February 2020 - sps-list

by Morin, David

For the SENIOR Physics and Chem/Phys concentrators among you (but also for non-seniors, for future reference): I checked through all of the seniors' records and emailed you of any remaining concentration requirements. But just as a double check, in case I missed anyone, here are some general comments and caveats: 1. Even though I checked through things, you should also check through the requirements listed in the Handbook. 2. Ignore the "Advising Report" in my.harvard, as far as the Physics concentration reqs go. It may very well say that some requirements aren't satisfied when in fact they are. The information I emailed to you supersedes the Advising Report. (However, the Gen Ed part of the Advising Report is probably correct, so you _should_ pay attention to that.) 3. Students who skipped 15b and/or 15c (and took an approved substitute instead) are still required to do the labs, on a pass/fail basis. (But no need to do the 15b lab if you took AP50b or PS12b.) 4. The secondary-field information isn't recorded in the system, so I didn't take that into account in my assessment of any remaining requirements. If you are doing a secondary, be aware that only one course can double count for concentration and secondary. (In contrast, there is unlimited double counting in joint concentrations.) 5. Similarly, for the very few students doing the AB/AM program, the system sometimes doesn't show which courses are bracketed. Be aware that bracketed courses can't count for the undergrad part of the degree.

1 year, 4 months

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15b, 15c lab requirement

by Morin, David

This email is a reminder about the Physics Department's rule for the 15b and 15c labs. This rule applies to Physics concentrators, Chem/Phys concentrators, and students completing a Physics secondary: If you skip 15b and/or 15c and satisfy the E&M and/or waves requirement by taking an alternative course (approved by Prof. Georgi or me), then you must still complete the 15b and/or 15c labs at some point, on a pass/fail basis. (However, you don't need to do the 15b lab if you took AP50b or PS12b.) You can complete the labs in a future semester if you wish, but my recommendation is that you do them at the same time you take the alternative course. (Students in 15b and 15c must of course do the lab when taking the course.) To schedule your lab time, please email, as soon as possible: 15b: Dr. Carey Witkov (witkov(a)fas.harvard.edu) 15c: TF Kristine Rezai (kristinerezai(a)gmail.com) Please let me know if you have any questions.

1 year, 9 months

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Phys, Chem/Phys Advising

by Morin, David

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing break. A new semester is almost upon us, so here we go... This email is relevant to the Physics and Chem/Phys concentrators among you (especially the sophomores, since this may be your first time receiving this info). It's a long email, but please pay special attention to the "YOUR TASK" item below. THE SHORT VERSION: Email your concentration advisor before classes start, to set up a meeting sometime during the first week of classes. Your advisor will electronically sign your crimson cart (sometimes called "study card"). THE LONG VERSION: (1) A picture of your Individual Concentrator Advisor should show up in your my.harvard list of advisors. If it doesn't, or if there are any issues (you want to change advisors, etc.), please let me know right away. (2) All of you automatically have Prof. Georgi (Head Tutor) and me (Co-Head Tutor) as academic advisors. You can talk with us about anything at any time, ranging from course selection, to future plans, to lab work, to concentration requirements. Our office hours are posted at: www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~hgeorgi<http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~hgeorgi> www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~djmorin/office_hours.htm<http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~djmorin/office_hours.htm> We encourage you to drop by, but email also works. (3) In addition, we give all of you another faculty advisor. The purpose of this Individual Concentration Advisor is to act as a mentor, and to help you down the Physics or Chem/Phys path. However, concerning concentration requirements, Prof. Georgi and I have seen all the ins and outs and variations on these, so we encourage you to save such questions for us. In short, when talking with your faculty advisor, you can pretend that there are no course numbers or requirements to worry about. Just get some real physics advice about what subjects are good to know, what lab experience is good to have, etc. You can view your faculty advisor in my.harvard. (4) YOUR TASK: Email your faculty advisor to set up a meeting to discuss your classes and future plans and such. You should send this email sometime before the first day of classes, in case there's a delay in setting up a time. In addition to providing you with advice, your advisor will also provide you with the necessary electronic signature on your crimson cart. If you'd like to also meet with Prof. Georgi and/or me at the beginning of the semester, by all means stop by, but please do so in addition to (not instead of!) seeing your individual advisor. NOTE: Occasionally more than one email is needed to set up a meeting with your advisor. All of us let an email slip away now and then. So don't hesitate to send a second email after a day or two if you haven't heard back. Also, ***PLEASE CC THE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT** for your advisor on your FIRST email, unless you're sure that your advisor will get back to you right away (and definitely cc if a second email is required). This person can be identified by clicking on your advisor on the page: www.physics.harvard.edu/people/faculty<http://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/faculty> The administrative assistant is listed below the advisor's photo. If you have trouble getting a response from your advisor, let me know, and we can always switch advisors. (5) The Physics FAQ page is: https://www.physics.harvard.edu/undergrad/faqs-concentrators Please let me know if there's a topic you would like added. Enjoy the last few days of your break! DJM

3 years, 9 months

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SPS Social March 3rd (5:30 - 6:30 PM)

by Harvard SPS

Need some food to power through midterm season? Have a craving for Thai food and hanging out with friends? We're having our last social before spring break next Tuesday (March 3rd) 5:30 - 6:30 in the undergrad study! *Please RSVP here by FRIDAY 2/28 NOON so we know how much food to order:* *https://forms.gle/YRf4j8mjBwnuF42Q9 <https://forms.gle/YRf4j8mjBwnuF42Q9>*

4 years, 2 months

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Pre-colloquium 10mins video for Monday, March 2

by Deslauriers, Louis

Dear students, The weekly departmental colloquium (Mondays at 4:30 pm) is an important event where faculty and students gather to learn from a world-renowned speaker. In order to insure these talks are accessible to our students, we are piloting a project where an advanced undergrad or grad student films a short background video to bridge the gap between what is learned in class and the content of the colloquium. The following is the YouTube link for the 10 minute pre-colloquium video for this coming Monday’s colloquium talk: https://youtu.be/SymgtRlf6ww<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__youtu.be_SymgtRlf6ww&d…> This week’s video was created by Chris Fechisin ‘21, a physics concentrator in Mather House. Your feedback is most welcome! Thank you, Louis

4 years, 2 months

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summer research, REUs

by Morin, David

For those of you who are planning to do research this summer, this email contains important information, as does the physics summer-research webpage: https://www.physics.harvard.edu/undergrad/summer You can do research either here on campus or elsewhere. For the latter case, there are a zillion REU opportunities listed at: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp And others are listed on the above summer webpage. In you want to do research here at Harvard, your main task is to find an advisor by searching the faculty webpage: https://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/faculty and sending out emails. (Feel free to look in related departments too.) Once you find a lab (let me know if you have any trouble with this), the funding is guaranteed to work out, with the following caveat: Assuming that the usual number of students apply for Physics Dept funding (pieced together with HCRP and faculty funding), we'll been able to give awards of about $4200 (total from all sources). In the event that the number of students increases significantly, the amount will probably be more like $4000. The standard time span is 10 weeks of full-time work (don't try to add on a summer course). If you are planning on heading to grad school, my personal recommendation is to do at least one summer of research here, and then a second summer either here or elsewhere. Variety can be nice - it's good to see some other places in the country/world. For the summer you spend here, try to bookend it with at least one semester of research, so that you have a longer total time in the lab. You should strongly consider applying for PRISE (for research here) and for the Herchel Smith fellowship (for here or elsewhere). See the above summer webpage. These deadlines are early. If you get one of these, then there is no need to apply to Physics or HCRP. If you're a first-year who is going to be a Physics or Chem/Phys concentrator, then you're certainly eligible for Physics Dept funding (item #3 on the above summer webpage). Let me know if you have any questions. DJM

4 years, 2 months

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TODAY: Equity and Inclusion Meeting, Friday, February 28th from 3-4:00pm

by Gardner, Felice Ann

Dear Physics Community, The next Equity and Inclusion meeting is scheduled today, Friday, February 28th from 3-4:00 pm in Jefferson 453. You can view the minutes from the last meeting here<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PCr2ri_p8ZUhLU4GXUuckxBbBXpAT8vg?us…>. Thanks, Felice

4 years, 2 months

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Colloquium Luncheon, February 3rd, 2020, Please RSVP! Thank you

by Davis, Carol S.

Reminder!!!! PLEASE RSVP!!! Thank you! LOCATION: Jefferson 250 TIME: Monday (March 2, 2020), 12pm RSVP: By Friday, February 28th, 2020, meat or vegetarian Dear SPS and Graduate Students, We are happy to announce that this coming Monday, Professor Marianna Safronova, University of Delaware (https://web.physics.udel.edu/about/directory/faculty/marianna-safronova), will be our colloquium speaker and the title of her talk will be “Atomic Clocks for Fundamental Physics - Time for Discovery<https://www.physics.harvard.edu/colloq>”. For our graduate students and those who are new to SPS, the Physics Department invites guest speakers and top scientists to give a colloquium talk every Monday afternoon, and you can find more details on the department website http://www.physics.harvard.edu/events/. You can get a sense of what the talk is about from the abstract below. We will continue in the tradition of inviting the colloquium guest speaker for a conversation with our undergrads and graduate students over lunch in our Undergrad Study on the 2nd floor of Jefferson, room 251, so please come and join in with our exciting guest! The date of the luncheon will be, Monday, March 2nd, 2020 at 12:00 noon. SPS invites the speaker to meet up with a small group of undergrads and graduate students over lunch so that the speaker can learn something about the physics students here, and the students can get to know the speaker better, learn more about his/her research/life, and about physics programs at other universities. It's also a great way for fellow Physics students to hang out. We would like to show our guests that our students are very much interested in their research, so we would like to have at least 10 RSVP's for this last lunch on Monday. So, please send your RSVP to me and indicate your dietary preference (meat or vegetarian) by Friday, 12:00 noon. I look forward to hearing from you! Abstract: The extraordinary advances in quantum control of matter and light have been transformative for precision measurements enabling probes of the most basic laws of Nature to gain fundamental understanding of the physical Universe. Exceptional versatility, inventiveness, and rapid development of precision experiments supported by continuous technological advances and improved theory give a high chance for paradigm-shifting discovery. The development of atomic clocks with systematic uncertainties in the 10-18 range enables searches for the variation of fundamental constants, dark matter, and violations of Lorentz invariance. I will give an overview of such clock applications including prospects for significantly improved sensitivity with highly charged ions and a nuclear clock. (Her talk will be given in Jefferson 250, March 2nd, 4:30p - 5:30pm, tea served in Jefferson 450 @ 3:45 pm) Please note new time for tea and colloquium!!! PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN MUG

4 years, 2 months

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SAVE THE DATE: Paul Steinhardt on March 5 @ 6:00pm | Harvard Science Book Talk

by Gardner, Felice Ann

Harvard Science Book Talk: Thursday, March 5, 2020 [https://mcusercontent.com/2a42f9e6c5264bb277175db04/_compresseds/4b6d61cf-4…] Paul J. Steinhardt Albert Einstein Professor in Science and Theoretical Physicist Princeton University The Second Kind of Impossible THE SECOND KIND OF IMPOSSIBLE tells one of the strangest scientific stories that you will ever hear – a thirty-five year quest for new forms of matter, known as quasicrystals, that violate scientific principles that had been established for centuries. The talk will describe the scientific odyssey that unfolds over the ensuing decades, first to prove the validity of the idea, and then to pursue Steinhardt's wildest conjecture: that nature made quasicrystals long before humans discovered them. Along the way, his team encounters clandestine collectors, corrupt scientists, secret diaries, international smugglers, and KGB agents. Their quest culminates in a daring expedition to a distant corner of the Earth, in pursuit of tiny fragments of a meteorite forged at the birth of the solar system. https://secondkindofimpossible.org/ Lecture @ 6:00 PM Lecture Hall C Book Signing @ 7:15 PM Cabot Library Harvard Science Center One Oxford Street Cambridge, MA [Twitter]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.twitter.com_Harvard…> This lecture is free and open to the public. To view previously recorded lectures or see schedule of future talks: Harvard Science Book Talks<https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks> For more information and to be notified about future events, please contact: science_lectures(a)fas.harvard.edu<mailto:science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu>.

4 years, 2 months

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Next Equity and Inclusion Meeting, Friday, February 28th from 3-4:00pm

by Gardner, Felice Ann

Dear Physics Community, The next Equity and Inclusion meeting is scheduled on Friday, February 28th from 3-4:00 pm in Jefferson 453. You can view the minutes from the last meeting here<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PCr2ri_p8ZUhLU4GXUuckxBbBXpAT8vg?us…>. The meeting agenda will be circulated tomorrow. Please let me know if you plan to attend the meeting. Thanks, Felice

4 years, 2 months

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sps-list February 2020