KICP Lectures, Talks, & Events, 2013
KICP Lectures, Talks, & Events, 2013
February 5, 2013The Artful Universe with cosmologist Michael S. Turner
February 19, 2013SWIP/KICP Pizza with Professors
March 1, 2013Astronomy Open House
March 29, 2013Interview with John Carlstrom, "Witnessing Starbursts in the Early Universe"
April 17, 2013Ryerson Lecture: Michael S. Turner, "Quarks and the Cosmos"
May 13, 2013Broader Horizons: Maria Cruz, Editor at Science
June 4, 2013Broader Horizons: Jessica Kirkpatrick, data scientist / analyst for the social network Yammer
June 5, 2013Live webcast: "The Hunt for Distant Galaxies"
July 11, 2013Art & Science: Alvaro Chavarria, "Taking photographs in the dark"
August 22, 2013Live Google Hangout: "Dark Energy: On the Brink of Discovery?"
September 12, 2013Art & Science: Stephen Hoover, "Light from the beginning of the Universe"
October 7, 2013KICP Jamboree/Welcome Event
October 10, 2013Physics colloquium: Daniel Holz, "Listening to the Universe with gravitational wave astrophysics"
October 18, 2013KICP at GLPA Conference: Bradford Benson, Lindsey Bleem, Randall H. Landsberg, & Mark SubbaRao, "Unmasking the Universe with the CMB, Nature's Ultimate Backlight"
October 24, 2013Physics colloquium: Daniel Hooper, "Dark Matter Annihilation in the Gamma-Ray Sky"
November 18, 2013Cafe Scientifique: Benson Farb, "Through the Looking Glass: The Strange World Behind the Mirror"
November 19, 2013KICP Astroparticle Seminar: George Fuller, UCSD, "Frontiers of Neutrino Physics and Cosmology"
November 21, 2013Physics colloquium: Craig Hogan, "Macroscopic Quantum Geometry: Testing the Fidelity of Space-time with Interferometry"

 
The Artful Universe with cosmologist Michael S. Turner
February 5, 2013 | 7:00 PM | Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
Picture: The Artful Universe with cosmologist Michael S. Turner
The Arts|Science Initiative will host a free lecture and discussion on why images of the universe - spacescapes - are so beautiful, at 7 pm Feb 5 in the performance hall of the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts.

The guest speaker will be the University of Chicago's Michael S. Turner, a theoretical physicist and cosmologist who coined the term "dark energy". The audience will travel through space and time with Turner to explore the age of the universe, black holes in galaxies, the birth of stars, and most significantly the mystery of dark energy, whose repulsive gravity is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate, through the extraordinarily artful visualizations with images produced by the Hubble Space Telescope and other telescopes..

Turner is the Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics and director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. He helped establish the interdisciplinary field that combines cosmology and elementary particle physics to understand the origin and evolution of the universe. His research focuses on the earliest moments of creation, and he has made contributions to inflationary cosmology, particle dark matter and structure formation, the theory of big bang nucleosynthesis, and the nature of dark energy.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Michael S. Turner

 
SWIP/KICP Pizza with Professors
February 19, 2013 | Kersten Family Atrium of the University's Gordon Center for the Integrative Sciences
Picture: SWIP/KICP Pizza with Professors
Photo Gallery

On February 19th, the Society of Women in Physics(SWIP) and the KICP joined forces to host "Pizza with Professors," a dinner and discussion about the joys and stresses of pursuing a career in physics. Professors and post-doctoral fellows from the KICP joined faculty from the Physics department in speaking with around 50 undergraduate Physics majors. The event was held in the Kersten Family Atrium of the University's Gordon Center for the Integrative Sciences. Participants left with a better appreciation of what a career in physics or a related field ultimately requires.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Bradford A. Benson; Hsiao-Wen Chen; Joshua A. Frieman; Daniel E. Holz; Angela V. Olinto; M. Ted Ressell; Ali Vanderveld

 
Astronomy Open House
March 1, 2013 | 9:00 AM
Picture: Astronomy Open House
9:00 - 10:30 am
Welcome and Presentation: Speakers Profs. Olinto (welcome), Hu, Bean, Gladders
LASR conference room
10:30 - 12:00 pm
Meetings
12:00 - 1:30 pm
KICP Lunch Seminar: speaker Ann Zabludoff – University of Arizon/Steward Observatory, LASR lounge (lunch will be provided)
1:30 - 2:00 pm
Outreach Presentation w/ Randy Landsberg, TAAC 67
2:00 - 4:00 pm
Meetings
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Graduate Student Panel Discussion, TAAC 67
5:00 - 6:00 pm
Wine and Cheese Reception, Kitchen/Library
8:00 pm
Maggiano's Little Italy

Please note that you are all invited to the Wine and Cheese Reception which begins
at 5:00 pm.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Michael D. Gladders; Wayne Hu; Randall H. Landsberg; Angela V. Olinto

 
Interview with John Carlstrom, "Witnessing Starbursts in the Early Universe"
March 29, 2013 | 2:00 PM
Picture: Interview with John Carlstrom, Witnessing Starbursts in the Early Universe
Website

On Friday March 29, 12:00-12:30pm PDT, science writer Bruce Lieberman will ask your questions about the starbursts and the early universe with members of the research team: John E. Carlstrom, Dan P. Marrone and Joaquin D. Vieira.
Read more >>

Related Links:
KICP Members: John E. Carlstrom
Scientific projects: South Pole Telescope (SPT)

 
Ryerson Lecture: Michael S. Turner, "Quarks and the Cosmos"
April 17, 2013 | 5:00 PM | Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street
Picture: Ryerson Lecture: Michael S. Turner, Quarks and the Cosmos
You are cordially invited to attend The Nora and Edward Ryerson Lecture on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, given by Professor Michael S. Turner.

Lecture: "Quarks and the Cosmos"

A lecture to be given by Michael S. Turner, the Bruce V. & Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor, and Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street

* Lecture: Max Palevsky Cinema at 5:00 p.m.
* Reception: Library/Lounge at 6:00 p.m.
Lecture and Reception are free and open to the public.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Michael S. Turner

 
Broader Horizons: Maria Cruz, Editor at Science
May 13, 2013 | 2:30 PM | LASR conference room
Picture: Broader Horizons: Maria Cruz, Editor at Science
Broader Horizons talk by visitor Maria Cruz discussing her career as an editor at the journal Science.

"I realized that I really love science but not spending my time just focusing on a particular aspect of it." --Maria Cruz

Related Links:
KICP Students: Jennifer Helsby

 
Broader Horizons: Jessica Kirkpatrick, data scientist / analyst for the social network Yammer
June 4, 2013 | 11:00 AM | LASR conference room
Picture: Broader Horizons: Jessica Kirkpatrick, data scientist / analyst for the social network Yammer
Jessica Kirkpatrick received her PhD in Astrophysics from Berkeley in 2012. After an exhaustive job search within academia and beyond, she accepted a job as a data scientist / analyst for the social network Yammer (acquired by Microsoft). Now instead of spending her days finding patterns in the large scale structure of galaxies, she finds patterns in the behaviors of people. She'll talk about her transition from physics to tech, compare and contrast the two fields, and give tips about how to land a tech job.

Related Links:
KICP Students: Jennifer Helsby

 
Live webcast: "The Hunt for Distant Galaxies"
June 5, 2013 | 4:00 PM
Picture: Live webcast: The Hunt for Distant Galaxies
Anupreeta More, former associate fellow of the KICP
Website

ASTRONOMERS KNOW there are vast numbers of galaxies waiting to be discovered, and the more they find the more we'll understand about how the universe began and evolved. Unfortunately, many galaxies are incredibly far away, vanishingly faint and hidden behind other clusters of galaxies.

Under the right circumstances, however, it's actually possible to see behind a galaxy cluster - a seeming magic trick made possible when the gravity of a cluster in the foreground bends and magnifies the light from a galaxy behind it. That warped light continues on its way toward Earth, and it can be detected in our telescopes. This phenomenon means there are clusters of galaxies that act as giant magnifying glasses that allow us to see galaxies far beyond them. And the deeper into the universe we can look, the farther back into cosmological time we can see.

That brings us to the Space Warps citizen science project. Finding these distant magnified galaxies is a daunting challenge. The universe is vast, with billions of galaxies to find and only so many astronomers to look for them. So they need your help. On June 5 at 2 pm PDT, a team of astronomers will tell you how you can spot this strange, light-warping effect in images taken by telescopes across the globe. Come join the conversation on June 5, and then take part in the search for some of the most distant galaxies in the universe at www.spacewarps.org.

Participants: Anupreeta More (Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe at the University of Tokyo.), Philip Marshall (Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology), Arfon Smith (Director of Citizen Science at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and Technical Lead of Zooniverse), and Bruce Lieberman.
Read more >>

Related Links:
KICP Members: Anupreeta More

 
Art & Science: Alvaro Chavarria, "Taking photographs in the dark"
July 11, 2013 | 8:00 PM
Picture: Art & Science: Alvaro Chavarria, Taking photographs in the dark
The latest scientific discoveries indicate that more than 80% of the matter in the universe is "dark matter," a massive substance that does not interact with light, yet its gravitational pull on visible matter plays a crucial role in the dynamics of galaxies and the Universe. The favored scientific hypothesis is that this substance is constituted of new particles known as WIMPs. Paradoxically, it may be possible to obtain evidence for their existence by taking photographs in the darkest place on Earth, SNOLAB, a facility two kilometers underground.

"Art & Science" presentations are given in an art gallery: each month a scientist presents a different topic. The event combines science with art, drinks, food and socializing.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Alvaro Chavarria

 
Live Google Hangout: "Dark Energy: On the Brink of Discovery?"
August 22, 2013 | 2:00 PM
Picture: Live Google Hangout: Dark Energy: On the Brink of Discovery?
Joshua A. Frieman, KICP senior member
Website

Ask Your Questions of Joshua Frieman, Michael Niemack and Marcelle Soares-Santos

The race is on to unlock the mystery of dark energy, the unknown force that is causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate. Three leading projects are paving the way toward discovery: The Dark Energy Survey and SuMIRe (Subaru Measurement of Images and Redshifts) aim to image and map millions of galaxies across space and time to learn about dark energy's influence on the evolution of the universe. A third project, called ACTPol, is using the Cosmic Microwave Background - the afterglow of the Big Bang and the oldest light in the universe - to indirectly detect galaxies and galaxy clusters, map their positions throughout cosmic history, and probe the nature of dark energy.

On Thursday, August 22, Noon-12:30 PDT, three leading astrophysicists will answer your questions about dark energy and the quest to understand it. Join us for a special Google Hangout with Joshua Frieman, Michael Niemack and Marcelle Soares-Santos.

JOSHUA FRIEMAN - Senior staff member in the Theoretical Astrophysics group at Fermilab and the Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics, member of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP) at the University of Chicago, and Director of the Dark Energy Survey;

MICHAEL NIEMACK - Assistant professor of physics at Cornell University and a leading team member of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and ACTPol teams;

MARCELLE SOARES-SANTOS - Research associate at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Center for Particle Astrophysics, and leader of an analysis of galaxy clusters with early data from the Dark Energy Survey.

BRUCE LIEBERMAN - Freelance journalist with more than 20 years of experience in the news business. Along with The Kavli Foundation, he has written for Scientific American, Smithsonian Air & Space magazine, and Nature about a variety of science topics.
Read more >>

Related Links:
KICP Members: Joshua A. Frieman

 
Art & Science: Stephen Hoover, "Light from the beginning of the Universe"
September 12, 2013
Picture: Art & Science: Stephen Hoover, Light from the beginning of the Universe
Website

"Art & Science" presentations are given in an art gallery: each month a scientist presents a different topic. The event combines science with art, drinks, food and socializing.
Read more >>

Related Links:
KICP Members: Stephen Hoover

 
KICP Jamboree/Welcome Event
October 7, 2013 | 1:30 PM
Picture: KICP Jamboree/Welcome Event
* 1:30 - 2:30 KICP Faculty Meeting (LASR conference)
* 2:30 - 4:00 KICP Jamboree (LASR Conference)
* 4:00 - 6:00 BBQ (LASR North Lawn)

The purpose of the Jamboree is to allow all of KICP members who are currently conducting research to briefly introduce themselves and their work to the entire KICP community. This includes all Senior Members, Senior Researchers, Fellows, and Associate Fellows. Because we have a lot of members and limited time, the jamboree will take the following, tightly controlled, format:
* Each Senior Member will receive 90 seconds and be allowed 1 or 2 (no more!) powerpoint slides to briefly introduce themselves and their research.
* All Fellows, Associate Fellows, and Senior Researchers will receive 60 seconds and 1 powerpoint slide.
* We would also like to request that KICP Graduate Students briefly introduce themselves.

 
Physics colloquium: Daniel Holz, "Listening to the Universe with gravitational wave astrophysics"
October 10, 2013 | 4:15 PM | KPTC 106
Picture: Physics colloquium: Daniel Holz, Listening to the Universe with gravitational wave astrophysics
The next few years should see the birth of gravitational wave astrophysics, a revolutionary new way to learn about our Universe. Construction of advanced gravitational wave observatories, such as LIGO and Virgo, is actively underway. We focus on the most likely sources for these detectors, which is the inspiral and merger of a stellar mass binary system, such as a pair of neutron stars and/or black holes. In addition to being extraordinarily loud in gravitational waves, these systems may be associated with short gamma-ray bursts, and thus are also very bright in the electromagnetic spectrum. This offers the promise of multi-messenger astronomy: the combination of gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations to elucidate the physics and astrophysics of the sources. We present estimates for the event rate of these systems, showing that we can expect the first detections within months of operation. These measurements will teach us about the systems themselves (e.g., elucidating the central engine, constraining the beaming), as well as informing us about broad astrophysical and cosmological questions (e.g., the ratio of neutron stars to black holes, precision measurements of the Hubble constant). Of particular interest are "golden binaries", systems with signal strength well above threshold. We show that these systems will be found, and discuss the important role they have to play in gravitational wave astrophysics.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Daniel E. Holz

 
KICP at GLPA Conference: Bradford Benson, Lindsey Bleem, Randall H. Landsberg, & Mark SubbaRao, "Unmasking the Universe with the CMB, Nature's Ultimate Backlight"
October 18, 2013 | Salon A, Sheraton Hotel, Peoria, Illinois
Picture: KICP at GLPA Conference: Bradford Benson, Lindsey Bleem, Randall H. Landsberg, & Mark SubbaRao, Unmasking the Universe with the CMB, Natures Ultimate Backlight
For nearly half a century scientists have been laboring to observe the fine details of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This workshop will explore how the South Pole Telescope (SPT) has turned the study of the CMB on its head to use it as a backlight. In an interactive presentation using WorldWide Telescope (WWT), we will explore the data, images, and story of how the SPT exploits the CMB to detect massive galaxy clusters and ancient starburst galaxies, which were discovered unexpectedly (a story ripped from the headlines, or at least from the journal Nature). We also examine how multi-wavelength (X-ray, optical and radio) follow-up observations on some of the world's most powerful telescopes (Hubble and Chandra space telescopes, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array-ALMA), are revolutionizing our understanding of star and galaxy formation in the early Universe. In an effort to make this workshop useful for your home institutions, it will include: a brainstorming session to identify ways to incorporate the science and the visuals into a museum or planetarium, a live demonstration of an example narrative one might construct, and take home resources (e.g., data, visuals, and WWT tour).
For more information see: South Pole Telescope webpage.

AMNH Science Bulletin video about SPT.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Bradford A. Benson; Randall H. Landsberg; Mark Subbarao
KICP Students: Lindsey E. Bleem
Scientific projects: South Pole Telescope (SPT)

 
Physics colloquium: Daniel Hooper, "Dark Matter Annihilation in the Gamma-Ray Sky"
October 24, 2013 | 4:15 PM | KPTC 106
If the dark matter is made up of WIMPs, then such particles are expected to annihilate, generating a potentially observable flux of gamma-rays, cosmic rays, and neutrinos. Experiments such as the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope are designed to search for such annihilation products, and are sensitive to many well motivated dark matter models. I will discuss and review a number of ongoing searches for dark matter using data from Fermi, including searches for gamma-rays from dwarf galaxies, subhalos, galaxy clusters, and the Galactic Center. The central region of the Milky Way is particularly exciting in this context, exhibiting a gamma-ray spectrum and morphology that is consistent with expectations from annihilating dark matter, and difficult to account for with known astrophysical sources or mechanisms.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Daniel Hooper

 
Cafe Scientifique: Benson Farb, "Through the Looking Glass: The Strange World Behind the Mirror"
November 18, 2013 | 7:00 PM | Map Room
Picture: Cafe Scientifique: Benson Farb, Through the Looking Glass: The Strange World Behind the Mirror
A conversation about the mathematics of reflections and why it affects life on Earth.

 
KICP Astroparticle Seminar: George Fuller, UCSD, "Frontiers of Neutrino Physics and Cosmology"
November 19, 2013 | 3:15 PM | LASR conference room
Much about neutrinos remains mysterious and there are many possibilities associated with these particles which could have an impact on or understanding of the history of the universe.

We all know about the tremendous progress toward precision observational cosmology, but perhaps less well known is the parallel revolution in experimental neutrino physics. Taken together, plausible near-future advances in either, or both, of these subjects promise to provide insights into outstanding neutrino physics issues, e.g., the neutrino rest masses, the origin of these masses, the neutrino mass hierarchy, neutrino magnetic moments, and "sterile" states, among others, which can be difficult or, for some, even impossible to address in the lab. But they also promise deeper insight into the physics of the early universe. I will discuss these topics and tie (some) of these outstanding neutrino physics issues to observables (e.g., CMB observables, primordial light element abundances, "N_eff", and the "sum of the light neutrino masses").

 
Physics colloquium: Craig Hogan, "Macroscopic Quantum Geometry: Testing the Fidelity of Space-time with Interferometry"
November 21, 2013 | 4:15 PM | KPTC 106
Picture: Physics colloquium: Craig Hogan, Macroscopic Quantum Geometry: Testing the Fidelity of Space-time with Interferometry
Quantum matter and dynamical geometry are treated differently in standard physics, but they may both emerge from a single quantum system. Theory suggests that this system may have limited directional fidelity, corresponding to the Planck diffraction limit. If so, new quantum-geometrical degrees of freedom may lead to observable quantum indeterminacy and entanglement in positions of massive bodies, even on macroscopic scales. An experiment is being commissioned at Fermilab that should detect or rule out this effect with Planck scale sensitivity.

Related Links:
KICP Members: Craig J. Hogan