July 2023 - sps-list

by Prentiss, Mara

Dear All, The Physics 15c poster session is starting at 4:30 today in Science Center 306. Everyone is cordially invited. Food will be served. I hope to see you there. Mara -- Professor of Physics Harvard University 17 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138

3 weeks, 1 day

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90r/91r form

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 signup

by Morin, David

This email is for the sophomores among you who are interested in signing up for the Physics or Chem/Phys concentrations. The deadline to declare a concentration is Thursday, November 17, but please don't wait until the last minute! A list of possible 20-minute meeting times with me in Lyman 238, starting this coming Wednesday 10/5, is located at the following link (I'll gradually add more times in later weeks). Write your name in a time slot (and make a note of it, so you don’t forget). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GmSKP-i5GyUXdhrHhT9dTL-8r2Bonbzu-PR… We'll use the meeting to go over your plan of study, talk about the concentration, and take care of a few other logistics. It's a fairly harmless procedure. But a few things to do beforehand are: 1) Fill out the Registrar's declaration form. Instructions are here: https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=529e5ecadb6f4f0… 2) Look at the concentration requirements listed in the Fields of Concentration: https://handbook.college.harvard.edu/files/collegehandbook/files/fields_fin… and think about what courses you want to take that will satisfy the requirements. (Clickable index near the beginning. Chem/Phys is on page 42, Physics is on page 185.) 3) Make a plan of study. I recommend using Excel (or something similar) to list out the 4 courses in each of your 8 semesters. When making a rough schedule of your remaining 5 semesters, you of course don't need to stick to it exactly, but it's good to have an existence proof of a plan that works. 4) Think about whom you want as your concentration advisor. Everyone has Prof. Georgi and me automatically, and we also pair you up with another faculty member. Make a list of a few possibilities, in case your first choice is overbooked. You can peruse the list of Physics faculty at: https://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/faculty PLEASE HAVE **THREE** NAMES IN MIND when we meet. Note: there is no best way of picking names. Maybe a prof is doing research you find interesting, or you were in a class they taught (definitely not necessary), or a friend spoke highly of them, etc. You don’t need to have met the prof before. 5) Fill out this google form: https://forms.gle/tWstcghbxy2tf5e39<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__forms.gle_tWstcghbxy2t…> If you have any questions beforehand, stop by my office hours: https://scholar.harvard.edu/david-morin/office-hours or Prof. Georgi's: https://sites.harvard.edu/hgeorgi/ These hours are set up at the beginning of each week, but check them during the week for any changes that may come up. Frequently asked questions are located at: https://www.physics.harvard.edu/undergrad/faqs-concentrators We look forward to having you officially join the department! DJM

7 months, 3 weeks

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Academic Advising Report

by Morin, David

Concerning the Academic Advising Report in my.harvard, the report can be misleading, so please ignore it, at least as far as the Physics and Chem/Phys concentration requirements go. It might say that some requirements aren’t satisfied when in fact they are. And conversely it might say that some requirements are satisfied when they aren’t. (However, the Gen Ed and Distribution parts of the report are probably accurate, so do pay attention to those.) The requirements that you should be looking at are the official requirements listed in the Fields of Concentration: https://handbook.college.harvard.edu/files/collegehandbook/files/harvard_co… (Click on the index at the beginning to go to the Physics or Chem/Phys pages.) If you want to submit an exception to the Advising Report to make it more accurately reflect your requirement status, feel free to do so. But again, it doesn’t matter. If you do submit an exception, please include a short explanation in the description box.

8 months, 4 weeks

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Phys 191

by Morin, David

For those of you who will be taking Phys 191 this year, you are strongly encouraged to take it now in the fall. The enrollment in the spring is always much higher, so if you take it now in the fall you’ll get far more professor time, and things will be much calmer.

9 months

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Phys, Chem/Phys Advising

by Morin, David

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable summer. The new semester is fast approaching, so here we go... This email is relevant to the Physics and Chem/Phys concentrators among you. It's a long email, but please pay special attention to the "YOUR TASK" item below. THE SHORT VERSION: Email your concentration advisor and set up a zoom meeting sometime between Mon 8/16 and Wed 8/25 (Thurs 8/26 is the course registration deadline). Your advisor will lift the hold on your crimson cart (sometimes called “study card”). More info on the various dates can be found here: https://college.harvard.edu/guides/course-preview-period 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. (However, I’ll be away from 8/14 to 8/21.) (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> and https://scholar.harvard.edu/david-morin/office-hours, zoom link: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/95258793192?pwd=cEViNis1d1ozNDk3MmdpWjRyOVY1QT09<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.zoom.us_j_9525…> We encourage you to drop by zoom, 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. 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, by all means stop by zoom, 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 FACULTY 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 Faculty Assistant is listed below the advisor's research blurb. 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 summer! DJM

9 months

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Chilloquium Week 6: Francis Halzen (July 31, 4:30 pm ET)

by Mincheol Park

[image: Harvard Physics Department Webpage] <https://www.physics.harvard.edu/chilloquium> [image: YouTube Recording for Previous Talks] <https://www.youtube.com/@harvardsps6651> [image: MIT SPS Webpage] <https://spsexecmit.wixsite.com/mit-sps/about-3> Prof. Francis Halzen, University of Wisconsin-Madison & IceCube <http://harvard.zoom.us/j/97505828623> Meet our Speaker: Who is the principal investigator for the breakthrough neutrino-detector project *Professor Francis Halzen *is the Gregory Breit Professor at UW–Madison and a theoretician in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. He received his Master’s and PhD at the University of Louvain in Belgium. Prof. Halzen initiated the construction of AMANDA <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0146641098000465>, a first-generation neutrino detector located in the South Pole. He later became the principal investigator of IceCube, an array of optical sensors buried deep in Antarctic ice. In a 2013 breakthrough <https://phys.org/news/2013-11-world-largest-particle-detector-icecube.html>, IceCube detected the first high-energy neutrinos originating from outside our galaxy. Please check out his website <https://user-web.icecube.wisc.edu/~halzen/> for more information on previous research and projects. Chilloquium is the virtual colloquium for *every* physics student. These weekly talks: - lie somewhere between a conversation and a lecture - highlight each speaker's personal journey as well as their work - are designed with undergrads in mind To those joining us for the first time this week, welcome! You can find more information about Chilloquium as well as the link to sign up to our mailing list, where we send updates on speakers every week: https://www.physics.harvard.edu/chilloquium. Please direct inquiries concerning the Harvard-MIT SPS, Chilloquium, or details contained within this email at harvard-mit-chilloquium-exec(a)mit.edu. Poster design was done by our officer Claire Swadling. This email was sent to mincheol_park(a)college.harvard.edu *why did I get this?* unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences *|LIST:ADDRESSLINE|*

9 months, 2 weeks

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TODAY @12:00PM ET: Andrew Pontzen & Çağan Şengül, "The Universe in a Box: Simulations and the Quest to Code the Cosmos" HARVARD SCIENCE BOOK TALKS

by Werbeloff, Marina D

[https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/template_images/gallery/47662b23-df38-45d4…] VIRTUAL HARVARD SCIENCE BOOK TALK [https://mcusercontent.com/2a42f9e6c5264bb277175db04/images/a9c1ed69-d1fd-6e…] ANDREW PONTZEN The Universe in a Box: Simulations and the Quest to Code the Cosmos In conversation with A. ÇAĞAN ŞENGÜL ________________________________ Cosmology is a tricky science—no one can make their own stars, planets, or galaxies to test its theories. But over the last few decades a new kind of physics has emerged to fill the gap between theory and experimentation. Harnessing the power of modern supercomputers, cosmologists have built simulations that offer profound insights into the deep history of our universe, allowing centuries-old ideas to be tested for the first time. Today, physicists are translating their ideas and equations into code, finding that there is just as much to be learned from computers as experiments in laboratories. In The Universe in a Box, cosmologist Andrew Pontzen explains how physicists model the universe’s most exotic phenomena, from black holes and colliding galaxies to dark matter and quantum entanglement, enabling them to study the evolution of virtual worlds and to shed new light on our reality. JULY 28 @12:00PM ET REGISTER<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> Free admission [YouTube]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> YouTube<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> [Twitter]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> Twitter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> [Website]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> Website<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> [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…] ABOUT THE SPEAKERS: Andrew Pontzen is a professor of cosmology at University College London. He has written for New Scientist, BBC Sky at Night, and BBC Focus; lectured at the Royal Institution; and been featured as an expert on PBS’s NOVA, the Discovery Channel’s How the Universe Works, and other shows. Simulations are a major part of his research which spans cosmology, physics and computation. He lives in London. Atınç Çağan Şengül has received his Ph.D. in physics in May of 2023 from Harvard University, where he worked on strong gravitational lensing under the supervision of Professor Cora Dvorkin. He is now heading to the University of Pittsburgh as a Samuel P. Langley Postdoctoral Fellow. Şengül's research primarily focuses on studying the properties and dynamics of dark matter. He is particularly interested in investigating cosmological and astrophysical observations to uncover potential evidence for physics beyond the standard model. For more information about the series and videos of previous Harvard Science Book Talks, see https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> This email was sent to werbeloff(a)fas.harvard.edu<mailto:werbeloff@fas.harvard.edu> why did I get this?<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> unsubscribe from this list<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> update subscription preferences<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.us9.list-2Dman…> Harvard University/Department of Physics · 17 Oxford Street · Cambridge, MA 02138 · USA [Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.mailchimp.com_email…>

9 months, 3 weeks

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Summer office hours

by Morin, David

I hope everyone’s summer is going well. I’ll switch back to having regularly scheduled office hours, starting this week: https://scholar.harvard.edu/david-morin/office-hours Zoom link: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/95258793192?pwd=cEViNis1d1ozNDk3MmdpWjRyOVY1QT09<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__harvard.zoom.us_j_9525…> Try to make the scheduled times each week, but if you can’t and you want to set up another time, just send me a few possible times that work for you, and I’ll pick one. A reminder not to trust the google search page for my office hours – it’s often out of date. Always refer to the above webpage.

9 months, 3 weeks

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No Chilloquium this week

by Mincheol Park

Hello everyone, There will be no Chilloquium this week, and the next Chilloquium event will happen on July 31st (Mon) at 4:30 pm by Professor Francis Halzen (IceCube). Also, we will announce the August speaker list soon! See you on July 31st! Best, Mincheol

9 months, 3 weeks

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sps-list July 2023