September 11
Relaxation at the Angle of Repose: The Physics of Granular Materials
Dr. Sidney Nagel
University of Chicago
September 18
Non-Unitary Field Theory and Complex Exponents: Signatures of Impending Catastrophes?
Dr. Hubert Saleur
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, USC
September 25
Quantum Tunneling in Chemical and Biological Systems
Dr. Chi Mak
Dept. of Chemistry, USC
October 2
Formal Approaches to Natural Languages
Dr. Joseph Aoun
USC
October 16
Frequency Doubling in Glass
Dr.Jack Feinberg
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, USC
October 30
Gravitational Waves from (Super)String Cosmology: Production and Possible Detection
Dr. Ramy Brustein
CERN & Ben Gurion
Abstract
An outline of cosmological evolution of the early universe within the framework of (super)string theory is presented. During an epoch of accelerated expansion of the universe gravitational radiation is produced. I describe the characteristic spectrum of the gravitational radiation, the detectors that may be used to measure it, and show that in some circumstances the relic gravitational radiation can actually be detected.
November 6
An Introduction to Berry’s Phase
Dr. Krzysztof Pilch
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, USC
November 13
Monopoles and Electric-Magnetic Duality
Dr. Dennis Nemeschansky
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, USC
November 27
A New Class of Magnetic Impurities in Metals
Dr. Gerd Bergmann
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, USC