Events
Events at Physics |
Events on Thursday, November 19th, 2026
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
- Unconventional Superconductivity and Electron Crystals in Rhombohedral Graphene
- Time: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Long Ju, MIT
- Abstract: Crystalline graphene in the rhombohedral stacking order provides an ideal platform to study electron correlation effects. It hosts gate-tunable flat electronic dispersion and Berry curvatures. The internal degrees of freedom, spin and valley, further enrich the possibilities of symmetry-broken ground states. In this talk, I will show a range of superconductivities observed in rhombohedral graphene, featuring spin polarization and valley polarizations. On the other hand, the same flat dispersion create a fertile playground for electron crystals. I will also show the signatures of Wigner and metallic Wigner crystals.
- Host: Alex Levchenko
- NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
- The Cosmic Ray 'Sea' and Neutrinos from the Milky Way
- Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
- Place:
- Speaker: Vittoria Vecchiotti, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway)
- Abstract: tab
- Host: Matthias Thiesmeyer
- Astronomy Colloquium
- Study of Exotic Stellar Populations in Open Clusters and Galactic Fields
- Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
- Place: 4421 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Anju Panthi, Birla Institute of Astrophysics, India
- Abstract: Binary interactions can significantly alter stellar evolution, producing exotic populations that cannot be fully explained by single-star evolution. In this talk, I will present a multi-wavelength study of blue straggler stars (BSSs), yellow straggler stars (YSSs), and blue lurkers in open clusters, along with BSSs in the Galactic field. Using ultraviolet observations from AstroSat/UVIT together with multi-wavelength photometry, I search for hot white-dwarf companions and constrain the mass-transfer histories of these systems. I will also discuss time-domain studies using TESS and ZTF light curves to investigate variability and binarity. I will discuss how binary-evolution modelling with MESA can be used to trace the evolutionary history of the BSS–white dwarf system. Together, these complementary approaches provide insights into the formation pathways of exotic stellar populations and the role of binary interactions in shaping stellar evolution.
- Host: Bob Mathieu