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At least 19 records

APS-DPP Distinguished Lecturer in Plasma Physics (DLPP) Program (Final Technical Report)

The final WVU-DLPP-project year has been a transition year on multiple fronts for the DLPP program. The first is a transition from the mode of operations adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic and the second is leadership for the program. During the pandemic, the lecture series went to a virtual format to maintain interactions between our distinguished lecturers and the community of small college and University plasma physics programs with an emphasis on underrepresented groups. Prof. John Foster was especially active with his invited lectures in the remote modality of the DLPPseries. While efforts included zoom calls for speakers to interact with students in addition to the seminar, this approach is much less impactful than face-to-face interactions. As we refresh the group of speakers, the lectures will move back to in person visits. We still retain the virtual option for our lecturers to cope with circumstances and remaining health concerns for individual. We have selected a new cohort of distinguished lecturers. A flyer was sent to a list of college and universities to advertise the DLPP speaker-visit opportunity. We have also drafted a thank you letter to the previous cohort who sustained the program through the pandemic. The other transition is the change in leadership, after the selection of the 2023 DLPPcohort, from Dr. Koepke who has been a staunch champion for the program and done a great job growing its presence, to Dr. Kline the co-chair. Dr. Koepke has been transferring his knowledge and providing excellent guidance in this transition. Over the past year, a best practices document was written as a means to capture not only the core program values, but create a living document that can maintain a continual transfer of information to subsequent leader for the program.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

TASI Lectures on Indirect Searches For Dark Matter

In these lectures, I describe a variety of efforts to identify or constrain the identity of dark matter by detecting the annihilation or decay products of these particles, or their effects. After reviewing the motivation for indirect searches, I discuss what we have learned about dark matter from observations of gamma rays, cosmic rays and neutrinos, as well as the cosmic microwave background. Measurements such as these have been used to significantly constrain a wide range of thermal relic dark matter candidates, in particular those with masses below a few hundred GeV. I also discuss a number of anomalies and excesses that have been interpreted as possible signals of dark matter, including the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess, the cosmic-ray antiproton excess, the cosmic-ray positron excess, and the 3.5 keV line. These lectures were originally presented as part of the 2018 Theoretical Advanced Study Institute (TASI) summer school on "Theory in an Era of Data". Although intended for advanced graduate students, these lectures may be useful for a wide range of physicists, astrophysicists and astronomers who wish to get an overview of the current state of indirect searches for dark matter.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Advice to a lecturer

A public lecture is a performance, and it is also an invitation to conversation. A lively conversation—especially when one person does most of the talking—requires that the speaker have something to say. Further, a memorable performance requires assiduous preparation. I touch on a number of important elements: preparing the scene and eliminating barriers between you and the audience... engaging your listeners with a narrative arc... the uses of the minute particular... tension and resolution, surprise and drama... experiments and demonstrations, specimens and souvenirs.... showing yourself, and your passion.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Lectures on statistical mechanics

Presented here is a transcription of the lecture notes from Professor Allan N. Kaufman’s graduate statistical mechanics course Physics 212A and 212B at the University of California Berkeley from the 1972–1973 academic year. 212A addressed equilibrium statistical mechanics with topics: fundamentals (micro-canonical and sub-canonical ensembles, adiabatic law and action conservation, fluctuations, pressure, and virial theorem), classical fluids and other systems (equation of state, deviations from ideality, virial coefficients and van der Waals potential, canonical ensemble and partition function, quasistatic evolution, grand-canonical ensemble and partition function, chemical potential, simple model of a phase transition, quantum virial expansion, numerical simulation of equations of state, and phase transition), chemical equilibrium (systems with multiple species and chemical reactions, law of mass action, Saha equation, chemical equilibrium including ionization and excited states), and long-range interactions (including Coulomb, dipole, and gravitational interactions, Debye–Hückel theory, and shielding). 212B addressed nonequilibrium statistical mechanics with topics: fundamentals (definitions: realizations, moments, characteristic function, and discrete variables), Brownian motion (Langevin equation, fluctuation–dissipation theorem, spatial diffusion, Boltzmann’s H-theorem), Liouville and Klimontovich equations, Landau equation (derivation, elaboration, and H-theorem, and irreversibility), Markov processes and Fokker–Planck equation (derivations of the Fokker–Planck equation and a master equation), linear response and transport theory (linear Boltzmann equation, linear response theory of Kubo and Mori, relation of entropy production to electrical conductivity, transport relations and coefficients, normal mode solutions of the transport equations, sketch of a generalized Langevin equation method for transport theory), and an introduction to nonequilibrium quantum statistical mechanics.

plasma dynamics↗

Book Review: Lectures on BSDEs, Stochastic Control, and Stochastic Differential Games with Financial Applications by Rene Carmona

This book is a collection of lecture notes on various topics in the area of stochastic control, stochastic differential games, and financial applications. It makes for an excellent resource for those who already have some familiarity with these topics, although as the author points out, it is not a polished textbook. If the reader is not well versed in stochastic processes and control theory this book may not be the best introduction since prerequisite knowledge of these topics is a must before diving into the material. On the other hand, the book contains a very useful section of notes at the end of each chapter describing references that can be used to get up to speed and to put the material into the wider context. In this respect, it can be used as a guide for those interested in navigating the various books and papers that are drawn upon. The book is divided into three parts: Stochastic Calculus Preliminaries, Stochastic Control, and Stochastic Differential Games. The underlying theory is developed in a systematic manner and many financial applications are scattered throughout the book.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Les Houches Lectures on Indirect Detection of Dark Matter

These lectures, presented at the 2021 Les Houches Summer School on Dark Matter, provide an introduction to key methods and tools of indirect dark matter searches, as well as a status report on the field circa summer 2021. Topics covered include the possible effects of energy injection from dark matter on the early universe, methods to calculate both the expected energy distribution and spatial distribution of particles produced by dark matter interactions, an outline of theoretical models that predict diverse signals in indirect detection, and a discussion of current constraints and some claimed anomalies. These notes are intended as an introduction to indirect dark matter searches for graduate students, focusing primarily on intuition-building estimates and useful concepts and tools.

Slatyer, Tracy↗

Four lectures on Euler integrals

These lecture notes provide a self-contained introduction to Euler integrals, which are frequently encountered in applications. In particle physics, they arise as Feynman integrals or string amplitudes. Our four selected topics demonstrate the diverse mathematical techniques involved in the study of Euler integrals, including polyhedral geometry, very affine varieties, differential equations, and computational algebra.

Matsubara-Heo, Saiei-Jaeyeong↗

Two lectures on Yang-Lee edge singularity and analytic structure of QCD equation of state

These lecture notes, prepared for the 2024 XQCD PhD, provide an introduction to the analytic structure of an equation of state near a second-order phase transition and its most prominent landmark: the Yang-Lee edge singularity. In addition to discussing general properties, the notes review recent theoretical progress in locating the QCD critical point by tracking the trajectory of the Yang-Lee edge singularity.

Skokov, Vladimir (ORCID:0000000176191796)↗

Shock Compression of Materials: SSDDS Lecture 4

Lecture roadmap: Definitions, explanation of shock wave, properties of a shock wave, relations to equation of state and quasistatic compression, calculations, measurements, and problems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NEST Lectures [PowerPoint]

The presentation is composed of the slides used in various NEST lectures including: Interaction of Radiation with Matter, Biological and Health Effects of Radiation Exposure, Radionuclide Detection and Dose Assessment, Plutonium, Other Radionuclides Monitored by Bioassay and Case Studies, and, Counting Statistics.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

TASI Lectures on Applications of Gauge/Gravity Duality

We introduce the gauge/gravity, or AdS/CFT, correspondence with an eye towards its application to strongly coupled systems. We provide an overview of the duality, including the AdS/CFT dictionary and holographic renormalization. We then discuss simple correlation functions in the context of renormalization group flow geometries, holographic thermodynamics and an application to the phase diagram of QCD, real-time correlators and the shear viscosity of strongly coupled field theories, holographic superconductors, and the application of holographic fermionic response to strange metals. These lectures were delivered at TASI 2017.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

TASI Lectures on WIMPs and Supersymmetry

Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) are an appealing and well studied candidate for dark matter (DM) that arise in many extensions of the standard model. I will discuss where a WIMP sits in the catalogue of DM candidates, its origin as a thermal relic, and the various approaches available to discover it. The prototypical example of a WIMP is the neutralino of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). I will give an introduction to the formalism and phenomenology of supersymmetry and the MSSM, with emphasis on DM. These notes are the combination of lectures given at TASI 2018 and a Joint ICTP-Trieste/ICTP-SAIFR School.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Nutrition, risk factors, prevention, and imaging: The 2018 Mario Verani Lecture

Heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the United States since 1918. Cardiac mortality rates have dramatically decreased in this era of advanced medical and interventional therapies. However, this has been aptly described as “mopping up the floor instead of turning off the faucet.” With this recognition, prevention in cardiology is poised to become a central focus. Within prevention, dietary intervention is recognized as the single largest opportunity for improved cardiovascular outcomes, including improvement or elimination of cardiac risk factors, prevention of myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular death, and reduction of plaque burden and myocardial ischemia. Cardiac imaging, particularly nuclear perfusion and coronary computed tomographic angiography, plays a critical role in early diagnosis and serial evaluation of myocardial ischemia and coronary artery disease. These techniques have the potential to help refine research protocols and evaluate their success by providing intermediate markers of improved myocardial blood flow and coronary plaque morphology.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Spiers Memorial Lecture: activating metal sites for biological electron transfer

Metal sites in biology often exhibit unique spectroscopic features that reflect novel geometric and electronic structures imposed by the protein that are key to reactivity. The blue copper active site involved in long range, rapid biological electron transfer is a classic example. This review presents an overview of both traditional and synchrotron based spectroscopic methods and their coupling to electronic structure calculations to understand the unique features of the blue copper active site, their contributions to function and the role of the protein in determining the geometric and electronic structure of the active site (called the “entatic state”). The relation of this active site to other biological electron transfer sites is further developed. Specifically, ultrafast XFEL spectroscopy is used to evaluate the methionine–S–Fe bond in cytochrome c, and its entatic control by the protein in determining function (electron transfer vs. apoptosis).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Spiers Memorial Lecture: Theory of unimolecular reactions

One hundred years ago, at an earlier Faraday Discussion meeting, Lindemann presented a mechanism that provides the foundation for contemplating the pressure dependence of unimolecular reactions. Since that time, our ability to model and predict the kinetics of such reactions has grown in leaps and bounds through the synergy of ever more sophisticated experimental studies with increasingly high level theoretical analyses. Herein, this review begins with a brief historical overview of the progress from the Lindemann mechanism to the master equation, which now provides the cornerstone for most theoretical analyses. The current status of ab initio transition state theory based implementations of the master equation is then reviewed, beginning with a discussion of the energy resolved chemical conversion rates, followed by a review of the pressure dependence of the thermal kinetics. The latter discussion focusses on the collisional energy and angular momentum transfer rates as well as the complexities of non-thermal effects and of multiple-well multiple-channel reactions. The synergy with recent state-of-the-art experiments is used to motivate these discussions. Attempts to automate the calculations are also briefly reviewed. Throughout the discussion, we provide our perspective on current understanding and continuing challenges and opportunities. One key challenge relates to the coupling of sequences of reactions, which frequently leads to deviations from the classic presumption of thermal reactants.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗