May 2021 - sps-list

by Morin, David

If you are doing research through Phys 90r this semester, this google form replaces the old paper form: https://forms.gle/YgQhmxz4f54CvAT8A Please fill this out as soon as your 90r research plan is settled. This is just an internal physics form, so don’t forget to officially sign up for 90r in your crimson cart. Let me know if you have any questions.

4 months

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concentration reqs

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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summer office hours

by Morin, David

I hope everyone’s summer is starting off with some well-earned rest and relaxation. I’ll have Zoom office hours throughout the summer, but less frequently. If you can’t make the posted hours, feel free to email to set up another time. (Please suggest a few possible times in your email, to cut down on the back and forth.) Here’s the usual link to my schedule: https://scholar.harvard.edu/david-morin/office-hours And the usual Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/95258793192?pwd=cEViNis1d1ozNDk3MmdpWjRyOVY1QT09<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.zoom.us_j_9525…> Password if needed: morinOH Looking forward to the fall and some normal times again!

2 years, 9 months

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TUESDAY! Harvard Science Book Talk on June 1 @ 12:00pm-Veronica O’Keane, "A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are"

by Gardner, Felice Ann

[https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/47662b23-df38-45d4…] HARVARD SCIENCE BOOK TALK [https://mcusercontent.com/2a42f9e6c5264bb277175db04/images/49151fb5-66b3-52…] Veronica O'Keane<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.tcd.ie_research_pr…> A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are in conversation with Ted Dinan<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__apc.ucc.ie_ted-5Fdinan…> A twinge of sadness, a rush of love, a knot of loss, a whiff of regret. Memories have the power to move us, often when we least expect it, a sign of the complex neural process that continues in the background of our everyday lives. This process shapes us: filtering the world around us, informing our behavior and feeding our imagination. Psychiatrist Veronica O’Keane has spent many years observing how memory and experience are interwoven. In this rich, fascinating exploration, she asks, among other things: Why can memories feel so real? How are our sensations and perceptions connected with them? Why is place so important in memory? Are there such things as “true” and “false” memories? And, above all, what happens when the process of memory is disrupted by mental illness? O’Keane uses the broken memories of psychosis to illuminate the integrated human brain, offering a new way of thinking about our own personal experiences. Drawing on poignant accounts that include her own experiences, as well as what we can learn from insights in literature and fairytales and the latest neuroscientific research, O’Keane reframes our understanding of the extraordinary puzzle that is the human brain and how it changes during its growth from birth to adolescence and old age. By elucidating this process, she exposes the way that the formation of memory in the brain is vital to the creation of our sense of self. Veronica O’Keane is professor of psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist at Trinity College Dublin, with over thirty years’ experience in the field. She has published numerous research papers, especially on mood disorders and on perinatal depression. Ted Dinan is Professor of Psychiatry and a Principal Investigator in the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre at University College Cork. He has worked in research laboratories on both sides of the Atlantic and has a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. His primary research focus is on immune and endocrine aspects of depression and irritable bowel syndrome. JUNE 1 @ 12:00PM REGISTER<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.harvard.com_event_…> [YouTube]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_channe…> YouTube<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_channe…> [Twitter]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_HarvardSci…> Twitter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_HarvardSci…> [Website]<https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks> Website<https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks> [Email]<mailto:science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu.> Email<mailto:science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu.> [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/03c9e5d8-4a2f-471e…] [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/47662b23-df38-45d4…]

2 years, 11 months

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Fwd: [Giim-members] Apply to lead GIIM for 2021-22

by Lara Zeng

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Harvard GIIM <harvardgiim(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, May 22, 2021 at 1:33 PM Subject: [Giim-members] Apply to lead GIIM for 2021-22 To: <giim-members(a)lists.hcs.harvard.edu> Congratulations on finishing the semester! We are announcing that *applications for Co-Presidents of Gender Inclusivity in Mathematics *for the 2021-22 school year are open and *due June 4, 11:59 pm.* https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdyb5bmQLlW6ujCoDXNwB3WSvEeLJR21LR… This is an excellent opportunity to work with a close-knit team, direct large-scale programs in the math department, and share your vision for an inclusive and flourishing community at Harvard for all those interested in math. After you submit your application, we will follow up for a short interview on Saturday, June 5 or Sunday, June 6. We are an organization dedicated to creating a community of mathematicians particularly welcoming to women and gender minorities interested in math. The co-presidents plan and facilitate board programs, which include first-year math advising, Math Night, the Women in Math and Statistics Conference, and community events. *The application is open to all*, and being on GIIM board is not a prerequisite! Please reach out to us with any questions you have about the application or the role. We're excited to speak with you! _______________________________________________ giim-members mailing list giim-members(a)lists.hcs.harvard.edu https://lists.hcs.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/giim-members

2 years, 11 months

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Invitation to Nominate our annual Physics Phenom - portal now OPEN

by E. Kaxiras, Physics Chair, Harvard

Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to invite your nominations for our eighth iteration of the Physics Phenom Award – a staff reward and recognition program. As many of you know, this program was designed by a staff committee, in consultation with the faculty and administration, to recognize employee achievement and reward work and behaviors that support the mission, goals, values, and initiatives of the Department of Physics. The Department seeks to celebrate meaningful and special contributions "above and beyond" standard job responsibilities by bestowing the moniker Physics Phenom on persons who demonstrate concrete achievement and contributions to the Department in areas that may include: collegiality, innovation, mentorship, professionalism, special projects, and teamwork. Awardees will be announced in late June. Please learn more about the Physics Phenom award at https://www.physics.harvard.edu/physics-phenom Nominations for this season’s Physics Phenom may be submitted anonymously at the Physics Phenom Nomination Portal<https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0ize40hrm9npOIe>. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, June 11, 2021. Previous Winners 2020: Dionne Clarke, Samantha Dakoulas, Benita Wolff 2019: Lisa Cacciabaudo 2018: Hannah Belcher and Marina Werbeloff 2016: Adam Ackerman 2015: Carol Davis 2014: Barbara Drauschke and Nils Sorensen 2013: Bonnie Currier Thank you, Tim Kaxiras & Anne Trubia

2 years, 11 months

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Reminder: Graduation Day 2021 - TOMORROW, Thursday, May 27

by Cacciabaudo, Lisa N

2 years, 11 months

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TODAY! Harvard Science Book Talk--Wednesday-May 26 @ 5PM-Jordan Ellenberg, "Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy..."

by Gardner, Felice Ann

[https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/47662b23-df38-45d4…] HARVARD SCIENCE BOOK TALK [https://mcusercontent.com/2a42f9e6c5264bb277175db04/images/a93b8a99-275f-02…] Jordan Ellenberg<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.jordanellenberg.com…> Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else in conversation with Cathy O'Neil How should a democracy choose its representatives? How can you stop a pandemic from sweeping the world? How do computers learn to play Go, and why is learning Go so much easier for them than learning to read a sentence? Can ancient Greek proportions predict the stock market? (Sorry, no.) What should your kids learn in school if they really want to learn to think? All these are questions about geometry. For real. If you're like most people, geometry is a sterile and dimly remembered exercise you gladly left behind in the dust of ninth grade, along with your braces and active romantic interest in pop singers. If you recall any of it, it's plodding through a series of miniscule steps only to prove some fact about triangles that was obvious to you in the first place. That's not geometry. Okay, it is geometry, but only a tiny part, which has as much to do with geometry in all its flush modern richness as conjugating a verb has to do with a great novel. Shape reveals the geometry underneath some of the most important scientific, political, and philosophical problems we face. Geometry asks: Where are things? Which things are near each other? How can you get from one thing to another thing? Those are important questions. The word "geometry," from the Greek for "measuring the world." If anything, that's an undersell. Geometry doesn't just measure the world—it explains it. Shape shows us how. Jordan Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard and an MFA in creative writing from Johns Hopkins. His areas of research specialization are number theory and algebraic geometry. He has written articles on mathematical topics in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and The Believer, and is a regular columnist for Slate. Cathy O’Neil is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a mathematician who has worked as a professor, hedge-fund analyst and data scientist. She founded ORCAA, an algorithmic auditing company, and is the author of Weapons of Math Destruction. May 26 @ 5:00PM REGISTER<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.harvard.com_event_…> [YouTube]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_channe…> YouTube<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_channe…> [Twitter]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_HarvardSci…> Twitter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_HarvardSci…> [Website]<https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks> Website<https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks> [Email]<mailto:science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu.> Email<mailto:science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu.> [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/03c9e5d8-4a2f-471e…] [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/47662b23-df38-45d4…]

2 years, 11 months

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TODAY! Harvard Science Book Talk--Tuesday-May 25 @ 7PM-Carlo Rovelli, "Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution"

by Gardner, Felice Ann

TODAY! Harvard Science Book Talk-Thursday--Tuesday-May 25 @ 7PM-Carlo Rovelli, "Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution" [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/47662b23-df38-45d4…] HARVARD SCIENCE BOOK TALK [https://mcusercontent.com/2a42f9e6c5264bb277175db04/images/eb294087-73e2-a6…] Carlo Rovelli<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cpt.univ-2Dmrs.fr_-…> Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution in conversation with Katie Mack<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.astrokatie.com&d=Dw…> One of the world's most renowned theoretical physicists, Carlo Rovelli has entranced millions of readers with his singular perspective on the cosmos. In Helgoland, he examines the enduring enigma of quantum theory. The quantum world Rovelli describes is as beautiful as it is unnerving. Helgoland is a treeless island in the North Sea where the twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg made the crucial breakthrough for the creation of quantum mechanics, setting off a century of scientific revolution. Full of alarming ideas (ghost waves, distant objects that seem to be magically connected, cats that appear both dead and alive), quantum physics has led to countless discoveries and technological advancements. Today our understanding of the world is based on this theory, yet it is still profoundly mysterious. As scientists and philosophers continue to fiercely debate the meaning of the theory, Rovelli argues that its most unsettling contradictions can be explained by seeing the world as fundamentally made of relationships rather than substances. We and everything around us exist only in our interactions with one another. This bold idea suggests new directions for thinking about the structure of reality and even the nature of consciousness. Rovelli makes learning about quantum mechanics an almost psychedelic experience. Shifting our perspective once again, he takes us on a riveting journey through the universe so we can better comprehend our place in it. Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist and the head of the quantum gravity group at the Centre de Physique Théorique of Aix-Marseille Université. He is one of the founders of the loop quantum gravity theory and author of the international bestseller Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Reality Is Not What It Seems, and The Order of Time. Dr. Katie Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist, exploring a range of questions in cosmology, the study of the universe from beginning to end. She is currently an assistant professor of physics at North Carolina State University, where she is also a member of the Leadership in Public Science Cluster. She has been published in a number of popular publications, such as Scientific American, Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time, and Cosmos magazine, where she is a columnist. She can be found on Twitter as @AstroKatie. May 25 @ 7:00PM TICKETED EVENT REGISTER<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.harvard.com_event_…> [YouTube]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_channe…> YouTube<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_channe…> [Twitter]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_HarvardSci…> Twitter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_HarvardSci…> [Website]<https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks> Website<https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks> [Email]<mailto:science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu.> Email<mailto:science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu.> [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/03c9e5d8-4a2f-471e…] [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/47662b23-df38-45d4…]

2 years, 11 months

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