Fall 2016

Sept. 1, Kurtis Williams, Texas A&M University-Commerce

The Art of Scientific Writing


Sept. 8, William G. Newton, Texas A&M University-Commerce

Nuclear Astrophysics


Sept. 15, Peter Frinchaboy, Texas Christian University

Understanding the Milky Way in the Era of Large Scale Chemical Abundance Surveys


Sept. 22, Arne Schwettmann, The University of Oklahoma

Matter-wave quantum optics in ultracold atomic gases


Sept. 29, Joseph H. Ngai, University of Texas at Arlington

Material Science


Oct. 6, Heungman Park, Texas A&M University-Commerce

Organic semiconductors for optoelectronic devices


Oct. 13, Jeremy Holt, Texas A&M University

Hot and dense neutron-rich matter in supernovae and neutron star mergers


Oct. 20, Jackie Chini, The University of Central Florida

Physics education research



Spring 2016

Jan. 21, Biological applications of carbon nanomaterials

Anton V. Naumov, Texas Christian University


Jan. 28, Recent Advances in High Performance Computing

Hang Liu, Texas Advanced Computing Center


Feb. 4, Applications of Bayesian statistics in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Scott Pratt, Michigan State University


Feb. 11, Physics Education Research

Michael Loverude, California State University-Fullerton


Feb. 18, Gravitational waves from neutron stars

Benjamin J Owen, Texas Tech University


Feb. 25, An Astronomer Goes to Washington

-Why scientists should take an interest in policy and legislative affairs

Reba Bandyopadhyay, Science & Technology Policy Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, serving at the National Science Foundation


March 24, Neutron Star Radii and the Equation of State of Dense Matter

Andrew Steiner, University of Tennessee, Knoxville


March 31, Physics Education Research

Paul D. Cottle, Florida State University


April 14, Bayesian Models for Connecting Model-Based Predictions to Reality

Dave Higdon, Virginia Tech


April 21, Antihydrogen Related Research at the University of North Texas

Carlos Ordonez, The University of North Texas


April 28, The Hubble constant in the era of precision cosmology

Lucas Macri, Texas A&M University



Fall 2015

Sept. 3

Joe Izen, The University of Texas at Dallas

ATLAS and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

What they look like, how they work and what was done during the long 2013-2015 shutdown


Sept. 10

Kat Barger, Texas Christian University

Large-scale galactic outflows and tidal processes of the Magellanic Cloud galaxies


Sept. 17

Ohad Shemmer, University of North Texas

Quasar Science in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Era


Sept. 24

Lennart van Haaften, Texas Tech University

High-Energy Astrophysics


Oct. 1

Hans Schuessler, Texas A&M University, College Station

Frequency Combs for Astrophysics


Oct. 8

Louis E. Strigari, Texas A&M University, College Station

Science of Dark Matter


Oct. 15

David G. Whelan, Austin College

Photonics, magnetics and signal processing


Oct. 29

Thomas Corbitt, Louisiana State University

Science of Gravitational Waves with LIGO


Nov. 5

Eleanor Sayre, Kansas State University

Thinking like a physicist: What is it, and how can we tell?


Nov.12

Dean Lee, North Carolina State University

Lattice Simulations of Nuclear Physics


Nov. 19

Lawrence Weinstein, Old Dominion University

Fermi Problems


Dec. 3

Yuri Strzhemechny, Texas Christian University

Influence of experimental ambient on surface photovoltage response in nanostructured surfaces and interfaces



Spring 2015

Feb. 5

Nuclear Chemistry and Physics

Romualdo de Souza, Indiana University


Feb. 12

High Energy Physics

Marj Corcoran, Rice University


Feb. 19

Becoming physics people: Development of integrated physics identity through the

Learning Assistant experience

Eleanor Close, Texas State University


Feb. 26

Galaxy clusters: investigating their physics and role in studying dark matter and dark energy

Lindsay King, The University of Texas at Dallas


March 5

Quantum Many-Body Theory

Alexander Volya, Florida State University


March 12

Novel States of Ultracold Rydberg Atoms and Some of their Applications

James Shaffer, University of Oklahoma


March 26 (Sponsored by the Centennial of General Relativity Speakers Bureau)

Characterization of Gravitational Waves from Primordial Relativistic Turbulence

David Garrison, University of Houston-Clear Lake


April 9

Discovery of a Thorne-Zytkow Object Candidate in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Emily Levesque, University of Colorado


April 16 (Sponsored by the Centennial of General Relativity Speakers Bureau)

Nearing the Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Paul Walter, St. Edward’s University


April 23

Physics Education

Vashti Sawtelle, Michigan State University


April 30

Computational Science

Joseph Carlson, Los Alamos National Laboratory


Fall 2014

Aug. 28, The Science of Neutron Stars

Dany Page, Instituto de Astronomia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México


Sept. 4, Habitability around F-type Stars

Manfred Cuntz, The University of Texas at Arlington


Sept. 11, Black holes and gravitational waves

Mike Kesden, The University of Texas at Dallas


Sept. 18, New ways to understand how shape changes the electronic properties on graphene

Salvador Barraza-Lopez, The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville


Sept. 25, New Physics at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

Zach Kohley, National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, Michigan

State University


Oct. 2, Interactions of ultracold atoms and laser beams with orbital angular momentum

Eric R. I. Abraham, University of Oklahoma


Oct. 9, Astronomy and Astrophysics

David Sand, Texas Tech University


Oct. 16, What can we learn about neutrons using the dispersive optical model?

Willem Dickhoff, Washington University in St. Louis


Oct. 23, High Energy Physics

Rene Bellwied, University of Houston


Oct. 30, Nuclear Theory

Petr Navratil, TRIUMF, Vancouver (Canada’s National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics)


Nov. 6, Astronomy and Astrophysics

Jennifer Marshall, Texas A&M University


Nov. 13, Workshop on Careers in Physics and Astronomy

Toni Sauncy, American Institute of PhysicsNov. 20, Nonlinear optics of graphene and topological insulators

Alexey Belyanin, Texas A&M University


Dec. 4, Remote sensing studies of the Earth's ionosphere

Fabiano S. Rodrigues, University of Texas at Dallas



Spring 2014

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Fall 2013

NOVEMBER 21

TEACHING THE PHYSICS OF SPORTS: EXPERIENCES OF A NUCLEAR PHYSICIST

PROF. MIKE LISA

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY


NOVEMBER 14

NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS IN ASTRONOMY BASED ON THE PARTICLE HYDRODYNAMICS

DR. SEUNG-HOON CHA

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE


NOVEMBER 7

INTEGRATION OF FUNCTIONAL OXIDES AND SEMICONDUCTORS

PROF. ALEX DEMKOV

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN


OCTOBER 31

NUCLEAR FORCES AT SHORT DISTANCES AND SUPERDENSE NUCLEAR MATTER

PROF. MISAK SARGSIAN

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY


OCTOBER 24

THE STRING LANDSCAPE AND THE MULTIVERSE

PROF. GERALD CLEAVER

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY


OCTOBER 17

THE ART OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING

PROF. KURTIS WILLIAMS

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE


OCTOBER 10

GROUND BASED OBSERVATIONS OF ASTEROIDS

PROF. MICHAEL FAUERBACH

FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY


OCTOBER 3

LASER STUDIES OF BASIC ATOMS AND NUCLEI – AN OLYMPICS OF PRECISION

PROF. DAVID SHINER

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS


SEPTEMBER 26

CHANDRA X-RAY GRATING SPECTROSCOPY OF CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES

PROF. ERIC M. SCHLEGEL

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO


SEPTEMBER 19

HIGH ENERGY NUCLEAR COLLISIONS: HARD PROBES, HEAVY QUARKS, AND STRONG GLUON FIELDS

PROF. RAINER FRIES

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY


SEPTEMBER 12

ARCHAEOASTRONOMY: ANCIENT PEOPLE CONNECTING THE EARTH TO THE SKY

PROF. KENT MONTGOMERY

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE


SEPTEMBER 5

RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT IN RESEARCH

PROF. MATT WOOD

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE




Spring 2013

JANUARY 17

CLUSTERING IN COMPLEX NETWORKS

PROF. MUTLU METE

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE


JANUARY 24

NEW EXPLORATIONS OF ATOMIC-SCALE INTERACTIONS USING LARGE SCALE COMPUTATION

PROF. DAVID R. SCHULTZ

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS


JANUARY 31

BLACK HOLES AND NEUTRON STARS IN GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

PROF. TOM MACCARONE

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY


FEBRUARY 7

WHY IS THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE ACCELERATING?

PROF. MUSTAPHA ISHAK-BOUSHAKI

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS


FEBRUARY 14

DETERMINING MODERN ENERGY DENSITY FUNCTIONAL FOR NUCLEI AND THE STATUS OF THE EQUATION OF STATE OF NUCLEAR MATTER

DR. SHALOM SHLOMO

CYCLOTRON INSTITUTE, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY


FEBRUARY 21

MEASURING INFORMATION PRESENTATION IN A PHYSICS CLASS

PROF. GAY B. STEWART

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS, FAYETTEVILLE


FEBRUARY 28

WHITE DWARF BINARIES AND GRAVITATIONAL WAVES

PROF. MATTHEW BENACQUISTA

CENTER FOR GRAVITATIONAL RADIATION

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT BROWNSVILLE


MARCH 7

TIME-DEPENDENT QUANTUM REACTIVE SCATTERING IN THREE DIMENSIONS USING HYPERSPHERICAL (APH) COORDINATES: THEORY AND RESULTS

PROF. GREGORY A. PARKER

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA


MARCH 21

MERGING COMPACT BINARIES

PROF. DONG LAI

CORNELL UNIVERSITY


MARCH 28

RADIOLOGICAL AND NUCLEAR DEVICES AND TERRORISM

PROF. JOHN W. POSTON, SR.

DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY


APRIL 11

MID-INFRARED SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS: TOWARD ACHIEVING EFFICIENT HIGH TEMPERATURE OPERATION

PROF. LINDA OLAFSEN

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY


APRIL 18

MOLECULAR MOTORS: FROM MECHANICS TO DISEASE

PROF. GEORGE SHUBEITA

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN


MAY 2

EXPERIMENTAL CHALLENGES IN NUCLEAR ASTROPHYSICS

DR. R.G. PIZZONE

LABORATORI NAZIONALI DEL SUD-INFN, CATANIA, ITALY