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Assistant Editor:
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Online Editor:
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Your Physics Neighborhood
by Amruta J. Deshpande

Have you ever wondered about the physics research that goes on right under your feet, as you might tap them in class? There are labs with wires, liquid Helium, vacuum systems, and more delicate equipment hard at work while chalks click away at the chalkboard. Papers, pencils, and desktops are lettering away upstairs on theory. What physics do these researchers wonder about? You can find answers at the weekly Thursday colloquia.

Every Thursday at 4:00 PM, UF researchers come out of their labs and offices to attend a lecture, one that will keep them updated on ongoing research. In room NPB 1002, these lectures, referred to as colloquia, present topics under investigation at UF as well as at other universities (when guest lecturers present). Colloquia are specifically structured to appeal to levels of understanding of professors as well as graduate and undergraduate students. Generally the first 15 minutes are to be understood by all, the next half hour, only by those with some knowledge of the field, while the last 15 minutes are to be understood only by experts. Thus an hour of fun! Not all colloquia follow this format to the tee, but they certainly introduce the issues and the physics in a manner that may be understood by undergraduates.

Attending colloquia is a great way to get an idea of the physics scene today. See what kinds of questions your professors are asking. See what kind of research is out there. Find your own interests while you listen to others'; then go research it yourself to see what physics you'll want to investigate. Meet the physics community, and even be a part of it!

Whether you attend every Thursday or just when you know a topic of your interest is being presented, be sure to attend at least a few times! Colloquia are free to you, unlike magazines you'll have to pay subscriptions to. And what's more is that you can talk to the researchers yourself! The next Thursday-colloquium coming up is on November 9th and has the following specifications:

Speaker:
Walter DeHeer (Georgia Tech)
Title: Epitaxial Graphene: A New Material for Nanoelectronics
Host: Art Hebard

Last week you missed one on, "A microscopic view of magnetic phase transitions," while the week before hosted a colloquium on cosmic microwave background radiation. Read more on abstracts for future colloquia.