• Lecture Series

    The Compass Lecture Series is a collection of research talks given by Berkeley physical sciences faculty or PhD candidates who are about to graduate. These talks are unique in the Berkeley Physics Department in that they are designed for an undergraduate audience. The goal of the lecture series is to introduce undergrads to as many areas of research as possible using language and physics concepts they can understand.

    Just as casino sites not on Gamstop aim to make complex platforms more accessible to broader audiences by removing unnecessary barriers, the Compass Lecture Series strives to make advanced scientific topics approachable and engaging for students at the undergraduate level.

    Undergraduates interview and introduce the speakers and manage the question-and-answer period that follows the talk. The lectures take place on the Thursdays listed below at 4:00 PM in 325 LeConte, with refreshments at 3:30 PM.

    The Spring 2014 Lectures:

    • March 4 – Imaging Extrasolar Planets
      James Graham, Professor of Astronomy
    • March 18 – Momentum flow as an alternative framework for elementary mechanics
      Andrea diSessa, Professor of Education
    • April 15 – Magneto-optic effect: Faraday effect and Kerr effect
      Zi Qiu, Professor of Physics
    • April 29 – Using rock magnetism to reconstruct ancient supercontinents
      Nick Swanson-Hysell, Professor of Earth and Planetary Science

    The Fall 2013 Lectures:

    • October 10 – Spatially Localized Structures
      Edgar Knobloch, Professor of Physics
    • October 24 – (Anti-)Matter Waves for Researching Time, Mass, and Gravity
      Holger Mueller, Asst. Professor of Physics
    • November 7 – Precision Monte Carlo Event Generation for the LHC
      Calvin Berggren, PhD Candidate in Physics
    • November 21 – Characterizing Beliefs and Practices of Physics Teaching Assistants
      Ben Spike, Academic Coordinator for Physics
    • December 5 – Prospects for Climate Treaty Verification
      Inez Fung, Professor of Atmospheric Science

    The Spring 2013 Lectures:

    • February 19 – Powerful Engines: The History, Diversity, Capability, and Uses of Particle Accelerators
      Andy Sessler, Distinguished Director Emeritus of LBNL
    • March 5 – Single Molecule Biophysics of Molecular Motors
      Ahmet Yildiz, Professor in Physics and Molecular Cell Biology
    • March 19 – Quantum Mechanics You Can Instagram: Exploring Quantum Magnetism with Ultracold Atoms
      Ryan Olf, PhD candidate in Physics
    • April 9 – Origin of the Universe
      Marc Davis, Professor of Astronomy and Physics
    • April 30 – Simulating Systems of Ultracold Atomic Gases
      Joel Corbo, PhD candidate in Physics

    The Fall 2012 Lectures:

    • October 4 – Stellar Crucible: Our Origins in Exploding Stars
      Dan Kasen, introduced by Alexander Nguyen
    • October 25 – Trojan Asteroids and Lagrange Points
      Robert Kolenkow, introduced by Ayman Bin Kamruddin
    • November 1 – Trapping and Probing Antihydrogen
      Jonathan Wurtele, introduced by Derrek Coleman
    • November 15 – The Life Cycles of Massive Galaxies
      Mariska Kriek
    • November 29 – Through the Looking Glass: How Atoms Behave on the Other Side of the Mirror
      Dimitri Dounas-Frazer, introduced by Ana Aceves

    The Spring 2012 Lectures:

    • February 23 – Black Hole Entropy and the Shape of the Horizon
      Eugenio Bianchi, introduced by Kristine Rezai
    • February 28 – Dark Matter: Looking for the Invisible
      Bob Jacobsen, introduced by Ayman Kamruddin
    • March 13 – Nanostructures for Photovoltaics: Harvesting Energy with 21st Century Materials
      Anna Zaniewski, introduced by Jenna Pinkham
    • April 3 – Emergent Phenomena in Condensed Matter Physics: Applications to Thermoelectricity and Quantum Computing
      Roger Mong, introduced by Michelle Mason
    • April 10 – SNO+: The Precision Era of Neutrino Physics
      Gabriel Orebi Gann, introduced by Ana Aceves
    • April 24 – Going Surfing with Electronic Excitations in a Molecular Materials Sea
      Naomi Ginsberg, introduced by Jenna Pinkham

    The Fall 2011 Lectures:

    • September 15 – Atomic Magnetometry in the Lab, in the Field, and in the Sky
      Dmitry Budker, introduced by TBD
    • September 29 – Particle Acceleration in Solar Flares: The Most Powerful Explosions in the Solar System
      Robert Lin, introduced by Sydney Schreppler
    • October 27 – The Standard Model of Particle Physics and Beyond
      Mary K. Gaillard, introduced by Alex Georges
    • November 17 – Optomechanics: From Gravity Waves to Quantum Mechanics
      Dan Stamper-Kurn, introduced by Salman Kahn

    The Spring 2011 Lectures:

    • February 16 – How to Balance and Steer a Bicycle
      Joel Fajans, introduced by Geoff Iwata
    • March 2 – Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe
      Alex Filippenko, introduced by Ana Aceves
    • March 30 – Particle Indistinguishability, Lorentz Invariance, and Causality: A Spectroscopic Test Using Two-Photon Transitions in Atoms
      Damon English, introduced by Alex Georges
    • April 6 – One Physicist’s View of the Brain
      Mike DeWeese, introduced by Alec Tewsley-Booth
    • April 20 – The Sounds of the World’s Smallest Violin (and Drum): Experiments with Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene-Based Nanoscaled Mechanical Resonators
      Benji Aleman, introduced by Jessica Esquivel
    • April 27 – Impacts on Jupiter Galore
      Imke de Pater, introduced by Eunice Fong

    The Fall 2010 Lectures:

    • October 7 – What are Gamma Ray Bursts?
      Josh Bloom, introduced by Caleb Levy
    • October 21 – Precision Tests of the Standard Model
      Yury Kolomensky, introduced by Alex Georges
    • November 4 – The Search for Earth-Like Planets and Life in the Universe
      Geoff Marcy, introduced by Nora Benavidez
    • November 18 – Graphene: A Two-Dimensional Electronic and Optical Material
      Feng Wang, introduced by Sara Cheng
    • December 2 – Atoms of Space
      Hal Haggard, introduced by Davis Burton

    The Spring 2010 Lectures:

    • March 4 – Superconductors: Old and New
      Robert Birgeneau, introduced by Brendan O’Hare
    • March 11 – What’s Going on in Atmospheric Science
      Inez Fung, introduced by Gina Quan
    • March 18 – Why are there Stars?
      Steve Stahler, introduced by Harjit Singh
    • April 15 – A Hundred Years of Condensed Matter Physics
      Marvin Cohen, introduced by Khoa Dao
    • April 29 – AMO Science Based on the Interaction of Soft X-rays with Matter
      Ali Belkacem, introduced by Jason Zhang

    The Fall 2009 Lectures:

    • October 15 – Action and Reaction: How Gravity Shapes Planetary Systems
      Eugene Chiang, introduced by Isha Nayak
    • October 29 – “Topological” Phases in Solids and Applications to Energy Conversion
      Joel Moore, introduced by Brendan O’Hare
    • November 12 – Some Interesting Phenomena in Picture Perception
      Marty Banks, introduced by Lia Medieros
    • November 19 – Watching the Waves Go By: Why Astrophysicists Care about Tides
      Eliot Quataert, introduced by Viraj Shah
    • December 3 – An 85 Year History of the Electron Spin
      Eugene Commins, introduced by Ankur Dhar

    The Spring 2009 Lectures:

    Spring 2009 Lecture Poster

    • March 3 – Physics for Future (and Newly-Elected) Presidents: What World Leaders Need to Know
      Richard Muller, introduced by Alexander Jacobsen
    • March 31 – Superconductivity: History, Trains, and SQUIDs
      John Clarke, introduced by Dominic Culver
    • April 7 – The New Energy Landscape: The Role of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
      Jeff Grossman, introduced by Davis Burton
    • April 21 – The Search for Terrestrial Exoplanets: The Kepler Mission
      Gibor Basri, introduced by Gina Quan
    • April 28 – The Large Hadron Collider: More Symmetries, More Matter, or More Universes?
      Lawrence Hall, introduced by Geoff Iwata

    The Fall 2008 Lectures:

    Fall 2008 Lecture Poster

    • October 21 – Supersymmetry, Extra Dimensions, and the Origin of Mass: The Search for New Physics at the Large Hadron Collider
      Marjorie Shapiro, introduced by Melissa Panlasigui
    • October 28 – Deciphering the Nature of Dark Matter in the Universe
      Bernard Sadoulet, introduced by Alexander Georges
    • November 18 – Maxwell’s Equations and our Electromagnetic World
      John D. Jackson, introduced by Jeevan Mahal
    • November 25 – Ultracold Atomic Physics
      Dan M. Stamper-Kurn, introduced by Joe Stoeckl
    • December 2 – The Fascinating Physics of Graphene and How it Might Revolutionize the Semiconducting Industry
      Alessandra Lanzara, introduced by  Melissa Panlasigui

    The Spring 2008 Lectures:

    • March 4 – The Shape and Sizes of Stars and their Variations
      Charles Townes, introduced by Jeevan Mahal and Felicitas Hernandez
    • March 18 – Are We Alone?: Searching for ET with Help from Millions of SETI@home Volunteers
      Dan Werthimer, introduced by Michaela Villarreal
    • April 1 – Making Artificial Atoms from Superconducting Circuits
      Irfan Siddiqi, introduced by Alexander Jacobsen
    • April 8 – Structure of Higher Dimensions in String Theory
      Ori Ganor, introduced by Felicitas Hernandez
    • April 15 – Reverse Engineering Cell Movements
      Daniel Fletcher, introduced by Jeevan Mehel
    • April 22 – Grabbing the Cat by the Tail: Studies of DNA Packaging by Single φ29 Bacteriophage Particles Using Optical Tweezers
      Carlos Bustamante, introduced by Melissa Panlasigui
    • April 29 – Exploring Nature’s Fundamental Forces and Particles with the Large Hadron Collider
      Beate Heinemann, introduced by T.J. Santos and Tim Jen
    • May 6 – Nanotube Radio
      Kenny Jensen, introduced by Juan Meza