104T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261104T160000 SUMMARY:QCD critical point and the predictable randomness of relativistic\n fluids with Mikhail Stephanov CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Quantum Chromodynamics predicts a variety of interesting states of\nmatter in which relativity and quantum many-body physics strongly\nin tertwine. Discovering phase transitions between these extreme forms\nof ma tter in a laboratory is an unprecedented task. This is the\nchallenge heav y-ion collision experiments are taking up at the\nRelativistic Heavy-Ion C ollider (RHIC) and future facilities.\n\nAn intriguing open question is th e existence and the location of the\nQCD critical point. Similar critical points are ubiquitous in earthly\nsubstances\, and the associated fluctuat ion-driven phenomena are\nremarkably universal. Can the QCD critical point be discovered in the\nheavy-ion collision experiments? It is a nontrivial question in large\npart because of the importance of the explosive dynami cs of the\ncollision. This challenging question is a subject of current re search\nand a major motivation for recent developments in relativistic\nhy drodynamics. Of particular interest in this context is the dynamics\nof th ermal fluctuations inherent in any system with dissipation.\n\n_This lectu re was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15994 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261028T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261028T160000 SUMMARY:Unveiling the Hidden: A Search for Light Dark Matter with DAMIC-M w ith\nPaolo Privitera CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The DAMIC-M (DArk Matter In CCDs at Modane) experiment employs silicon\ncharged-coupled devices (CCDs) to search for sub-GeV dark matter\ nparticles with unprecedented sensitivity. Thanks to the sub-electron\nres olution and extremely low dark current of its skipper CCDs\, DAMIC-M\nis p articularly suited to probe dark matter candidates pertaining to\nthe so-c alled \"hidden sector.\" We will present the status of the\nexperiment\, i n advanced stage of installation at the Modane\nUnderground Laboratory in France\, and highlight recent results from a\nprototype detector\, which a lready provide world-leading constraints on\nhidden-sector dark matter.\n\ n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15993 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261021T160000 SUMMARY:Anyons on the Move: Fractional Particles and Superconductivity in\n Flatland with Eslam Khalaf CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Stacking and twisting atomically thin crystals has turned\ntwo- dimensional materials into a remarkably tunable laboratory for\nquantum ma tter. In these moiré systems\, electrons can be confined to\nnearly flat bands where interactions dominate. There\, the quantum\ngeometry of the el ectronic wavefunctions\, not just their energies\,\ndetermines which phase s emerge. One of the most dramatic consequences\nof this geometry is the d iscovery of fractional quantum Hall states at\nzero magnetic field in twis ted MoTe₂\, with superconductivity\nappearing nearby upon doping. Doping these states introduces anyons\,\nfractionally charged particles that\, u nlike in conventional quantum\nHall systems\, acquire genuine kinetic ener gy from the lattice. I will\npresent a controlled microscopic theory of it inerant anyons. In this\ntheory\, the space of anyon configurations is cha racterized by a\nmany-body generalization of quantum geometry that enables a systematic\nstudy of anyon energetics from 1-body\, to few-body\, to ma ny-body. A\nsingle anyon disperses purely through interactions and non-uni form\nquantum geometry\, with bandwidths of a few meV in twisted MoTe₂. Two\nor more anyons can bind into “anyon molecules” despite purely\nre pulsive interactions\, a binding driven by Berry phases rather than\nattra ction. Near such a binding threshold\, a dilute anyon gas realizes\na univ ersal\, exactly solvable regime with superconducting order\nvisible direct ly in the electrons.\n\nIn the last part of the talk\, I will introduce a new approach to\nmany-body numerics called Hamiltonian bootstrap. Rather t han\nconstructing a wavefunction\, it constrains correlation functions\nth rough positivity and symmetry. This yields rigorous bounds that hold\ndire ctly in the thermodynamic limit\, on lattices and in the continuum\nalike. Because it works with band-projected operators\, the bootstrap\ncan incor porate the quantum geometry of the band from the outset. I\nwill illustrat e this by demonstrating rigorous lower bounds on the\nsuperfluid stiffness of flat-band superconductors (a quantity\ncontrolled by quantum geometry) and a proof that the Laughlin state is\ngapped in the thermodynamic limit . The latter demonstrates the power\nof the method to turn numerical resul ts into rigorous proofs.\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15992 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T100000 SUMMARY:Galaxies and Their Black Holes: Tracing and Harnessing a Cosmic\nPa rtnership with William Brandt CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and galaxies grow together ove r\ncosmic time\, but the physical drivers of this joint evolution remain\n an open question. In this talk\, I will summarize a statistical\,\npopulat ion-based approach that links long-term SMBH growth to\nmeasurable galaxy properties. The key observable we use is the\nsample-averaged SMBH accreti on rate (BHAR)\, inferred from sensitive\nX-ray surveys and interpreted as the long-term growth of SMBH\npopulations. We compare BHAR against well-s tudied galactic quantities\n- including stellar mass\, star-formation rate \, and structural\ncompactness - using large\, well-controlled samples (mi llions of\ngalaxies and thousands of active galactic nuclei) and\npartial- correlation methods that isolate the dominant connections.\n\nSome broad c onclusions are the following: (1) across z = 0-4 the\ngenerally strongest predictor of SMBH growth is galaxy stellar mass\;\n(2) in systems dominate d by a bulge component\, the SMBH accretion rate\ntracks star formation cl osely\, indicating synchronized SMBH and bulge\ngrowth\; and (3) among sta r-forming galaxies\, more compact systems show\nenhanced BHAR\, plausibly because higher central gas densities feed\naccretion more efficiently. I w ill also describe how these empirical\ncorrelations can be folded into cos mological simulations to map SMBH\nmass assembly - via both accretion and mergers - and to explore\nconsequences such as the evolving SMBH mass func tion\, SMBH-galaxy\nscaling relations\, and the drivers of the strong decl ine in SMBH\naccretion at z 2.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Center fo r the Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15991 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260923T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260923T160000 SUMMARY:Quantum Geometry Nonlinearity Near a Singularity with Suyang Xu CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Coherent quantum control is usually associated with isolated fe w-level\nsystems\, while transport in solids is often described by incoher ent\,\nperturbative carrier dynamics. We show that quantum geometry near a \ntopological critical point can promote Bloch electrons into universal\,\ nquantum-coherent nonlinear responses. In a dual-gated MnBi2Te4\, we\nachi eve a topological phase transition. We observe higher-harmonic\nHall (HHH) effects up to the 39th order\, whose tunneling-like I-V\ncurve differs fr om the conventional perturbative law. Away from the\ncritical point\, the HHH becomes nonmonotonic and develops coherent\noscillations periodic in i nverse current\, 1/I\, whose displacement\nfield evolution shows a fan pat tern\, resembling the Landau fans but\nwith current replacing magnetic fie ld. We demonstrate topological\nscaling laws\, including universal harmoni c responses collapsed onto a\nsingle curve with a critical exponent of 3/2 \, as well as a decreasing\nharmonic onset current revealing the trend of diverging quantum metric\nnear the singularity. Our experiments uncover a nonperturbative\n``tunneling-interference'' quantum geometry regime\, whic h is distinct\nfrom the conventional\, perturbative quantum geometry multi pole\nexpansion. In this regime\, quantum metric serves as coherent\nbeams plitters for Bloch electrons\, whereas Berry curvature captures\nthe topol ogical criticality. Together they account for key\nobservations\, includin g efficient HHH\, universal critical scaling as\nwell as coherent quantum oscillation. Our results suggest that the\nnonperturbative quantum geometr y near singularity can amplify the\ncoherence and nonlinearity of Bloch el ectrons\, suggesting\nmomentum-space electron quantum optics for quantum a nd nonlinear\napplications.\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the Will iam C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15990 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260916T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260916T160000 SUMMARY:The Physics of Purposeful Biological Dynamics with Rob Phillips CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Time and again since the era of Newton\, physics has come forth with\nnew classes of dynamical laws ranging from Fourier’s mastery of t he\nheat equation to Maxwell’s theory of the electromagnetic field to\nT uring’s ideas on pattern formation and many others.  However\,\nthere a re a large class of dynamical processes in living organisms\nwhere the dyn amical description is of a completely different kind. In\nparticular\, man y biological processes are exploratory in nature\, often\nlargely independ ent of initial conditions\, and driven by a functional\npurpose.  For exa mple\, before our cells divide\, precisely 46\nconnections have to be made between the machinery that separates\nchromosomes and the chromosomes the mselves.  Not 45\, not 47. One\nconnection for every one of our 23 pairs of chromosomes.   In this\ntalk\, I will describe the hypothesis of explo ratory dynamics as\nbiology’s unique and necessary solution to problems in purposeful\ndynamics.  After introducing the conceptual questions and\ ncorresponding phenomenological observations\, I will describe both\ntheor etical approaches to thinking about exploratory dynamics and\nexperiments designed to reveal its many quantitative mysteries.\n\n------------------- ------\n\nTHIS TALK IS ACCOMPANIED BY THE ORDER OF MAGNITUDES WORKSHOP FRO M 11AM\n- 1PM IN COMPTON 340. ALL GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND\ ;\nLUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED. STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BRING PAPER OR\nIPAD S TO AID IN COLLABORATION. \n\nThis interactive Order of Magnitudes Works hop explores the art of\nscientific estimation. Through hands-on\, back-of -the-envelope\ncalculations\, participants will learn how order-of-magnitu de reasoning\ncan reveal the scales that govern problems across physics\, biology\,\nand the natural sciences. Drawing on examples from the history and\npractice of science\, the workshop will show how simple estimates can \ntest assumptions\, guide model building\, and turn seemingly intractable \nquestions into problems that can be reasoned about quantitatively.\n\n-- -----------------------\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15989 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260909T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260909T160000 SUMMARY:From Diamond Defects to Protein-based Qubit Sensors with Peter Maur er CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Quantum metrology enables some of the world's most sensitive\nm easurements with potentially far-reaching applications in the life\nscienc es. Although the ultrahigh sensitivity of qubit sensors has\nsparked the i magination of researchers\, implementing them in actual\ndevices that enab le monitoring cellular processes or detecting\ndiseases remains largely el usive. Overcoming the limitations that\nhinder the broader application of quantum technology in the life\nsciences requires advances in both fundame ntal science and\nengineering. In this talk\, I will discuss new strategie s that combine\nquantum engineering and molecular biology to develop a new generation\nof quantum sensors that can be readily integrated with biolog ical\nsystems. My discussion will start with the development of a novel\nb iocompatible surface functionalization architecture for highly\ncoherent d iamond crystals. I will then continue with discussing a new\napproach to e ngineering spin coherence in core-shell structured\ndiamond particles\, wh ich can be readily chemically modified and\ndelivered to intact biological systems. Finally\, I will depart from\nestablished diamond sensors and in troduce an entirely new class of\nbiological qubits based on optically-add ressable spins in fluorescent\nproteins. These protein-qubits have coheren ce times and optical\nreadout comparable to solid-state defects\, but are only 3 nm in\ndiameter and genetically encodable. The unifying theme of th ese\nadvances is the convergence of techniques from quantum engineering an d\nmolecular biology. Specific applications of the developed sensing\nplat forms to questions in the life sciences will be discussed\nthroughout this talk.\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund. _\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15988 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260902T140000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260902T150000 SUMMARY:Aesthetics and Physics Embodied in the Japanese Bow with John Neu CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:This talk explores how the aesthetics and design of yumi (Japan ese\nbow) and ya (the arrow) are informed by mathematics and physics. \n\ n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n\n_PLE ASE NOTE THAT THIS COLLOQUIUM HAS BEEN MOVED TO 2PM IN COMPTON\n340\, WITH THE RECEPTION STARTING AT 1:30PM IN COMPTON 245._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15987 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261007T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261007T160000 SUMMARY:Candidate for a Fractional Topological Insulator with Xiaoyang Zhu CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The interplay among electronic correlation\, topology\, and\nti me-reversal-symmetry (TRS) often leads to exotic quantum states of\nmatter \, as highlighted by the discoveries of fractional Chern\ninsulators (FCIs ) in twisted bilayer MoTe2 [1-4] and rhombohedral\ngraphene multilayers [5 ]. Among the FCIs in twisted bilayer MoTe2\, the\nmost robust is at a hole filling factor of 𝜈 = −2/3\nper moiré unit cell. Here\, employing p ump-probe modulation\nspectroscopy on twisted bilayer MoTe2 [6]\, we show that a correlated\nstate at 𝜈 = −4/3 exhibits an unusual Ising antife rromagnet\nbehavior [7]. The 𝜈 = −4/3 state with no net magnetization \nundergoes first order phase transitions at extremely low magnetic\nfield s of |_µ0H_| ~ 2-6 mT to partially valley polarized (PVP)\nstates. The ob served magnetic signature is consistent with a\ntheoretically proposed fra ctional topological insulator (FTI)\,\nconsisting of two copies of 𝜈± = −2/3 FCIs with opposite\nchirality in the 𝐾± valleys. The experime ntal results are\nsupported by interacting continuum model calculations. O ur findings\npresent a candidate FTI with TRS and call for advanced transp ort and\nimaging measurements to establish the quantized helical edge mode s.\n\n[1]  J. Cai et al. Nature 622\, 63 (2023).\n[2] H. Park et al. Natu re 622\, 74 (2023).\n[3] Y. Zeng\, et al. Nature 622\, 69 (2023).\n[4] F. Xu\, et al. PRX 13\, 031037 (2023).\n[5] Z. Lu\, et al. Nature 626\, 759 ( 2024).\n[6] Y. Wang\, et al. Nature 641\, 1149 (2025).\n[7] Y. Wang\, et a l. PRX\, 16\, 031009 (2026)\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the Will iam C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15986 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260930T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260930T160000 SUMMARY:Waving in the Dark with Mustafa Amin CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The nature of dark matter is unknown — we do not know the mas s or\nspin of the dark matter particles. However\, spin and mass can leave \ntheir signatures in the sky. In particular\, when (integer spin)\nbosoni c dark matter is sufficiently light\, certain \"wave-dynamical\"\neffects of dark matter can manifest on astrophysical and even\ncosmological scales . I will review recent progress in exploring such\nphenomena including\, e nhancements and suppressions of structure on\ndifferent scales in the cosm os\, soliton formation\, and in some cases\,\ngeneration of macroscopic sp in angular momentum density. I will then\ndiscuss observational avenues to detect or constrain these effects\,\nand how they can shed light on the t he fundamental properties of these\ndark fields (especially a lower bound on their mass) and their\ncosmological production mechanisms.\n\n_This lec ture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15985 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260924T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260924T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Bidong Zhang CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: \n\n_LASERPROBE RB-SR GEOCHRONOLOGY OF LUNAR SAMPLES: FROM ME THOD\nDEVELOPMENT TO APPLICATIONS_\n\nRb-Sr geochronology is one of the mo st widely used chronometers in\nEarth science and planetary science. A maj or analytical challenge in\nRb-Sr dating is the isobaric interference of 8 7Rb on 87Sr. Recent\nadvances in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrome try (ICP-MS)\nequipped with collision/reaction cell technology (CCT) enabl e\neffective separation of this interference. Here\, we used a Thermo\nFis her Scientific Neoma MC-ICP-MS/MS coupled with an ESL NWR 193 nm\nnanoseco nd excimer laser-ablation (LA) system to establish analytical\nprocedures for accurate _in situ_ Rb-Sr geochronology. Method\ndevelopment and valida tion were conducted using two terrestrial\ngranites (Shap and Dartmoor) an d two ungrouped achondrites (Northwest\nAfrica 6704 and Erg Chech) with we ll-established Rb-Sr ages. We\nsubsequently applied the method to three ty pes of lunar samples - a\nKREEP-rich meteorite\, an Apollo mare basalt\, a nd an Apollo impact-melt\nbreccia. The resulting ages\, with precisions of 1.5–3%\, are\nconsistent with published TIMS data. These results\, acqu ired from\nsamples spanning a wide range of feldspar compositions\, demons trate\nthe broad applicability of laserprobe Rb-Sr geochronology to\nfelds par-bearing planetary materials\, especially future returned\nsamples from the Moon through the Artemis program and\, by extension\,\nsamples from M ars and its moons through future sample-return missions\nsuch as Martian M oons eXploration (MMX).\n\nHost: Kun Wang\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made poss ible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15980 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260707T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260707T110000 SUMMARY:New GeV constraints on GRB 221009A with Riki Matsui CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever recorded\, GRB 221009A \,\nprovides a crucial opportunity to understand the nature of GRBs. In\nt his work\, we propose an inevitable yet previously overlooked\nphenomenon occurring during the early afterglow phase of this GRB. We\ninvestigate th e GeV-range light curve resulting from external inverse\nCompton (EIC) emi ssion seeded by the prompt emission\, taking into\naccount the effects of pair loading and preacceleration of the ambient\nmedium induced by the pro mpt photons. Through a broad parameter\nsurvey\, we derive general constra ints on the ambient density profile.\nWe also evaluate the consistency of previously proposed afterglow\nmodels with the observed GeV light curve. O ur results show that some\nof these models significantly overshoot the obs ervations\, indicating a\npossible inconsistency. This study provides insi ghts into the jet\nstructure and the surrounding environment of GRB 221009 A. In the\nseminar\, I will present our recent results\, the ongoing exten sion\, and\nmy perspective. DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15979 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260624T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260624T110000 SUMMARY:Weather Vanes for the Universe's Most Extreme Storms: Probing the\n Interiors of Relativistic Outflows Launched by Neutron Stars and Black\nHo les with Andrew Sullivan CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Rapidly spinning neutron stars and black holes produce the most \nextreme storms in the universe. These storms manifest as powerful\nrelat ivistic outflows - winds and jets of plasma which travel very\nclose to th e speed of light. Relativistic outflows represent natural\nlaboratories fo r the universe's most exotic physical conditions\, as\nthey contain extrem ely strong magnetic fields and highly energetic\nplasma. In this talk\, I will present recent work towards understanding\nrelativistic outflows thro ugh studies of particular neutron star and\nblack hole systems. This talk will focus on two distinct types of\nastrophysical systems with outflows: 1) spider pulsars - systems where\na pulsating neutron star is orbited by a nearby star\, so its\noutflowing pulsar wind crashes into material blown off the star and 2)\nextragalactic radio sources - active galactic nuclei whose central\nsupermassive black holes launch powerful relativistic jets that\nproduce bright radio emission. From observing and modeling these\nu nique systems\, we can probe the interiors of relativistic outflows. I\nwi ll discuss how we can use these systems as weather vanes to study\nthe str ucture\, magnetic field strength and geometry\, and plasma\nproperties of these extreme storms.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15972 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260917T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260917T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Meghana Ranganathan CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: \n\nTHE ROLE OF RHEOLOGY IN GOVERNING ICE SHEET DYNAMICS \n\ n \n \nABSTRACT:\nMass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet largely occurs due to the\nviscous ice flow of glaciers from the interior of ice sheets t owards\nthe ocean. The rate of flow to the ocean is governed by ice viscos ity\,\nwhich in turn depends on microphysical and macrophysical processes. \nWhile increasing amounts of evidence suggest that ice viscosity varies\n significantly in space and time in the Antarctic Ice Sheet\, current\nice sheet models treat ice viscosity as a fixed\, empirically-derived\nvalue. In this talk\, I first explore the implications of neglecting\nthis comple xity in ice viscosity. I demonstrate using simple\,\ntheoretical models th at ice rheology may play a significant role in\ngoverning transient ice sh eet dynamics and may alter the stability\nportrait of marine ice sheets. I further show that in the current\nconfiguration of the Antarctic Ice Shee t\, rheology likely plays a\nsubstantial role in governing the force balan ce\, thereby setting the\nflow speed. I then present a bulk parameterizati on method for\nincorporating ice crystal-scale processes into a model for ice\nviscosity and demonstrate that this provides a way of parameterizing\ nthe effect of varying flow conditions on future ice sheet behavior.\nFina lly\, I then show first steps towards a formal multi-scale ice\nviscosity model implemented using a neural emulator of an ice\nmicrophysics model\, which provides a path forward for formally\nrepresenting crystal-scale var iability in ice viscosity in large-scale\nice sheet models.\n\nHost: Douga l Hansen\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson F und_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15973 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261203T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261203T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Ray Arvidson CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:EARTH'S MOON AND ARTEMIS\n\nRay Arvidson\, professor emeritus i n the Department of Earth\,\nEnvironmental\, and Planetary Sciences\, will deliver a colloquium which\ngoes over the origin and evolution of the Moo n\, the Apollo Program\,\nand emerging plans associated with the Artemis P rogram.\n\nHost: Phil Skemer\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the W illiam C. Ferguson Fund_\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15974 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260910T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260910T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Yuanzhi Tang CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:FROM MINERAL INTERFACES TO RESOURCE ECOSYSTEMS: OPPORTUNITIES A ND\nCHALLENGES FOR ALTERNATIVE CRITICAL MINERAL RESOURCES\n\nABSTRACT:\nGr owing demand for critical minerals is driving interest in resource\nstream s that extend beyond conventional high-grade ores\, including\nmine and in dustrial wastes\, low-grade geological materials\, secondary\nresources\, and biologically accumulated metals. These alternative\nresources could di versify domestic supply while reducing waste and\nenvironmental impacts\, but they also present a fundamental scientific\nchallenge: valuable elemen ts often occur at low concentrations\, in\nheterogeneous matrices\, and in chemical forms that are poorly\nunderstood and difficult to selectively r ecover.\nThis talk will examine how molecular- and mineral-scale understan ding\nof element speciation\, mineral-water interfacial reactions\, and\nc oupled dissolution\, transformation\, and separation processes can\ninform the development of critical mineral resources. Drawing from\nrecent work on unconventional resources from our group\, I will\nhighlight how advance d spectroscopy and microscopy\, geochemical\nexperiments\, and process-ori ented studies can connect fundamental\nunderstanding of where critical ele ments reside and how they are bound\nwith strategies for selective mobiliz ation\, separation\, and recovery\nfrom complex\, low-grade materials.\nTh e discussion will then broaden from individual extraction processes\nto th e resource ecosystems in which they operate. Realizing the\npotential of a lternative resources requires integrating geochemistry\nand separation sci ence with resource characterization\, data and\npredictive tools\, process ing infrastructure\, environmental\nperformance\, regional supply chains\, and workforce development. This\nsystems-to-ecosystems perspective provid es a framework for identifying\nwhere fundamental interfacial science can have the greatest impact on\ntranslating unconventional resources into sec ure\, sustainable\, and\neconomically viable mineral supply chains.\n\nBIO :\nDr. Yuanzhi Tang is the Georgia Power Professor in the School of Earth\ nand Atmospheric Sciences and the School of Civil and Environmental\nEngin eering\, and the Executive Director of the Strategic Energy\nInstitute and at Georgia Tech. She leads interdisciplinary efforts\nspanning elemental cycle\, critical mineral resources\, and advanced\nmaterials\, with a focu s on connecting fundamental research to\nreal-world impact. She is also th e founding director of the Center for\nCritical Mineral Solutions and has helped build regional and\ninternational partnerships around sustainable c ritical mineral supply\nchains.\nDr. Tang’s research focuses on molecula r scale processes at\nmineral-water interfaces and their applications in r esource recovery\,\nnutrient cycling\, energy materials\, and circular res ource systems. Her\nwork integrates advanced spectroscopy\, microscopy\, a nd geochemical\napproaches to understand and control element behavior acro ss natural\nand engineered systems.\nShe received her Ph.D. in geochemistr y from Stony Brook University and\njoined Georgia Tech in 2013 following p ostdoctoral research at Harvard\nUniversity. She is a Fellow of the Americ an Chemical Society and\ncurrently serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of _Chemic al Geology_.\n\nHost: Jeff Catalano\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible b y the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15975 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260904T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260904T130000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Suzanne Anderson CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: \n\nCAN ROCK GLACIERS REPLACE GLACIER WATER RESOURCES? \n\nR ock glaciers are often cited as a water resource in alpine\nwatersheds\, y et their hydrologic behavior is understudied. These\ndebris-mantled ice to ngues number in the thousands across the western\nUS\, while numbers of tr ue ice glaciers are declining. Can rock\nglaciers replace the water resour ces of glaciers?  Specifically\, does\nmelt of the ice core of the rock g enerate significant streamflow\, and\nhow do rock glaciers affect water fl ow paths and groundwater recharge?\nWe examine these questions in Imogene Basin\, San Juan Mountains\,\nColorado. We have been sampling the outlet o f a rock glacier\,\ngroundwater emerging from a mine adit\, and nearby alp ine surface\nstreams. We combine stream gaging with measurements of water stable\nisotopes\, specific conductivity\, water temperature\, and 14C age s of\ndissolved inorganic carbon to partition water sources over time.\nMu ltiple lines of evidence show that rock glacier ice does not\ncontribute t o runoff in the present climate. I will walk through\nhydrograph separatio n\, streamflow temperatures\, and water mass balance\narguments to support this conclusion. The rock glacier does divert\ninfiltrating snowmelt and rainwater through its rocky carapace to its\nmargin\, and so is efficient at generating runoff. At the same time\, it\nis probably a barrier to grou ndwater recharge over its area.\nNonetheless\, radiocarbon water ages impl y that base flow from the rock\nglacier and from all streams we sampled is dominated by groundwater\nwith hundreds to thousands of years residence t ime in this alpine\nbasin. Although the rock glacier stores ice\, at prese nt it acts as a\npermeability barrier that steers infiltrating snowmelt an d rain\nthrough its rocky cover rather than as a water source.\n\nHosts: C laire Masteller \n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. F erguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15976 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260903T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260903T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Robert Anderson CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: \n\nOur department welcomes Professor Robert Anderson and Pro fessor\nSuzanne Anderson from the University of Colorado - Boulder for two \ncolloquia to be delivered Thursday September 3 at 11:30 and Friday\nSept ember 4 at 12:00.\n\nTHE LIFE CYCLE OF ROCK GLACIERS\n\nRock glaciers are moving bodies of ice that are sufficiently covered\nin rocky debris to pre vent any significant melt of their ice-rich\ncores. They are plentiful ben eath tall headwalls in our mountains in\nthe West\, and constitute the lar gest manifestation of the modern\ncryosphere. Compared to their bright tru e glacier cousins\, they are\nthin\, stubby\, slow and gnarly. Yet they cr y out to be understood as we\nclimb\, mine\, and photograph among them. I will describe research on\nthree rock glaciers in Colorado’s mountains. We have constrained\nmodern speeds using feature tracking\, GNSS and RTK-G PS\, and long-term\nspeeds using 10Be in surface rocks. They are moving at speeds of\ntypically 0.5 m/yr but up to 2 m/year in steep places. The lan dscape\nappears to have converted from true glacier to rock glacier domina tion\nafter the Younger Dryas ~ 11 ka. The rock glaciers have been active\ nover the Holocene and continue to advance down their valleys. Their\nheal th is governed by significant rockfall and snow avalanching to\nfeed the “rooting zone” beneath the tall rock walls at the heads\nof the valley s. Numerical models that honor the birth of rock glaciers\nwith sufficient caps of debris in the rooting zone\, and subsequent\nmotion of the ice by internal deformation can reproduce both modern\nand long-term displacemen t fields only when accommodating significant\nvariation in the supply of a valanched snow over the Holocene.\n\nHost: Roger Michaelides\n\n_EEPS Coll oquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15977 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260827T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260827T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Claire Masteller CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:GEOMORPHIC CONTROLS ON LANDSCAPE CHANGE AND EROSION HAZARDS FRO M\nRIVERS TO COASTS\n\nHost: Phil Skemer\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possi ble by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15937 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260515T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260515T110000 LOCATION:Francis Field\, Washington University in St. Louis SUMMARY:Commencement: Class of 2026 CLASS:PUBLIC DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15935 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260513T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260513T170000 SUMMARY:Graduate Hooding & Recognition Ceremony 2026 CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Each May our master's and doctoral degree recipients gather wit h\ntheir family\, faculty\, and peers in a heartfelt celebration of\nachi evement. \n\nThe next Arts & Sciences Graduate Studies Hooding and Recogn ition\nCeremony will be held on WEDNESDAY\, MAY 13\, 2026\, AT 3:00 P.M. I N\nGRAHAM CHAPEL. At this ceremony\, each graduate will be recognized by\ nname and the doctoral students will be hooded. Please review the\npolici es for students and guests\, along with a list of prohibited\nitems [https ://graduation.artsci.washu.edu/know-before-you-go] on the\nA&S Graduation website.\n\nOn FRIDAY\, MAY 15\, 2026\, the All-University Commencement\ n[https://commencement.washu.edu/] will be held on Francis Olympic\nField  at 9:00 a.m.\, and the graduates will be recognized by school. \n\nPlea se note that the Roy and Diana Vagelos Division of Biology and\nBiomedic al Science (DBBS) will have a separate Hooding and Recognition\nceremony  on TUESDAY\, MAY 12\, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. at the 560 Music\nCenter.  \n\n Additional details for graduating students and visitors\, as well as\ndeta ils on livestream information is available on our A&S Graduation\nwebsite [https://graduation.artsci.washu.edu/]. \n\n \n\nRegister to walk this c eremony.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15927 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260416T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260416T160000 SUMMARY:Hints of New Physics from the KM3NeT and ANITA Anomalies with Dibya \nChattopadhyay CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:About a year ago\, the KM3NeT collaboration reported the observ ation of\nKM3-230213A\, a neutrino event with an energy of 220 PeV. The ab sence\nof any $\\mathcal{O}(100)$ PeV events in IceCube\, despite its larg er\neffective area and longer data-taking period\, suggests an anomaly\,\n with a tension quantified between approximately $ 2\\sigma $ and $ 3.5\n\\ sigma $\, depending on the assumed source model. This implies a\npossible new physics origin for the event KM3-230213A. Meanwhile\, the\nanomalous u pgoing events detected by the ANITA experiment\, with\nenergies above 1 Ee V and arrival angles implying traversal through at\nleast a few hundred ki lometers of Earth\, similarly hint at a possible\norigin involving new phy sics in the neutrino sector.\n\nWe investigate new physics scenarios that could simultaneously account\nfor both anomalies\, particularly focusing o n one in which a new matter\npotential induces a resonance in sterile-to-a ctive neutrino\ntransitions. Using the arc lengths traversed by the ANITA events\, we\nidentify the relevant parameter space and explore how matter- enhanced\noscillations between the sterile and active sectors may help exp lain\nboth the ANITA and KM3NeT observations. Overall\, I will present the \nexciting possibility that recent ultra-high-energy neutrino\nobservation s have already observed physics beyond the Standard Model.\n\n_This lectur e was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15926 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260413T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260413T160000 SUMMARY:Historical insights and new perspectives on Xe nucleosynthesis: fro m\nthe molecular cloud to the Earth's atmosphere CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Please join us in welcoming Dr. Guillaume Avice\, hosted by EEP S\nAssociate Professor Rita Parai. There will be a small reception with\ns nacks after this lecture at 4 PM in Rudolph Hall 302. \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15918 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260410T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260410T160000 SUMMARY:Glassberg/Greensfelder Forum CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Join us for an afternoon of environmental talks from EEPS junio r\nfaculty and their collaborators:\n\nAssistant Professor Dougal Hansen - Talk Title:_ _\"Constraining\nSubglacial Effective Stress from Normal-Inc idence Active-Source\nSeismics\, with Application to Thwaites Glacier\"\, Antarctica_\,_ will\nhost Atsuhiro Muto\, Associate Professor of Earth & E nvironmental\nScience from Temple University - Talk Title: \"Geophysical\n Investigations of Subglacial Controls on Thwaites Glacier Dynamics\".\n\nA ssistant Professor Roger Michaelides - Talk Title: \"Remote sensing\nand g eophysical characterization of subsurface ground ice in\nperiglacial syste ms\"_\,_ will host Jessica Fayne\, Assistant Professor\,\nEarth and Enviro nmental Sciences from the University of Michigan -\nTalk Title: \"Towards New Observations of Vegetation Water Storage and\nWind-Driven Lake Roughne ss Characteristics\".\n\nAssistant Professor Claire Masteller - Talk Title : \"What controls\nflood resilience and recovery in steep mountain streams ? Exploring the\ninterplay of sediment mobility\, flow history\, and chann el form\"_\,_\nwill host Gordon Grant\, Research Hydrologist for the USDA Forest\nService from Oregon State University - Talk Title: \"Reconsidering \ncritical flow: An organizing principle for fluid flow in steep\nchannels \".\n\nThere will be coffee\, tea\, and light snacks available during this \nafternoon event. A small reception with appetizers and beverages will\nb e held at 4 PM in Rudolph 301.\n\n_This forum was made possible with the g enerous support of the\nGlassberg and Greensfelder families._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15916 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260327T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260327T130000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Julia Alvarez Lozano - PhD candidate from Universid ad\nComplutense Madrid CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:STRETCHING TESSERAE ON VENUS\n\nHost: Paul Byrne\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15914 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260403T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260403T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Jonghan Moon CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:SULFUR ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE CHUKCHI SHELF SEDIMENTS IN T HE\nWESTERN ARCTIC OCEAN SINCE THE LAST DEGLACIATION\n\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15912 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260508T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260508T170000 SUMMARY:Advances in Digital Innovation Across Arts & Sciences and Beyond CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:On Friday\, May 8\, nearly two dozen faculty will discuss thei r\nresearch that incorporates innovative uses of data and technology.\nThe se brief presentations will provide a glimpse into the breadth of\ndigital innovation efforts taking place across WashU and offer an\nideal entry po int for new transdisciplinary collaborations. OPEN TO\nFACULTY\, STAFF\, A ND STUDENTS. HOSTED BY THE ARTS & SCIENCES’\nDEAN’S OFFICE.\n\nRSVP fo r the event\n[https://insideartsci.washu.edu/form/5-8-26-advances-in-digit al-innov]\n\nEvent Program\n[https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.co m/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwustl.box.com%2Fs%2Fcphbd0q40l32skleakut6u3g131p0q4c& data=05%7C02%7Cschaeffner%40wustl.edu%7C416c9320399840d58c7e08dea628bc1a%7 C4ccca3b571cd4e6d974b4d9beb96c6d6%7C0%7C0%7C639130891044742649%7CUnknown%7 CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsI kFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=AJzMJY6niTSPspuRZOrmHIr yc6ZbPQaDPXVc2sHSyq4%3D&reserved=0]\n\n \n\n-------------------------\n\n AGENDA\n\n9 — 9:20 AM: WELCOME FROM DEAN HU AND EXECUTIVE VICE PROVOST M ARY\nMCKAY\n\n9:20 — 10:40 AM: RULES OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS I\n\n* SPEAKE RS: Merlijn Staps\, Biology\; James Holehouse\, Biology\; Mikhail\nTikhono v\, Physics\; Trevor GrandPre\, Physics.\n* SESSION CHAIR: Michael Landis\ , Biology\n\n11 AM — 12 PM: RULES OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS II\n\n* SPEAKERS : Zach Zheng\, Chemistry\; Judith Hoeller\, Physics\; Ed Marti\,\nSchool o f Medicine.\n* SESSION CHAIR: David Piston\, School of Medicine\n\n1-2 PM: INNOVATIVE METHODS IN OUR DIGITAL WORLD\n\n* SPEAKERS: Ran Chen\, Statist ics & Data Science\; Chao Cheng\,\nStatistics & Data Science\; Maxine Yu\, Statistics & Data Science.\n* SESSION CHAIR: Xuming He\, Statistics & Dat a Science\n\n2 — 3:20 PM: SOCIAL\, POLITICAL\, AND ECONOMIC/BUSINESS PRO CESSES\n\n* SPEAKERS: Christopher Lucas\, Political Science\; Betsy Sincla ir\,\nPolitical Science\; Ted Enamorado\, Political Science\; Dennis Zhang \,\nOlin Business School.\n* SESSION CHAIR: Andrew Reeves\, Political Scie nce\n\n3:40 — 4:50 PM: UNDERSTANDING HUMAN HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR\n\n* SPEA KERS: Josh Oltmanns\, Psychological & Brain Sciences\; Ellen\nFitzsimmons- Craft\, Psychological & Brain Sciences\; Chenyang Lu\,\nMcKelvey Engineeri ng\; Rodrigo Reis\, School of Public Health.\n* SESSION CHAIR: Philip Payn e\, School of Medicine\n\n4:50 - 5 PM: WRAP UP WITH DEANNA BARCH\, VICE DE AN OF RESEARCH\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15840 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260324T140000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260324T150000 SUMMARY:Planet Formation and Evolution Through a Statistical Lens with Sara h\nBlunt CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:As exoplanet science moves towards bigger\, noisier datasets\, smaller\nsignals\, and more complicated physical models\, statistical infe rence\nis becoming more and more essential. In this talk\, I’ll give a t our\nof my group’s work applying cutting-edge statistical methods in\nor der to: 1) push the limits of exoplanet detection methods--\nparticularly radial velocity and astrometric methods-- expanding our\nunderstanding of what types of planets can exist\;  2) look for\npatterns across populatio ns of planets\, informing theories about how\nplanets form and evolve\; an d 3) maximize the utility of future data\,\nparticularly from the Gaia\, R oman\, and Habitable Worlds Observatories.\nI will also discuss my work on open-source software\, highlighting the\nwidely-used Bayesian orbit-fitti ng package orbitize! and the summer\nschool Code/Astro.\n\n_This lecture w as made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15784 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260213T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260213T100000 SUMMARY:Designing New Optics to Investigate Galactic Positron Generation wi th\nDustin Swarm CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The soft gamma-ray emission line at 511 keV is an important tra cer for\nelectron-positron annihilation. While astrophysical 511 keV emiss ion\nwas first detected in the 1960s\, the origin of positron generation h as\nremained enigmatic due to the difficulty in imaging at these photon\ne nergies. X-ray telescopes focus light using grazing-incidence optics\,\nmi rrors that gently nudge photons to a distant focal point. However\,\ntechn ological and material constraints have capped the effectiveness\nof these optics at 80 keV\, and photons in the 0.1—1 MeV energy\nrange remai n underexplored. In this talk I will describe my work in\ndesigning\, simu lating\, and testing grazing-incidence focusing optics\nfor soft gamma ray s. This could prove to be a technology pathway\ntoward a high-sensitivity\ , high angular resolution imaging observatory\nfor point sources of positr on annihilation.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Center for the Space Sc iences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]_._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15783 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260212T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260212T160000 SUMMARY:New Neutrino Interactions and Core-Collapse Supernovae with Anna M. \nSuliga CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:In this talk\, I will first discuss how the lepton-number neutr ino\nself-interactions can affect the dynamics of the collapsing supernova \ncore. Following\, I will show how the non-standard neutrino-quark\ninter actions affect the pre-neutrinozation neutrino signal from the\ncore-colla pse supernova. Next\, I will demonstrate how the\nneutral-current channels in the large-scale neutrino detectors and\nlarge-scale dark matter detect ors are ideal to identify such signals\nas they resist any neutrino flavor conversions degeneracies.\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the Willi am C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15777 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260204T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260204T160000 SUMMARY:Supercooled liquids and glasses: a many-body perspective with Zohar \nNussinov CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The \"glass problem\" is nontrivial in a unique sense: unlike m any other\nproblems in physics\, there is no established theoretical frame work in\nwhich to pose it cleanly. In daily life\, amorphous solids and gl asses\nare no less (and arguably more) prevalent than crystals. Thanks to the\nperiodic locations of atoms in a crystal\, quantum mechanical behavio r\nbecomes manifest on the macroscopic scale of the solid\, as the\ndiscre te energy levels of electrons in single atoms reorganize into\nextended ba nd structures. Understanding these electronic bands and\nband gaps paved t he way for the invention of the transistor and the\nsolid-state electronic s revolution. While\, at the microscopic level\,\nthe interactions between atoms in glass formers contain no quenched\ndisorder and are identical to those in crystals\, their spatial\nstructure is aperiodic and generally f ar more complex. The absence of\nperiodicity in supercooled liquids and gl asses removes powerful\nsimplifications. Glass formers develop rigidity an d staggering\ndynamical slowing without symmetry breaking or a sharp therm odynamic\ntransition. This leaves standard tools of equilibrium statistica l\nmechanics and common simplifications with no obvious foothold. This\nsi ngular character raises a natural question: how can slow\, solid-like\nbeh avior emerge so universally? By returning to the basic roots of\nmany-body physics\, we explore whether some of its core principles can\nbe extended to supercooled fluids. This approach leads to testable\npredictions\, inc luding a collapse of viscosity and dielectric response\nwith the aid of a single\, nearly constant\, dimensionless parameter.\nThis collapse is foun d to be satisfied across all experimentally\nmeasured glass former types o ver more than sixteen decades in\nrelaxation time. Numerically\, we also o bserve nontrivial deviations\nfrom conventional equilibrium dynamics when thermostats emulating the\nsupercooling process are used. Time permitting\ , we will discuss how\nthese considerations may be further extended and ap plied more broadly\nto suggest quantum mechanical “Planckian” bounds o n viscosity and\ndiffusion. These bounds appear to be nearly saturated in common\nsystems such as water and aluminum.\n\n_Note: Part of this work wa s done with our dearly missed colleague\,\nProfessor Ken Kelton._\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15774 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260227T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260227T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Earth Data Challenge CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The Earth Data Challenge (EDC) is a semester-long\, team-based program\nhosted by GRI [https://geospatial.washu.edu] and EEPS\n[https://e eps.washu.edu]. Participants learn modern Earth data\nworkflows - cloud co mputing\, Jupyter notebooks\, and remote sensing -\nwhile working collabor atively on projects using hyperspectral\nsatellite data.\n\nNo prior progr amming experience required.\n\nMore Information [https://washu-eeps.github .io/EDC-2026/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15775 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260213T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260213T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Earth Data Challenge CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The Earth Data Challenge (EDC) is a semester-long\, team-based program\nhosted by GRI [https://geospatial.washu.edu] and EEPS\n[https://e eps.washu.edu]. Participants learn modern Earth data\nworkflows - cloud co mputing\, Jupyter notebooks\, and remote sensing -\nwhile working collabor atively on projects using hyperspectral\nsatellite data.\n\nNo prior progr amming experience required.\n\nMore Information [https://washu-eeps.github .io/EDC-2026/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15776 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260130T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260130T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Earth Data Challenge CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:EARTH DATA CHALLENGE (EDC): EEPS and GRI\n[https://geospatial.w ashu.edu/] are hosting the Earth Data Challenge -\na team-based program wh ere students learn cloud computing\, Jupyter\nnotebooks\, and remote sensi ng workflows. Teams work independently over\nthe semester with regular che ck-ins and support along the way. It's a\nchance to build practical\, care er-relevant skills while collaborating\nacross disciplines.\n \nOpen to u ndergraduates\, graduates\, and postdocs in any field. No prior\nprogrammi ng experience required.\n \nMore information [https://washu-eeps.github.i o/EDC-2026/] DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15772 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260424T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260424T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Earth Data Challenge CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The Earth Data Challenge (EDC) is a semester-long\, team-based program\nhosted by GRI [https://geospatial.washu.edu] and EEPS\n[https://e eps.washu.edu]. Participants learn modern Earth data\nworkflows - cloud co mputing\, Jupyter notebooks\, and remote sensing -\nwhile working collabor atively on projects using hyperspectral\nsatellite data.\n\nNo prior progr amming experience required.\n\nMore Information [https://washu-eeps.github .io/EDC-2026/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15773 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260320T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260320T125000 SUMMARY:EEPS Brown Bag: Earth Data Challenge CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The Earth Data Challenge (EDC) is a semester-long\, team-based program\nhosted by GRI [https://geospatial.washu.edu] and EEPS\n[https://e eps.washu.edu]. Participants learn modern Earth data\nworkflows - cloud co mputing\, Jupyter notebooks\, and remote sensing -\nwhile working collabor atively on projects using hyperspectral\nsatellite data.\n\nNo prior progr amming experience required.\n\nMore information [https://washu-eeps.github .io/EDC-2026/]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15764 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260424T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260424T100000 SUMMARY:Science Results from the Tierras Observatory: The Wonders of\nNight -to-Night Photometric Stability with Juliana Garcia-Mejia CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The _Tierras _Observatory is a refurbished 1.3-m facility at Whipple\nObservatory designed for ultra-precise time-series photometry of M\ndwarfs. Its custom 40-nm filter centered at 864 nm\, combined with a\nd eep-depletion frame-transfer CCD\, enables stable photometry at the\nfew-h undred-ppm level over multi-month baselines. After demonstrating\nthis sta bility on nearby low-mass stars\, _Tierras _has transitioned\ninto a pro ductive science facility: constraining stellar rotation\nperiods\, measuri ng precise ephemerides of TESS planets\, and enabling\ndiscoveries ranging from resonant sub-Neptunes around HD 110067 to a\nwarm Jupiter around TOI -4641. Ongoing campaigns are targeting the\nlowest-mass M dwarfs to search for long-period terrestrial planets\,\nleveraging _Tierras’s_ stabili ty to reveal small signals\ninaccessible to TESS alone.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15763 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260220T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260220T100000 SUMMARY:Stellar Bumper Cars! Collisional Dynamics in Galactic Nuclei with\n Sanaea Cooper Rose CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Like most galaxies\, the Milky Way harbors a supermassive black hole\n(SMBH) at its center\, surrounded by a stellar cluster. In this den sely\npopulated environment\, stars frequently collide and interact with o ne\nanother. I will discuss the outcomes and implications of these\ncollis ions and connect them to astrophysical puzzles observed at the\nvery heart of our galaxy. Close to the SMBH\, collisions occur at very\nhigh speeds and can produce peculiar stripped stars\, divested of their\nouter layers. However\, further from the SMBH\, collisions lead to\nmergers\, and succe ssive collisions can produce young-seeming massive\nstars. Leveraging a se mi-analytic model and hydrodynamic simulations\,\nI will describe how coll isions shape the mass demographics and orbital\nproperties of the stars. I n particular\, I will show that collisions\ncan both eject stars from the cluster and place them on nearly radial\norbits about the SMBH\, such that they wander too close to the SMBH and\nget pulled apart by tidal forces.\ n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences_\n[https:/ /mcss.washu.edu/]_._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15762 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260226T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260226T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: John Higgins CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:MIOCENE AND PLIOCENE CLIMATE FROM EARTH'S OLDEST ICE CORES\n\nH ost: David Fike\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Fer guson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15761 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260228T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260228T110000 SUMMARY:mosAIcs & brAIns: engaging mosaics emerging from art\, aesthetics\, and\nAI with Ralf Wessel CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Can science predict human engagement with art? Can such predict ive\ninsight\, combined with established principles of artistic design\, b e\nused to generate engaging artworks from the emergent properties of\nart ificial intelligence? In this talk\, I present how these questions\ninform the individualized design of both Byzantine and contemporary\nmosaic art. Drawing on concepts from aesthetics\, art design\, and AI\, I\nexplore ho w computational models of perception and engagement can be\nintegrated wit h historical mosaic traditions to create emergent\nartworks that resonate with viewers at multiple perceptual and\ncognitive levels.\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15760 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260221T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260221T110000 SUMMARY:Surprises in the Math of Bouncing and Rolling: Finding Stability Wh ere\nRandomness and Chaos are Expected with Renato Feres CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The highly bouncy Wham-O Superball toy was a national craze aro und the\nmid 1960's. This highly elastic rough ball has a number of odd\np roperties. For example\, it returns to hand after being thrown under a\nta ble and bouncing against the table underside. In this conversation\,\nwe w ill play with the ideal (mathematical) superball\, explore some of\nits bi zarre properties\, and use it to reflect on the notions of chaos\nand stab ility in mechanical systems. Along the way\, we will see\nconnections with other curious effects such as rim-out in basketball\nand golf lip-out\, a nd observe how we can gain insight into superball\nmechanics by stepping o ut into the fourth dimension. \n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15759 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260214T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260214T110000 SUMMARY:Probability in Quantum Mechanics: From Stern-Gerlach\, to Antenna\n Polarizations\, to Quantum Qubits with Joe Zehnle CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:From mostly pictures and only a few sparse equations\, we will take a\njourney down a road that connects these diverse topics and show ho w\nthey relate. With interactive demos at the end\, we will see how one\nc ontrols (tunes) the knobs in experiments. With practicality in mind\,\nwe will see how these ideas are mathematically similar (identical!) to\nthe a ntennas you use in your home with your radios\, TVs and cell\nphones.\n\nJ oe was adjunct in the WashU engineering dept. Currently he is a\nTechnica l Fellow at Boeing. Joe has degrees in both physics and\nengineering from WashU.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15758 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260207T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260207T110000 SUMMARY:Worm Regeneration and Reproduction: A Story in Several Segments wit h\nDuygu Özpolat CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Segmented worms (or Annelids) have amazing abilities to regrow their\nlost body parts\; a phenomenon called regeneration. When cut into s mall\npieces\, many worms can regrow new heads (including a new brain!) an d\nnew tails from the small pieces\, eventually each piece becoming a new\ nindividual. As humans\, we have so much to learn about regeneration\nfrom these organisms. What kind of cells\, genes\, processes are\ninvolved? Ho w can we visualize regeneration as it is happening? Dr.\nÖzpolat will pro vide an overview of the wondrous things these creepy\ncrawlies can do\, an d discuss how her lab is studying them to\nunderstand the mechanisms of re generation. To find out more about her\nlab’s research (as well as her S cience Art)\, you can visit her\nwebsite at http://ozpolatlab.org\n[https: //nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fozpolatlab.org% 2F&data=05%7C02%7Ctippett%40wustl.edu%7Ce1e7a1ddf1c64d2f396a08de5db64715%7 C4ccca3b571cd4e6d974b4d9beb96c6d6%7C0%7C0%7C639051234610226682%7CUnknown%7 CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsI kFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=TgV0quMQVo%2B9U%2B4yqbC Q1TxlTfS%2FPlPTVo0ygsf01ME%3D&reserved=0]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15752 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260305T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260305T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Sarah Stamps CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:ISOLATING THE EFFECTS OF GLACIAL ISOSTATIC ADJUSTMENT (GIA) IN THE\nCHESAPEAKE BAY FROM A NEW GNSS-CONSTRAINED VERTICAL LAND MOTION (VLM) \nSOLUTION\n\nHost: Doug Wiens\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15750 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260409T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260409T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Tripti Bhattacharya CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:PERSPECTIVES ON 21ST CENTURY EXTREME RAINFALL FROM THE WARM PLI OCENE\n\nHost: Bronwen Konecky\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15749 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260402T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260402T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Tamlin Pavelsky CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:THE SURFACE WATER AND OCEAN TOPOGRAPHY MISSION: A NEW EYE IN TH E SKY\nFOR EARTH’S WATER\n\nHost: Roger Michaelides\n\n_EEPS Colloquia a re made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15747 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260219T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260219T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Emma \"Mickey\" MacKie CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION OF THE SUBGLACIAL LANDSCAPE\n\nHost: Do ugal Hansen\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguso n Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15746 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260129T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260129T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Anne Hofmeister Retirement Lecture CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:INTEGRATING FORCES\, RADIATION\, HEAT TRANSFER AND THERMODYNAMI CS AND\nTHE MANY IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES\n\nResearch Profes sor Emeritus Anne Hofmeister will deliver her\nretirement lecture as part of our colloquium series. A reception with\nlight refreshments will take p lace immediately following the lecture\nin Rudolph 302. \n \n\nHost: Dav id Fike\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fu nd_\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15745 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260122T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260122T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Jacob Jordan CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:ENHANCED ROCK WEATHERING FOR IMPROVED SMALLHOLDER FARMER WELFAR E: AN\nAT-SCALE CASE STUDY FOR RICE AGRICULTURE IN INDIA\n\nHost: Eric Hia tt\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15744 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260115T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260115T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Jeffrey Catalano CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:CRITICAL LINKS BETWEEN TRACE ELEMENT BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AND CLIMAT E\,\nRESOURCES\, AND PUBLIC HEALTH\n\nTrace elements play diverse roles in Earth systems\, serving as\nbioessential micronutrients for microbial and plant life\, critical\nminerals for energy production and catalysis\, and environmental\nhazards to human health. Their distribution\, migration\, accumulation\,\nand bioavailability are governed by a complex interplay of competitive\nand cooperative biogeochemical processes. In this talk\, I w ill explore\nthree environmental challenges influenced by trace element\nb iogeochemistry: (1) the impact of trace metal availability on the\nproduct ion and decomposition of greenhouse gases in wetland soils\, (2)\nthe role of mineral-water reactions in weathering zones in controlling\nthe mobili ty and accumulation of critical minerals in new resource\noccurrences\, an d (3) the influence of spatial patterns of lead in\nurban soils on residen tial lead exposure. I will present potential\nstrategies for addressing th ese environmental challenges through the\nlens of trace element biogeochem istry.\n\nHost: David Fike\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the Wil liam C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15742 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260417T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260417T100000 SUMMARY:Extreme ionization from a single compact accretor: JWST spectroscop y\nof the ULX Holmberg II X-1 with Federico Fogantini CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are among the most luminous\ naccreting compact objects known outside galactic nuclei and are\nfrequent ly surrounded by ionized nebulae whose excitation exceeds that\nexpected f rom normal stellar populations. Whether this extreme\nionization is produc ed by fast shocks driven by outflows or by\nradiation from the accretion f low itself remains an open question.\n\nWe present spatially resolved JWST NIRSpec and MIRI integral-field\nspectroscopy of the nebula surrounding t he prototypical ULX Holmberg\nII X-1. These observations reveal compact an d asymmetric emission from\nhigh-ionization species such as [Ne V] and [Ne VI] on scales of\n≲10-15 pc around the ULX\, while hydrogen recombi nation and\nlower-ionization lines trace a more extended nebular component .\nDespite the presence of highly ionized gas\, all detected transitions\n exhibit narrow velocity dispersions\, with no evidence for the broad\nprof iles expected from fast radiative shocks. Instead\, the spatial\ndistribut ion of the most highly ionized emission suggests anisotropic\nescape of ha rd photons from the accretion flow.\n\nThese results provide direct eviden ce that radiation from a compact\naccretor can dominate the production of the hardest ionizing photons\nin its local environment\, offering a resolv ed view of how extreme\naccretion sources couple to the surrounding inters tellar medium in\nlow-metallicity galaxies.\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15741 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260422T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260422T160000 SUMMARY:Learning quantum many-body states with Jane Kim CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Quantum many-body systems remain among the most challenging fro ntiers\nof modern physics\, where the complexity of microscopic interactio ns\nand the correlations they produce make predictive calculations\nnotori ously difficult. Recent advances in machine learning are\nbeginning to cha nge how we represent and solve the Schrödinger\nequation from first princ iples.\n\nIn this talk\, I will introduce neural quantum states: variation al wave\nfunctions parameterized by artificial neural networks. I will sho w how\nthese representations can capture correlations that are difficult f or\ntraditional methods\, and discuss examples where they achieve\ncompeti tive accuracy for strongly interacting fermionic systems\,\nincluding nucl ei and ultracold Fermi gases.\n\nI will also give some intuition for what these networks are learning\,\nand how this relates to familiar concepts i n many-body theory. This\nperspective suggests a route to predicting prope rties of quantum\nmatter directly from underlying interactions.\n\n_This l ecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15740 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260415T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260415T160000 SUMMARY:Active Integrated Photonics for Information Processing and Quantum\ nNetworking with Liang Feng CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:We present an active framework for advanced reconfigurable phot onic\nsystems that unifies classical and quantum information processing. O n\nan active III-V semiconductor platform\, we first demonstrate the\nsyne rgy between non-Hermitian photonics and topological photonics\,\nrealizing non-Hermitian topological light steering. This enables\nrobust directiona l control of topological modes beyond conventional\nHermitian constraints\ , routing optical signals on-chip in an\nultra-flexible manner. Extending this approach to computation\, we\ndevelop a reconfigurable photonic proce ssor capable of performing both\nlinear and nonlinear optical operations o n-chip. Using a\nlithography-free integration approach\, the processor ach ieves\nscalable\, low-cost fabrication while maintaining high performance. \nLinear operations\, such as matrix multiplication\, are combined with\nf ield-programmable nonlinear computation functionalities\, allowing\ndynami c implementation of nonlinear functions such as polynomials.\nThis program mability enables in-situ reconfiguration of computational\ntasks\, bridgin g conventional linear photonic circuits and complex\nnonlinear optical com puting paradigms. Our platform provides a\nversatile route toward integrat ed photonic computing\, neuromorphic\nprocessing\, and real-time signal pr ocessing\, establishing a unified\nframework for linear and nonlinear oper ations within a single\nprocessor. Finally\, we extend active\, reconfigur able photonics to the\nquantum domain\, demonstrating a classical-decisive quantum internet\narchitecture capable of IP-compatible entanglement dist ribution over\ndeployed fiber networks. Together\, these advances establis h a\nscalable\, fault-tolerant platform that bridges topological photonics \,\nnon-Hermitian control\, and quantum networking\, paving the way for\nh igh-performance classical and quantum photonic technologies.\n\nLiang Feng is a Professor of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) and\nElectrical a nd Systems Engineering (ESE) at the University of\nPennsylvania. He receiv ed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from\nUCSD and BS/MS both in Physic s from Nanjing University\, China.\nCurrently his research interests inclu de integrated photonics\,\nphotonic computing/information processing\, qua ntum information\nscience\, and optoelectronics. He is an Optica fellow an d a recipient\nof Aspen Institute Italia Award\, Sloan Research Fellow\, D ARPA\nDirector’s Fellowship\, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s\nExp erimental Physics Investigator Award\, etc.\n\n_This lecture was made poss ible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15739 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260403T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260403T100000 SUMMARY:Resolving AGN Feedback in Galaxy Clusters with XRISM and Chandra wi th\nHannah McCall CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Identifying how active galactic nuclei (AGN) couple to their\ns urrounding atmospheres is central to understanding the regulation of\nstar formation in massive galaxies\, groups\, and clusters. In this\ntalk\, I present a comprehensive view of AGN feedback that combines\ncomplementary spectroscopic and imaging diagnostics. New\nhigh-resolution spectroscopic measurements from XRISM/Resolve directly\nprobe the kinematics and chemica l structure of the intracluster\nmedium. I highlight results from M87 in t he Virgo Cluster\, where we\ndetect some of the highest gas velocities and super-solar abundances\non kiloparsec scales\, and from the Perseus Clust er\, where extensive\nmapping observations allow us to disentangle AGN-dri ven energy\ninjection from large-scale processes. I also introduce an imag ing\ntechnique\, “X-arithmetic\,” which decomposes surface brightness\ nperturbations in feedback-dominated regions of galaxy groups and\ncluster s into components dominated by (1) weak shocks and sound waves\,\n(2) jet- inflated bubbles\, or (3) isobaric perturbations linked to\ncooling and sl ow gas motions. This method efficiently identifies the\nphysical origin of feedback-driven structures in Chandra images\nwithout requiring spatially resolved spectroscopy. Together\, these\nresults provide new insight into how AGN impact cluster cores\, laying\nthe groundwork for future investig ations and numerical models.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]_._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15738 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260401T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260401T160000 SUMMARY:Untangling the nuclear physics and astrophysics of heavy element\nc reation with Rebecca Surman CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The heaviest elements naturally occurring on earth and in the s olar\nsystem owe their origins to an extreme nucleosynthesis process: the\ nrapid neutron capture process (r-process). While one r-process\nastrophys ical site has been observationally confirmed\, the emergence\nof r-process species over galactic time likely requires multiple sites\nof production and is not fully understood. Observables of r-process\nnucleosynthesis suc h as abundance patterns and light curves are used\nto trace its origins\, and these are shaped by both the nuclear physics\nand astrophysics of cand idate sites. Thanks to the current generation\nof radioactive ion faciliti es\, the ground state properties and even\nthe reaction rates of the very neutron-rich\, unstable species that\nparticipate in the r-process are wit hin reach. Here we describe work\nto exploit these capabilities to extract characteristics of\nastrophysical sites from r-process observables. We fu rther speculate\non what\, once the r-process site or sites have been defi nitively\nidentified and characterized\, we might learn about nuclear phys ics\nfrom these observables.\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the Wil liam C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15737 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260306T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260306T100000 SUMMARY:Particle Acceleration in Highly Magnetized Plasmas with Luca Comiss o CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Turbulence and magnetic reconnection are ubiquitous in astrophy sical\nenvironments and are often invoked to explain the origin of\nnon-th ermal particles inferred to be accelerated in a variety of\nastrophysical sources. However\, the mechanisms responsible for\naccelerating particles to ultra-relativistic energies remain poorly\nunderstood. In this talk\, I will present recent insights from\nfirst-principles particle-in-cell (PIC ) simulations that\, thanks to\nsignificant computational advances\, have successfully bridged the gap\nbetween microscopic/kinetic scales and macro scopic/MHD scales\,\nenabling the direct application of first-principles r esults to\nastrophysical systems. In particular\, I will revisit our under standing\nof particle acceleration in magnetic reconnection layers\, which have\nnow been shown to produce broken power-law distributions in particl e\nenergy\, along with pitch-angle anisotropy. Additionally\, I will\npres ent results from unprecedentedly large-scale PIC simulations of\nmagnetize d turbulence\, highlighting the role of reconnection in\nturbulence and st ochastic particle acceleration in large-scale\nturbulence fluctuations. I will discuss the implications of\nreconnection-generated anisotropic pitch -angle distributions in\nastrophysical plasmas. If time permits\, I will a lso discuss how some\nof these insights relate to the acceleration of ultr ahigh-energy\ncosmic rays\, the most energetic particles to reach Earth\, in light of\nthe Pierre Auger Observatory’s spectrum and composition\nme asurements.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Center for the Space Science s_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]_._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15736 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260304T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260304T160000 SUMMARY:A Physics Approach to Deep Learning Theory with Blake Bordelon CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Recent developments in artificial intelligence have produced mo dels\nthat exhibit remarkable capabilities in a variety of domains includi ng\nvisual object detection\, computational biology\, image and language\n generation\, and software development. Despite the dizzying pace of\nempir ical progress\, these systems suffer from fundamental challenges\nincludin g limited interpretability\, large compute and data costs to\ntrain and ru n the models\, and uncertain trustworthiness during\ndeployment. In additi on\, key theoretical problems relating to\ngeneralization beyond the train ing data\, optimization dynamics\, and\nscaling behavior remain mysterious . In this talk\, I will promote the\nview that understanding deep learning is a pressing social problem\nthat is well suited to the ideas\, research methods\, and mathematical\ntechniques of physics. I will highlight some concrete examples where\nsuch physics based approaches have generated insi ghts that have\nimproved deep learning practice. I will first discuss math ematical\nresults based on mean-field techniques from statistical physics to\nanalyze learning dynamics of neural networks. This theory will provide \ninsights to develop initialization and optimization schemes for neural\n networks that admit well defined infinite width and depth limits and\nbeha ve consistently across model scales\, providing practical\nefficiency bene fits for pretraining large models. These limits also\nenable a theoretical characterization of the types of learned\nsolutions reached by deep netwo rks\, enabling prediction of their\ngeneralization and scaling laws in cer tain cases. To conclude\, I will\ndiscuss a few open problems including pr edicting regimes of\nmemorization and generalization in diffusion models\, simple models of\nreasoning in language models\, and an optimal control a pproach to\nlearning trajectories. \n\n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15735 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260225T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260225T160000 SUMMARY:The present and future of gravitational-wave astronomy with Michael \nCoughlin CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:With the detection of compact binary coalescences and their\nel ectromagnetic counterparts by gravitational-wave detectors\, a new\nera of multi-messenger astronomy has begun. In this talk\, I will\ndescribe how the gravitational-wave community is using these mergers\nto constrain the unknown equation of state of cold supranuclear\nmatter\, and to measure th e Hubble constant. I will then discuss how\ncurrent ground based optical s urveys and dedicated follow-up systems\nare being used to identify more of these\, and how we are developing\nmodels to test what we find. We will c lose with near-term prospects\nfor the field.\n\n_This lecture was made po ssible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15734 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260218T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260218T160000 SUMMARY:Mistakes on the way to a good idea: Feenberg Lecture with Helen Qui nn CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:I will talk about the work that I did with Roberto Peccei in 19 76 that\nled to the idea of the QCD  axion\, now a popular candidate for the\nparticle that composes dark matter.\n\nNew ideas seldom arise in fini shed form\, but the published record\ntypically only gives us the complete d result. I use this example to\nstress the importance of incomplete and p artially wrong ideas\, and how\nwe learn from them.  I will also talk abo ut the importance of early\nand long term efforts to search for such parti cles\, and how this work\ncontributes to the current popularity of the ide a even as it begins to\nrule out some mass regions for such particles.\n\n -------------------------\n\nHELEN QUINN IS AN AUSTRALIAN-BORN THEORETICAL PARTICLE PHYSICIST AND\nPROFESSOR EMERITA AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY AND SLAC NATIONAL ACCELERATOR\nLABORATORY. SHE EARNED HER PH.D. FROM STANFORD IN 1 967 AND HAS BEEN\nWIDELY HONORED FOR HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO PARTICLE PHYSICS \, INCLUDING\nWORK ON THE PECCEI-QUINN SYMMETRY AND UNIFIED THEORIES\, AS WELL AS\nMAJOR AWARDS LIKE THE DIRAC MEDAL AND THE SAKURAI PRIZE. SINCE\nR ETIRING IN 2010\, SHE HAS BEEN A PROMINENT LEADER IN SCIENCE EDUCATION\nRE FORM\, HELPING SHAPE NATIONAL K-12 SCIENCE STANDARDS AND CHAMPIONING\nPHYS ICS OUTREACH AND EDUCATION INITIATIVES.\n\n-------------------------\n\n_E ugene Feenberg (1906-1977) was a pioneering theoretical physicist\nwhose w ork laid important foundations for the modern quantum many-body\ntheory. A longtime member of the Washington University in St. Louis\nfaculty\, Feen berg made influential contributions to nuclear physics\,\nquantum mechanic s\, and the theory of strongly interacting systems\, and\nis especially re cognized as a founder of correlated basis function\ntheory. The __Eugene F eenberg Memorial Lecture Series_\n[https://physics.washu.edu/eugene-feenbe rg-memorial-lecture-series]_\nhonors his legacy and his lasting impact as a scholar\, mentor\, and\nteacher by bringing leading physicists to campus to highlight ongoing\nadvances in the field._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15733 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260211T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260211T160000 SUMMARY:Numerical simulations of strongly correlated electron systems with\ nFakher Assaad CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Given a model Hamiltonian for strongly correlated electrons\, s everal\nkey questions arise: What are the emergent energy scales? How shou ld\nwe characterize the resulting phases? And how can we understand the\nv arious quantum phase transitions that may occur? Unbiased numerical\nmetho ds play a central role in this endeavor\, as they guide us toward\nthe cor rect emergent low‑energy field theories. In this colloquium\,\nafter a g eneral introduction\, I will focus on models of\nheavy‑fermion systems\, which are most naturally understood from the\nperspective of a compact U( 1) gauge theory. In particular\, I will show\nthat spin chains on metallic and semimetallic surfaces have the\npotential to realize the standard pha ses of heavy fermions\, including\nKondo‑breakdown transitions as well a s magnetic order–disorder\ntransitions in metallic environments.\n\n_Thi s lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15731 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260128T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260128T160000 SUMMARY:Neutrino-nucleus interactions and the quest for new and precision\n physics searches in neutrino experiments with Vishvas Pandey CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:As neutrino experiments grow larger and more precise\, understa nding\nhow neutrinos interact with nuclei has become essential for turning \ndetector signals into discoveries. With upcoming mega-scale neutrino\nex periments such as DUNE and HyperK- gearing up\, fully realizing their\ndis covery potential increasingly depends on how well we understand\nneutrino –nucleus interactions. These experiments combine intense\nneutrino beams with massive\, high-precision detectors to study\nneutrino properties and search for weakly interacting physics beyond\nthe Standard Model. Interpr eting their data requires accurate modeling\nof neutrino interactions over a wide energy range\, from tens of MeV to\na few GeV\, where nuclear and particle physics meet. In this\ncolloquium\, I will provide a broad overvi ew of this challenge\,\nhighlight recent progress\, and discuss ongoing ef forts that connect\ntheory and experiment to meet the demands of the next generation of\nneutrino research.\n\n_This lecture was made possible by th e William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15730 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260121T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260121T160000 SUMMARY:New Frontiers in Electrical\, Thermal\, and Thermoelectric Transpor t\nPredictions with Jenny Coulter CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The electrical\, thermal\, and thermoelectric transport propert ies of\nmaterials are critical to device design and the interpretation of\ nexperimental phenomena. Semi-classical Boltzmann transport (BTE)\ncalcula tions can predict these quantities with impressive accuracy in\ntraditiona l materials\, however\, progress in many conventional material\napplicatio ns has stalled as we hit ceilings in their performance.\nQuantum materials exhibit unique and technologically desirable\nmany-body transport phenome na with the potential to break these\nlimitations\, manifesting exceptiona l conductivities\, high-temperature\nsuperconductivity\, and more\; howeve r\, many-particle effects present\nlong-standing computational barriers wh ich render relevant predictions\nprohibitively difficult.\n\nIn this talk\ , I will demonstrate how a combination of high-performance\ncomputing and new theory unlock transport in complex and unexplored\ncases. These includ e hydrodynamic materials\, where heat and charge\ntransport occur essentia lly perfectly except at the boundaries of a\ndevice\, ultra-high conductiv ity transition metal oxides\, and\ntopological flat-band materials for the rmoelectric applications\, in\nwhich beyond-BTE effects dominate transport . I will close with new\nformalism to predict electron-phonon interactions in correlated\nelectron systems\, enabling predictions of correlation-enh anced\nphonon-mediated resistivity. These developments demonstrate the\nco mbined power of computation and many-body physics to revolutionize\ntransp ort theory\, opening new frontiers in device-relevant quantum\nmaterials.\ n\n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15727 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260205T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260205T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Sherilyn Fritz CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:THE CENOZOIC EVOLUTION OF THE AMAZON’S GEOPHYSICAL LANDSCAPE AND\nTROPICAL FORESTS\n\nHost: David Fike\n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made poss ible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15726 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260319T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260319T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium - Stephen Zatman Memorial Lecture: Harriet Lau CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:EARTH'S CORE AND MANTLE: IMMISCIBLE(ISH) BUT INTERTWINED\n\nHos t: Doug Wiens\n\n_This colloquium is made possible by the Stephen Zatman M emorial Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15712 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251205T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251205T130000 SUMMARY:Brown Bag: Kun Wang CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Associate Professor Kun Wang will present _Revisiting The Solar System\nBulk Composition Through Asteroid Bennu Samples._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15697 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251113T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251113T160000 SUMMARY:Critical Slowing Down and Bulk Viscosity in Binary Neutron Star\nMe rgers with Rachel Steinhorst CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Near the critical endpoint of a first order phase transition\, the\nrelaxation time diverges\, the well-known phenomenon of critical\nslo wing down. One manifestation of critical slowing down is a\ndivergence of the bulk viscous transport coefficient. Although a QCD\ncritical point is traditionally imagined to be at high temperatures\,\nno first-principles a rgument forbids a QCD critical point in the\nlow-temperature phase space p robed by binary neutron star mergers. We\nperform an order of magnitude es timation for the enhancement of the\nneutron star bulk viscosity due to su ch a critical point\, and find\nthat it can under some circumstances far e xceed the viscous effect of\nbeta equilibration in matter sufficiently clo se to the critical point.\n\n_This lecture was made possible by the Willia m C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15688 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251204T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251204T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Grace Barcheck CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:RESPONSE OF THE BASAL HYDROLOGIC NETWORK TO SPRING MELT ONSET\, \nGREENLAND ICE SHEET\n\nHow the Greenland Ice Sheet ablation zone respond s to basal meltwater\ninput depends partly on the shape and evolution of t he subglacial\ndrainage network\, which is difficult to observe. This netw ork is\nthought to be a patchwork of water-filled cavities\, saturated til l\,\nand efficient conduits\, with variable connectivity among patches and \nto moulins\, and with variable effects on basal friction. To document\nt he structure of this connectivity in West Greenland during the onset\nof m elt in 2018\, we recorded changes in dozens of families of high\nfrequency repeating basal icequakes\, which have stick-slip\, basal\ncrevassing\, o r ambiguous mechanisms. Repeating basal stick-slip and\ncrevassing events can respond to changes in basal hydrology\, and we\nevaluate each family f or continuity across melt onset. We interpret\nrepeaters that don’t chan ge in response to melt onset as indicating\n bed regions that are hydraul ically isolated from moulins\, while\nevents that disappear or change indi cate more-connected bed regions.\nGeodetic data show limited local sliding acceleration until several\nweeks later\, implying that basal seismicity changes result primarily\nfrom changes in basal hydrology\, not sliding. R epeaters affected and\nunaffected by melt onset are interspersed at sub-km scales\, indicating\nthat connected versus isolated regions of the hydrol ogic network are\nlikewise interspersed. Interestingly\, basal seismicity patterns appear\nunrelated to formation of a subglacial channel also recor ded by the\nnetwork. These results suggest that subglacial hydraulic conne ctedness\ncan vary over short distances\, and that seismic observations of \nicequakes are a useful way to observe hydrologic evolution.\n\nHost: Dou gal Hansen\n\n_ EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Fergus on Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15687 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251120T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251120T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Joe Guinness CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:SPATIAL STATISTICS AND GAUSSIAN PROCESS MODELING IN THE EARTH\n SCIENCES \n\n_EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15686 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251113T113000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251113T123000 SUMMARY:EEPS Colloquium: Nicole Nie CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:ISOTOPIC INSIGHTS INTO MOON FORMATION AND SURFACE EVOLUTION\n\n The Moon is significantly depleted in moderately volatile elements\n(MVEs) relative to Earth\, a signature commonly linked to its energetic\norigin involving a giant impact and subsequent global magma ocean.\nWhile most vo latile loss likely occurred during this early stage\,\ncontinued loss from the lunar surface through space weathering has\nfurther modified the Moon ’s volatile inventory. Isotopic\ncompositions of MVEs provide key constr aints on both the early\nhigh-temperature depletion and the later surface weathering processes.\n\nIn this presentation\, I will examine MVE isotopi c variations in both\nigneous samples and lunar soils to assess the mechan isms of volatile\nloss. Isotopic data from lunar basalts help distinguish among\ncompeting models for early lunar volatile depletion and support an\ nevaporative loss scenario in the proto-lunar disk. In addition\,\nisotopi c enrichments in lunar soils reflect ongoing space weathering\,\nindicatin g that micrometeorite impacts are a dominant process\ntransferring surface atoms into the transient lunar exosphere and\nultimately into space.\n\n_ EEPS Colloquia are made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15685 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251107T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251107T130000 SUMMARY:Brown Bag: Stephanie Zhang / Abby Santis CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Stephanie will present_ Investigating Mantle Sources of Lunar Sample\n73002\,6016\,7._\n\nAbby will present _Explorations of ~40 kyr bio marker records from\nLoktak Lake India: Insights to Indian summer monsoon dynamics._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15684 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251121T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251121T163000 SUMMARY:From Variable Stars to Dark Matter – The Expanding Legacy of\nHen rietta Leavitt CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Henrietta Swan Leavitt’s early twentieth-century discovery of a\nrelationship between the brightness of certain stars named \"Cepheid\n variables” and the duration of their brightness cycles transformed\nastr onomy. By showing that a star’s intrinsic luminosity could be\ninferred from its variation period\, Leavitt provided the first\nreliable method fo r measuring astronomical distances beyond our galaxy\nand established the foundation for what became known as the cosmic\ndistance ladder. Her work made it possible to determine the accurate\nscale of the Milky Way\, ident ify other galaxies beyond it\, and\neventually measure the expansion of th e Universe itself. In this\ncolloquium\, Dr. Tansu Daylan and several memb ers of the AstroMusers\nresearch group in the Department of Physics will f ollow the\ndevelopments stemming from her discovery\, beginning with her\n meticulous analysis of variable stars and tracing how precise\nphotometric measurements enabled a deeper understanding of stellar\nevolution\, inclu ding the formation and cooling of white dwarfs. The\ndiscussion will then move outward to the galactic scale\, where\nLeavitt’s relation revealed the immensity of space and led to the\nrecognition of galaxies as dynamic\ , independent systems. Finally\, the\ncolloquium will examine one of the m ost significant frontiers of\nmodern astrophysics—the detection of dark matter—whose\ngravitational effects determine the rotation of galaxies\, the binding\nof clusters\, and the growth of large-scale cosmic filaments \, even\nthough it emits no light of its own. Across these themes runs a s ingle\nunifying idea: careful observation and the disciplined use of light as\ndata remain central to how astronomers uncover both the visible and\n hidden structure of the Universe.\n\n THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE IN SEIGL E HALL\, ROOM 206. DOWNLOAD A\nCAMPUS MAP HERE\n[https://admissions.washu. edu/app/uploads/2025/03/CRTV-6062-Parking-Folded-Map_map-only-for-web_FINA L.pdf].\n\nDR. TANSU DAYLAN is an assistant professor in the Department of \nPhysics and leads a research program focused on atmospheric\ncharacteriz ation of exoplanets and the astrophysical signatures of\ndark matter. He i s the Principal Investigator for one of the Wide\nField Science Programs o f NASA's upcoming Roman Space Telescope.\nMembers of his AstroMusers resea rch group\, Aavik Wadivkar\, Bryce\nWedig\, and Dr. Chris Cappiello\, work on contemporary astrophysical\nproblems. Aavik is an undergraduate majori ng in astrophysics\, doing a\nresearch project on planets transiting white dwarfs. Bryce is a\nfourth-year PhD student in physics working on cosmic gravitational\nlenses\, and Chris is an Ed Jaynes postdoctoral fellow in t he\nDepartment of Physics focusing on particle properties of dark\nmatter.  \n\nDR. CHRIS CAPPIELLO is an Edwin Thompson Jaynes Postdoctoral Fellow in\nthe Department of Physics. He received his PhD in 2021 from Ohio\nStat e\, after which he was a postdoctoral fellow at Queen's University\nin Kin gston\, Canada\, before joining the Department at WashU in 2024.\nHis rese arch focuses on dark matter theory\, finding new ways to use\nparticle det ectors\, telescopes\, and astrophysics generally to search\nfor dark matte r.  Although he is a theorist\, Chris has collaborated\nwith experimental groups in the past\, identifying new models of dark\nmatter that their de tectors could search for.\n\n \n\nBRYCE WEDIG is a fourth-year PhD candid ate in Physics studying dark\nmatter using space telescopes. He studied ph ysics and philosophy at\nKenyon College and philosophy of physics at the U niversity of\nCambridge.\n\n \n\nAAVIK WADIVKAR is a sophomore undergradu ate student studying\nAstrophysics and Philosophy. He's involved in exopla net research\,\nsearching for planets orbiting around White Dwarfs and con tributing to\nExoCore\, a NASA-funded curriculum of open science for the f ield of\nexoplanets. He also acts as President of WashU Satellite\, an\nun dergrad-led engineering design team that develops and builds\nsatellites a nd space-ready science missions for WashU research. He's\npassionate about the intersection of science and philosophy and how we\nunderstand the wor ld around us.\n\n> Learn more about the upcoming Performing Arts D epartment production\n> of _Silent Sky_ [https://pad.washu.edu/events /silent-sky]_ _and get\n> tickets here [https://ci.ovationtix.com/356 74/production/1246463]!\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15677 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251111T160000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251111T180000 SUMMARY:The Incubator Unbound: Scales of Life CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:EVENT PANELISTS:\n\nTANSU DAYLAN\, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSI CS\, WASHU\n\nBRONWEN KONECKY\, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EARTH\, ENVIRONMENT AL\, AND\nPLANETARY SCIENCES\, WASHU\n\nLÚCIA LOHMANN\, PRESIDENT AND DIR ECTOR OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL\nGARDEN AND THE GEORGE ENGELMANN PROFESSOR OF BOTANY AT WASHU\n\nRODRIGO REIS\, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH\, WASHU\n \nFocusing on broad themes and contemporary challenges\, The Incubator\nUn bound brings together experts from diverse fields for an unscripted\,\npub lic conversation that explores wildly divergent approaches and\nperspectiv es\, sparks new intellectual connections\, and inspires bold\ncollaboratio ns among all in attendance. We are grateful to the staff\nand educators at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum for their\ncollaboration on The Incuba tor Unbound event series. QUESTIONS? PLEASE\nREACH OUT TO US AT THEINCUBAT OR@WUSTL.EDU \n\n4:00PM- DOORS OPEN\, COFFEE AND DESSERT AVAILABLE\, AND GUESTS CAN VIEW\nART RELEVANT TO THE EVENT'S THEME\n\n4:30-5:20PM- DISCUSS ION\, FOLLOWED BY Q&A\n\n5:20-6:00PM- PLEASE STAY TO CONNECT WITH THE INCU BATOR AND FELLOW\nATTENDEES\n\nThe Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures (The Incubator) is a\nsignature initiative of the Arts & Sciences Strateg ic Plan and was\ncreated to catalyze and support bold collaborations that will foster\nthe future of scholarly inquiry.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15676 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251114T120000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251114T133000 SUMMARY:Cosmic Crust Pizza Party CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Any curious undergrad is invited to the Cosmic Crust Pizza Part y - a\ncasual event for those interested in astrophysics and space science s!\n\nJoin us for pizza\, conversation\, and cosmic exploration with facul ty\nand grad students from the Physics Department who specialize in\nastro physics\, particle astrophysics\, cosmology\, & space sciences.\nWhether y ou’re just starting out in physics or simply curious about\nthe universe \, this is a great chance to learn more and find your place\namong the sta rs. \n\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15674 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251121T130000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251121T140000 SUMMARY:Electromagnetic Signals of High-Frequency Gravitational Waves with\ nAsher Berlin CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:There is strong motivation to extend the observable frequency r ange of\ngravitational waves (GWs) beyond the Hz - kHz regime already prob ed by\nLIGO and Virgo. In particular\, higher-frequency GWs can give rise to\nnew classes of electromagnetic signals that can be searched for with\n small-scale detectors. A gauge-invariant description shows that\nexisting experiments designed for the detection of axion dark matter\nonly need to reanalyze existing data to search for such signals. I\nwill also discuss h ow electromagnetic cavities can operate as\nexquisite mechanical to electr omagnetic converters\, enabling a broader\nsearch across orders of magnitu de of unexplored parameter space.\n\nPlease note that while Physics Theory seminars typically fall on a\nThursday\, this talk will be on FRIDAY\, NO VEMBER 21ST AT 1PM. \n\n_This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15673 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251119T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251119T180000 SUMMARY:WashU Physics Research Symposium CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:THE PHYSICS RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM IS A CHANCE FOR ALL MEMBERS OF\n THE PHYSICS DEPARTMENT TO COME TOGETHER\, SHOW OFF WHAT THEY'RE\nWORKING ON\, AND LEARN ABOUT THE RESEARCH THAT OTHERS ARE DOING.\n\nEach research group in the department is encouraged to participate so\nthat there is a complete representation of everything that goes on\nwithin the Physics Dep artment. Anyone is welcome to present a\nposter. For example\, graduate students could present their thesis\nwork\, undergraduates could present t heir summer projects\, and faculty\nmight show off their research to their colleagues and appeal to\ninterested students.\n\nWhile people from outsi de the department will not be able to present\ntheir research\, they are e ncouraged to attend. All attendees will be\nable to learn more about what goes on within the department and\nhopefully make some useful connections. \n\n_Thanks to the Graduate Center and the Office for Undergraduate\nResea rch for supporting our event._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15672 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251203T143000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251203T173000 SUMMARY:Edwin Thompson Jaynes Fellowship Symposium CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Every Fall Semester\, the Department of Physics hosts the Jayne s\nFellowship Symposium. This engaging event highlights the incredible\nwo rk being done by our Edwin Thompson Jaynes postdoctoral fellows.\n\nThis y ear\, we're excited to hear from Christopher Cappiello and Dmitry\nChichin adze\, who will each deliver ~25 minute talks on their\nresearch. \n\nDAR K MATTER SCATTERING IN THE EARTH: THE GOOD\, THE BAD\, AND THE\nMELTING OF THE CORE WITH CHRIS CAPPIELLO\n\nIt is usually assumed that dark matter i nteracts very weakly with\nStandard Model particles\, and that this is the reason it has not been\ndetected. However\, it is possible that dark matt er does interact\nsomewhat strongly\, and has not been detected because it is too light\nto trigger detectors\, or because its interactions have an energy\nthreshold (i.e.\, inelastic dark matter). In such cases\, dark mat ter\ncould scatter with nuclei in the Earth before reaching a detector. As \nI will discuss in this talk\, such scattering can prevent dark matter\nf rom reaching a detector\, or\, for some models\, can actually make it\neas ier to detect. I will conclude with a discussion of how dark matter\nannih ilation inside the Earth could actually melt parts of the inner\ncore\, al lowing the planet itself to act as an enormous dark matter\ndetector.\n \ n\nELECTRONS GOING NONLINEAR: SECOND-ORDER CORRECTIONS TO OHM’S LAW IN\n 2D MATERIALS WITH DMITRY CHICHINADZE\n\nThe history of nonlinear responses in physics is long and rich.\nAlthough they were first considered as earl y as 1968\, only recently\nquadratic-in-electric-field corrections to Ohm ’s law begun to regain\nattention. In the age of topology in condensed m atter physics\, it has\nbeen recognized that nonlinear responses can be tr iggered by\nnontrivial Berry curvature or quantum geometry in a system. Th is\nrealization has led to significant experimental efforts and the\ndisco very of giant nonlinear responses of 2D materials using both\nHall-bar and disk-geometry samples. Microscopic theoretical\ncalculations have shown a n apparent discrepancy between the measured\nand calculated magnitudes of the effect — a phenomenon that remains\nnot fully understood. In this ta lk\, I will discuss contributions to\nsecond-order nonlinear transport in 2D materials that have not\nreceived adequate theoretical treatment and ou tline my work on\nbuilding a microscopic theoretical framework to describe these\nphenomena. \n \n\n \n\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15661 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251120T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251123T140000 SUMMARY:Silent Sky CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Working alongside the serious Annie Jump Cannon and quick-witte d\nWilliamina Fleming\, Henri perseveres against professional bias and\npe rsonal doubt in her pursuit of scientific discovery that will change\nour understanding of the universe forever. But as she seeks answers\nin the s tars\, can Henri also build a life for herself on Earth? A\nstory of space \, symphonies\, science and self-determination\, _Silent\nSky_ sheds light on Leavitt’s impactful life to remind us all how\nvast and beautiful th is universe is.\n\nPerforming Arts Department alum Ellen Schaaf (MA 2025) returns to\ndirect.\n\nBy Lauren Gunderson\nDirected by Ellen Schaaf (MA 2 025) \nNovember 20\, 21 & 22 at 7:30 p.m.\nNovember 22 & 23 at 2:00 p.m.\ nA.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre\n\nBONUS EVENT! PAD has partnered with the W ashU Physics Department for a\ncolloquium that celebrates the work of Henr ietta Leavitt and explores\nthe continued scientific developments stemming from her discovery.\nLearn more here!\n[https://pad.washu.edu/events/vari able-stars-dark-matter-expanding-legacy-henrietta-leavitt]\n\n_Tickets are FREE to all WashU students with valid ID. To reserve your\nticket\, pleas e visit the Washington University Box Office or call\n314-935-6543. You ca n also claim a free ticket the night of at the box\noffice window._\n\nBEW ARE OF SCAMS! Tickets purchased through the Washington University\nBox Off ice or online via AudienceView (also known as OvationTix) are\nthe only ap proved tickets for this event. Purchases made through a\nthird-party vendo r such as StubHub\, Ticketmaster\, or MetroTix will NOT\nbe valid for entr y to the Theater.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15800 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260324T190000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260324T200000 LOCATION:4465 Manchester Ave\, St. Louis\, MO 63110 SUMMARY:Spring Equinox Party: Astronomy on Tap CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: [Astronomy on Tap flyer] \nCelebrate the Spring Equinox at a s pecial Astronomy on Tap event!\n\nThis month’s fascinating talks will be given by WashU Satellite Club\nmembers\, who will present three of their satellite missions: AIRIS\,\nSCALAR\, and VECTOR. Learn how student-built spacecraft are designed\,\ndeveloped\, and launched to advance space scien ce and engineering.\n\n🛰 Short\, engaging talks\n🌌 Astro trivia\n 🎁 Surprise prizes\n\nFree and open to everyone. Bring your friends and celebrate the\nequinox with space science and good company.\n\nAstronomy o n Tap STL [https://www.facebook.com/AstronomyOnTapSTL]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16064 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261013T190000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261013T200000 LOCATION:4465 Manchester Ave\, St. Louis\, MO 63110 SUMMARY:High Energy Horrors: Astronomy on Tap CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: [Poster advertising the October 13\, 2026 Astronomy on Tap lec tures:\nHigh Energy Horrors] \nNICOLE OSBORN — _Tricks & Treats: How Co smic Rays Serve as\nUnconventional Messengers from Space_\nCosmic radiatio n is composed of charged particles that come from many\nsources like our s un at a local scale all the way to exploding stars\nand black holes in our Galaxy and beyond. While many astrophysicists\nconsider cosmic-ray signal s as background to their observations and\ncosmic radiation is a barrier i n human space exploration\, these\ncharged particles are a useful tool in learning more about space from\nour local environment around the Earth and Sun to the most energetic\nevents in our Universe like exploding stars an d black holes.\n\nBEN DE JONGE — _Blazars: The Universe Taking Aim_\nSo me black holes are called “supermassive\,” meaning they have\nmasses m illions to billions times the mass of our Sun. While the black\nhole doesn ’t produce light we can see with our telescopes (since\nthey are\, well\ , ‘black')\, they can suck in the material around it\nwhich can glow and produce observable light. In the process of\nconsuming material\, some bl ack holes produce objects called\nrelativistic jets. These jets are intere sting\, dynamic\, and very\nlarge-scale structures in the universe\, with the longest jets being\nmuch longer than the diameter of our Milky Way. In this talk\, I'll\ndescribe relativistic jets and define a blazar\, a type of supermassive\nblack hole with a jet pointing right at us\, using them to illustrate\nsome interesting special relativistic effects.\n\nJoin Astr onomy on Tap for an evening of science\, beer\, and cosmic fun\,\nfeaturin g spooktacular space talks\, astro trivia\, and surprise prizes.\nThe even t is open to the public and free\, so bring friends\, grab a\nbeer\, and e njoy some spooky space science!\n\nAstronomy on Tap STL [https://www.faceb ook.com/AstronomyOnTapSTL]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15694 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251118T180000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251118T190000 LOCATION:4465 Manchester Ave\, St. Louis\, MO 63110 SUMMARY:Running COSMOS.exe: Astronomy on Tap CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION: [Flyer for Astronomy on Tap's November 2025 event] \nDR. YAJIE YUAN — _Feeding the Beast: How Black Holes Dine and\nShine_\nAt the he art of every galaxy lurks a hungry black hole. But what does\nit really me an for a black hole to “feed”? In this talk\, we’ll\ndive into state -of-the-art computer simulations that capture\, from\nfirst principles\, h ow gas swirls\, crashes\, and lights up around the\nblack holes in our own Milky Way and in M87 — the first black hole\never imaged. Come see how theory\, supercomputers\, and the Event\nHorizon Telescope are helping us decode the messy\, beautiful physics\nof black hole accretion.\n\nDR. ALEX CHEN — _Pulsars\, the Lighthouses of the Cosmos_\nPulsars are rapidly rotating remnants of stars after they reach the\nend of their lifecycle. T hey possess some of the strongest magnetic\nfields known in the universe. Chen will describe how we observe these\nobjects\, and how we infer their physical properties from these\nobservations.\n\nJoin Astronomy on Tap for an evening of science\, beer\, and cosmic fun\n— exploring how supercom puters help us understand the universe.\nThere will be Astro Trivia with p rizes after the talks.\n\n? Grab a drink\, meet fellow space nerds\, and e njoy Astronomy on Tap:\nSt. Louis!\n\nFree & open to all — no registrati on needed.\n\nAstronomy on Tap STL [https://www.facebook.com/AstronomyOnTa pSTL]\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15636 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251108T100000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251108T110000 SUMMARY:The Physics of Mysterious Cellular Droplets with Trevor GrandPre CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:When we learn about cells\, we usually picture them as little f actories\nfilled with familiar parts like the nucleus or mitochondria\, ea ch\nwrapped in a membrane. But scientists have recently discovered another \nkind of cellular structure: tiny liquid-like droplets made of proteins\n and other molecules that don’t have a membrane at all. These\ndroplets\, called biomolecular condensates\, appear and disappear as\nneeded\, helpi ng cells organize their activities\, yet sometimes they go\nrogue in ways linked to diseases like ALS and Alzheimer’s. In this\ntalk\, I’ll shar e how physics helps us make sense of these strange\nstructures. Just as oi l separates from water\, molecules inside cells\ncan gather into droplets\ , but unlike oil and water\, cellular droplets\nare dynamic\, adaptable\, and alive with activity. By combining ideas\nfrom physics with experiments and computer modeling\, we are beginning\nto uncover the rules that gover n these droplets\, offering new insights\ninto how life works at the molec ular scale.\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15611 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251107T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251107T100000 SUMMARY:Pulsar Wind Nebulae: A Treasure Trove of High-energy Astrophysics w ith\nNiccolo Bucciantini CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Pulsars and their nebulae have been at the forefront of high-en ergy\nastrophysics since their discovery. They provides us with a unique\n laboratory where our understanding of radiation processes\, particle\nacce leration\, relativistic plasma physics\, and stellar evolution can\nbe put to the test. Since the launch of Chandra in 1999\, and thanks to\nmajor i mprovements in our computational tools\, a “canonical model”\nhas emer ged\, enabling us to develop a coordinated picture of this\nobjects. Howev er\, the more recent findings by IXPE have clearly shown\nthat some of our former assumptions need to be profoundly\nreconsidered. I will illustrate the  present and future roles these\nobjects are playing in astrophysics \, the many open questions and the\nmore recent finding that still baffle us\, and their potential impact\non the broader context.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/] _._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15613 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251212T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251212T100000 SUMMARY:Black Hole Accretion from the Inside Out with Jason Dexter CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:In the last several years\, the combination of resolved event h orizon\nscale images and large-scale computational models has led to new\n insights into black hole accretion. The main implication is that\nmagnetic fields near the event horizon may become dynamically\nimportant. I'll the n discuss our efforts to extend beyond the two\nobjects with resolved imag es and calculate theoretical predictions for\nmore luminous systems\, focu sing on the maximum luminosity of a hot\naccretion flow and the physical o rigin of the X-ray corona.\n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Center for th e Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]_._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15955 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261119T190000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261119T200000 LOCATION:Whitaker Hall\, One Brookings Drive\, St. Louis\, MO 63130 SUMMARY:2026 Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lectures Public Lecture:\nMeteo rites – Time Capsules of the Solar System or How to Form a\nHabitable Ea rth CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Meteorites are rocks from space that were broken off their pare nt\nasteroids and fell onto Earth. They are time capsules that allow us to \nlook back about 4.5 billion years ago\, when the solar system formed\nan d planet formation began. In this lecture\, I will show and explain\nwhat meteorites are\, how research on them helps us understand how the\nEarth f ormed and identify the key processes that made it the habitable\nplanet we know today.\n\n [Thorsten Kleine (Credit: MPS/T. Klawunn)] \nThorsten Kle ine is the director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar\nSystem Research \, where he leads research into the origin and evolution\nof the Solar Sys tem. He is also a scientific member of the Max Planck\nSociety in Germany.  A cosmochemist and meteorite researcher\, his\nwork uses high-precision isotope analyses of meteorites and planetary\nmaterials to investigate ho w planets\, asteroids\, and moons formed more\nthan 4.5 billion years ago. Previously a professor at the University\nof Münster and a researcher at ETH Zürich\, Kleine is internationally\nrecognized for his contributions to planetary science and the study of\nearly Solar System history. He is the recipient of numerous honors\,\nincluding the F. W. Clarke Medal\, the Nier Prize\, and the Victor\nMoritz Goldschmidt Award.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15956 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261118T160000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261118T170000 SUMMARY:2026 Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lectures Colloquium: Meteorites \nand the Origin of the Earth and Moon CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The Earth formed from a swirling disk of gas and dust orbiting the\nyoung Sun. But how was this dust converted into planets? Did the Eart h\nform from local material or from dust originating in the far outer\nreg ions of the solar system? And was this material accreted as actual\ndust\, or was it incorporated into larger bodies that later collided to\nform th e Earth? The answers to these questions are locked in\nmeteorites\, left-o ver fragments from the earliest stages of planet\nformation. I will show h ow we can use small variations in the isotopic\ncomposition of meteorites to identify the nature and origin of the\nmaterial that built the Earth\, and how this helps us understand the\ndynamical processes by which the Ear th formed. I will conclude with\ndiscussing the origin of the Moon\, which formed by a giant impact near\nthe end of Earth’s accretion\, and will offer an explanation for why\nthe Earth and Moon are isotopic twins.\n\n [ Thorsten Kleine (Credit: MPS/T. Klawunn)] \nThorsten Kleine is the directo r of the Max Planck Institute for Solar\nSystem Research\, where he leads research into the origin and evolution\nof the Solar System. He is also a scientific member of the Max Planck\nSociety in Germany. A cosmochemist an d meteorite researcher\, his work\nuses high-precision isotope analyses of meteorites and planetary\nmaterials to investigate how planets\, asteroid s\, and moons formed more\nthan 4.5 billion years ago. Previously a profes sor at the University\nof Münster and a researcher at ETH Zürich\, Klein e is internationally\nrecognized for his contributions to planetary scienc e and the study of\nearly Solar System history. He is the recipient of num erous honors\,\nincluding the F. W. Clarke Medal\, the Nier Prize\, and th e Victor\nMoritz Goldschmidt Award.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15598 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251105T161500 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251105T171500 SUMMARY:2025 Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lectures Colloquium: The NASA\n Psyche Mission: Preparing for the Science of an Unknown Object CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The asteroid (16) Psyche may be the metal-rich remnant of a\ndi fferentiated planetesimal\, or it may be highly reduced\, metal-rich\naste roidal material that never differentiated. The NASA Psyche mission\naims t o determine Psyche’s provenance. How did we choose the science\ninstrume nts we’d need\, when there was not even a photo of the\nsurface\, and ho w are we preparing the team to interpret the data with\nan open mind? I’ ll describe the current state of knowledge about the\npossible solar syste m regions of origin for Psyche prior to its\nimplantation into the asteroi d belt\, the physical and chemical\nprocesses that can enrich metal in an asteroid\, and possible\nmeteoritic analogs. Then\, I’ll show the proces s our science team is\ngoing through to prepare us to produce the best pos sible science once\nthe spacecraft arrives at the asteroid.\n\nLindy Elkin s-Tanton is a planetary scientist\, and the Principal\nInvestigator of the NASA Psyche mission. She is Director of the\nUniversity of California\, B erkeley Space Sciences Laboratory.\nPreviously\, she was an Arizona State University VP and Regents\nProfessor in the School of Earth and Space Expl oration\, Director of\nthe Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carn egie Institution\nfor Science\, and faculty at MIT. Elkins-Tanton's resear ch concerns the\nformation and evolution of rocky planets\; volcanic activ ity and\nextinctions on Earth\; as well as on effective teams and future-f acing\neducational practices. Asteroid (8252) Elkins-Tanton is named for h er\,\nas is the mineral elkinstantonite. She is a member of the National\n Academy of Sciences\, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.\nElkins -Tanton received her BS\, MS\, and PhD from MIT.\n\n_Header image: Launch of the Psyche spacecraft from Kennedy Space\nCenter\, October 13\, 2023. C redit: NASA/JPL/ASU_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15599 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251106T190000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251106T200000 LOCATION:Whitaker Hall\, One Brookings Drive\, St. Louis\, MO 63130 SUMMARY:2025 Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lectures Public Lecture: The NA SA\nPsyche Mission: First Visit to an Unknown World CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The NASA Psyche mission\, in flight in space as you read this\, is on\nits way to visit an immensely ancient object in our asteroid belt: A\nmetal body\, the first humans will ever have visited. When our solar\n system was just an infant\, thousands of planetesimals (tiny\nplanet-like objects) formed in fewer than one million years. That's\nthe same as sayin g\, if the 4\,567\,000\,000 years that our solar system\nhas existed was i nstead a 24-hour day\, the planetesimals formed in the\nfirst 18 seconds. Many planetesimals melted\, allowing metal cores to\nform inside rocky man tles. One of these metal cores may still exist\,\nrevealed in the asteroid (16) Psyche. I'll discuss what is known and\nwhat is hypothesized about t he asteroid\, how we have planned a mission\nand built a spacecraft to stu dy this unknown object\, how we progressed\nas a team through intense chal lenges\, and an update of where we are\njust over two years post-launch.\n \nLindy Elkins-Tanton is a planetary scientist\, and the Principal\nInvest igator of the NASA Psyche mission. She is Director of the\nUniversity of C alifornia\, Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory.\nPreviously\, she was an A rizona State University VP and Regents\nProfessor in the School of Earth a nd Space Exploration\, Director of\nthe Department of Terrestrial Magnetis m at the Carnegie Institution\nfor Science\, and faculty at MIT. Elkins-Ta nton's research concerns the\nformation and evolution of rocky planets\; v olcanic activity and\nextinctions on Earth\; as well as on effective teams and future-facing\neducational practices. Asteroid (8252) Elkins-Tanton i s named for her\,\nas is the mineral elkinstantonite. She is a member of t he National\nAcademy of Sciences\, and the American Academy of Arts & Scie nces.\nElkins-Tanton received her BS\, MS\, and PhD from MIT.\n\n_Header i mage: Artists' impression of Psyche spacecraft. Credit:\nNASA/JPL/ASU_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15567 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251204T150000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251204T160000 SUMMARY:New Class of Three-Nucleon Forces and Their Implications with Maria \nDawid CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) is an effective field theory that\nsystematically describes the interactions of pions and nucleons\,\na llowing the construction of nuclear forces. While two-body potentials\npro vide the largest contributions to these interactions\, three-nucleon\n(3N) forces can play an important role in systems like nuclei or\nneutron star s.\nThe current derivation of the 3N force does not take into account the\ neffects of the so-called d2 operator. \nAlthough this interaction is sup pressed in conventional power-counting\nestimates\, Kaplan\, Savage\, and Wise showed that renormalization\nrequires this quark mass-dependent term already at the leading order.\nIn our work\, we investigate the consequenc es of the d2 operator for\nthe 3N force\, finding that it leads to a signi ficant contribution that\nhas not been accounted for so far.\n_This lectur e was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15529 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251121T090000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251121T090000 LOCATION:38.64925207749119\, -90.3051939877973 SUMMARY:Astrophysics & Space Sciences seminar with Richard Feder-Staehle an d\nLindsey Gordon CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:FROM PIXELS TO PRIMORDIAL NON-GAUSSIANITY AND BEYOND: MISSION S TATUS\nAND SCIENCE WITH THE SPHEREX ALL-SKY SURVEY WITH RICHARD FEDER-STAE HLE\n\nModern astronomical surveys using imaging and spectroscopy have\ndr amatically improved our understanding of large-scale structure\nformation and astrophysics over cosmic history. SPHEREx\, NASA’s most\nrecent MIDE X mission\, began survey operations on May 1st\, 2025 and\nwill deliver th e first all-sky\, low-resolution spectroscopic survey in\nthe near-infrare d spanning 0.75 - 5.0 um\, enabling novel science\ninvestigations in infla tionary cosmology\, galaxy formation/evolution\,\nGalactic ices\, and more . In this talk\, I will introduce SPHEREx and\ndescribe the science data m odeling currently being pursued to produce\nthe largest galaxy redshift su rvey (by volume) to date. After\nhighlighting science opportunities and wo rk ahead\, I will take a step\nback and discuss the more general challenge s of robust source\ndetection and photometry\, which underpin the success of nearly all\ndownstream science cases. In this portion of the talk I wil l describe\nrecent developments in probabilistic cataloging (PCAT) – a B ayesian\,\ntransdimensional\, forward modeling framework designed for impr oved\nsource detection and deblending – and\, as time permits\, comment on\nprospects for SPHEREx and other modern surveys.\n\nAGN JETS IN COMPLEX CLUSTER ENVIRONMENTS_ _WITH LINDSEY GORDON\n\nAGN jets are the powerful m agnetized plasma outflows from the central\nsupermassive black holes of ga laxies. Jets are a key component in the\nfeedback cycle of clusters\, rehe ating gas to prevent the massive\ncooling rates and star formation that is expected but not observed in\ncluster centers. Cosmological simulations t ypically implement AGN\nfeedback using a generalized prescriptive model\, which produces\nimperfect galaxy and gas populations. In this work\, we mo del the jets\nfrom galaxy to cluster scale to study in detail their feedba ck on the\nsurrounding intracluster medium (ICM) and the ICM's feedback on the\njet's morphology. We consider a wide parameter space of gas turbulen ce\nin the ICM and the role of hierarchical galaxy cluster mergers in the\ ngas dynamics. The presence of background turbulence produces\nquantifiabl y shorter\, smaller jets\, with high conversion rates of\ninjected magneti c energy into thermal.\n \n\n_Sponsored by the __McDonnell Center for th e Space Sciences_\n[https://mcss.washu.edu/]_._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15716 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260220T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260220T203000 SUMMARY:AI and the Smart Telescope: How Both May Change Amateur Astronomy: The\nSt. Louis Astronomical Society February Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:“Smart telescopes” are instruments that use computer assist ance to\nlocate astronomical targets and track them\, and artificial\ninte lligence to aid in taking pictures. A basic setup\, with a\nmodest-sized t elescope\, can already take medium to high quality images\nof deep space o bjects. The smart telescope does everything - aligning\,\nsearching\, trac king\, imaging\, storing\, cleaning\, and processing images\n- with just t he push of a button.\n\nDr. Ponce de Leon will explain how advances in tec hnology will soon\nenable an amateur’s smart telescope to join and use l arge databases\nof astronomical objects. This will allow international ama teur\nscientists to assist professional astronomers in real time as they\n image faint star clusters\, galaxies\, and nebulae.\n\nDr. Ponce de Leon i s an amateur astronomer and retired instructor of\ntechnology and innovati on\, international business and strategic\nmanagement at Southern Illinois University and several institutions in\nHong Kong\, Taiwan\, South Korea and Singapore.\n\n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization f or individuals\ninterested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invi ted to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special e vents.\nFor more information about Astronomical Society events\, please vi sit\n__www.slasonline.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be available._\n\n_Header image: An artist's illustration shows that the stars in the\nTOI 1338 system make an eclipsing binary — they circl e each other in\nour plane of view. If you could hover near the planet TOI 1338 b\, you\nwould see an eclipse every 15 days. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space\nFlight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15929 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260417T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260417T213000 LOCATION:McDonnell Hall\, Washington University in St. Louis SUMMARY:Weird Stars: St. Louis Astronomical Society April Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Stars come in a variety of sizes\, colors\, and physical proper ties\, but\nmost fit into a theory of stellar structure and evolution. The re are\nsome very rare exceptions to the standard star types - these are t he\n“weird stars”.  This program begins with a look at the regular\nt ypes of stars and their life cycles\, and then presents several\nexamples of weird stars – those that do not fit the standard models.\n\nRich Heue rmann retired as the Administrative Officer of the Department\nof Earth an d Planetary Sciences and the Outreach Program Coordinator\nfor the NASA Mi ssouri Space Grant Consortium at Washington University\nin Saint Louis\, M issouri.  He is a member of the Saint Louis\nAstronomical Society and a N ASA Solar System Ambassador.  The\nAmbassadors form a nationwide network of individuals who communicate\nto school groups\, civic groups\, and the general public information\nabout astronomy and planetary sciences in gene ral and NASA missions in\nparticular.  Prior to his thirty-year term at W ashington University\,\nhe served as the assistant director of the McDonne ll Planetarium in\nSt. Louis.  \n\n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals\ninterested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessio ns\, and special events.\nFor more information about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.slasonline.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_. _\n\n_Free parking will be available._\n\n_Header image: The yellowish sta r near center is T Tauri\, prototype of\nthe class of T Tauri variable sta rs. Just next door is the yellow\ncosmic cloud historically known as Hind' s Variable Nebula (NGC 1555).\nOver 400 light-years away\, at the edge of an otherwise invisible\nmolecular cloud\, both star and nebula are seen to vary significantly\nin brightness but not necessarily at the same time\, adding to the\nmystery of the intriguing region._\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15717 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260320T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260320T203000 SUMMARY:How to Detect & Characterize Exoplanets: The St. Louis Astronomical \nSociety March Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Exoplanets are planets that orbit other stars. Over six thousan d\nexoplanets have been detected since the first one was discovered\nthirt y-five years ago. Observation\, particularly from space\ntelescopes\, has enabled the detection of numerous planetary systems\nand the characterizat ion of the different planets that compose them.\nDuring this presentation\ , Dr. Ollivier will focus on the potential of\nphotometry and spectrophoto metry of planetary transits. Dr. Ollivier\nwill explain this method and th e different exoplanet observables it\nreveals. He will also demonstrate th e full potential of this technique\nby illustrating it with a few concrete examples. Finally\, he will show\nhow two highly complementary observator ies\, the James Webb Space\nTelescope and the European ARIEL spacecraft\, will very soon be able to\nprovide us with information that will give us a better understanding\nof the formation and evolution of exosystems.\n\nDr . Olivier is an astronomer at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale\nd'Ors ay (IAS - CNRS / Univ Paris-Saclay\, France)\, where he contributes\nto th e development of space instrumentation for the detection and\ncharacteriza tion of exoplanets. He contributed to the development and\nscientific ope ration of the European CoRoT space mission. He is now\nthe instrument scie ntist for AIRS\, the infrared spectrometer on ESA's\nARIEL mission dedicat ed to the spectroscopy of several hundred\nexoplanets.\n\n_The St. Louis A stronomical Society is an organization for individuals\ninterested in astr onomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, tele scope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more information about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.slasonline.org_ [http:/ /www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be available._\n\n_Header im age: Artist’s concept of how rocky\, potentially habitable\nworlds elsew here in our galaxy might appear. Data gathered by\ntelescopes in space and on the ground suggest that small\, rocky\nplanets are common. (Placing th em so close together in a line is for\nillustrative purposes only.) NASA/J PL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15930 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260515T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260515T213000 LOCATION:McDonnell Hall\, Washington University in St. Louis SUMMARY:Planets with Two Suns: St. Louis Astronomical Society May Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Binary stars\, which are two suns orbiting each other\, offer a unique\nwindow into how planets form and survive in complex environments. In\nthis talk\, Dr. Esmer will explore how astronomers study these system s\nand search for their planets using a powerful technique called eclipse\ ntiming variations (ETVs). By carefully measuring tiny shifts in the\ntimi ng of stellar eclipses\, even with modest telescopes\, astronomers\ncan un cover hidden planets and learn about stellar interactions\,\nevolution\, a nd magnetic activity. Because ETV studies rely on\nlong-term monitoring\, they provide an exciting opportunity for\ncontributions from both professi onal and amateur observers.\n\nDr. Ekrem M. Esmer is a McDonnell Center Po stdoctoral Fellow in the\nDepartment of Physics at Washington University i n St. Louis\, where he\nstudies planets orbiting binary star systems. He e arned his PhD in\nAstrophysics from Ankara University in Turkey\, focusing on the orbital\ndynamics and stability of planets in multiple-star enviro nments. His\ncurrent research combines space telescope data and advanced a nalysis\ntechniques to search for and characterize circumbinary planets. O ne\ngoal is to understand how abundant such worlds are in our galaxy.\n\n_ The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals\nint erested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more in formation about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.slasonli ne.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be available. _\n\n_Header image: An artist's illustration shows that the stars in the\n TOI 1338 system make an eclipsing binary — they circle each other in\nou r plane of view. If you could hover near the planet TOI 1338 b\, you\nwoul d see an eclipse every 15 days. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space\nFlight Cente r/Chris Smith (USRA)_\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15951 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260619T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260619T213000 LOCATION:McDonnell Hall\, Washington University in St. Louis SUMMARY:Halley's Spectacular 2061 Prospects: St. Louis Astronomical Society \nJune Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Dr. Joseph N. Marcus will recount his tumultuous experience wit h\nHalley’s Comet while editing Comet News Service for the McDonnell\nPl anetarium between 1975 and 1986. To forecast its brightness in\n1985-86\, analysts had to draw on the visual magnitude reports from the\n1909-10 app arition. Dr. Marcus will explain comet brightness behavior\,\nhow brightne ss is estimated visually\, and why expert predictions were\nso inaccurate in 1986. He will also review Halley’s Jekyll-Hyde\npersonality through h istory. Why was it “big or bright” as the\nfull Moon in 1066\, and vis ible in daylight in 1222 and just off the\nlimb of the Sun in 1910\, but s o unimpressive in 1985-86? The\nexplanation involves the bizarre way micro scopic comet dust scatters\nsunlight preferentially in a forward direction . Failure again to\naccount for this special physics in conventional forec asts will\nunderestimate the comet’s peak brightness by 8-fold in the su mmer of\n2061. Dr. Marcus predicts that Halley’s brightness-enhanced hea d\nwill rival Jupiter in brilliance\, and with its similarly-enhanced dust \ntail added in\, the comet might even briefly cast shadows.\n \nMarcus i s a retired pathologist\, SLAS member\, former editor of Comet\nNews Servi ce\, and comet researcher and writer. He serves on the\nAdvisory Board of Lowell Observatory.\n \n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organiz ation for individuals\ninterested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and sp ecial events.\nFor more information about Astronomical Society events\, pl ease visit\n__www.slasonline.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be available._\n\n_Header image: Halley's comet (Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory\,\nCalifornia Institute of Technology)_\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15954 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260821T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260821T213000 SUMMARY:X-ray Astronomy in Living Color: St. Louis Astronomical Society Aug ust\n2026 Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Observational astronomy is mostly a story about measuring photo ns with\nprecision — how many are there\, what direction are they coming from\,\nwhen do they arrive\, and what are their energies?  The better w e can\nmake those measurements the better our understanding of the\nastrop hysical systems that send those photons across the Cosmos to our\nsky.  A key tool in astrophysical studies is spectroscopy —\ndeciphering photon energies by exploring the rainbow of colors in the\nlight that we detect.  Most of us are familiar with rainbows created\neither naturally in a mi sty sky or intentionally with prisms and\ndiffraction gratings.  But how do we do this when we are talking\nabout X-rays?  It turns out\, this is much more difficult\, but\nextremely important for our understanding of th e most exotic phenomena\nin our Universe\, such as black holes and neutron stars!  In this talk\nI will discuss our currently most precise instrume nts for measuring\n“X-ray Rainbows”: the Chandra-High Energy Transmiss ion Gratings\nand the XRISM satellite\, which uses “quantum detectors” to open up\na new frontier in X-ray spectroscopy. I will also discuss pos sible\nfuture instruments that could be used to make precise measurements of\n\"X-ray rainbows\" from distant\, supermassive black holes to reveal t he\n“missing matter” in the Universe (that you probably didn’t even\ nrealize was missing!)\n\n_ Michael Nowak is a Research Professor in the Physics Department as\nwell as the Associate Director of the McDonnell Cen ter for the Space\nSciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Nowak ’s work\nencompasses both observation and theory of astrophysical compac t\nobject (black hole and neutron star) systems. His early theoretical\nwo rk focused on the hydrodynamics of accretion flows in these systems\,\nand later evolved into theories describing the implications of X-ray\nspectra and variability for models of astrophysical jets\nrelativistically speedi ng away from and hot (billions of degrees)\ncoronae surrounding compact ob ject systems. He performs observational\nstudies with a variety of High En ergy Astrophysics observatories\,\nincluding the Chandra\, Swift\, NICER\, and NuSTAR (NASA)\, and XMM-Newton\n(ESA) satellites.  He currently is a science collaborator\, assisting\nwith coordinated X-ray and gamma-ray ob servations\, with the Event\nHorizon Telescope team who have used radio in terferometry to image\naccretion flows around the supermassive black holes Sgr A* and M87*._\n\n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organizati on for individuals\ninterested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and speci al events.\nFor more information about Astronomical Society events\, pleas e visit\n__www.slasonline.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free par king will be available._\n\n_Header image: Halley's comet (Credit: NASA Je t Propulsion Laboratory\,\nCalifornia Institute of Technology)_\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15963 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260717T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260717T213000 LOCATION:McDonnell Hall\, Washington University in St. Louis SUMMARY:Planetary Thermal Emission in the Age of Roman: St. Louis Astronomi cal\nSociety July Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Measuring the dayside thermal emission of rocky exoplanets prov ides\nessential insights into their compositions and the presence of\natmo spheres. Recent James Webb Space Telescope observations have\nidentified a puzzling pattern. Some rocky exoplanets orbiting small\ncool red stars ha ve dayside temperatures higher than the theoretical\nmaximum\, assuming th at the star is the sole energy source. This\nimplies the presence of addit ional internal heat sources. In a recent\nresearch paper\, Dr. Lin simulat ed three possible internal heating\nmechanisms - residual heating from the planet’s formation\, tidal\nheating\, and induction heating from intera ctions with the stellar\nmagnetic field. He found that these mechanisms\, even in combination\,\ncannot explain the observed thermal emission excess es. The observed\nexcess heat is more likely caused by other processes not considered in\nhis study. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope\, to be launched\nin September 2026\, will provide additional data to refine t he\nsimulations. Dr. Lin will also discuss the prospect of using the Roman \ntelescope to detect transiting and non-transiting exoplanets orbiting\nw hite dwarf stars.\n\n Dr. Zifan Lin is a postdoctoral researcher in the P hysics Department\nand the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Wash ington\nUniversity. He has broad research interests in planetary science. He\nstudies planetary interiors\, exoplanet atmospheres\, photochemistry\, \nbiosignatures\, and transmission spectroscopy.\n\n_The St. Louis Astrono mical Society is an organization for individuals\ninterested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more information about Astro nomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.slasonline.org_ [http://www.s lasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be available._\n\n_Header image: H alley's comet (Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory\,\nCalifornia Instit ute of Technology)_\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15964 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260918T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260918T213000 SUMMARY:Is There Anyone Out There?: St. Louis Astronomical Society Septembe r\n2026 Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The topic of the search for intelligent life elsewhere in the u niverse\nhas moved from the pages of science fiction to the telescopes of\ nmodern astronomy. Join this interactive presentation to imagine\ntogether the likelihood that there are other intelligent\,\ncommunicating species in our galaxy. Share the latest discoveries\,\nmake predictions about our celestial neighbors\, and discuss the\nchances that we'll make contact wit h alien civilizations. \n\nVivian White is an astronomy educator who brin gs her telescope and\nlove of the night sky to curious humans around the g lobe - from the\nHimalayas to the Andes. She is the Director of Education at the Astro\nSociety in San Francisco where she designs curriculum and m anages\nNASA's Night Sky Network\, a nationwide coalition of astronomy clu bs.\n\n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individu als\ninterested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\natt end its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more information about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www. slasonline.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be av ailable._\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16071 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261016T213000 SUMMARY:The Global Meteor Network: A World-wide Effort in Meteor Science\,\ nSpace Situational Awareness and the Atmospheric Environment: St. Louis\nA stronomical Society October 2026 Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The Global Meteor Network is a citizen science project that has been\nrunning since 2018. It is now a collaboration across 45 countries i n\nall 7 continents. Ground-based observations of atmospheric phenomena\na re valuable for a number of reasons including brightness\nmeasurements\, t rajectory determinations\, and characterization of\npotential risk to the ground. What started as a way to detect and\nrecord meteor events around t he world has now become a multi-use\nscientific instrument. It can also be used to contribute to our\nunderstanding of contrails (condensation trail s formed by aircrafts\nthat contribute to global warming) and space debris /satellite\nreentries.\n\nTam Do is a second year PhD student in Physics a nd Astronomy at the\nUniversity of Western Ontario in Canada. She is worki ng with the\nWestern Meteor Physics Group and Space Surveillance Group und er the\nsupervision of Dr. Peter Brown. Her research focuses on the dynami cal\nclassification and observational characterization of low-velocity\nim pactors\, both natural meteoroids and artificial space debris\nre-entries. \n\n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals \ninterested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor mo re information about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.sla sonline.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be avail able._\n\n_Header image: _Tammy Do and Michael Mazur\, Elginfield Observat ory.\nFrom _Western Alumni Magazine_\, “Watching the Skies.”\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16072 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261120T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261120T213000 SUMMARY:The Pleiades: Seven Daughters of Pleione: St. Louis Astronomical\nS ociety November 2026 Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Our winter skies contain one of the more famous small asterisms \, the\nPleiades. They resemble a tiny dipper and are often confused with the\nLittle Dipper. Western mythology describes the Pleiades as the seven\ ndaughters of Atlas and Pleione.\n\nIn the Navajo story\, the Pleiades wer e known as the Flint Boys and\nwere the first constellation placed in the sky by Black God. The\nLakota legend tells of seven young girls being chas ed by a bear. The\nfrightened girls leap onto a small rock\, and the Great Spirit makes\nthe rock grow taller\, carrying the seven girls into the st ars. The\nrock remains as the great Mateo Tepe\, known today as Devils Tow er.\n\nBruce Bookout is a program manager with Peraton Inc. and a lifetime \nmember of the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society (CSASTRO). He is\nan adjunct professor of astronomy at Pikes Peak State College\, where\nhe de veloped the college’s course in archaeoastronomy. He also\nteaches plane tary and stellar astronomy. He has received the\nAstronomical League Maste r Observer Award. Bruce holds an MS in Space\nSystems Operations from Webs ter University and previously served in\nthe U.S. Air Force as a space ope rations officer.\n\n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals\ninterested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is in vited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more information about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.slasonline.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parki ng will be available._\n\n_Header image: Bruce Bookout with a large Dobson ian telescope at\nsunset._\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15699 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251121T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251121T203000 SUMMARY:The Making of an Enterprise: How Star Trek Helped NASA Dream Big an d\nHow NASA Helped Star Trek Survive: The St. Louis Astronomical Society\n November Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Glen Swanson will explain how NASA\, the Smithsonian\, and the aerospace\ncommunity helped craft\, legitimize\, and popularize the vintag e\ntelevision show Star Trek. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry sought\nt o create a work of science fiction that would immerse viewers through\ncle ver storylines and impressive visual effects. But he also wanted to\nprese nt the story in a scientific and technological context that felt\nbelievab le. To this end\, Roddenberry\, a former WWII combat pilot\, used\nhis con nections in the aerospace industry to seek out the latest and\ngreatest te chnology. The result was an entertaining science fiction\nfranchise that i nspired a generation to consider a career in science\nand engineering.\n\n Swanson holds a B.S. in History from Western Michigan University and\nan M .S. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota. From\n1998 to 20 02\, he served as Chief Historian of NASA's Johnson Space\nCenter. While t here he edited the anthology _Before This Decade Is\nOut… Personal Refle ctions on the Apollo Program _and co-authored\nother technical publication s. Swanson founded _Quest: The History of\nSpaceflight Quarterly_\, now in its thirty-second year and recipient of\nthe American Astronomical Societ y's Ordway Award for Sustained\nExcellence in Spaceflight History.\n\n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals\nintere sted in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its mee tings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more infor mation about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.slasonline. org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be available._\n \n_Header image by __p2722754_\n[https://pixabay.com/users/p2722754-153348 46/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm _content=5138940]_\nfrom __Pixabay_\n[https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=lin k-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=5138940]\ n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16073 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261218T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261218T213000 SUMMARY:How Remote Observing is Changing Amateur Astrophotography: St. Loui s\nAstronomical Society December 2026 Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:DARK SKIES ON DEMAND: What becomes possible when your telescope can\nlive under reliably dark skies while you control it from home? In th is\npractical presentation\, Bray Falls will explore how remote observing\ nis reshaping amateur astrophotography\, from overcoming light\npollution\ , weather\, and setup constraints to building a more\nconsistent imaging w orkflow. He will discuss where remote imaging\nexcels\, where it does not replace the backyard experience\, and what\nastronomers should consider be fore taking their equipment remote.\nDrawing on real-world lessons from op erating one of the world’s\nlargest remote observatories\, Bray will lea ve ample time for questions\nand discussion.\n\nBray Falls is a co-founder of Starfront Observatories. Best known in\nthe astrophotographer communit y and social media as @astrobfalls\n(YouTube\, Instagram\, X\, TikTok)\, B ray has spent years introducing\nmillions of people to the beauties of the night sky as an\nastrophotographer and astronomy creator. His work sits a t the\nintersection of astrophotography\, telescope operations\, and makin g\nmeaningful dark-sky access more available to people around the world.\n \n_The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals\n interested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend i ts meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more information about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.slaso nline.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be availab le._\n\n_Header image: Bray Falls at Starfront Observatories_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15660 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251219T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251219T203000 SUMMARY:The Ultraview Effect: The St. Louis Astronomical Society December\n Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Deana Weibel\, Professor of Anthropology\, Grand Valley State U niversity\nin Allendale\, Michigan will be discussing the phenomenon known as the\n\"ultraview effect.“ The \"ultraview effect\" refers to the int ense\nfeelings of awe and humility experienced by astronauts who see the\n vastness of the universe\, particularly the Milky Way\, from orbit. This\n is distinct from the \"overview effect\,\" which is the cognitive shift\nf rom seeing Earth from space. The ultraview effect is considered a\nrespons e to confronting the unknown\, which can be unsettling but also\ninspiring \, driving a desire for exploration and discovery. Comparing\nspacefarers to religious pilgrims\, Weibel suggests that this\nexperience of deep humi lity is a generative reaction to awe\, which\ninspires exploration and adv enture.\n\nDeana Weibel is a cultural anthropologist with over 25 years of \nexperience in ethnographic research and university teaching. Her work\nf ocuses primarily on religion\, especially the topics of pilgrimage\,\nsacr ed space\, the mutual influence of scientific and religious ideas\non each other\, and religion and space exploration. Her early fieldwork\ntook pla ce in France at pilgrimage sites (sometimes understood by\npilgrims as “ energy” sites) like Rocamadour and Montségur. She\nhas also conducted r esearch at the pilgrimage center of Chimayó\, New\nMexico. More recent wo rk focuses on religion as a motivation for and\ninfluence on space travel and outer space-based sciences\, with field\nvisits taking place at \"spac e sites\" throughout the U.S.\, including\nthe Johnson and Kennedy Space C enters\, the Mojave Air and Spaceport\,\nthe Jet Propulsion Laboratory\, t he JHU Applied Physics Lab\, and\nSpaceport America. Weibel spent a month in 2019 at the Vatican\nObservatory\, studying \"the Pope's Astronomers.\" She has also studied\nthe history of anthropology\, particularly the over lap of her own\nfamily’s role and the role of anthropology in the exhibi tion of\nPhilippine Igorot people in fairs and expositions during the earl y\n1900s. She is the co-founder and co-organizer of Roger That! A\nCelebra tion of Space Exploration in Honor of Roger B. Chaffee\, a\ntwo-day confer ence that has been an annual Grand Rapids\, Michigan\nevent since 2017. Sh e served as chair for GVSU's Anthropology\nDepartment from 2012-2018 and a s interim chair for GVSU's\nInterdisciplinary\, Religious\, and Intercultu ral Studies Department\nfrom 2021-2022.\n\n_The St. Louis Astronomical Soc iety is an organization for individuals\ninterested in astronomy and teles copes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more information about Astronomical S ociety events\, please visit\n__www.slasonline.org_ [http://www.slasonline .org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be available._\n\n \n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15715 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260116T193000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260116T203000 SUMMARY:Planets with Two Suns: The St. Louis Astronomical Society January\n Meeting CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Binary stars\, which are two suns orbiting each other\, offer a unique\nwindow into how planets form and survive in complex environments. In\nthis talk\, Dr. Esmer will explore how astronomers study these system s\nand search for their planets using a powerful technique called eclipse\ ntiming variations (ETVs). By carefully measuring tiny shifts in the\ntimi ng of stellar eclipses\, even with modest telescopes\, astronomers\ncan un cover hidden planets and learn about stellar interactions\,\nevolution\, a nd magnetic activity. Because ETV studies rely on\nlong-term monitoring\, they provide an exciting opportunity for\ncontributions from both professi onal and amateur observers.\n\nDr. Ekrem M. Esmer is a McDonnell Center Po stdoctoral Fellow in the\nDepartment of Physics at Washington University i n St. Louis\, where he\nstudies planets orbiting binary star systems. He e arned his PhD in\nAstrophysics from Ankara University in Turkey\, focusing on the orbital\ndynamics and stability of planets in multiple-star enviro nments. His\ncurrent research combines space telescope data and advanced a nalysis\ntechniques to search for and characterize circumbinary planets. O ne\ngoal is to understand how abundant such worlds are in our galaxy.\n\n_ The St. Louis Astronomical Society is an organization for individuals\nint erested in astronomy and telescopes. The public is invited to\nattend its meetings\, telescope observing sessions\, and special events.\nFor more in formation about Astronomical Society events\, please visit\n__www.slasonli ne.org_ [http://www.slasonline.org]_._\n\n_Free parking will be available. _\n\n_Header image: An artist's illustration shows that the stars in the\n TOI 1338 system make an eclipsing binary — they circle each other in\nou r plane of view. If you could hover near the planet TOI 1338 b\, you\nwoul d see an eclipse every 15 days. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space\nFlight Cente r/Chris Smith (USRA)_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15778 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260325T163000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260325T173000 LOCATION:Wilson Hall\, Washington University in St. Louis\, 63130 SUMMARY:2026 McDonnell Distinguished Lectures: Colloquium with Andrea Ghez on\nOur Galactic Center CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The proximity of our Galaxy's center presents a unique opportun ity to\nstudy a galactic nucleus with orders of magnitude higher spatial\n resolution than can be brought to bear on any other galaxy. After more\nth an a decade of diffraction-limited imaging on large ground-based\ntelescop es\, the case for a supermassive black hole at the Galactic\ncenter has go ne from a possibility to a certainty\, thanks to\nmeasurements of individu al stellar orbits. The rapidity with which\nthese stars move on small-scal e orbits indicates a source of\ntremendous gravity and provides the best e vidence that supermassive\nblack holes\, which confront and challenge our knowledge of fundamental\nphysics\, do exist in the Universe. This work wa s made possible through\nthe use of speckle imaging techniques\, which cor rect for the blurring\neffects of the Earth's atmosphere in post-processin g and allowed the\nfirst diffraction-limited images to be produced with th ese large\nground-based telescopes.\n\nFurther progress in high-angular re solution imaging techniques on\nlarge\, ground-based telescopes has result ed in the more sophisticated\ntechnology of adaptive optics\, which correc ts for these effects in\nreal time. This has increased the power of imagin g by an order of\nmagnitude and permitted spectroscopic study at high reso lution on\nthese telescopes for the first time. With adaptive optics\,\nhi gh-resolution studies of the Galactic center have shown that what\nhappens near a supermassive back hole is quite different than what\ntheoretical m odels have predicted\, which changes many of our notions\non how galaxies form and evolve over time. By continuing to push on\nthe cutting-edge of h igh-resolution technology\, we have been able to\ncapture the orbital moti ons of stars with sufficient precision to test\nEinstein’s General Theor y of Relativity in a regime that has never\nbeen probed before.\n\nAndrea M. Ghez\, professor of Physics & Astronomy at UCLA and the\nLauren B. Leic htman & Arthur E. Levine chair in Astrophysics\, is one\nof the world’s leading experts in observational astrophysics and is\ndirector of UCLA’s Galactic Center Group.\n\nIn 2020\, she became the fourth woman to be awa rded the Nobel Prize in\nPhysics for her independent discovery of a superm assive compact\nobject\, now generally recognized to be a black hole in th e Milky\nWay’s galactic center. Her work on the orbits of stars at the c enter\nof the Milky Way has opened a new approach to studying black holes\ ,\nand her group is currently focused on using this approach to\nunderstan d the physics of gravity near a black hole and the role that\nblack holes play in the formation and evolution of galaxies.\n\nAdvances in high-resol ution imaging technology enabled Professor\nGhez’s work and her group co ntinues to work on pushing the frontiers\nof these technologies forward. S he serves on several leadership\ncommittees for the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii\, which hosts the\nlargest telescopes in the world\, and the fut ure Thirty Meter\nTelescope.\n\nProfessor Ghez is also very committed to t he communication of science\nto the general public and inspiring young gir ls to enter the field of\nscience.\n\nShe earned her B.S. from MIT in 1987 and her PhD from Caltech in 1992\nand has been on the faculty at UCLA sin ce 1994. She has won numerous\nawards\, including the Crafoord Prize in As tronomy from the Royal\nSwedish Academy of Science\, where she is the firs t woman to win this\nprize in any field.\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15779 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260326T190000 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260326T200000 LOCATION:Whitaker Hall\, One Brookings Drive\, St. Louis\, MO 63130 SUMMARY:2026 McDonnell Distinguished Lectures: Public Lecture with Andrea G hez\non From the Possibility to the Certainty of a Supermassive Black Hole CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Learn about new developments in the study of supermassive black holes.\nThrough the capture and analysis of twenty years of high-resoluti on\nimaging\, the UCLA Galactic Center Group has moved the case for a\nsup ermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy from a possibility\nto a certainty and provided the best evidence to date for the\nexistence of the se truly exotic objects.  This was made possible with\nthe first measurem ents of stellar orbits around a galactic nucleus.\nFurther advances in sta te-of-the-art high-resolution imaging\ntechnology on the world’s largest telescopes have greatly expanded\nthe power of using stellar orbits to st udy black holes. Recent\nobservations have revealed an environment around the black hole that\nis quite unexpected (young stars where there should b e none\, a lack of\nold stars where there should be many\, and a puzzling new class of\nobjects). Continued measurements of the motions of stars hav e solved\nmany of the puzzles posed by these perplexing populations of sta rs.\nThis work provides insight into how black holes grow and the role tha t\nthey play in regulating the growth of their host galaxies. \nMeasureme nts this past year of stellar orbits at the Galactic Center\nhave provided new insight on how gravity works near a supermassive\nhole\, a new and un explored regime for this fundamental force of\nnature.\n\nAndrea M. Ghez\, professor of Physics & Astronomy at UCLA and the\nLauren B. Leichtman & A rthur E. Levine chair in Astrophysics\, is one\nof the world’s leading e xperts in observational astrophysics and is\ndirector of UCLA’s Galactic Center Group.\n\nIn 2020\, she became the fourth woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in\nPhysics for her independent discovery of a supermassive co mpact\nobject\, now generally recognized to be a black hole in the Milky\n Way’s galactic center. Her work on the orbits of stars at the center\nof the Milky Way has opened a new approach to studying black holes\,\nand he r group is currently focused on using this approach to\nunderstand the phy sics of gravity near a black hole and the role that\nblack holes play in t he formation and evolution of galaxies.\n\nAdvances in high-resolution ima ging technology enabled Professor\nGhez’s work and her group continues t o work on pushing the frontiers\nof these technologies forward. She serves on several leadership\ncommittees for the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii \, which hosts the\nlargest telescopes in the world\, and the future Thirt y Meter\nTelescope.\n\nProfessor Ghez is also very committed to the commun ication of science\nto the general public and inspiring young girls to ent er the field of\nscience.\n\nShe earned her B.S. from MIT in 1987 and her PhD from Caltech in 1992\nand has been on the faculty at UCLA since 1994. She has won numerous\nawards\, including the Crafoord Prize in Astronomy f rom the Royal\nSwedish Academy of Science\, where she is the first woman t o win this\nprize in any field.\n\n_Header image: Keck Observatory (Credit : Ethan Tweedie Photography)_\n DTSTAMP:20261103T040120Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR