Physics Home

PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM SCHEDULE
Fall 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


August 22

  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

August 29
  Speaker Graduate Student Meeting with Dr. Xiaoguang Zhang 4:00pm in 1002 NPB
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

September 5
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

September 12
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

September 19
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
Host

September 26
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
Host

October 3
  Speaker
Title
  Abstract
Host

October 10
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
Host

October 17
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
Host

October 24
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
Host

October 31
  Speaker Anupam Garg (Northwestern University)
Title "Magnets that find it hard to relax"
  Abstract
Host Mark Meisel

November 7
  Speaker
Title
  Abstract
Host

November 14

  Speaker Mark Dykman (Michigan State University)
  Title TBD
  Abstract TBD
Host Yoonseok Lee

November 21

  Speaker Douglas Glenzinski (Fermi Lab)
  Title TBD
  Abstract TBD
Host Konigsberg



PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM SCHEDULE

Spring 2020
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 9

  Speaker Bob Schrieffer Memorial Colloquium
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

January 16
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

January 23
  Speaker Michael Johnson (Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University)
  Title Imaging a Black Hole with the Event Horizon Telescope
  Abstract
  Host Cliff Will

January 30
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

February 6
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

February 13
  Speaker Margaret Cheung (University of Houston)
  Title Proteins in a crowd under heat and pressure
  Abstract In order to function, many proteins fold into a well-packed structure, and yet the folded phase must remain sufficiently flexible. It is unclear how proteins satisfy these contradictory constraints, especially in the crowded environment of a cell. I will present the theoretical and computational work from my group, which is in collaboration with experimentalists from the Gruebele group, addressing this challenging issue. We propose that these properties can coexist by tuning where the protein operates within its temperature-pressure-crowding phase diagram. Phase diagrams may contain ‘critical points’ where the difference between any two phases disappears, such as when liquid and vapor water become indistinguishable. We show that a protein can also have such a critical point. The enzyme phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK), which is involved in producing the ‘energy molecule of the cell,’ turns out to have a very crowding-sensitive critical point, above which the protein forms new structures. To paint a complete picture of the critical point for this protein, we expand upon the conventional temperature-pressure folding phase diagram by adding a third dimension: the degree of crowding (or volume-exclusion) from surrounding macromolecules. From simulations, we observe an intricate phase diagram, which contains a critical point that moves to lower a temperature as the crowding increases. We complement our simulation results by deriving a new thermodynamic equation of state that includes the critical line in the entire 3-dimensional phase diagram. To test our computational model, we observe folding transitions of PGK by fluorescence experiments, which validate the predicted critical point behavior. Our findings suggest that being near a critical point at physiologic conditions would be advantageous for enzymatic function because a protein may sample widely different conformations without passing a costly thermodynamic barrier.
  Host Arthur Hebard

February 20
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

February 27
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

March 5
  Speaker APS meeting and spring break
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

March 12
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

March 19

  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

March 26
  Speaker
  Title
  Abstract
  Host

April 2
  Speaker
Title
Abstract
Host

April 9
  Speaker
  Title
Abstract
  Host

APRIL 16
Speaker
  Title
Abstract
  Host