Clifford Johnson is a theoretic physicist at the University of Southern California, who focuses on string theory and gravity. He is a gifted speaker, science advisor for television and movies, and the author of a non-fiction graphic novel Dialogues: Conversations about the Nature of the Universe. He will give a talk on April 11, 2018 at 4pm in Chapman Hall Room 201 on the campus of UNC Chapel Hill.

Colloquium: Holographic Heat Engines for Fun and Profit

New work has shown how to complete the correspondence between the physics of black holes and the laws of thermodynamics by incorporating volume and pressure into the formalism. This results in a change in the thermodynamic interpretation of the black hole’s mass, and may give a new handle on understanding aspects of theories of gravity with non-vanishing cosmological constant. The concept of the “holographic heat engine”, where a black hole acts as the working substance for a heat engine, arises naturally in this framework, and further connects ideas from traditional thermodynamics, quantum gravity, and field theory. This talk will try to motivate and explain some of these developments and show some potential applications.

Dr. Clifford Johnson, professor of physics & astronomy at the University of Southern California, will take us on a whirlwind tour of Black Holes, Space & Time while sharing his experiences as a science adviser to television and movies, including Marvel superhero movies. His graphic novel Dialogues: Conversations about the Nature of the Universe, will be available for sale with a book signing following questions and answers. The event will take place April 10 starting at 5:30 at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. This talk is part of the NC Science Festival and reservations available through the Morehead‘s site.

The first Astronomy on Tap event of 2018 at Fullsteam Brewery in Durham is focused on cosmology and the beginning and end of our Universe and led by 2 CoSMS members.

• Dr. Adrienne Erickcek (UNC-CH) will discuss the hot big bang and our expanding Universe.
• Dr. Katie Mack (NCSU) (http://www.astrokatie.com/) will talk about the future of the cosmos and how the Universe will likely come to an end. She also has a very large following on social media: https://twitter.com/AstroKatie

Astronomy on Tap events are meant to provide a venue for short outreach talks (~20 min with plenty of time for questions) in a relaxed setting over beers — they are free, open to all ages, and start at 7 pm. Some more details about the event can be found at the link here:

https://astronomyontap.org/2018/01/astronomy-on-tap-triangle-5-tue-feb-6-2017/

Dr. Louise Dolan, CoSMS member and UNC’s Kenan Distinguished Professor of Physics, will discuss elementary particles, gravity, and how to understand the Universe, kicking off the 2018 Carolina Science Café series.

Wednesday, February 7, 6pm

BackBar at Top of the Hill Restaurant

100 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina

To learn more about Dr. Dolan, please see her webpage.

Free appetizers while supplies last courtesy of the series’ sponsor, the UNC-CH Chapter of Sigma Xi.

Dr. Clifford Johnson, professor of physics & astronomy at the University of Southern California, will take us on a whirlwind tour of Black Holes, Space & Time while sharing his experiences as a science adviser to television and movies, including Marvel superhero movies. His graphic novel Dialogues: Conversations about the Nature of the Universe, will be available for sale with a book signing following questions and answers. The event will take place April 10 starting at 5:30 at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. This talk is part of the NC Science Festival and reservations available through the Morehead‘s site.

Clifford Johnson is a high energy physics professor at the University of Southern California and is releasing a non-fiction science graphic novel about the nature of the universe in the fall of 2017. The date is still tentative and details about his talk will follow.

The Capra meetings have brough together relativists interested in the problem of radiation reaction in general relativity and its application to extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) as astrophysical sources of gravitational waves. This year’s meeting will be held June 19-23, 2017 at UNC.

The Capra meetings have been bringing together relativists interested in the problem of radiation reaction in general relativity and its application to extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) as astrophysical sources of gravitational waves. The meeting will be held June 19-23, 2017 at UNC.

Prof. Daniel Kleppner from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and recipient of the 2017 APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research, will present a talk entitled “Three Seeds in the Flowering of Quantum Science,” April 10 at 2pm.

Prof. Daniel Kleppner from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and recipient of the 2017 APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research, will present a talk entitled “Three Seeds in the Flowering of Quantum Science.”

A new field of quantum science has sprung into life in the last few decades. This talk will describe three of the scientific seeds that contributed to this flowering.

A reception will be held outside of Chapman 201 after the colloquium.

Flyer available here.