Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2018 Joint Spring Meeting of the Texas Sections of APS, AAPT, and Zone 13 of the SPS
Volume 63, Number 8
Thursday–Saturday, March 22–24, 2018; Stephenville, Texas
Session A1: Plenary I |
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Chair: Daniel Marble, Tarleton State University Room: Science 102 |
Friday, March 23, 2018 8:00AM - 8:10AM |
A1.00001: Welcome and Introduction |
Friday, March 23, 2018 8:10AM - 8:46AM |
A1.00002: Physics as a Street Art Invited Speaker: Tatiana Erukhimova Celebrating physics with the community -- is this utopia or a mission of every university? There are more and more science festivals around the country, but how can we reach out to people who would never come to campus on their own accord? Can physics outreach become not only a service provided by an academic department to the public but also a unique learning opportunity for students? This talk will discuss what it takes to build a successful physics outreach program, which includes everything from the annual Texas A{\&}M Physics {\&} Engineering Festival attended by thousands of people to videos for K-12 students, physics demonstrations on downtown sidewalks, and of course Game Day Physics. Perhaps the most important ingredient for success is to make every outreach project student-centered. As one example, teams of undergraduate students mentored by graduate students and faculty work throughout the school year on the design and fabrication of physics demonstrations. The same teams show these demos at the outreach events. The benefits for the students and the department are obvious. Students practice teamwork and obtain hands-on experience, learn how to communicate science effectively, and get to know graduate students and faculty. The department gets a lot of new demos to be used in regular classes. Last but not least, showing physics on the streets is a lot of fun! [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2018 8:46AM - 9:22AM |
A1.00003: Whispers from the Cosmos Invited Speaker: Mustafa Amin Ripples in spacetime have recently been detected by a LIGO/Virgo detectors. These spacetime whispers have provided unprecedented information about the final dance of binary neutron stars and blackholes. Along with these spectacular recent discoveries, I will discuss other “likely” (more accurately, things I have worked on) sources of such whispers including: (i) the spacetime dynamics close to the big bang, (ii) exotic compact objects made of dark matter in the contemporary universe. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2018 9:22AM - 9:58AM |
A1.00004: Mathematical Habits of Mind in Introductory Physics Invited Speaker: Stephen Kanim The degree to which many introductory physics students struggle with math is sometimes surprising. Even experienced instructors sometimes find themselves wondering what exactly students learned in all of those math classes. In this talk I will highlight the ways that mathematics as it is used in physics courses is different from what students have seen in math classes. I will present data from a study on student use of proportional reasoning in physics that suggests that many students have become proficient with mathematical procedures without considering the meaning of these procedures, and without a larger sense of what these procedures are for.\\ \\ Our goals for using mathematics in physics as a way of making sense of physical phenomena are different from the goals of mathematicians when they use the same procedures. As a result, physicists have an important role to play in fostering a flexible and generative use of mathematics as a tool for investigating and describing phenomena. To do this effectively, we first need to understand how physicists’ mathematical habits of mind are different from those of students entering our courses. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 23, 2018 9:58AM - 10:34AM |
A1.00005: Ultrafast Optics with Quantum Coherence: Physics and Applications Invited Speaker: Alexei Sokolov Quantum atomic or molecular coherence is the central feature of multiple techniques, and corresponds to a situation where atoms or molecules of a sample are prepared in a coherent superposition state. High degree of coherence can lead to astonishing results. Atomic coherence has earlier been used in electromagnetically induced transparency, ultraslow light propagation, and lasing without inversion. Recent work has shown that an increased and cleverly manipulated molecular coherence enables improvements in optical detection and sensing. Another remarkable example is a technique termed molecular modulation, which allows ultrafast laser pulse shaping and non-sinusoidal field synthesis via coherent Raman generation. Experimentally, the molecular-modulation light source is characterized by a bandwidth spanning infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectral regions, generating bursts of light synchronized with respect to the molecular oscillations. Controlled spectral, temporal, and spatial shaping of the resultant waveform will allow arbitrary ultrafast space- and time-tailored sub-cycle optical field synthesis. [Preview Abstract] |
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