Bulletin of the American Physical Society
16th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of the APS
Volume 60, Number 6
Thursday–Saturday, May 14–16, 2015; Pullman, Washington
Session A1: Plenary Session I |
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Chair: Jo-Anne Brown, University of Calgary Room: Smith Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE) 203 |
Friday, May 15, 2015 8:20AM - 9:00AM |
A1.00001: Spatial organization of cellular membranes Invited Speaker: Lutz Maibaum Cell membranes are complex organelles composed of phospholipids, sterols and proteins, among others. The spatial organization of these components plays an important role for the membrane's biological function. Our work uses computer simulations and mathematical modeling to study the emergence of spatial order in two specific contexts: the phase behavior of multicomponent lipid bilayers and the effect of membrane-induced interactions on membrane-bound proteins. First, we focus on composition heterogeneities in model membrane systems, which are believed to form the basis for lipid rafts: small domains that corral membrane proteins. We study the phase behavior of multicomponent bilayers using simulations of coarse-grained molecular and field-theory based models. We find a wide range of membrane systems that exhibit composition correlations over large length scales. Second, we study the interaction between membrane-bound proteins that emerges from the membrane's elastic behavior. We develop a hybrid model that combines a continuum description of the membrane with a particle representation of the proteins. We show that the membrane-induced interaction gives rise to an effective attraction between proteins, which occurs over length scales much larger than typical intermolecular forces. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, May 15, 2015 9:00AM - 9:40AM |
A1.00002: Designing novel nanoscale motors Invited Speaker: Nancy Forde Nature has evolved incredibly powerful nanoscale machines, dubbed molecular motors, which are capable of working in the very thermally noisy environment of a cell. These naturally occurring motors have surprisingly high efficiencies and can transport cargo in specific directions at high speeds. How well do we understand the principles by which these operate? Can we take advantage of what is known about these principles in order to design and build novel nanoscale devices? In this talk, I will outline some of the impressive properties of biological molecular motors. We will then think about how we might design a motor, from scratch, that is capable of unidirectional transport, and what parameters are important in its function. I'll present some of our computer simulations of synthetic molecular motors, and describe progress towards their experimental realization. Work carried out in collaboration with Martin J. Zuckermann, Suzana Kovacic and Laleh Samii (Simon Fraser University), Elizabeth H.C. Bromley (Durham University), Derek N. Woolfson (University of Bristol), Paul M.G. Curmi (University of New South Wales) and Heiner Linke (Lund University). [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, May 15, 2015 9:40AM - 10:20AM |
A1.00003: Optimizing Protective Quantum Measurements Invited Speaker: Maximilian Schlosshauer Measurement is at the heart of quantum mechanics. Conventional projective measurements yield full information about an observable while maximally changing (``disturbing'') the quantum state. By contrast, so-called protective quantum measurements enable one to measure expectation values on single quantum systems with an arbitrarily low probability of disturbing the quantum state. Protective measurement provides an interesting alternative to conventional ensemble state tomography and broadens our understanding of measurement in quantum mechanics. In this talk, I will describe how a careful choice of the coupling between system and apparatus allows one to reduce the unwanted disturbance of the quantum state by many orders of magnitude compared to previous proposals. This makes protective measurements much more powerful and may get us a step closer to their experimental implementation. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, May 15, 2015 10:20AM - 10:40AM |
A1.00004: Break
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Friday, May 15, 2015 10:40AM - 11:20AM |
A1.00005: Beginning the Search for Gravitational Waves with the Advanced LIGO Detectors Invited Speaker: Frederick Raab Approximately 100 years after the publication of General Relativity, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is commissioning its second-generation detectors as part of an evolving worldwide network of the largest and most sensitive surveying instruments on Earth. Advanced LIGO detectors in Hanford, WA and Livingston, LA will begin observations this year, to be followed by the Advanced Virgo detector near Pisa, Italy next year. Their goal is to detect the gravitational waves from coalescing binary neutron stars routinely by the end of this decade. The detectors use lasers and suspended mirrors, acting as survey markers for space and forming a Fabry-Perot-Michelson Interferometer, to read out the spatial distortion in the two arms. Their sensitivity to strains in space is of the order of 10$^{-22}$, which requires resolving differential displacements of a billionth the size of atom between the two 4-km-long arms. These detectors will operate at the fundamental limits determined by the quantum nature of light and the atomic nature of matter, as well as the physical environments of the detectors. This talk will describe the technical challenges of building and operating this new generation of detectors, the strategy underlying the commissioning and observing plans for the next several years as well as the current status. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, May 15, 2015 11:20AM - 12:00PM |
A1.00006: Ongoing preparations for electromagnetic and particle follow-up of gravitational wave observations in the Advanced LIGO era Invited Speaker: Sukanta Bose As the Advanced LIGO detectors gear up to begin observations in the fall scientists are preparing to use gravitational waves (GWs) as probes of a variety of astronomical phenomena. Some proposed scenarios use them in conjunction with electromagnetic (EM) and particle observations to more completely characterize their sources. These scenarios require confronting various types of challenges, which this talk will describe. They include fast analysis of noisy data from multiple detectors for finding weak and transient GW signals, localizing their sources in the sky to within a few to several tens of square degrees, and collaborating with a network of telescopes and detectors to find their EM and particle counterparts. Such a multi-messenger quest may eventually establish if indeed certain short hard gamma-ray burst progenitors are mergers of compact object binaries involving neutron stars (NSs). It may also help constrain the NS equation of state. [Preview Abstract] |
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