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PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM SCHEDULE
Fall 2018
The Colloquia are in Room 1002 NPB on Thursday at 4:05 PM
Refreshments will be served starting at 3:15 PM in NPB 2205

Contact: A. Hebard afh@phys.ufl.edu)
Department of Physics Colloquium Committee:
Hebard (chair), Fulda, Matchev, Mitselmakher, Wang


August 23

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August 30
  Speaker Graduate Student Meeting with Dr. Xiaoguang Zhang 4:00pm in 1002 NPB
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September 6
  Speaker Doug Soltis, Florida Museum of Natural History and Department of Biology
  Title Building the tree of life
  Abstract Why did it take over 150 years from the time of Darwin who referred to “The Great Tree of Life” in the mid 1800s to build the first tree of all life in 2015? With more than 2 million species already described, and many more millions undiscovered or extinct, the size of the Tree of Life is immense. As a result, the task of assembling a comprehensive tree for all life was long considered not just daunting but impossible. Put simply, building huge family trees of relationships (phylogenetic trees) is very hard, rivaling the most difficult problems in physics and astronomy. In fact, building large trees of relationships for just a few hundred species was once deemed impossible because of the mathematically challenges. For example, the number of ways that just 20 species can be connected into trees of relationships is approaching Avogadro’s number, that is a mole of trees (6.02 x 1023). Thus, building the first tree of all named Life (all 2.3 million species) was a true “grand challenge” or a “moonshot” for biology. Accomplishing that moonshot required the perfect storm of algorithm development, computer power, DNA sequencing improvements as well as international collaboration and teamwork. Furthermore, building the first Tree of Life provides an enormously important tool for human-well-being with numerous downstream applications.
  Host Hebard

September 13
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September 20
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September 27
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October 4
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October 11
  Speaker Chenglong Li (Medicinal Chemistry)
  Title The Role of Computational Biophysics in Drug Design
  Abstract With modern advances of molecular simulation and computing power, rational drug design becomes more and more attractive. This talk focuses on two application examples: nAChR and Survivin. Based on homology modeling and molecular dynamics sampling, we have identified a negative allosteric binding site on the ectodomain of a4ß2 nAChR (nicotinic acetylcholine receptor) – an anti-smoking addiction target. For the anti-cancer drug target survivin, we used REMD (replica exchange MD) and free energy analysis to elucidate ligand binding mechanism and optimized the drug lead compound. These examples demonstrate the potential of computational molecular biophysics for functional molecular design and engineering.
Host Zhang

October 18
  Speaker Angel Garcia (Center for NonLinear Studies (CNLS), Los Alamos National Laboratory)
  Title Proteins under Pressure
  Abstract Proteins are heteropolymers that self-assemble into a compact ordered structure known as the folded state. Although the folded state is a compact state, proteins will unfold under high hydrostatic pressure. This effect seems contradictory, given that high pressures should drive the system toward lower volume states. However, pressure denaturation can be easily explained in terms of the pressure effects of hydrophobic interactions (i.e., how non polar molecules interact with water). We use molecular simulations to model pressure folding/unfolding equilibrium of small peptides that form alpha helices, beta sheets, and a model protein (the trp-cage mini protein). These calculations show a rich P-T stability diagram in which a protein can unfold at high pressures, or can unfold upon cooling (cold denature) at elevated pressures. I will describe the role of the interactions of water with proteins in describing these effects. The simulation results in small, model proteins will be used to interpret experimental data in larger, complex protein systems.
Host Maslov and Wang

October 25
  Speaker Kyle Shen (Cornell)
  Title Shedding Light on Artificial Quantum Materials
  Abstract Quantum materials host a vast array of emergent electronic phenomena, including high-temperature superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance, and nanoscale charge / spin ordering. One of the grand challenges of this field is to be able to precisely and deterministically manipulate the properties of quantum materials. To achieve this control, we employ molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to synthesize "artificial quantum materials" in thin film form with atomic layer precision, which allows for new control knobs such as the creation of interfaces, the stabilization of metastable phases, or imposing large epitaxial strains. We combine MBE growth with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) which provides direct insights into the electronic structure and quantum many-body interactions to understand how strong quantum many-body interactions can influence the electronic and magnetic properties of quantum materials. In particular, I will focus on some very recent developments where we have used interfacial engineering and thin film epitaxy to manipulate and control exotic superconductors, including the odd-parity superconductor Sr2RuO4 and monolayer FeSe grown on SrTiO3.
Host Amlan Biswas

November 1
  Speaker George Christou (Department of Chemistry)
Title TBD
  Abstract TBD
Host Hebard

November 8
  Speaker Eugene Shakhnovich (Harvard)
Title TBD
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Host Maslov

November 15

  Speaker Premi Chandra, Rutgers University
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Host Maslov

November 29

  Speaker Robert Kleinberg, Schlumberger/APS Distinguished Lecturer
  Title TBD
  Abstract TBD
Host Kumar



PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM SCHEDULE

Spring 2019
The Colloquia are in Room 1002 NPB on Thursday at 4:05 PM
Refreshments will be served starting at 3:15 PM in NPB 2205

Contact: A. Hebard afh@phys.ufl.edu)
Department of Physics Colloquium Committee:
Hebard (chair), Fulda, Matchev, Mitselmakher, Wang


January 10
  Speaker This colloquium slot is reserved for a faculty search candidate presentation
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January 17
  Speaker This colloquium slot is reserved for a faculty search candidate presentation
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January 24
  Speaker This colloquium slot is reserved for a faculty search candidate presentation
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January 31
  Speaker Daniel Wolf Savin, Columbia University
  Title Laboratory Astrophysics Studies along the Cosmic Cycle of Gas
  Abstract Tracing the evolution of baryonic matter from atoms in space to stars and planets hinges on an accurate understanding of the underlying physics controlling the properties of the gas at every step along this pathway. Here I will explain some of the key epochs in this cosmic cycle and highlight our laboratory studies into the underlying atomic, molecular, plasma, and surface physics which control the observed properties of the cosmos.
  Host Imre Bartos

February 7
  Speaker This colloquium slot is reserved for a faculty search candidate presentation
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February 14
  Speaker This colloquium slot is reserved for a faculty search candidate presentation
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February 21
  Speaker This colloquium slot is reserved for a faculty search candidate presentation
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February 28
  Speaker This colloquium slot is reserved for a faculty search candidate presentation
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March 7
  Speaker APS meeting and spring break
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March 14
  Speaker Francis Halzen, University of Wisconsin
  Title TBD
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  Host Bartos

March 21

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March 28
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April 4
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April 11
  Speaker Zoltan Haiman (Columbia University )
  Title TBD
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  Host Bartos

APRIL 18
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