This image shows the plate-shaped
hydroxyapatite produced by
bacteria. Hydroxyapatite is naturally
found in bones. Thus, it is very
biocompatible. Hydroxyapatite
coated titanium is widely used as
implants, such as the hip
replacement and some dental root
implants. The project we are
working on is to use bacteria to
produce hydroxyapatite, the main
components of bones, on titanium.
© Physics Department, courtesy of Anqi Wang
Departmental Colloquium
Estimating local long term climate trends from observations
Climate sensitivity usually refers to the equilibrium change in the annual mean global surface temperature
following a doubling of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. The observed change in global mean
temperature is used as one benchmark for climate change and is central to the reporting of the IPCC. However,
our perception of climate change and its impacts are local, both geographically, and in terms of which part of
the distribution of temperatures (which quantile) is changing fastest.
This colloquium will focus on how observational data can be analysed to inform us about how climate has
changed locally since the middle of the last century, and what the uncertainties are. One can find a clear signal
of large change, a clear signal of little change, or no clear signal at all, depending upon geographical location
and quantile. Analysis of the E-OBS gridded dataset across Europe suggests that in those locations where the
response is greatest, the hottest summer days in the temperature distribution have seen changes of at least 2 °C,
over four times the global mean change over the same period. In winter the coldest nights are warming fastest.
Professor Sandra Chapman
Refreshments will be served from 16.15 on the Concourse
Departmental Colloquium
Medical Imaging with Positrons: Equipment, Techniques and Challenges.
Medical imaging in the form of positron emission tomography (PET) has been available for more than forty
years but only in the last decade has it become a widely available diagnostic technique within the UK.
Currently all PET imaging in the UK is carried out on PET/CT devices, PET detectors with combined x-ray
computerised tomography (CT) imaging capabilities; the exception is the recently introduced PET/MR
(Magnetic Resonance) device installed in a London hospital.
The radionuclide and equipment development underpinning PET imaging, the imaging environment and
techniques, diagnostic strengths and weaknesses and future developments will be discussed. Some example
images will be shown.
Nigel Williams
(Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
University Hospital)
Refreshments will be served from 16.15 on the Concourse
Departmental Colloquium
It is just over 100 years ago since William Henry Bragg and his son William Lawrence Bragg discovered how to
use the diffraction of X-rays by crystals to determine their structures, thus founding a completely new scientific
discipline, X-ray Crystallography. They both shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915, with the young Lawrence
at the age of 25 still remaining the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever. Approximately 24 or so Nobel Prizes
awarded since have depended on their seminal contributions to solid state science. In this talk, I shall explain
who these important British scientists were and how they arrived at their momentous discoveries that have
truly transformed our understanding of the material world.
Michael Glazer
University of Oxford
Refreshments will be served from 16.15 on the Concourse
Departmental Colloquium
The Universe as a Gravitational Waves detector. The point
of view of an experimentalist
Experimental cosmology has recently become a precision tool to measure the Universe. The Cosmic
Background Radiation (CMB), emitted 380,000 years after the big bang is one of the best tools available
today to try to understand the origin of our Universe, where does the matter and energy come from. In
addition, the closer we study the Universe to the big bang, the higher the energy involved and so we have
the perfect "particle accelerator", at least theoretically. In this talk I will review briefly the history of the
CMB, from the discovery by Penzias and Wilson to the recent Planck results. I will then show where is the
next frontier - the study of the polarisation of the CMB - and how to use the entire Universe as a
Gravitational Wave detector.
Prof. Lucio Piccirillo
University of Manchester
Refreshments will be served from 16.15 on the Concourse
Departmental Colloquium
Particle Accelerators and what they can do for you*
There are over 17,000 particle accelerators in the world today. Very few of these
are in research labs. Most are used in medicine, or in industry. We look at the
different types of accelerators and the uses that have been found for them:
those deployed today and possibilities for tomorrow
Other than accelerate particles, of course
Roger Barlow
(Huddersfield University)
Refreshments will be served from 16.15 on the Concourse
Departmental Colloquium
PLATO and the future of Exoplanet research in Europe
The detection and characterisation of exoplanets relies on the identification of
incredibly small signals set against noise emanating from our atmosphere and that
of the host stars. Observations from space can allow continuous observations over
an extended period and allow the detection of earth sized planets. In this talk I will
discuss the present and future of exoplanet research primarily from a European
(and Warwick!) prospective showing that we are on a path to be able to characterise
atmospheres for biomarkers by the end of the next decade.
Don Pollacco
(University of Warwick)
Refreshments will be served from 16.00 on the Concourse
Departmental Colloquium
PLATO and the future of Exoplanet research in Europe
The detection and characterisation of exoplanets relies on the identification of
incredibly small signals set against noise emanating from our atmosphere and that
of the host stars. Observations from space can allow continuous observations over
an extended period and allow the detection of earth sized planets. In this talk I will
discuss the present and future of exoplanet research primarily from a European
(and Warwick!) prospective showing that we are on a path to be able to characterise
atmospheres for biomarkers by the end of the next decade.
Don Pollacco
(University of Warwick)
Refreshments will be served from 16.00 on the Concourse
Departmental Colloquium
Time-evolution scenario for short-range depletion gels subjected to the gravitational stress
When the attractive forces induced by the presence of a high molecular weight additive acting as depletant become strong
enough, a colloidal suspension undergoes a liquid–liquid (L-L) phase separation that, if the depletion forces are sufficiently shortranged compared to the size of the colloidal usually gets arrested by the formation of a disordered colloidal solid with a gel-like
structure. I shall present a survey of the experimental results on the settling and restructuring dynamics of colloidal gels obtained
by Photon Correlation Imaging and Ghost Particle Velocimetry, two novel optical correlation techniques particularly suited to the
investigation of the microscopic dynamics of spatially heterogeneous samples. Three distinct regions can be set apart within the LL coexistence region of the phase diagram. When depletion forces are barely sufficient to drive the system within the metastable
region, an initial disordered gel hosts the rapid nucleation of crystallites, which stress the gel structure until it fully collapses,
leading to the formation of a macroscopic colloidal crystal. For stronger attractive forces, two distinct scenarios are observed,
depending on the particle volume fraction ϕ0 of the original suspension. At low ϕ0, the gel breaks after a short delay time into
separate clusters, which rapidly settle until they compact in a denser disordered phase. The latter eventually undergoes a slow
compression, which is accounted for by a “poroelastic” model where the microscopic gel dynamics is fully ruled by its
macroscopic deformation. Yet, it is the intermediate stage between cluster settling and final compaction which displays very
peculiar features, evidenced by anomalous settling profiles which are totally unusual in standard colloidal sedimentation
processes. For larger values of ϕ0, gel breaking is conversely suppressed, the structure undergoes a continuous compression, and
the microscopic dynamics is characterized by logarithmic time-correlation functions resembling those found for attractive glasses.
Refreshments will be served from 14.30 on the Concourse
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Surface Interactions in Suspension of Swimming Cells
Interactions between swimming cells and surfaces are essential to many microbiological
processes, from bacterial biofilm formation to human fertilization. However, despite their
fundamental importance, relatively little is known about the physical mechanisms that govern
the scattering of flagellated or ciliated cells from solid surfaces. In the talk I will reveal recent
advances in understanding of flagella interaction with surfaces, provide mechanisms for
utilizing our knowledge about these interactions to control swimming of flagellated cells. In
addition, I will describe our very recent results on sperm rheotaxis near surfaces. The key focus
will be on the experimental results, supported by numerical simulation using minimal models.
Vasily Kantsler
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Fluctuation Relations and Crystallization
I will discuss the compression of colloidal suspensions and the occuring
cystallization process in the framework of fluctuation theorems. In particular
properties of the work distributions are discsussed and correlations of the
dissipated heat during the process to the detected crystal structures and melt
properties are investigated.
Sven Dorosz
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Anomalous exciton localization in systems with heavy-tailed disorder
The optical and excitation transport properties of a wide variety of systems, such as molecular aggregates, photosynthetic complexes and
organic photovoltaics, are determined by the collective properties of the relevant excitations, which are strongly influenced by interactions
with their environment. In modeling the behavior of these collective excitations (excitons) in a disordered environment, one conventionally
often considers model parameters as stochastic quantities with Gaussian distributions. However, we have shown that the limitation to
Gaussian distributions is not necessarily the best choice, and that a generalization to the wider class of Lévy distributions leads to
qualitatively different collective optical properties.
In this talk, I will discuss how the details of the considered disorder distributions influence the localization properties of excitons in
supramolecular systems, and in turn their optical and energy transport properties. First, I will discuss how a generalization to Lévy disorder
distributions affects the localization behavior and the absorption properties of the optically relevant exciton states. It will be shown that such
a generalization leads to novel effects such as exchange broadening and an anomalous exciton localization. Moreover, I will show that Lévy
distributions follow quite naturally from a simple microscopic model. In addition, the modified localization properties are shown to cause a
qualitative change in exciton dynamics, leading to subdiffusive (i.e. less mobile than diffusive) behavior of the exciton transport.
Sebastiaan Vlaming
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Surface Interactions in Suspension of Swimming Cells
Interactions between swimming cells and surfaces are essential to many microbiological
processes, from bacterial biofilm formation to human fertilization. However, despite their
fundamental importance, relatively little is known about the physical mechanisms that govern
the scattering of flagellated or ciliated cells from solid surfaces. In the talk I will reveal recent
advances in understanding of flagella interaction with surfaces, provide mechanisms for
utilizing our knowledge about these interactions to control swimming of flagellated cells. In
addition, I will describe our very recent results on sperm rheotaxis near surfaces. The key focus
will be on the experimental results, supported by numerical simulation using minimal models.
Vasily Kantsler
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Sensing and imaging at the quantum limit
Quantum correlated probes have the potential of delivering enhanced precision in estimating
individual parameters. Obtaining quantum enhancements in scenarios of wider appeal such as
imaging require an understanding of the quantum limits of estimating several parameters
across multiple modes simultaneously. The problem is made theoretically and well as
practically interesting and non-trivial by the possible non-commutativity of the optimal
measurements needed to attain the quantum limits for estimating individual parameters. We
present developments on the quantum theory of estimating multiple parameters -- arising from
both unitary dynamics as well as decoherence -- simultaneously in a few scenarios, and its
ramifications in the imaging of real-world samples.
Animesh Datta,
University of Oxford
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
From graphene functionalisation to phase-change materials - current and proposed research
In the first half of this week's seminar, I will describe my current research before outlining a research project for which I am
looking to obtain funding.
For many applications it is essential to modify the electronic properties of graphene in a controlled fashion. This can be achieved
via oxygen and nitrogen functionalization in ultra-high vacuum, leading to a system in which electronic and structural
properties can be systematically studied. We directly compare insights from DFT calculations on functionalized graphene
systems (e.g. low-energy configurations, binding energies and effective band structures) to results from angle-resolved
photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and low-voltage aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy experiments.
Phase-change materials (PCMs) are promising candidates for widely used non-volatile RAM modules. I propose to create an
atomistic model of a PCM to illuminate the largely unknown processes involved in fast recrystallisation. These results could
then be employed to design a sustainable alternative to the currently used Ge-Se-Te compounds.
Peter Brommer
University of Warwick
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Spin-triplet superconductors: interface to ferromagnets and magnetic edge states
In this talk I will discuss two remarkable effects of spin-triplet superconductors (TSC): i) the spin-orbital coupling emerging at the
interface with an itinerant ferromagnet (FM) [2], ii) the occurrence of magnetic Andreev states at their edge if the system allows
for singlet pairing in a subdominant channel [3].
In a TSC-FM heterostructure, the orientation of the FM moment relative to the TSC vector order parameter is a crucial variable
that controls the physical behavior. For a single-component p-wave TSC, we find that the variation of the gap controls the
orientation of the FM's moment mainly via the change in condensation energy. When the interface is imperfect or spin active the
scenario is different and other processes can play the decisive role in setting the magnetic profile [5].
Concerning the surface states, novel magnetic effects can occur if triplet and singlet pairing get mixed and have a non-uniform
spatial profile. As a result, the Andreev bound states are spin-polarized, leading to a finite surface magnetization, spin current
and surface charge currents that exhibit anomalous dependence on the magnetization [3].
Mario Cuoco
University of Salerno
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Electronic Structure investigations in Yb-based heavy fermion materials
In Lanthanide based metals new electronic quasiparticles emerge from the interaction of f electrons with conduction electrons. They are
called heavy fermion materials because of the highly enhanced effective mass of these quasiparticles. Great opportunities arise from the
good control and tunability of these materials. As such heavy fermion materials provide outstanding access to study competing ground
states and the quantum criticality associated with the zero temperature phase transition. Quantum criticality leads to novel states of matter
and is discussed to underlie high temperature superconductivity.
The prototypical materials YbRh2Si2 features a quantum critical points which requires descriptions that go beyond the conventional orderparameter notion. Here, electronic structure studies played a key role to identify the intriguing physics of YbRh2Si2. I will discuss Hall
effect measurements which find a reconstruction of the Fermi surface in the zero temperature limit. Furthermore, energy-over-temperature
scaling deduced from the Hall effect measurements indicate that the fluctuations between the two different Fermi surface configurations is
underlying the finite temperature quantum critical behavior.
The newly discovered heavy-fermion material YbNi4P2 appears to be one of the first examples of a truly continuous quantum phase
transition from a ferromagnetic state to a paramagnetic state. Remarkably, this is in contrast to theoretical predictions which exclude
ferromagnetic quantum critical points in metallic systems. However, these theoretical considerations are valid for two and three
dimensional materials only. I will present electronic structure calculations in conjunction with quantum oscillation measurements. These
comprehensive electronic structure studies reveal a quasi-one-dimensional electronic structure which might be the key to understand the
presence of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point.
Sven Friedemann
University of Cambridge
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Title
Alex Chin
University of Cambridge
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Title
Jacopo Bertolotti
University of Exeter
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Theoretical Physics Group Seminar
Title
JacopFrank Pinski
Cincinnati
Refreshments will be served from 12.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
The progenitors of core-collapse supernovae
In the last decade our understanding of supernovae and the late-phases of stellar evolution has
been revolutionised by the direct detection of the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae. I
will review recent results from efforts to identify the progenitors of supernovae in preexplosion images, and present new results demonstrating the power of late-time imaging with
the Hubble Space Telescope to illuminate their properties.
Justyn Maund
(Queen’s University Belfast)
Refreshments will be served from 15.00 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
Stripped red giant stars in eclipsing binary systems
Red giant stars can be stripped of their outer layers by stellar collisions or mass transfer in binary star
systems such as low mass X-ray binaries. If the red giant is stripped on its first ascent of the RGB it will
eventually become a very low mass white dwarf composed almost entirely of helium. Very low mass
white dwarfs are well known in binary milli-second pulsars and many have recently been found in
surveys such as the SDSS, but the precursor phase during which the remnant evolves to higher
effective temperature at nearly constant
luminosity has been rarely observed. In this talk I will present new observations of 18 bright eclipsing
binary stars discovered in WASP archive that contain stripped red giant stars. The first such binary we
identified was also found to be a new type of pulsating star. This opens up the possibility of studying
the interior strucuture of these helium white dwarf precursors in unprecendented detail.
Pierre Maxted
(Keele University)
Refreshments will be served from 15.00 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
The progenitors of core-collapse supernovae
In the last decade our understanding of supernovae and the late-phases of stellar evolution has
been revolutionised by the direct detection of the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae. I
will review recent results from efforts to identify the progenitors of supernovae in preexplosion images, and present new results demonstrating the power of late-time imaging with
the Hubble Space Telescope to illuminate their properties.
Justyn Maund
(Queen’s University Belfast)
Refreshments will be served from 15.00 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
The CARMENES instrument: finding small planets signals amid
astrophysical noise
Just two decades after the first discoveries of planets outside our Solar System, we now count over 1000 exoplanets and have
been able to investigate some of their atmospheric properties. With the ever-improving technical capabilities, the possibility of
finding hot and massive planets has extended to smaller planets (terrestrial) with mild surface temperatures (habitable). The
observation of M-type stars is a “fast track” method to discover, and possibly characterise, hot and temperate rocky
exoplanets. The CARMENES spectrograph, with its two channels covering from the visibe to the near-IR, is ideally suited for
the job. CARMENES will survey a sample of 300 M dwarfs (with special emphasis on mid- and late-Ms) in search for planets
as small as a few
Earth masses within the habitable zone of their stars. Besides the technological challenge of obtaining m/s precision in the
NIR, the project faces also the problem of having to deal with stars that can be intrinsically active. In this talk I will present the
CARMENES instrument, including both the science case and the current development status. In addition, I will discuss our
efforts in trying to understand the impact of stellar magnetic activity on radial velocities and possible ways to mitigate its
effects.
Ignasi Ribas
(Institut de Ciencies de l’Espai)
Refreshments will be served from 15.00 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
Probing galaxy formation and evolution at different cosmic epochs and in
different environments
Despite our understanding of how galaxy form witnessed significant progress in the past years, whether galaxy formation
follows different paths in dense regions compared to the global field and whether more massive galaxies were the first ones to
form or vice versa, remain unsolved questions. In fact, while the hierarchical galaxy formation scenario (assumed as the
premise of the majority of simulation-based studies) points at more massive galaxies forming later then less massive ones and at
a strong environmental role, the more observationally-supported downsizing galaxy-formation scenario sees more massive
galaxies forming earlier than less massive ones and gives relative importance to environment. The possible distinction between
galaxy mass assembly and star formation epochs, the mutual roles of mass (AGN) and environment driven star-formation
quenching and the complicated interplay between dark and baryonic matter over cosmic time, render our understanding of
galaxy formation even more difficult. As a result, the way galaxies (i.e., galaxy formation and evolution) influence the structures
they dwell in and how structures (i.e., gravity) affect the galaxies they host, have yet to be disentangled and fully understood. I
will explore these topics by presenting studies on the global galaxy luminosity and mass functions (including very preliminary
results from the Dark Energy Survey and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey), the Halo occupation
Distribution in clusters and the detection of extremely red z>3 galaxies from the SERVS survey.
Diego Capozzi
(University of Portsmouth)
Refreshments will be served from 15.00 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
Probing galaxy formation and evolution at different cosmic epochs and in
different environments
Despite our understanding of how galaxy form witnessed significant progress in the past years, whether galaxy formation
follows different paths in dense regions compared to the global field and whether more massive galaxies were the first ones to
form or vice versa, remain unsolved questions. In fact, while the hierarchical galaxy formation scenario (assumed as the
premise of the majority of simulation-based studies) points at more massive galaxies forming later then less massive ones and at
a strong environmental role, the more observationally-supported downsizing galaxy-formation scenario sees more massive
galaxies forming earlier than less massive ones and gives relative importance to environment. The possible distinction between
galaxy mass assembly and star formation epochs, the mutual roles of mass (AGN) and environment driven star-formation
quenching and the complicated interplay between dark and baryonic matter over cosmic time, render our understanding of
galaxy formation even more difficult. As a result, the way galaxies (i.e., galaxy formation and evolution) influence the structures
they dwell in and how structures (i.e., gravity) affect the galaxies they host, have yet to be disentangled and fully understood. I
will explore these topics by presenting studies on the global galaxy luminosity and mass functions (including very preliminary
results from the Dark Energy Survey and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey), the Halo occupation
Distribution in clusters and the detection of extremely red z>3 galaxies from the SERVS survey.
Diego Capozzi
(University of Portsmouth)
Refreshments will be served from 15.00 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
X-ray echoes from active galaxies
X-ray spectroscopy provides a unique view of the innermost workings of accretion flows onto black holes.
When coupled with variability studies one can, in principle, determine the geometry of the inner accretion
flow, corona and even test general relativity in the strong field regime close to a black hole. I will introduce
the use X-ray spectroscopy, and "broad iron lines" in particular, to study accretion discs around black holes. I
will then explain why X-ray echo (reverberation) mapping is in principle such a powerful technique for
studying the innermost regions of the accretion flow, and how in practice it is possible. Throughout the talk I
will present some recent (and not so recent) results, and end by discussing the future direction of my work in
this area.
Andy Young
(Bristol University)
Refreshments will be served from 14.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
A Radial velocity search for low mass M dwarf planets
Low mass planets orbiting the lowest mass stars are expected in significant numbers in close orbits of a few days to a
few tens of days. To date, however, the nearby population of late M stars has not been targeted by precision radial
velocity surveys. I will present radial velocity measurements for a sample of M5V - M9V from the Red-Optical Planet
Survey, ROPS, that operates in the 0.65 - 1 micron regime. Radial velocities with r.m.s. precision down to 2.5 m/s over
a week long time scale indicate sensitivities to planets with masses >= 1.5 M_Earth in the classical habitable zone can
be achieved. In 9/15 of our targets, observations currently rule out the presence of planets with masses >= 10 M_Earth
in close orbits.
Late M stars on average show significant rotation, and chromospheric activity is in fact found in a number of the
ROPS targets. The implication that most M dwarfs are significantly spotted, and hence exhibit time varying line
distortions, indicates that observations to detect orbiting planets need strategies to reliably mitigate against the effects
of activity induced radial velocity variations. I will also present estimates of detection thresholds for spotted M stars
and a new procedure for removing starspot noise.
John Barnes
(University of Hertfordshire)
Refreshments will be served from 14.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
The Dynamics of Exoplanets Systems
Stellar birth environments are dangerous environments for planetary systems. I will describe how planetary
systems are vulnerable to perturbations from passing stars and stellar companions within stellar clusters.
These perturbations may lead to a chain of events that result in the ejection of some planets, leaving those
remaining on tighter, and eccentric, orbits. Planetary systems may exchange into binary systems and then the
stellar companion may perturb planetary orbits via the Kozai mechanism. I will show how this can lead to
strong dynamical interactions between planets in a planetary system, with some planets being ejected. In
some cases, planets placed on extremely eccentric orbits may form hot jupiters via tidal interactions.By using
full N-body calculations of young stellar clusters, I quantify the frequency of both fly-by encounters and
binary-exchange encounters,and also the frequency of close encounters involving protoplanetary discs.
I compute the fraction of planetary systems likely to emerge unscathed from a stellar cluster.
Melvyn Davies
(University of Lund)
Refreshments will be served from 14.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
Is the composition of the Earth skin deep?
The bulk composition of Earth is commonly assumed to be chondritic but evidence
from measurements of isotopic ratios in rocks on Earth suggests that it differs
significantly from that of chondritic meteorites. In this talk we suggest that erosive
collisions during the formation of the Earth may be to blame. We will begin by
presenting our state-of-the-art collision model then move on to discuss our
preliminary results and conclude by extending our results to extrasolar systems.
Dr. Zoë M. Leinhardt and Dr. Amy Bonsor
Refreshments will be served from 15.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
A Ghost Story: The Halo of the Milky Way Galaxy
The history of the Galaxy is imprinted in the kinematics and chemical properties of the stars in the stellar halo. Their
study allows us partially to reconstruct the Galactic past because the time required for stars in the halo to exchange
their energies and momenta is very long compared with the age of the Galaxy. This field has been revolutionised in
recent years by data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data, which has revealed a super-abundance of substructure.
There are ghostly streams from disrupting dwarf galaxies and globular clusters, analogues of meteor streams along
old cometary paths in the Solar. There are ultrafaint phantom galaxies composed of old and faint stars, so puny that
the entire galaxy is outshone by a single red giant star. There are smooth, flattened, halo populations, such as the blue
horizontal branch stars. Dominating the Galactic halo, there is the magnificent double arch of the Sagittarius stream
criss-crossing the whole sky. These tracers enable the study of the assembly of the Galaxy, as well as its present-day
mass and gravitational field. The quality of the data permit confrontation -- and conflict – with modern-day
cosmological simulations of galaxy formation.
Prof. Wyn Evans (IoA Cambridge)
Refreshments will be served from 14.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
Is star formation universal?
Do stars form in basically the same way everywhere? If they do, then we can learn about star
formation everywhere and everywhen from studying present-day local star formation. If they
don't, then local star formation could be just fluff that might not tell us much about anything. I
discuss what we mean by 'the same', and examine what observations tell us that star formation
must be like if it is 'universal'.
Simon Goodwin
(University of Sheffield)
Refreshments will be served from 14.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminar
A post-mortem for stars: Core-collapse supernovae
and their progenitors
Core-collapse supernovae are the spectacular finale to the life of a massive star. In recent years,
considerable progress has been made in directly identifying the stellar progenitors of corecollapse supernovae, most notably in images from the Hubble Space Telescope. From this work,
it appears that there is a puzzling absence of hydrogen-rich supernovae from the most massive
red supergiants, while binary interaction seems to be crucial for many (or even most) hydrogenpoor supernovae. I will present the most recent results from the ongoing search for corecollapse progenitors, and compare these to both theoretical expectations and the resulting
supernova characteristics.
Morgan Fraser
(University of Cambridge)
Refreshments will be served from 14.45 in the Physical Sciences Common Room
Wednesday 30thOctober- 14.00-15.00-PS1.28
• Astronomy & Astrophysics SeminarThe progenitors of core-collapse supernovae Justyn Maund
Wednesday 2nd April- 15.00-16.00-PS1.28
• CFSA Seminar
Eun-Jim Kim
Tuesday 5th November-16.00-17.30-PLT
• Departmental Coulloquium
Medical Imaging with Positrons: Equipment, Techniques and Challenges Nigel Williams
Thursday 6th November 13.00-14.00-PS1.28
•
•
Theory Seminar
Anomalous exciton localization in systems with heavy-tailed disorder
Sebastiaan Vlaming
IOP Evening talk
The Science of Invisibility: Can You Make Yourself Invisible?
Monday 11th November
CFSA Seminar 15.00-16.00- PS1.28
'Low dimensional dynamics of edge localised modes in JET tokamak’ Leopoldo Carbarjal
'On the physics of ion cyclotron emissions in JET‘ Gomez and Francisco Calderon
Wednesday 13th November
Astronomy Seminar 14.00-15.00-PS1.28
Stripped red giant stars in eclipsing binary systems Pierre Maxted
Thursday 14th November
Theory Seminar 13.00-14.00-PS1.28
TBC Animesh Datta
Tuesday 26th November
Joint Seminar 13.00-14.00- LIB 1
‘Towards cheap efficient solar cells: from atoms to architecture’
Nick Cowern University of Newcastle
Wednesday 13th November
Astronomy Seminar 14.00-15.00-PS1.28
The CARMENES instrument: finding small planets signals amid astrophysical noise
Ignasi Ribas (Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai)
Thursday 14th November
Christmas Lecture Series 19.30-20.30- Zeeman MS.02
Making the impossible, possible with quantum computers (age 14+) Gavin Morley
Monday 18th November
15.00-16.00- PS1.28
CFSA Seminar
P. Hush and C. Hornsey
Tuesday 19th November
13.00-14.00-MAS 2.06
Condensed Matter Physics
Ralf Hambach
Wednesday 20th November
14.00-15.00-PS1.28
Astronomy Seminar
Justyn Maund
Wednesday 20th November
17.15-22.00- Warwick Arts Centre
Coull Quartet
Sir Michael Barry
Thursday 14th November
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Mark Gilbert
Monday 2nd December
15.00-16.00- PS1.28
CFSA Seminar
Vyacheslav Lukin
Wednesday 4th December
16.30-17.30
Departmental Colloquium
Michael Glazer
Wednesday 4th December
19.30-20.30- Zeeman MS.02
Christmas Lecture
Steve Dixon
Thursday 5th December
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Peter Brommer
Tuesday 14th January
14.00-18.00- WT1.04
Physics Day
Organised by Dr S. Brown
Wednesday 15th January
16.30-17.30
Departmental Colloquium
Lucio Piccirillo
Tuesday 14th January
13.00-14.00- MAS2.06
CMP Seminar
Andrew Stewart
Thursday 5th December
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Sven Friedemann
Monday 27th January
15.00-16.00- PS1.28
CFSA Seminar
Eun-Jim Kim
Wednesday 29th January
16.30-17.30
Departmental Colloquium
Dennis Bartolo
Tuesday 28th Januaury
13.00-14.00- MAS 2.06
CMP Seminar
Chris Wedge
Thursday 30th January
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Timo Betz
Wednesday 8th January
13.45-14.45-PS1.28
Astronomy Seminar
Andy Young
(Bristol University)
Thursday 9th January
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Mario Cuoco
(University of Salerno)
Wednesday 8th January
13.45-14.45-PS1.28
Astronomy Seminar
Andy Young
(Bristol University)
Thursday 9th January
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Mario Cuoco
(University of Salerno)
Monday 17th February
15.00-16.00- PS1.28
CFSA Seminar
Vegard Rekaa
Wednesday 19th February
13.45-14.45-PS1.28
Astronomy Seminar
Philipp Podsiadlowsky
(Oxford University)
Monday 3rd March
15.00-16.00- PS1.28
CFSA Seminar
Giuseppe Nistico
(University of Warwick)
Thursday 6th March
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Gianluca Gregori
(Oxford University)
Wednesday 30th April
13.45-14.45- PS1.28
Astronomy Seminar
Simon Goodwin
(University of Sheffield)
Thursday 1st May
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Alex Chin
(Cambridge University)
Wednesday 14th May
13.45-14.45- PS1.28
Astronomy Seminar
Morgan Fraser
(Cambridge University)
Thursday 15th May
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Frank Pinski
(University of Cincinati)
Monday 10th March
15.00-16.00- PS1.28
CFSA Seminar
Larisa Kashapova
(Institute for Solar-Terrestrial
Physics of SB RAS, Russia)
Wednesday 12th March
16.30-17.30-PLT
Departmental
Colloquium
Don Pollacco
(University of Warwick)
Thursday 13th March
13.00-14.00-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Daniel Burgarth
(University of Aberystwyth)
Wednesday 28th May
12.00-13.00- PS1.28
Astronomy Seminar
Phillip Podsiadlowski
Wednesday 28th May
15.00-16.00- PS1.28
CFSA Seminar
Professor Yu-Qing Lou
(Tsinghua University,
China)
Thursday 29th May
13.00-14.30-PS1.28
Theory Seminar
Anja Humpert, Michael
Ambler, Sam Brown
Wednesday 11th December
15.00-16.00- PS5.21
Astronomy Seminar
Diego Capozzi
Wednesday 11th December
19.30-20.30- Zeeman MS.02
Christmas Lecture
Kevin Moffat
Wednesday 18th December
19.30-20.30- Zeeman MS.02
Christmas Lecture
Ally Caldecote
Coull Quartet Music and Science Event
Sir Michael Berry on "Optica Fantastica: images to illuminate the physics of light"
For music lovers with an interest in science and the natural world, the Coull Quartet and the University of
Warwick's Department of Physics are presenting a fascinating evening of talks, scientific demonstrations, art and
music in celebration of composer Edward Cowie’s 70th birthday. Eminent physicist Sir Michael Berry will give a
lecture entitled ‘Optica Fantastica: images to illuminate the physics of light’ and the Coull Quartet will give the
premiere of Cowie’s Quintet for 21st Century Oboe and Quartet ‘The Colours of Dark Light’, a work directly
inspired by Sir Michael’s discoveries in the field of wave physics.
Between the lecture at 5.15pm and the concert at 7.15pm, both of which are taking place in the Helen Martin
Studio, our audience will be invited to join the Quartet, Edward Cowie, Sir Michael Berry and oboist Christopher
Redgate in the Butterworth Hall for drinks, an exhibition of the composer’s drawings, demonstrations of
experiments by the physics department and a short introduction to the music. The concert itself, in addition to
Ravel’s beautiful and evocative Quartet and Britten’s brilliant, youthful Oboe Quartet, will feature no fewer than
four different oboes, including the brand new Howarth/Redgate 21st Century Oboe and the spectacular
‘Lupophon’, skilfully used by Edward Cowie in his music to produce the widest range of colour and sonority.
IOP Plasma Physics Group Meeting & Warwick Physics Day
Synergy between Solar and Tokamak Plasma Theory
A discussion meeting to bring together UK solar
and fusion scientific communities, to identify
common interests in magnetohydrodynamics and
plasma physics theory and simulations.
Info and registration at
www.warwick.ac.uk/solartokamak14