P&A Colloquium

Physics & Astronomy Colloquium

Dr. David Allred, Brigham Young University

Title: Addressing Material Science issues on the way to NASA habitable worlds Observatory and Beyond

Abstract: If the technology is sufficiently matured, NASA's next flagship mission is likely to be the Habitable Worlds Observatory. This observatory for the late ‘30’s will also be capable of far UV Optical measurements.

In conjunction with NASA scientists, BYU's Thin films for Space Optics Research Group has been addressing some of the material science issues important for extending observations into the far UV using characterization tools of the 21st century including spectroscopic ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.  We have also been doing studies on a potential alternative to the internal coronagraph currently contemplated for the Habex mission. 

I will discuss dust, lifetime studies and the cleaning and storage of delicate optics and hygroscopic materials with polymers, including first contact polymer. This presentation is aimed at advanced undergraduate students and beginning graduate students while at the same time reviewing and teaching aspects of optics that may be of interest to all. 

Date:
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Location:
CP 153
Event Series:

Physics & Astronomy Colloquium

Dr. Kate Scholberg, Duke University

Title: How to Spot a Supernova from Deep Underground

Abstract: Stellar core collapses create enormous bursts of 10ths-of-MeV neutrinos on a timescale of a few 10ths of seconds after collapse and preceding optical fireworks by hours or days. These neutrinos can be observed in underground neutrino detectors worldwide. The neutrinos themselves carry directional information that can be exploited to determine the position of the supernova (or of the compact remnant, in the case of failed explosion) on the sky. I will give an overview of methods for low-latency pointing to core-collapse events with neutrino detectors.

Date:
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Location:
CP 153
Event Series:

Physics & Astronomy Colloquium

Dr. Brent Seales, University of Kentucky

Title: On Perseverance: Virtually Unwrapping the Herculaneum Scrolls

Abstract: This talk tells the story of virtual unwrapping, conceived during the rise of digital libraries, computer vision and large-scale computing, and now realized on some of the most difficult and iconic material in the world -- the Herculaneum Scrolls -- as a result of the recent phenomena of big data and machine learning. 

Virtual unwrapping is a noninvasive restoration pathway for damaged written material, allowing texts to be read from objects that are too damaged even to be opened. The Herculaneum papyrus scrolls, buried and carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE and then excavated in the 18th century, are original, classical texts from the shelves of the only library to have survived from antiquity. The 250-year history of science and technology applied to the challenge of opening and then reading them has created a fragmentary, damaged window into their literary and philosophical secrets. 

In 1999, with more than 400 scrolls still unopened, methods for physical unwrapping were permanently halted. The intact scrolls present an enigmatic challenge: preserved by the fury of Vesuvius, yet still lost. Using a noninvasive imaging approach, we have now shown how to recover their texts, rendering them "unlost." The path we have forged uses high energy physics, artificial intelligence and the collective power of a global scientific community inspired by prizes, collaborative generosity and the common goal of shared glory: reading original classical texts for the first time in 2,000 years.

Date:
-
Location:
CP 153
Event Series: