March 29, 1998 - April 4, 1998 THE BOSTON AREA PHYSICS CALENDAR The Boston Area Physics Calendar is published weekly during the academic year by the Department of Physics at Boston College. You may send your announcements by e-mail (bapc@bc.edu) or FAX (617-552-8478). We cannot accept announcements by telephone. Entries should reach us no later than 11:00 a.m. on the Monday preceding the week of the event. ENTRIES RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. _______________________________________________ Monday, March 30, 1998 Monday, March 30, 1998, 12:30 p.m. Boston University Condensed Matter Seminar SCI 352 (590 Commonwealth Ave.) "New Results in Percolation Theory" Professor Dietrich Stauffer Cologne University Monday, March 30, 1998, 2:00 p.m. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Monday Research Seminar MIT Center for Theoretical Physics, Bldg. 6, Third floor "Gauge Theory, Geometry and the Large N Limit" Vijay Balasubramanian Harvard University Monday, March 30, 1998, 3:00 p.m. Tufts University Special Theory Seminar Robinson Hall, Room 250 "Quantum String Cosmology" Dr. Marco Cavaglia Max Planck Institute Monday, March 30, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Boston University Astrophysics Colloquium 725 Commonwealth Ave., Room 500 "Chemistry in the Early Universe" Professor Alex Dalgarno CfA Coffee and cookies served at 3:45 p.m. Monday, March 30, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nuclear Theory Seminar MIT Center for Theoretical Physics, Bldg. 6, Third floor "QCD with Domain Wall Fermions" Tom Blum Brookhaven National Laboratory Monday, March 30, 1998, 4:15 p.m. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chez Pierre Seminar MIT Room 12-132 "Theory of the Pseudogap in Underdoped Cuprates" Professor Andrey V. Chubukov University of Wisconsin Tea and cookies will be available at 4:00 p.m. Monday, March 30, 1998, 4:30 p.m. Brown University Department of Physics Colloquium Barus & Holley, Room 168 "Utilizing the High Brightness and Energy Tunability of Synchrotron X-ray Sources to Characterize Novel Helical Structures in Liquid Crystals" Dr. Ron Pindak Bell Laboratories Refreshments served at 4:00 p.m. Monday, March 30, 1998, 4:30 p.m. Harvard University Physics Department Colloquium Jefferson Lab 250 "Josephson Effect in Superfluid HE3: Quantum Mechanics You Can Hear" Professor Richard Packard University of California at Berkeley Tea at 4:00 p.m. in Jefferson 461. _______________________________________________ Tuesday, March 31, 1998 Tuesday, March 31, 1998, 12:00-1:00 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Modern Optics and Spectroscopy Seminar Marlar Lounge (37-252), McNair Building "Interactions Between Rydberg Atoms from 300K to 300mK" Thomas Gallagher University of Virginia Refreshments served following the seminar. Tuesday, March 31, 1998, 2:30 p.m. Tufts University Joint Tufts-CFA-MIT Cosmology Seminar Robinson Hall, Room 250 "Geometrical Characterizations of Non-Gaussianity in the CMB" Dr. Serge Winitzki Cambridge University Refreshments served at 2:00 in Knipp Library, Room 251. Tuesday, March 31, 1998, 3:45 p.m. Boston University Department of Physics Colloquium Metcalf Science Center (590 Comm. Ave.), Room 107 "Self-Organized Short-Term Memories" Professor Susan Coppersmith University of Chicago Refreshments are served at 3:20 in the lounge. Tuesday, March 31, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Brandeis University Martin Weiner Lecture Series, Physics Colloquium Physics Building, Abelson 131 "How to Cook Pheasant: Supersymmetry and Its Use" Professor Marcus T. Grisaru Brandeis University Refreshments in Room 333 at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Harvard University High Energy Physics Seminar High Energy Physics Lab (42 Oxford St.), 3rd Floor "The Last Meson" Professor Thomas J. Devlin Rutgers University Exquisite cookies and fresh-brewed coffee will be served. ________________________________________________ Wednesday, April 1, 1998 Wednesday, April 1, 1998, 4:15 p.m. Boston College Department of Physics Colloquium Higgins Hall, Room 354 "The Quest for Metallic Hydrogen" Professor Neil W. Ashcroft Cornell University Refreshments will be served at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, 1998, 4:30 p.m. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Theory Seminar MIT Center for Theoretical Physics, Bldg. 6, Third floor "The Relationship Between Gravity and Yang-Mills and Its Implications" Zvi Bern University of California, Los Angeles _____________________________________________ Thursday, April 2, 1998 Thursday, April 2, 1998, 12:00 noon Harvard University Condensed Matter Theory Seminar Pierce Hall, Room 100F "Random XY Models: Quo Vadis, Order?" Dr. Stefan Scheidl Argonne National Laboratory Thursday, April 2, 1998, 1:30 p.m. Harvard University Materials Science Seminar Gordon McKay Laboratory, Room 402 "Point Defect Concentrations Near Interfaces in Acceptor-Doped Strontium Titanate: Implications for Reliability of Electroceramic Thin Films" Paul C. McIntyre Stanford University Thursday, April 2, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Scientific Colloquium 60 Garden Street (Phillips Auditorium) "Imaging Star and Disk Formation" Dr. William D. Langer Jet Propulsion Laboratory Tea will be available at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Boston College Department of Physics Colloquium Higgins Hall, Room 354 "Organic Gardening with Superconductors: Precisely-Aligned Magnetic Fields in Molecular Conductors" Professor Michael J. Naughton SUNY at Buffalo Thursday, April 2, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Harvard University High Energy Physics Seminar High Energy Physics Lab (42 Oxford St.), 3rd floor "Brands of CP Violations in B Decays" Professor Amarjit Soni Brookhaven National Laboratory Thursday, April 2, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Brown University Condensed Matter Seminar Barus & Holley, Room 751 "Finite Temperature Phase Diagram of the Hubbard Model of Electronic Conduction" Professor A.N. Berker Massachusetts Institute of Technology Thursday, April 2, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Clark University Department of Physics Colloquium Sackler Science Center, Room N-105 "How Is Physics Useful in Addressing Environmental Problems?" Professor Robert Goble Clark University Thursday, April 2, 1998, 4:15 p.m. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Physics Colloquium MIT Room 10-250 "Recent Results from the Hubble Space Telescope" Bob Williams Space Telescope Science Institute Refreshments available in 26-110 at 3:45 p.m. ______________________________________________ Friday, April 3, 1998 Friday, April 3, 1998, 1:30 p.m. Brandeis University Condensed Matter Seminar Physics Building, Room 333 "The Phase Diagram of Globular Protein Solutions" Aleksey Lomakin Massachusetts Institute of Technology Friday, April 3, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Massachusetts Institute of Technology LNS Colloquium Kolker Room, 26-414 "Dynamics of Nonabelian Plasmas" Berndt Mueller Duke University Refreshments at 3:45 p.m. Friday, April 3, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Harvard University Condensed Matter Seminar Pierce Hall, Room 209 "Waves in Shaken Sand" Dr. Paul Umbanhowar University of Pennsylvania Refreshments will be served following in the Brooks Room. Friday, April 3, 1998, 4:00 p.m. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science and Fusion Center Seminar NW17-218 (175 Albany Street) "Microwave Plasma Monitoring of Trace Metal Pollutants" Dr. Paul Woskov MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center Refreshments served 15 minutes prior to seminar. ____________________________ Reminder: Deadline for the April 5 - Apr. 11 Issue is: Monday, March 30, 1998 at 11:00 a.m. ____________________________ Program of the Spring 1998 New England Section Meeting of the APS/AAPT/SPS April 3 and 4, 1998 Clark University Sackler Science Center Friday, April 3 1 - 4 pm Registration 2 pm Ernest Prabhakar, Rhapsody Products Marketing Manager, Apple Computer 2:50 pm Demonstrations of Linux, Rhapsody, Physics Academic Software, Macsyma and PDEase2D 4:15 pm AAPT Workshop. John Clement, "Dealing with Students' Preconceptions in Mechanics" 4:15 pm APS Tutorial Session on Soft Condensed Matter Physics Jerry Gollub, "Pattern Formation: Symmetry and Chaos" Heinrich Jaeger, "The Physics of Granular Matter" 8 pm John Deutch, "Reflections on Government's Role in Research and Development" Saturday, April 4 8 - 10 am Registration 9 am AAPT Session 1. Ron Thornton, "Enhancing Physics Learning in Large Classes with Computer-Based Labs, Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, Modeling, and Visualization" 10 am APS Tutorial Session on Magnetism and Superconductivity Brian Maple, "Magnetic Phase Diagrams of Exotic Superconductors" Daniel Reich, "Quantum Magnetism in Low-dimensional Systems" 11 am AAPT Session II Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood, "The Effectiveness of an Alternative Introductory E&M Course" 1:30 pm AAPT Session III, Bruce Sherwood and Ruth Chabay, "An Alternative Introductory Physics Course: Physical Modeling in Mechanics and Thermal Physics" ---------------------- Joan Drane joan.drane@bc.edu Boston College