In this edition of the Friday Physics Newsletter we look ahead to the last Department Speaker Series event: the Spring Colloquium. We look at a recent faculty publication, representing a new collaboration and direction for the field. Finally, we celebrate two graduate students who earned spots in the prestigious Les Houches Physics School.
Contents
CHAIR’S WEEKLY MESSAGE
“This is the end”
It’s the last full week of classes. Next week, we have Monday, May 3 … the original “last day of classes” before the winter storms. That day follows a Friday schedule, because it was always intended to make up the Good Friday Holiday (which was anyway reclaimed as a teaching day … that one designated as a “Tuesday”). Thanks to the winter storms, Tuesday, May 4, is now the NEW last day of classes. It used to be a reading day, but was reclaimed after the storms and assigned to follow a “Wednesday” class schedule. So, next week, Tuesday/Thursday classes don’t meet at all … they’ve already seen their last teaching day. The only classes that meet next week are Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes.
We’re almost clear of this pandemic- and storm-induced confusion we’ve been drowning in for months now. It’s nearly done. Students have a reading day on Wednesday, May 5, before the beginning of final exams on Thursday, May 6. In principle, we are entering one of the most carefully planned parts of the entire semester: exam period. The days and times for all exams were determined by the university months ago, and all of that is locked into place. Faculty must follow that schedule now and must turn in their final grades not later than 72 hours after their scheduled final exam. That’s the case even if they are using a final project instead of an exam.
The endgame is in sight.
This is why it has been so exciting to think about the last Department Speaker Series event of the academic year, coming up on Monday, May 3. Close on the heels of the Muon g-2 seminar, Monday’s talk promises to be a look beyond the edge of the Standard Model of Particle Physics … with some glimpses from the perspective of Prof. Pierre Ramond about what road signs we should be following next.
We’re also gearing up for summer research. We’ll have a vibrant cadre of graduate, undergraduate, and even some high school students participating in research activities this summer. We’re getting ready for (virtual) brown-bag lunches, small and big research seminars, hours in the lab, data analysis, instrument building, and all sorts of other physics research activities. In addition, we’ve got May Term classes and Summer Term classes, led by our talented teaching faculty.
People mistakenly think faculty have their summers off. This is a deep misconception. Faculty are busiest in the summer, when they are devoted either to intense daily classwork (due to compressed special terms) or to a 100% research portfolio.
In this issue, we look ahead to the last Department Speaker Series event: the Spring Colloquium. We look at a recent faculty publication, representing a new collaboration and direction for the field. Finally, we celebrate two graduate students who earned spots in the prestigious Les Houches Physics School.
Sincerely,
Stephen Jacob Sekula Chair, Department of Physics |
DEPARTMENT VIEWS
The Spring Colloquium (May 3) features Prof. Pierre Ramond (UFL), Distinguished Professor and 2020 Dirac Medal and Prize Recipient
It’s almost here! We are very excited to remind the community that the final event of the Spring 2021 Department Speaker Series will feature Pierre Ramond, Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Florida. His capstone presentation is entitled “The Unfinished Standard Model.” He will discuss the Standard Model of Particle Physics and its legacies, some of which may point into new physics directions. Additionally, Professor Ramond will explore strategies for the completion of the Standard Model, which include seeking new patterns in the highest-energy conditions in the universe and devising a standard model of particle properties. The talk will conclude with a focus on particles called “neutrinos,” emphasizing their history and their past role as harbingers of new physics.
Most recently, Prof. Ramond was a co-recipient of the 2020 Dirac Medal and Prize for his role in the initiation of Superstring Theory.
The final event of each major term is intended to be an intellectually rich event for both the department and the SMU Physics Community. We welcome all members of our university and department communities to join us for these events.
Miss a Colloquium or Seminar? Don’t Panic … They’re Recorded!
You can catch up on the whole Academic Year 2021 Physics Speaker Series online! Explore the muon g-2 anomaly, supermassive black holes, the new Electron-Ion Collider, Higgs particle physics, and new ideas about dark matter or other novel particles or forces … all from your personal devices! Enjoy our archive of the Physics Speaker Series Talks below.
FACULTY NEWS
If you have something to share please feel free to send it along. Stories of your activities in research, the classroom, and beyond are very welcome!
“Charm jets as a probe for strangeness at the future Electron-Ion Collider” published in Physical Review D
Results from a new collaboration between Prof. Fred Olness, Prof. Steve Sekula, and post-doctoral researcher Tim Hobbs, as well as colleagues at Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of California-Riverside, have just been published in Physical Review D. The paper draws on the authors’ experiences and expertise in parton distribution functions and electron-proton collisions, as well as jets, missing energy, and flavor tagging. The result is an estimate of the ability for a future Electron-Ion Collider experiment to discriminate between different proton strange-quark-content scenarios. Ultimately, with conservative assumptions (e.g. nominal jet energy resolution based on recent detector experience, nominal jet reconstruction techniques for modern detectors, and modest flavor tagging performance using a simple approach) the future nevertheless looks extremely bright for resolving some puzzles about how much the strange quark actually contributes to the overall proton structure.
You can read more here: “Charm jets as a probe for strangeness at the future Electron-Ion Collider.” Miguel Arratia, Yulia Furletova, T. J. Hobbs, Fredrick Olness, and Stephen J. Sekula. Phys. Rev. D 103, 074023 (2021)
STAFF NEWS
Staff In-Office Schedule for Week of May 3
The in-office staff schedule for the week of May 3 is nominally as follows:
- Monday: Michele
- Tuesday: Lacey
- Wednesday: Michele
- Thursday: Lacey
- Friday: Michele
You can reach staff during regular business hours using Microsoft Teams, email, or phone.
Full staff in-office calendar for May:
STUDENT NEWS
If you have something to share please feel free to send it along. Stories of students in research, the classroom, internships or fellowships, awards, etc. are very welcome!
Jasmine Liu and Ishwita Saikia Selected for the Les Houches School of Physics on Dark Matter
Jasmine Liu and Ishwita Saikia, both rising fourth-year doctoral candidates focused on their Ph.D. research, have been accepted to the Les Houches School of Physics on dark matter. The program this year received 250 applications. Jasmine is one of only about 75 participants who will be permitted to participate online, while Ishwita is one of just 39 accepted to attend the school in person this summer.
Portrait of Jasmine Liu 
Portrait of Ishwita Saikia
The school is located in the village of Les Houches, France and will take place July 26 – August 20, 2021. While the department recognizes that there may still be challenges to students, staff, and faculty who need to travel in the next few months, it is exciting to see members of the department selected for exciting programs like this prestigious school.
Dark Matter is the substance that comprises almost 26% of the total energy density content of the Universe. In terms of matter alone, it accounts for about 80% of the universe’s total matter. The study of dark matter is a cross-cutting subject, requiring a synthesis of astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental particle physics.
This School aims to train the next generation of students and young researchers in the field with two main guidelines in mind: 1) starting from the basics, without taking for granted any theoretical (or experimental) prejudice on the nature of the problem of [dark matter]; 2) making the most of the interdisciplinarity of the topic, approaching it from the cosmological, astrophysical and particle physics points of view via the participation of experts/lecturers from different fields.
From the Les Houches School of Physics Dark Matter program description.
The Les Houches School of Physics was founded in 1951 by a young French physicist, Cécile DeWitt-Morette. She wanted to help to rebuild her country, which, like so many others in the aftermath of World War II, needed to find ways to restore leadership and accomplishment both in the teaching and practice of modern physics. The Les Houches School of Physics has consistently welcomed physicists from around the world, including notable luminaries of the field who sought physics training as young researchers at the start of their careers. Some of them have gone on to win Nobel Prizes for physics. Les Houches prides itself on operating at the forefront of the field with new programming each year to target exciting topics where there is much progress to be made.
ALUMNI NEWS
If you are an alum of the doctoral, masters, majors or minor programs in Physics at SMU, or have worked in our program as a post-doctoral researcher, and wish to share news with the community, please send your story to the Physics Department and we’ll work with you to get it included in a future edition.
THE BACK PAGE
It’s the end of the term as we know it …
… and we feel fine! To help us continue to feel fine, here are some useful links as we wrap up the semester. There are taken from SMU’s End-of-Term Grading Information and Policies and are intended for faculty (though it never hurts for students to know what is expected of faculty).
When are course grades due from faculty?
Grades are due 72 hours after the final exam for each course section. (For example, if you teach three sections of DISC 1312, then you have three different due dates. Each course section has its own 72 hour deadline.).
How does a faculty member know if they have a graduating candidate in their class?
The * that appears on the left side of a student’s name on your grade roster denotes a graduating candidate.
If an instructor sees a “W” in the grade box of a student on their roster, do they still have to put in a grade?
No. A grade of “W” in the grade box means the student has dropped or withdrawn from your course and no further action needs to be taken by you to enter a grade.
When the grades are recorded on the student’s record, the status will change to POSTED. Once the status is POSTED, you will no longer be able to change any of the grades on the roster. You will need to send in a “Request for Change of Grade” form.
