Condensed Matter seminar: "The Berry curvature dipole of metals and the crossover from composite fermions to exciton superfluid”
Inti Sodemann-Villadiego, Max Planck Institute, Dresden
The first part of this talk will summarise our progress in non-linear transport of metals. I will describe a non-linear Hall effect that is allowed by time reversal symmetry and is controlled by the "Berry curvature…
Department Colloquium: "Self-driven phase transitions in living matter"
Joshua Shaevitz, Lewis-Sigler Institute, Princeton University
The soil dwelling bacterium Myxococcus xanthus is an amazing organism that uses collective motility to hunt in giant packs when near prey and to form beautiful and protective macroscopic structures comprising…
Condensed Matter seminar: "Dirty Quantum Magnets"
Itamar Kimchi, University of Colorado
Studying quantum entanglement over the past 1--2 decades has allowed us to make remarkable theoretical progress in understanding correlated many-body quantum systems. However electrons in real materials experience…
Condensed Matter Seminar: "Revisiting and Repurposing the Double Helix"
Taekjip Ha, Johns Hopkins University
DNA is an iconic molecule that forms a double helical structure, providing the basis for genetic inheritance, and its physical properties have been studied for decades. In this talk, I will present evidence that…
Particle Physics seminar: "First results from the PROSPECT reactor neutrino experiment"
Danielle Norcini, Yale University
Experiments at nuclear reactors have played a key role in determining the properties of the weakly-interacting neutrinos. Results from recent reactor experiments suggest a disagreement between the observed…
High Energy Theory seminar: "Axion couplings and implications for cosmology and astrophysics"
JiJi Fan, Brown University
Many cosmological models rely on large couplings of axions (pseudo-scalar fields) to gauge fields. Examples include theories of magnetogenesis, inflation on a steep potential, chiral gravitational waves, and…
Department Colloquium: "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. XIAOXING XI: Why It Matters"
Xiaoxing Xi, Temple University
As Interim Chair of Temple University’s Physics Department, I was busy on May 20, 2015 with my class, research, promotion of colleagues, and a university task force I was chairing. I gave a dinner-time lecture for…
Penn Science Cafe: "The Physics of Foam"
Douglas Durian, University of Pennsylvania
It's easy to foam up soapy water but not to understand the surprising properties of foam. How can it be white and solid when it's made mostly of gas and a little liquid, neither of which is white or solid? Douglas…