Seminars


	TCU DEPARTMENT of PHYSICS and ASTRONOMY
Department Home Page College Home Page TCU Home Page my.tcu.edu TCU Library Undergraduate Program On-Line Ugrad Bulletin Graduate Program On-Line Grad Bulletin Brochure (PDF) Student Information REU Program Fall 2007 Courses Physics Tutoring Center Individual Tutors eCollege Faculty Adjunct Faculty Staff Graduate Students Research Areas Undergraduate Students SPS SERC TCU Institute of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Seminars TCU Sigma Xi Directions to dept. TCU Box 298840 Fort Worth, TX 76129 Phone: (817) 257-7375 Fax: (817) 257-7742 Email:physics@tcu.edu This page maintained by Kaoru Yoshida	Spring 2004 Seminar Information Friday January 23 at 1.30 p.m. in SWR 357 Dr. Alexander Brodka University of Silesia Katowice, Poland Summation methods of Coulomb interactions in a system with one-dimensional periodicity Sponsor: Dr. Zerda Monday February 2 at 1.00 p.m. in SWR 357 Dr. Paul F. Goldsmith Department of Astronomy Cornell University Molecular Clouds and Star Formation Abstract: Over the last century, astronomers have learned that new stars are constantly being made in the Milky Way and other galaxies. Star formation has been a critical part of the evolution of the universe - since shortly after the "Big Bang" to the present day. From what are new stars made? What are the key aspects of how they form, and what determines how fast they are made and what properties they have? These are key issues for astrophysics today, and new observations and theories have given us important new insights into this fascinating topic, although by no means answering all of these questions. My talk summarizes the basic ideas about how the cold, diffuse material in interstellar clouds of dust and gas is transformed into the enormously denser, hotter matter comprising stars. We have gained a good idea of what types of stars are formed in what numbers, and where the process occurs. Star formation results not only in new stars, but also systems of planets around stars. Thus, understanding the key steps in this process is essential for appreciating how our solar system and everything in it came to be here. In concluding this talk I discuss how several existing radio instruments, as well as new systems now being designed (ALMA and SKA) will contribute to our understanding of the process of star formation. Sponsor: Dr. Rittby Wednesday March 3 at 12:00 p.m. in SWR LH 1 Dr. Walter Waddell ExxonMobil Chemical Company The Importance of Tire Pressure to Tire Performance Abstract: The importance of the innerliner is reviewed in terms of its impact on tire performance. In particular, the inflation pressure of the tire generally impacts rolling resistance, treadwear, handling, and durability. Tire inflation pressure (IPR), as measured by percent air loss per month, is a key parameter to improved performance, and to passenger safety. Halobutyl rubber is the polymer of choice in the tire innerliner for excellent air and moisture impermeability, leading to a low IPR, to a low intracarcass pressure (ICP), and to improved durability. Sponsor: Dr. Zerda and Sigma Xi Thursday March 4 at 1.00 p.m. in SWR 357 Pre-Dissertation: Jackie Dunn Department of Physics and Astronomy TCU *Investigating the Role of Environment in the Star Formation History and Evolution of Dwarf Irregular Galaxies* Sponsor: Dr. Marcum Friday March 5 at 1:30 in SWR 357 Refreshments will be served at 1:15 p.m. in SWR 357 Dr. Ned Keller King’s College Cassini/Huygens - Uncloaking The Ionosphere of Titan Abstract: Since the discovery by G. P. Kuiper in 1944 of an atmosphere containing methane, Titan has held a place of interest in the space physics community. Shrouded in haze and possessing an amazingly dense and compositionally complex atmosphere; immersed at times in the solar wind and at other times in the Saturnian magnetosphere; bombarded both by solar EUV radiation and by Saturnian energetic magnetospheric electrons, this rich atmosphere gives rise to a complex and unique ionosphere. Over the past 25 years a number of models have been developed for Titan’s ionosphere. These attempt to reproduce and explain observations from the Voyager I encounter on November 12^th, 1980 and to predict data likely to be produced during the Cassini mission to Saturn and the Huygens probe encounter with Titan within the next twelve months. Keller, Cravens, and Gan [1992] produced a model of a static ionosphere leading us to predict the major species to be HCNH⁺ with a density of 3030 cm^-3 at an altitude of ˜1175 km along the terminator, consistent with radio occultation results from Voyager I. One-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models of the ionosphere produced by our group [1994] predicted the existence of a very broad region of a magnetized ramside ionosphere with a peak field strength of ˜26 nT. Others extended this work to 2-dimensional and then a fully 3-dimensional MHD model. Based on the work of Fox and Yelle [1996] and more recent research on gas-phase ion-molecule chemistry, we extended our static model [Keller, Anicich, & Cravens, 1998]. We predicted that even though the ion HCNH+ is still the major species, a number of higher mass hydrocarbons c-C₃H₃⁺, C₅H₅⁺, C₃H₅⁺, and nitrile ions such as H₂C₃N⁺ are also important components of Titan’s ionosphere. We expect the higher mass channels of the Cassini Ion-Neutral Mass Spectrometer to measure significant activity during Cassini’s pass through the middle ionosphere. The moment of truth is fast approaching as Cassini prepares to enter Saturn system on July 1^st of this year. What can we learn from comparing model to observation once again? Sponsor: Dr. Miller March 15 - 19 Spring Break Friday March 26 at 1:30 p.m. in SWR 357 Refreshments will be served at 1:15 p.m. in SWR 357 Michael Wharton Lockheed Martin Single-Stage-to-Orbit Access by an Aerospace Plane Abstract: In spite of all of the excitement about a possible return to the Moon and manned landings on Mars, the United States is facing a serious need in basic access to near earth orbit. The Shuttle fleet is approaching the end of its operational lifetime and no plans are in place for the next generation of orbital vehicles. Expendable launch vehicles such as Titan and Atlas are available and reasonably reliable, but are expensive, performance-limited and anything but rapid response. In addition, they have no ability for safe abort in the event of a failure during launch. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the National Aerospace Plane Program (NASP) worked to develop an air breathing, aerodynamic lift, single-stage-to-orbit experimental vehicle called the X-30. Although the program was terminated for financial reasons it offered a significant step forward in relatively cheap, reliable and flexible access to earth orbit. Sponsor: Dr. Rittby Tuesday March 30 at 2:00 p.m. in SWR 357 Refreshments will be served at 3:15 p.m. in SWR 357 STUDENT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS (10 minute talks and 5 minutes question period) Jingyi Wang: Temperature Dependence of the Positron Lifetime Spectrum of Rubber/Carbon-Black Composites Scott Williams: Ultra-Sensitive Particle Detection and Tracking by Synchronous Interferometric Probing Thomas Doran: Scattering Backgrounds in Nano-Optical Probing Applications Vincent Jobando: Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy for Measuring Free Volume During Physical Aging of Natural Rubber at Room Temperature Yuejian Wang: The Analysis of the Atomic Structure of Nano-Crystalline Silicon Carbide under HTHP by X-Ray Powder Diffraction Method (The order in which the talks will be given is not necessarily reflected in this listing.) Sponsor: Dr. Bradley College of Science and Engineering Student Research Symposium and Jupiter Day Thursday April 22 and Friday April 23 Tuesday April 27 at 1.00 p.m. in SWR 357 Refreshments will be served in SWR 357 after the talk Maria Baugh Department of Physics and Astronomy/Department of Radio/Televsion/Film TCU Flux Capacitors and Terminators: Time Travel and Hollywood Time travel is used as the plots of many films including Back to the Future, Terminator, and 12 Monkeys just to name a few. Different theories of time travel are employed by each film in order to fit the need of their story. As well researched (or not) these theories are, most films fall short mainly because they have causality flaws. I will take a serious look at current time travel theories and the films that employ them. I will compare and contrast two time travel trilogies, Back to the Future and The Terminator, because they have to opposing ideas of time travel and will also discuss where these films fail within their model of time travel. Other films and a few television shows will also be brought into this discussion. Then the question remains, "How does one travel through time?" Paying attention to the confines of Einstein's special theory of relativity, I will show how you can build a time machine and travel through time. Sponsor: Dr. Rittby
	Copyright © 2002-06 Magnus Rittby / Kaoru Yoshida; Last Updated: Saturday, August 18, 2007

TCU DEPARTMENT of PHYSICS and ASTRONOMY

Spring 2004 Seminar Information