Physics Seminar: Monday September 12 4 PM Brown 261:
Erin Middlemas and Olivia Miller will speak on:
`Effects of Dust on the Optical Emission of
Discharges'
and
`Design of High Resolution Imaging System for Ultracool Atoms'
Two physics majors will describe their summer research projects, done at Baylor University and Bucknell University, respectively.
The first talk will be on dust particles, common contaminants that can be found in technological equipment, astrophysical systems, and atmospheric conditions. Dust particles obtain a charge due to the absorption of free electrons and ions. When immersed in a radio frequency discharge, these particles may cause changes to the plasma. This talk will describe results from an experiment on this topic, and will compare to a two-dimensional fluid model.
The second talk will be on ultracold atoms, which are atoms that
are maintained at temperatures close to a few microkelvins and
below.
At these temperatures bosonic atoms are capable
of forming Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC).
Optically trapped spinor BECs, which are highly
sensitive to magnetic fields, and capable of measuring magnetic
fields in very small objects. Through laser cooling and trapping
rubidium atoms in a magneto-optical trap, we will obtain and
analyze BEC using a high-resolution imaging system.
Refreshments will be served at 3:45 PM.