Events

Pumpkin Drop
On October 30th, the department hosted its fifth annual Pumpkin Drop at the Metcalf Science Center. The tradition, which involves dropping pumpkins filled with substances from powder to paint onto Metcalf Plaza — 70 feet below — was continued as both a promotional and an educational tool. Photon, our undergraduate student organization, was heavily involved this year, along with several graduate students and professors. This year’s event expanded to include a costume contest, and a weight guessing game for the largest pumpkin.  The event was widely attended by the university, and garnered various media coverage.

The Dean S. Edmonds, Sr. Memorial Lecture and Banquet
The 30th annual Dean S. Edmonds, Sr. Memorial Lecture and Banquet were held on April 13, 2010.  The lecture, “Taming Wild Molecules,” was given by Professor Dudley Herschbach of Harvard University. That was followed by an evening cocktail reception and formal banquet with remarks offered by Professor Herschbach, department chair Professor Claudio Rebbi and committee organizer Professor Larry Sulak. Approximately 90 people attended.

Lepton Moments Conference
Last summer, Professor Lee Roberts ran the 4th annual Lepton Moments conference on Cape Cod, part of a series of symposia devoted to recent developments in the search for electric dipole moments (EDM) of the electron, muon, neutron and atomic nuclei. Such a discovery would violate the parity (P) and time-reversal (T) symmetries, and by implication the combination of charge conjugation and parity (CP) violation. New sources of CP violation are needed to explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, with the search for EDMs providing one important path. The conference also focuses on the transition moment that would cause charged lepton flavor violation in the decay of leptons, which would signify the existence of non-standard model physics. Many leaders in the field attended, including several Nobel Laureates, as well as many graduate students and young scientists. Professor Roberts will run the conference again this summer.

A complete list of colloquia and seminars can be found on our website.

Continue reading: Media