THE BOSTON AREA PHYSICS CALENDAR Week of March 24-March 30, 1996 The Boston Area Physics Calendar is published weekly during the academic year by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Tufts University. You may send your announcements by e-mail (bapc@tuhepa.phy.tufts.edu) or FAX:(617-627-3878). We cannot accept announcements by telephone. Entries should reach us no later than 11:00am on the Monday preceding the week of the event. ENTRIES RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. _____________________________________________________________ Monday, March 25, 1996 _____________________________________________________________ Monday, March 25, 1996, 11:45 a.m. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Informal Seminar Atomic and Molecular Physics Division Pratt Conference Room ``Theory of Intermolecular Interactions'' DR. KRZYSZTOF SZALEWICZ University of Delaware _____________________________________________________________ Monday, March 25, 1996, 4:00 p.m. Northeastern University CIRCS Seminar Dana Building, Room 114 ``Single and Collective Vortex Dynamics in josephson Junction Arrays'' PROFESSOR J. VAN HIMBERGEN Theoretical institute, University of Utrecht _____________________________________________________________ Monday, March 25, 1996, 4:00 p.m. Worcester Polytechnic Institute Colloquium Olin Hall, Room 107 ``The Boundary Element Method and Surface Plasmons'' DR. RAYMOND GOLOSKIE Worcester Polytechnic Institute Coffee will be served in Olin Hall, Room 118 at 3:45 p.m. _____________________________________________________________ Tuesday, March 26, 1996 _____________________________________________________________ Tuesday, March 26, 1996, 2:30 p.m. Tufts University Joint Tufts-MIT-CfA Cosmology Seminar Anderson Hall, Room 211 ``Gravitational - strength scalars and Cosmology'' PROFESSOR THIBAULT DAMOUR IHES, FRANCE Abstract: String theory abounds with light scalar fields having gravitational-strength couplings (the dilaton and various moduli). These fields a priori create a host of observational problems in low-energy gravitational physics and cosmology. Mechanisms for solving these problems, and their observable consequences, notably in cosmology, will be discussed. _____________________________________________________________ Tuesday, March 26, 1996, 4:00 p.m. Brandeis University Martin Weiner Lecture Series Physics Colloquium Physics Building, Abelson 131 ``Noise in Quantum Hall Liquids'' DR. DENISE FREED Bunting Institute Refreshments will be served in Room 333 at 3:30 p.m. _____________________________________________________________ Tuesday, March 26, 1996, 4:00 p.m. Clark University Colloquium Co-sponsored by the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics/Computer Science and Physics Sackler Science Center, Room N-104 ``Out of this World Experiences: From Balloons to the Space Station'' DR. CAROL JO CRANNELL NASA Goddard Space Flight Center _____________________________________________________________ Tuesday, March 26, 1996, 4:00 p.m. Northeastern University CIRCS Seminar Dana Building, Room 114 ``From Chaos to Worms: Patterns in Nematic Liquid Crystals'' DR. M. DENNIN Chemistry and Biochemistry Department UCLA Refreshments will be served at 3:45 p.m. _____________________________________________________________ Wednesday, March 27, 1996 _____________________________________________________________ Wednesday, March 27, 1996, 11:45 a.m. Northeastern University ***** Diamond Anniversary Lectures ***** A series of ten pedigogical lectures Lecture III 114 Dana (Physics Department) ``Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Mechanics'' DR. RODNEY J. BAXTER Australian National University _____________________________________________________________ Wednesday, March 27, 1996, 4:00 p.m. University of Massachusetts at Lowell Spring Colloquia 1996 Olney Room 428 ``Semiconductor Laser Diodes for Optical Fiber Communications'' DR. RICHARD SAHARA Lasertron Refreshments will be served at 3:30 p.m. _____________________________________________________________ Wednesday, March 27, 1996, 4:15 p.m. Boston College Colloquium Higgins Hall, Room 354 ``Teaching Feynman's Simple Quantum Mechanics'' PROFESSOR EDWIN F. TAYLOR Boston University Tea will be served at 3:30 p.m. _____________________________________________________________ Wednesday, March 27, 1996, 4:30 p.m. Boston University Joint Theory Seminar Physics Research Building (3 Cummington Street) Room 593 ``Modelling Parent and Baby Universes by Strings'' PROFESSOR VALERY RUBAKOV Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences Refreshments will be served at 4:00 p.m. Please call (353-2600) one day in advance for parking. _____________________________________________________________ Wednesday, March 27, 1996, 5:00 p.m. Harvard University/Center for Astrophysics Joint Atomic Physics Seminar Jefferson Laboratory, Room 356 ``S-Wave Atomic Scattering'' DR. KURT GIBBLE Yale University Tea will be served at 4:30 p.m. _____________________________________________________________ Thursday, March 28, 1996 _____________________________________________________________ Thursday, March 28, 1996, 12:30 p.m. Boston University Biophysics Seminar SCI, Room 352 ``Supported membranes for biological atomic force microscopy in solution'' PROFESSOR JIE YANG University of Vermont Abstract: Atomic force microscopy has shown a great potential in structural biology for its high spatial resolution and the capability of operating in solution. We have found that for high-resolution structural studies of membranous specimens, supported bilayers are essential. In this talk, I will show examples of using supported bilayers as substrates for high-resolution imaging of membrane-bound macromolecules, such as cholera toxin and closely packed DNA, and will discuss related possible mechanisms. Supported membranes are also ideal model systems for studies of 2-D structures, such as the ripple phase and various membrane domains. We also used mica chips as substrates to study the phase behavior of supported bilayers with a DSC, and detected a new phase in supported DPPC bilayers. The new phase has a phase transition temperature about 2 degrees above the main phase transition. Physical origin of the high-temperature phase will be discussed. _____________________________________________________________ Thursday, March 28, 1996, 2:00 p.m. Boston College Condensed Matter Seminar Higgins Hall, Room 354 ``The Hubbard Model and the Fermi Surface in Two Dimensions'' DR. MIKLOS GULACSI Institute of Advanced Studies Australian National University _____________________________________________________________ Thursday, March 28, 1996, 3:00 p.m. Harvard University Special Seminar of the String Theory Group Room No. 256 ``Orbifolds of M-Theory'' SUNIL MUKHI Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, BOMBAY _____________________________________________________________ Thursday, March 28, 1996, 4:00 p.m. Clark University Colloquium Sackler Science Center, Room N-105 ``Estimating Human Exposures to Gaseous Contaminants: Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Air'' DR. MARC FISCHER Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory _____________________________________________________________ Thursday, March 28, 1996, 4:00 p.m. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Scientific Colloquium 60 Garden Street (Phillips Auditorium) ``Hot Dust in Galaxies'' DR. GARETH WYNN-WILLIAMS Institute for Astronomy University of Hawaii Abstract: I shall present results from a spectroscopic survey of infrared galaxies made with UKIRT in the wavelength range 8-13 mu-m. Among the topics I shall discuss are: a) Most galaxies with luminosities in the range 10^11 - 10^12 L\underbar { }sun have a starburst-like spectrum dominated by PAH emission features. Only a minority show silicate absorptions or flat spectra.\par b) Spatially-resolved observations of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 show no evidence of silicate absorption. The variations in the relative strengths of the other 8-13 mm spectral features correspond to variations in the physical conditions across the starburst region of the galaxy.\par c) We find a very deep silicate absorption feature in the galaxy 08572+3915. We argue that deep silicate features in this and other galaxies such as NGC 4418 and Arp 220 cannot be caused interstellar extinction; they are probably produced by radiation transfer effects in a thick hot dust shell that surrounds an obscured AGN. Tea will be served at 3:30 p.m. _____________________________________________________________ Friday, March 29, 1996 _____________________________________________________________ Friday, March 29, 1996, 12:30 p.m. Boston University Condensed Matter Seminar 590 Comonwealth Avenue, Room 352 ``Topography of Rough Interfaces: From Vertex Models to STM Image Analysis'' DR. J. KONDEV Brown University Please call (353-2600) one day in advance for parking. _____________________________________________________________ Friday, March 29, 1996, 1:00 p.m. Tufts University Lunchtime Cosmology Seminar Robinson Hall, Room 258 ``Multiple Black Holes in (2+1) - dimensional Gravity'' PROFESSOR DIETER BRILL University of Maryland \bigskip %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% \begin{flushleft} Friday, March 29, 1996, 2:30 p.m. Tufts University *** Special Seminar *** Anderson Hall, Room 206 ``An appropriate role for physics education research: multiple perspectives on student knowledge and reasoning'' PROFESSOR DAVID HAMMER Department of Education Tufts University _____________________________________________________________ Friday, March 29, 1996, 4:30 p.m. Brown University Condensed Matter Seminar Barus & Holley Building, Room 751 ``Effect of dilute impurities on the superfluid transition'' PROFESSOR MOSES CHAN Pennsylvania State University _____________________________________________________________ Friday, March 29, 1996, 4:30 p.m. Harvard University Seminar on Probability, Analysis and Mathematical Physics *** Please note the permanent time change *** Jefferson Laboratory, Room 356 ``The Ground State Energy of the Polaron: A Problem in Field Theory and Condensed Matter Physics'' PROFESSOR E. LIEB Princeton University _____________________________________________________________ A Friendly Reminder: The Deadline for the Mar. 31\char123 April 6, 1996 Issue is: MONDAY, March 25, 1996 at 11:00 a.m. End of Document.