Back-to-Class Sessions

Friday, October 22
9-10 a.m. RAWLS 2079
Nick Giordano, Professor of Physics

Why Does the Piano Sound Like a Piano?

This session will offer an introduction to musical acoustics. We are developing a physical model of the piano using Newton's laws to calculate the motion of all pieces of a piano along with the sound pressure produced. Join us and learn how our work involves experimental studies of piano hammers, strings, and soundboards.

11-noon RAWLS 2077
Ian Shipsey, Professor of Physics

From Quark to the Cosmos

Come explore major advances being made by physicists in understanding the deepest inner workings of matter, space, and time and by astronomers in understanding the universe as a whole and the objects within it. This session will give a brief review of the great questions in both elementary particle physics and cosmology, which we optimistically anticipate will be answered by 2050.

1:30-2:30 p.m. STEW 302
Ephraim Fischbach, Professor of Physics

Mysteries of the Nano-World

Interest in nanotechnology has exploded in recent years, motivated largely by diverse new applications. However, the same techniques are now being applied in the laboratory to answer very fundamental questions about our universe, such as: Do we really live in a world that has only three spatial dimensions? This session will explore recent work on the crossroads of basic and applied research in nanotechnology.