Meetings, Special Events | Post by kharidiron on May 31st, 2007
Instead of a speaker, this week we’ll be watching the first half of “Einstein’s Big Idea”, the NOVA special about the events leading to Einstein’s groundbreaking 1905 papers, with an emphasis on the mass-energy relation. The website for the show is here:
Coffee, tea, soda, and some food are relativistic only in their deliciousness.
–James
Informational, Meetings | Post by kharidiron on May 21st, 2007
No speaker this week, but a simple study session for those so inclined. And if you *weren’t* planning to be studying around that time, you may have forgotten which major you’ve chosen. It’s not studio art! (Though studio art is awesome; don’t get me wrong.)
We’ll also discuss elections! If you’re interested in being an officer next year, please come and make yourself heard.
Coffee, tea, soda, and some food will greet you upon your arrival at the meeting.
AND A SPECIAL LICK OBSERVATORY NOTE:
The SPS Lick Observatory tour is taking place this Saturday, and there are still a few spots left. If you’d like to go, email ucscsps@gmail.com and let us know. Also let us know if you have a car and would be willing to car pool to Mount Hamilton.
If you’ve already sent your RSVP, your spot is secure, and you will receive a detailed email shortly.
–James
Informational, Special Events | Post by kharidiron on May 19th, 2007
It’s true: the SPS is finally going to Lick Observatory! We can’t guarantee that you’ll personally discover direct, observational evidence of dark energy while you’re there, but it should be enjoyable nonetheless. The tour takes place on Saturday, May 26th, and we’ll be carpooling there. The starting time for the tour is yet to be determined, but, at the latest, it would go till 5:00 PM.
More info later.
We have a limited number of spots for the tour, so if you’d like to go, please respond to…
…and tell us the following:
1) That you want to go. 2) If you have a car and would be willing to be a driver in our carpool up to Mt. Hamilton, say so, and note your car’s capacity.
Like I said, more details later.
–James
Meetings | Post by kharidiron on May 14th, 2007
Many of us are obsessed with both physics *and* math, and not just the computational math of a good Fourier transform, but the gritty, gory, somewhat intractably abstract details behind stuff like group representation theory, symplectic topology, and differential geometry.
Yes, we might be insane.
BUT! We have a kindred spirit in Professor Jonathan Weitsman, of the UCSC Mathematics Department, who is going to be giving a presentation at this week’s meeting, which takes place on Thursday, May 17th, 2007, at 5:30 PM, in ISB 231. His title is Reflections on Geometry and Physics, and his research interests are (according to the Math Department website) “in geometry and mathematical physics”. He told me that he was both a physics AND a math guy originally, and it looks like a lot of his work involves stuff that is relevant to much of the forefront of theoretical physics: supersymmetry, quantum field theory, and string theory.
And if you’ve ever taken a class from Prof. Weitsman, you’ll remember that it was as fascinating as it was difficult — which is the best possible class to have.
Also, for this meeting, we’ll be joined by the Mathematics Diversity Alliance, a fellow student group here on campus full of many our math major colleagues and allies. Welcome!
–James
Meetings, Special Events | Post by kharidiron on May 10th, 2007
Richard Feynman’s birthday is this week! This means, of course, that we’re throwing him another birthday party, similar to last year’s:
http://physics.ucsc.edu/sps/oldnews.html (scroll down a couple of entries)
This year, instead of a big sheet cake with the Feynman diagram for the Higgs strahlung process, we’re having a cupcake decorating contest! Deck out your cupcake with a Feynman diagram; or turn it into a sub-atomic particle, combine it with other sub-atomic cupcakes, and analyze the cupcake interactions via Feynman cupcake diagrams; or crush it with a vice and drop it into a glass of ice water to demonstrate to a Congressional committee that cupcakes won’t withstand subzero temperatures, *despite* NASA’s assertions; or just eat it, the Feynman way! (Which, I believe, is just the regular way, too.)
If you want to brush up on your Feynman lore before the party, try these:
http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/richard_phillips_feynman.html http://www.feynman.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
No, you don’t need to have a comprehensive grasp of quantum electrodynamics and you don’t need to know what “sum over paths” means to attend the party. Just come eat the cupcakes and color another Feynman coloring page and watch videos of the man himself.
And if anyone plays the bongos and has a set, bring it along. Feynman would have wanted it that way.
Coffee, tea, soda, and the regular stuff will be around, too, in addition to the cupcakes.
–James
Meetings, Special Events | Post by kharidiron on May 2nd, 2007
This week’s meeting is extraordinary for many reasons:
1) It’s on a strange day: Friday, May 4th, 2007.
2) It’s at a strange time: 2:00 PM.
3) It’s in a strange room: ISB 102
4) It features Professor Bruce Schumm.
Bruce does experimental particle physics, and will be speaking about the proposed International Linear Collider and the role that the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics is playing in the planning and advocacy of the ILC.
Nothing more need be said. It’s Bruce.
Coffee, tea, soda, eating-type-stuff, etc.
Everyone is welcome, and please feel free to bring friends and associates.
Thank you.
–James
P.S. Also, we’re taking a field trip to Lick Observatory. Yes, we are. More on that later.
