ICTP-SAIFR Scientific Bulletin #23, July – September 2018
Simons-FAPESP Research Professor position in Biological Physics
Applications are open here for a Simons-FAPESP research professor position in the interdisciplinary area of physics with connections to biology. Depending on the qualifications of the candidate, the position will be either a permanent professorship or a 4-year professorship with the possibility of tenure after 3 years. Although applications will be accepted until the position is filled, candidates are strongly encouraged to apply before November 15, 2018.
Application are open here for up to 5 FAPESP postdoctoral positions and up to 2 joint FAPESP-Perimeter postdoctoral positions in all areas of theoretical physics to begin in 2019. The FAPESP postdoctoral fellowships are for two years with possible extension for up to four years, and the FAPESP-Perimeter postdoctoral positions are for the first 2 years at ICTP-SAIFR and the next 2 years at Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Canada. Candidates are strongly encouraged to apply before December 1, 2018.
New members of the ICTP-SAIFR staff
In July, Ana Luiza Sério and Lucas David joined ICTP-SAIFR as outreach coordinators with fellowships from Instituto Serrapilheira. In addition to jointly coordinating workshops for high-school physics teachers, Lucas will organize weekly lectures for high-school students and Ana Luiza will organize ICTP-SAIFR outreach events for the general public.
School and Workshop on Integrable Models: from quantum spin chains and vertex models to AdS/CFT
From July 2-14, this ICTP-SAIFR school and workshop featured lectures and seminars on applications of integrability in statistical physics, condensed matter physics, gauge and string theory and mathematics. The two-week program was aimed at stimulating interactions between high-energy physicists and cond-mat/stat-mech physicists using integrability.
2018 IFT-Perimeter-SAIFR Journeys into Theoretical Physics
From July 16-21, the third edition of this IFT-Perimeter-SAIFR school took place with 80 of the top undergraduate students from all over Latin America. Minicourses on topology, quantum field theory, biophysics, condensed matter and cosmology were presented, and the highest-scoring students were accepted to a joint master`s program involving one year at either Perimeter Institute or the CUNY/Princeton Center for the Physics of Biological Function and one year at SAIFR/IFT-UNESP.
School on Dark Matter and Neutrino Detection
Ths school was held from July 23 to Aug. 3 and included minicourses by A. de Gouvea (Northwestern U.), F. Iocco (SAIFR/IFT-UNESP), F. Queiroz (SAIFR/IIP-Natal), S. Soldner-Rembolt (Manchester) and E. Figueroa-Feliciano (Northwestern U.), as well as several lectures. The first week featured theoretical courses on neutrinos and dark matter, and the second week consisted of experimental courses distributed through ten different laboratory sessions.
Distinguished Public Lecture by Marcelle Soares-Santos
On July 27, Marcelle Soares-Santos (Brandeis U.) presented a lecture for the general public entitled “Cosmic collisions: the scientific impact of the first detection of gravitational waves and light”. Marcelle Soares-Santos played a leading role in the recent detection of a neutron star collision through the construction of the Dark Energy Survey camera.
Papos de Física: August 2
Papos de Fisica is a monthly outreach program of ICTP-SAIFR introducing current topics in theoretical physics to the general public in an informal setting. On August 2, Diego Trancanelli (IF-USP) spoke on the importance of symmetry and scales in the understanding of physical phenomena ranging from atoms to galaxies.
Ciência em Diálogo-Física e Arte: August 3
ICTP-SAIFR continued its outreach program with the Instituto Moreira Salles (IMS) involving a monthly series of presentations at the IMS museum featuring one scientist and one non-scientist. In the August edition of this program, cosmologist Raul Abramo (IF-USP) and anthropologist/writer Betty Mindlin discussed the topic “Genesis” from the perspectives of cosmologists and indigenous tribes in Brazil.
Sixth International ICTP-SAIFR/CLAF Workshop for the Design of the ANDES Underground Laboratory
From August 4-6, the 6th edition of this international workshop took place at ICTP-SAIFR and included seminars on various aspects of this Latin-American consortium including future potential experiments for ANDES, and the next steps towards the establishment of the underground laboratory.
This 4-day workshop from August 10-13 was a satellite conference of the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Rio de Janeiro, and included several well-known mathematicians including Geordie Williamson (U. Sidney) and Fields medalist Andrei Okounkov (Columbia U.).
This one-week workshop on condensed matter was organized from August 14-18 by E. Andrade and J. Hoyos, both from IFSC-USP and V. Dobrosavljevic (NHMFL and Florida State U.). Topics of the workshop included disordered metals and insulators, frustrated magnets, spin liquids and topological insulators, and correlated and topological superconductors.
From August 20-24, Fernando Brandão and Burak Shinoglu, both from Caltech, presented a minicourse on the topic of quantum entanglement. Recent applications of the theory of entanglement to other branches of physics, from condensed matter physics and statistical mechanics to high energy physics were discussed.
Mini-workshop on Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Disease Dynamics
In this workshop organized jointly with the USA consulate on August 21, Profs. S. Bansal (Georgetown U.), L. Billings (Montclair State U.) and S. Del Valle (Los Alamos National Lab) presented seminars on their research in the area of biomathematics and in particular of epidemic modeling.
In this monthly presentation in an informal setting, Marina Nielsen (IF-USP) presented the seminar “Issues in quantum physics”. After describing various paradoxes in the theory of quantum mechanics, she used the double slit experiment to explain how this theory is fundamentally different from our classical intuition.
In the September meeting of this monthly program at the IMS museum, the director of ICTP-SAIFR Nathan Berkovits (ICTP-SAIFR/IFT-UNESP) and the percussionist John Boudler (PIAP/IA-UNESP) discussed the topic of “Time” from the perspectives of a physicist and a musician.
Quantum Mechanics: Minicourse for high-school students
In this minicourse given by Pedro Vieira (ICTP-SAIFR/IFT-UNESP & Perimeter I.) to over 100 high-school students, Prof. Vieira lectured each Saturday morning from Sept. 15-29 on topics in quantum mechanics using mathematical language accessible to high-school students.
In this minicourse for advanced high-school students, Lucas David (ICTP-SAIFR/ ETEC de Monte Mor/ ETEC Guaracy Silveira) is lecturing each Saturday afternoon from Sept. 15-Oct. 13 on topics discussed in the mornings by ICTP-SAIFR researchers as well as presenting mathematical tools such as differential calculus, linear algebra and complex numbers.
In September 2018, ICTP-SAIFR began a new outreach program involving visits of physicists to public high schools to discuss their research with the students and to answer questions about careers in physics. On September 19, the director of ICTP-SAIFR, Nathan Berkovits visited the public school ETEC Guaracy Silveira, and on September 27, Pedro Vieira (SAIFR/IFT/Perimeter), Greg Dick (Perimeter) and Dave Fish (Perimeter) visited the public school ETEC Getúlio Vargas.
On September 27, Greg Dick (Outreach Director, Perimeter) presented a talk for the general public entitled “Collaboration: the secret to building global outreach programs” in which he described the world-leading outreach program in theoretical physics developed at Perimeter Institute in Canada.
The third edition of this workshop for high-school teachers was held on Sept. 29-30 and presented classroom methods for teaching modern physics concepts to 55 high-school teachers from all regions of Brazil. Sponsored by Serrapilheira Institute, the workshop was organized by Gregory Dick and Dave Fish from Perimeter Institute together with Ana Luiza Serio and Lucas David from ICTP-SAIFR.
Forthcoming events:
