Events
Events at Physics |
Events During the Week of November 15th through November 21st, 2026
Monday, November 16th, 2026
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- Title to be announced
- Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Jason Tenbarge, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
- Host: Rogerio Jorge
Tuesday, November 17th, 2026
- Graduate Program Event
- Prospective Grad Info Session (PhD)
- Time: 9:30 am - 10:30 am
- Place: Sign up for this session here:
- Speaker: Sharon Kahn, Graduate Program Manager
- Abstract: Prospective PhD-Physics applicants are invited to join faculty, staff and current students for this info session. This session will focus on PhD admissions and program details particularly relevant for applicants who are 1st generation college students or have faced barriers in their educational opportunities
Sign up for this session here: - Host: Sharon Kahn
Wednesday, November 18th, 2026
- Graduate Program Event
- Advances in Nonlinear X-Ray Spectroscopy and Instrumentation for Probing Ultrafast Processes
- Time: 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
- Place: Sterling B343 or
- Speaker: Zain Abhari, Physics PhD Graduate Student
- Abstract: TBD
- Host: Uwe Bergmann
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
Friday, November 20th, 2026
- Physics Department Colloquium
- Emergent Quantum Phenomena in Graphene
- Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
- Place: Chamberlin 2241 -
- Speaker: Long Ju, MIT
- Abstract: Condensed matter physics aims to explore and understand various quantum phenomena that emerge from the interactions between nuclei and electrons. Through synthesizing and investigating various crystals, this constructionism approach has led to the discovery of many amazing phenomena, especially when the principles of electron correlation and topology play important roles. The settings of such conventional crystals are often very complicated, making it hard to extract the essential ingredients and understand the underlying physics. In this talk, I will show our efforts on establishing a new paradigm, based on a material known as rhombohedral graphene, which is part of natural graphite. Rhombohedral graphene has the simplest chemistry and structure, yet can be controlled by a set of experimental knobs to exhibit many intriguing phenomena in condensed matter physics. Beyond phenomena that were familiar, I will focus on two newly observed quantum phases of matter, chiral superconductor[1] and fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect[2]. I will show their construction, phenomena, and implications for quantum many-body physics and applications. In the end, I will discuss new opportunities to be explored in this new paradigm. References: [1] Han, T., Lu, Z., Hadjri, Z. et al. Signatures of chiral superconductivity in rhombohedral graphene. Nature 643, 654–661 (2025). [2] Lu, Z., Han, T., Yao, Y. et al. Fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect in multilayer graphene. Nature 626, 759–764 (2024).
- Host: Alex Levchenko