Contents
CHAIR’S WEEKLY MESSAGE
“A Call to Community”
A goal of mine since stepping into the Department Chair position has been to enhance the community aspects of our department. Obviously, a global pandemic that demands social distancing as a means to thwart the spread of a deadly respiratory virus is the antithesis of that goal. Nevertheless, the modern digital age provides some opportunities to began stretching our legs on this matter, preparing for a sprint once we can all be together again.
For example, Prof. Simon Dalley (Director of Undergraduate Studies in Physics and the Assistant Chair for Undergraduate Studies in Physics) is developing a new alumni stories web project. The page will feature quotes, photos, stories, and biographies of alumni of our program. We’re looking for stories especially from students who came through SMU Physics and want to share how experiences here shaped them. While Prof. Dalley has done outreach on this, and other professors have echoed that outreach on his behalf, I’d like to amplify the call from all of you! If you are interested in sharing something, especially being featured on the alumni site, please reach out to Prof. Dalley.
We can do other things, too. Inspired by the digital “coffee breaks” being conducted for a recent meeting of the Electron-Ion Collider User Group, Prof. Pavel Nadolsky recommended the use of a platform called “Wonder” (formerly “YoTribe”) to allow for better, all-digital coffee breaks. Academic Operations administrator Lacey Breaux has been test-driving this during our Wednesday “H-bar Coffee Bar” events. In a Wonder space, you can move a little avatar around a board. Pulling your avatar close to someone else’s creates a “conversation circle.” Only people in the circle can talk, and each circle can host up to 15 people at once. Many circles can be ongoing in the same space, each a microcosm of conversation. Wonder is far better than Zoom for this kind of purpose. It promotes a more intimate and fluid digital community. Heck, I even used this to run “Game Night” in my Honors Physics course, conducting a “pub quiz-like” event so teams could compete for resources for their projects.
We can do more traditional things in a digital space, like build networks. This past week, the department was pleased to be able to support a networking event with emphasis on women in physics (students, staff, and faculty) as part of International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Thanks to the hard work of Michele Hill, our Research Operations administrator, the department was able to provide a coupon for Uber Eats to facilitate food delivery to individuals for the event. (We learned a good lessons from this: we need to provide a little more on the coupon for future events to help cover those pesky delivery fees … but, generally, this worked out about as well as we could have hoped!) Not only was this an effort to foster a community within the physics program, but it involved an echo of an old traditional practice: providing food for events.
All of us are constantly working to bring back something resembling community, even as we are forced to remain apart. We strive to do as well as we can, looking forward to the day when we can be back together once more.
In this issue of the Friday newsletter, we reflect on the networking event I mentioned above and look to our next department speaker series event, tracing out dark matter using stars. We also make plans for the inclement weather expected for most of next week, especially in the first half of next week. Community is about preparedness as much as it is about fun … and the cold weather bearing down on North Texas demands caution and readiness!
Sincerely,
Stephen Jacob Sekula Chair, Department of Physics |
DEPARTMENT VIEWS
Networking Event for Women in Physics to Mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science
On Thursday, February 11, the physics department was proud to support a virtual event intended to support women involved in our physics program with a networking opportunity. This helped to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The event was organized by Prof. Durdana Balakishiyeva, Prof. Jodi Cooley, Prof. Allison Deiana, and Prof. Krista Smith, as well as our fantastic department staff.
The organizers were pleased to welcome five faculty, two staff, a post-doctoral researcher, three graduate students, and eight undergraduates to the event. People dropped in and out of the event as their schedules allowed, but the event mixed in some ice-breaker trivia with more serious discussions of individual stories of people involved in the event. Prof. Jodi Cooley said of the event,
For the first time, most of us were able to meet [post-doctoral researchers and research faculty] who are stationed at CERN [in Geneva, Switzerland]. During the event we had a trivia contest themed around women scientist which was used to spur discussion of discoveries, technology and our personal experiences and stories. I think I can speak for everyone who attended in thanking the department for making this event possible.
Prof. Lina Necib (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) presents a Seminar on Tracing Dark Matter with Stars
The next event of the Spring 2021 Department Speaker Series is on Monday, February 15, at 4pm. We welcome Prof. Lina Necib (MIT) to speak on will the impact of stellar motion and dynamics on understanding the particle nature of dark matter in three separate locations: the solar neighborhood, the Galactic center, and dwarf galaxies. She will explain methods for understanding and/or constraining the properties of dark matter in each of these domains and emphasize the need to better utilize dwarf galaxies in this portfolio.
Miss a Colloquium or Seminar? Don’t Panic … They’re Recorded!
You can catch up on the Spring 2021 (and Fall 2020!) Physics Speaker Series by checking out your favorite subjects from archives! Explore supermassive black holes, the new Electron-Ion Collider planned for construction in the U.S., new ideas about dark matter or other novel particles or forces, or the basic research needs for future scientific instrumentation in HEP … 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!
What Does it Mean When “Campus is Closed” During the Age of Remote Teaching?
The Provost helpfully addressed this question in her weekly mailing. For example, you might be teaching remotely but students depend on physically going to a “Zoom room” on campus to attend your class (their dorm room might be too crowded or busy, etc.). What do you do? The simple answer is: keep on teaching, remotely.
Planning for North Texas’ inclement weather forecast February 15 – February 17 – The North Texas weather forecast for this weekend and into next week indicates the potential for a prolonged winter weather event with significant impacts to travel and infrastructure. As we conclude this week, I would encourage faculty and staff to plan accordingly and take any work-related or instruction-related materials home with you for the weekend in the event campus does need to close. If campus does close, all courses will be offered virtually as opposed to in-person.
Provost Loboa, “Weekly Update – February 12, 2021”
If it becomes evident that weather issues will challenge in-person operations next week, members of our leadership team will convene over the weekend to discuss and initiate a response plan. Policy 9.12 University Operations Affected by Emergency Conditions can be reviewed for more information on the campus’ response.
STAFF NEWS
Staff In-Office Schedule for Week of February 15
The in-office staff schedule for the week of February 15 is nominally as follows:
- Monday: Lacey
- Tuesday: Michele
- Wednesday: Michele
- Thursday: Lacey
- Friday: Michele
Of course, both are always available on Microsoft Teams, by Email, or by phone. Inclement weather may prevent then from traveling safely to campus during the next week. Please be aware that just because they are scheduled to be in the office, weather may prevent that. Health and safety come first!
Full staff in-office calendar for February:
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!
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
February Physics Challenge!
SPS Faculty Advisor and our department’s informal “Puzzle Master,” Prof. Randy Scalise, invites you to try to solve this month’s physics challenge from The Physics Teacher. The first correct solution he receives (scalise@physics.smu.edu) from a student member of our Society of Physics Students will be awarded a prize. The winner will get to select from the following four books,
- Gleick, J. “Chaos: Making a New Science“.
- Crease, R. P. and Mann, Charles C. “The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics“.
- Thorne, K. “Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy“.
- Greene, B. “The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality“.
Solutions must be complete enough to understand your strategy, reasoning, and methods; providing answers with no explanations are not acceptable. Dr. Scalise urges submitters who believe they have the correct answer to, of course, also submit their solution to The Physics Teacher using the email address challenges@aapt.org. Make sure to follow the journal’s guidelines for submissions (see below). The deadline is the last day of this month.
