Extreme magnetic fields, the quantum enigma, solar energy production using techniques developed for space applications, nanostructured solar cells, and
carbon nanotubes are among the dozen topics to be discussed by speakers in the fall "What Physicists Do" public lecture series at Sonoma State University.
Lectures will be on Mondays at 4 p.m., from Aug. 27 through Nov. 26, in Room 103 in SSU's newly-remodeled Darwin Hall. Coffee, cookies, and conversation are available at 3:30 p.m.
The series will begin Aug. 27 with SSU's new physics professor, Jeremy Qualls, speaking on "The Attraction and Dangers of Extreme Magnetic Fields." Qualls will describe work he and his students will be doing in SSU's new magnet lab.
Two weeks later Fred Kuttner will speak on "Quantum Enigma: Reality, Entanglement, and Consciousness." Coauthor of a new book titled "Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness," Kuttner will describe observer-created reality and quantum entanglement. The book will be available for purchase at the lecture.
The challenging development of solar power concentrator technology will be the topic Sept. 17, when Michael Fulton, president of Ion Beam Optics, Inc., Thousand Oaks, will return to SSU to describe his work. Fulton received the
Distinguished Alumni award from SSU's Alumni Association last year.
Particle physics in the new century, with emphasis on the role of the top quark, will be the topic of UC Davis professor Robin Erbacher Sep. 24.
Oct. 4 marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the space age with the launch of Sputnik I. On Oct. 1, Sonoma author Douglas J. Mudgway will portray William H. Pickering, the physicist who directed NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the 1960s and led America's response to the challenge.
SSU's new astronomy professor, Scott Severson, will speak on adaptive optics and how it provides a sharper view of the universe Oct. 8. Severson will lead the university's effort to build a new research observatory at the Galbreath
Wildlands Preserve in Mendocino County.
Johns Hopkins University astronomer Holland Ford will come to SSU Oct. 15 to speak on "The Search for Planets Around Low Mass Stars." Ford has been in charge of the main camera on the Hubble Space Telescope.
The discovery of single-wall carbon nanotubes will be described by renowned physicist Donald S. Bethune of IBM Almaden Research Center Oct. 22
One week later Stanford University physicist Mark Topinka will speak on a related topic, nanostructured solar cells.
Ali Shakouri, an award winning electrical engineering professor at UC Santa Cruz, will speak Nov. 5 on thermionic energy conversion for waste heat recovery.
The Hinode Solar Optical Telescope, a Japanese space mission with American participation, will be the topic Nov. 19 when Thomas Berger of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center comes to SSU.
The series concludes Nov. 26 with Maryam Modjaz of UC Berkeley describing the exploding stars called supernovae and their connection to gamma-ray bursts.
For a free poster describing all twelve lectures, see http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/, send e-mail to phys.astro@sonoma.edu, or call (707) 664-2119.
