Talks

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is now running (after a rocky start). This talk reviews why the start was rocky and how this constrains the physics program over the next few years. I will briefly survey how 'naturalness' arguments argue why something should be discovered, and why theoretical proposals fall into three main categories. If time permits I will close by telling you why I think the cosmological constant problem implies the LHC will strike paydirt and make quantum gravity an experimental science.

We perform an exact localization calculation for the expectation value of Wilson-'t Hooft line operators in N=2 gauge theories on S^1 x R^3. The expectation values form a quantum mechanically deformed algebra of functions on the Hitchin moduli space by Moyal multiplication. We demonstrate that these expectation values are the Weyl transform of the Verlinde operators, which acts on conformal blocks as difference operators. Our results are also in exact match with the predictions from wall-crossing in the IR effective theory.

With a background in computer and systems engineering as well as language processing and automatic speech recognition, Ms. Payette was selected from a pool of 5,330 candidates to become a Canadian astronaut, focusing on technical issues in robotics. Today, following her amazing professional career and numerous life experiences, Ms. Payette is veteran of two missions to the International Space Station as a crew member and Flight Engineer. She also holds a commercial pilot license; earned military pilot captaincy on the 'Snowbird' jets; is a certified deep-sea diving suit operator; is fluent in French and English, and can converse in Spanish, Italian, Russian and German. She has received many awards, holds numerous degrees and, on a personal note, plays the piano and has sung with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Piacere Vocale in Basel, Switzerland, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto. Drawing from her many firsthand experiences and zest for life, Ms. Payette will share an astronaut's high level perspective on extraordinarily complex, yet highly collaborative, challenges in space - from both a research and international diplomacy policy point of view.

The world's most ambitious scientific experiment is buried 100 meters underground, straddling Switzerland and France. A billion times every minute, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) slams together protons, while four giant detectors watch closely. - So how does the Large Hadron Collider work? - Why can slamming tiny particles into each other provide clues about the nature of all space and time? - What mysteries are physicists trying to solve with data from the LHC? - How does the cutting edge of particle physics relate to the world around us, from the patterns of stars in the sky to the fact that they shine at all? Natalia Toro, PI Faculty, works at the intersection of theories and hard data. She will explain how complex collision data from the LHC is being digested and examined right now, and how it may set the course for the science of the future.

Learn about the future of “3D Printers” – machines that will fabricate arbitrary-shaped parts, layer by layer. Dr. Lipson will share a history of these technologies and preview a future in which we continue to gain unprecedented control over physical matter. If humans distinguish themselves from their evolutionary ancestors by making tools, then how might the ultimate tools – involving additive manufacturing – impact human culture forever? Dr. Lipson explores the science, technology and potential of programmable matter.

Some numbers mean things, and some numbers do things. Making--and breaking--that distinction was central to renowned mathematician John von Neumann’s implementation of Alan Turing’s Universal Machine in 1945-56. In this lecture, you will learn about the unlikeliest place on earth to build such a device and how this vital 5-kilobyte step in the digital revolution was sparked by a collision of ideas between mathematicians and engineers. Combining soldering guns with science, Von Neumann and his Electronic Computing Instrument tackled previously intractable problems ranging from thermonuclear explosions, stellar evolution, and long-range weather forecasting to cellular automata, network optimization, and the origins of life. In this highly visual and informative presentation, George Dyson will impart the full story - from the people to their processors - and where our digital directions through history may lead us next.