Department of Physics

The proton is a composite object, consisting of quarks and gluons, that possesses an intrinsic angular momentum, or spin. As a fundamental quantum mechanical property, spin profoundly influences the proton’s physical characteristics, including its optical, electrical, and magnetic properties.

Interactions can lead to a wide variety of ordered states in materials. Phase transitions in which local atomic states develop spontaneous high rank multipole order provides a particularly rich arena for new insights. A key element in the study of such systems is the ability to couple to the associated order parameter. At its heart, this colloquium will be about symmetry and thermodynamics.

Liquid-liquid phase separation in living biological membranes is usually described as occurring on sub-micron length scales. A stunning counterexample occurs in S. cerevisiae. When the yeast shift from the log stage of growth to the stationary stage, huge, micron-scale liquid domains appear in the membranes of the vacuole, an endosomal organelle.