Autumn 2024 Department of Physics Orientation

Welcome to the University of Chicago Department of Physics!

We are excited for you to join our department and the university community. We have developed a schedule to facilitate your transition to graduate school, combining a welcome by the Department of Physics, information sessions, advising meetings, and research talks. As graduate students, you are an important part of the Department of Physics and we hope to do everything we can to help you transition into our community.

This year orientation will take place in-person. 

Newly Admitted Student Resources

Orientation Week One: Monday, September 16, 2024 - Friday, September 20, 2024

Week One will consist of an introduction to the department, advising meetings, and information sessions. All sessions will be held in-person and mandatory, unless specified as optional.

Campus tour on Tuesday, September 24 at 10: 30 am (more info in the schedule below). Here is the campus video tour as well as the neighborhood highlights

Orientation Week Two: Monday, September 23, 2024 - Friday, September 27, 2024

Week Two will consist of required workshops and faculty presentations. All sessions will be held in-person and mandatory, unless specfied. 

WEEK ONE

Monday, September 16, 2024

All sessions from 10:30 am - 1:30 pm will be in KPTC 206.

10:30 am - 10:45 am Welcome from the Chair of the Department of Physics, Peter Littlewood

Peter Littlewood holds a BA and PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge. He was member of technical staff, and later head, of the theoretical physics research group at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. He moved to Cambridge in 1997 as head of the Theory of Condensed Matter group, and later became head of the Cavendish Laboratory and Department of Physics. He came to UChicago in 2011 as Associate Lab Director and then Lab Director, at Argonne National Lab, returning full time to the University in 2017. He serves on the advisory boards of several institutes, including the Faraday Institution, the Simons Foundation, the Paul Scherer Institute, the Carnegie Institute for Science, and the Max Planck Institutes at Halle and Hamburg.

KPTC 206

10:45 am - 11:15 am Physics Department Welcome 

KPTC 206

11:15 am - 11:30 am  Overview of Week One and Two 

KPTC 206

11:30 am - 1:00 pm  First Day Lunch

Enjoy some good food and conversation with current students. 

KPTC 206

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm Advising Meetings

One-on-one advising meetings with Zosia and Stuart. 

KPTC 201, Zosia's office

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm  Staff Office Pop-in (optional)

Meet with staff in KPTC by visiting their offices. 

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

11:00 am - 11:30 am Sarah King (Chemistry)

https://voices.uchicago.edu/kinglab/

Sarah King's research aims to investigate how the nanoscale and mesoscale structure of organic, inorganic, and biological materials influences electronic structure, excited state dynamics, chemical reactivity, and functionality.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Cheng Chin (Physics)

https://ultracold.uchicago.edu/research

Cheng Chin’s research focuses on experimental atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics. Recent works include laser cooling, Bose-Einstein condensation of atoms and molecules, strongly interacting Fermi gas, Feshbach and Efimov states, quantum information science, novel quantum states and quantum dynamics, thermophoretic levitation, and quantum simulation of condensed matter, nuclear, high-energy and cosmological systems.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

12:00 pm - 12:30 pm  Young-Kee Kim (Physics) 

http://hep.uchicago.edu/~ykkim/research/index.shtml

As an experimental scientist, I do research on particle physics to understand how the universe works at the most fundamental level by discovering and understanding the fundamental constituents (elementary particles) and the forces acting among them and on accelerator physics to design and build much more powerful accelerators for future particle physics and other sciences.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

KPTC 206

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Info Session with Putri 

This session will provide graduate students with information about the services and resources provided by the University, give an overview of the University of Chicago Physical Science Division policies and funding structures, and give an opportunity for students to ask questions about it all.

KPTC 206

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm Advising Meetings

One-on-one advising meetings with Zosia and Stuart. 

KPTC 201, Zosia's office

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Victor Zhang and Mohit Verma (Physics)

Victor Zhang (fifth year) and Mohit Verma (fifth year) will share how their cohort has kept a close bond throughout the years in this program.

KPTC 206

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm  Third Day Lunch with Students

Lunch with current students and Rachana Yajur (part of the LGBTQIA+ Physicists Group)

The LGBTQIA+ Physcists Group formed in 2020, meets occasionally for social events and is in the process of planning what other types of events and advocacy we want to do. The purpose of this group is to provide a space to socialize within the department and to advocate for the needs of LGBTQIA+ members of the physics community. This session will provide incoming students with a chance to meet some current LGBTQIA+ graduate students to learn about opportunities that exist within the department and university. You can join the mailing list here. Mailing list: lgbtqia_phys@lists.uchicago.edu 

KPTC 206

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm  Advising Meetings 

One-on-one advising meetings with Zosia and Stuart. 

KPTC 201, Zosia's Office

Thursday, September 19, 2024

11:00 am - 11:30 am Presentations from Enrico Fermi Institute and James Franck Institute

Ramona Echols (EFI), Maria Jimenez (JFI), and Mary Heintz (EFI) will share an overview of resources each institute can provide as well as insight on their commitment for all our students. 

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Gio Leone (Physics)

Gio Leone (third year) will share with you about campus life, city life, and graduate student life in general.

KPTC 206

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Lunch with Ruben Verresen (PME)

https://verresengroup.com/

Ruben Verresen's group explores the theory of quantum-entangled states. They focus on systems with many degrees of freedom, where the richness of emergent phenomena can arive. Lunch will be served. 

KPTC 206

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm  Advising Meetings 

One-on-one advising meetings with Zosia and Stuart. 

KPTC 201, Zosia's Office

Friday, September 20, 2024

9:00 am - 1:00 pm  Advising Meetings 

One-on-one advising meetings with Zosia and Stuart. 

KPTC 201, Zosia's Office

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm Aaron Chou (Fermi Lab) via ZOOM

Aaron Chou’s research focuses on developing quantum sensors to study ultra-weakly-coupled dark sectors of the universe.  He was the Cosmic Frontier convener for the APS-DPF Snowmass 2021 community planning effort.  He currently serves as deputy head of Fermilab’s Quantum Division, as the Devices/Sensors thrust lead for the Quantum Science Center (one of 5 DOE National Quantum Initiative Science Research Centers), and as lead PI for a multi-institutional DOE “QuantISED” quantum sensor consortium targeting dark matter detection.  Current research interests include 1) detecting axion dark matter with superconducting qubits, 2) detecting dark radiation from dark energy relaxation using Cooper-pair boxes, and 3) developing gravitational wave detectors based on high magnetic fields in order to probe early universe cosmological phase transitions and quantum gravity.

Zoom link will be emailed. This is an optional session. 

WEEK TWO

Monday, September 23, 2024

9:00 am - 12:00 pm  PHYS 300 Workshop on the Teaching and Learning of Physics 

This workshop will provide students with tools to developing and utilizing skills to be a more effective Teaching Assistant. It is required for all Teaching Assistants to participate. Research Assistants and Fellows are strongly encouraged to attend so that you will be eligible to hold Teaching Assistantships in the future.

KPTC 106

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm  Student Presentations on Various Topics (Created and Hosted by Scott Mackey)

Scott will be hosting a "fireslide" session where current students will give a quick presentation about their research, about themselves. 

KPTC 206

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm Check-in with Putri

Q&A session.

KPTC 206

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Zoe Yan (Physics)

https://sites.google.com/view/yan-lab

Highly dipolar ultracold molecules for quantum simulation: We are interested in building two-dimensional systems of highly polar molecules.  Cold molecules form a frontier in AMO physics, with rich internal structures and electric dipole moments, lending them dipolar interactions that are long-range and tunable.  Combining the creation of ground state fermionic molecules with a state-of-the-art imaging system, we will study novel phenomena including topological p-wave superfluidity and controlled ultracold chemical reactions.

A programmable tweezer array of fermionic atoms: We will develop a programmable quantum simulator of electronic lattice systems, using strongly interacting ultracold atoms in software-defined optical tweezer arrays. Unlike in most existing tweezer array platforms, here, atoms will coherently tunnel between sites, giving access to the physics of itinerant systems of relevance to high-temperature superconductivity.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Aaron Esser-Kahn (PME)

https://www.esser-kahnlab.org/

At our core, we are a lab that believes in interdisciplinarity: our team of biologists, chemists, and biophysicists consider how putting our minds together can improve thinking across many areas of vaccine development, materials science, and carbon capture.

How can we make a large societal and global change by understanding the small?  Our lab is motivated by problems that can lead to major changes in understanding of vaccine development, carbon capture, and materials science.  Although these fields may seem dissimilar, they all require detailed and often multi-disciplinary understanding of molecular systems, mechanisms, and underlying principles.  Our dedicated team of biologists, chemists, physicists, computer scientists, and engineers are bringing our unique perspectives and skills together to tackle many important research questions.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Arvind Murugan (Physics)

http://muruganlab.uchicago.edu/

Arvind works on problems in quantitative biology, materials design, nonequilibrium dynamics, disordered systems, and theoretical computer science. Recent advances in computational intelligence have relied on the emergent collective behavior of simulated dynamical and statistical systems. I aim to implement such smart collective behaviors usually seen in “software” (error correction, neural networks, associative memory) directly into ”hardware” (biochemical reactions, self-assembly, robotics). Bringing such emergent learning and adaptive behavior back home to physical and chemical systems can shed light on underlying principles, reveal completely novel behaviors, and lead to new forms of designer matter.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

9:00 am - 10:00 am Dean of Students (In-person event) (optional but HIGHLY encouraged)

The Division plans to host an in-person orientation event at the Logan Center for the Arts (915 E 60th St) on September 24, 2024 from 9:00 am - 10:00 am. Students will have the opportunity to meet Dean of Students Office staff and other faculty and staff from the Division. This event is not required, but attendance is encouraged. Please complete this brief survey to let them know you will be attending! 

This event is open to all invitees regardless of vaccination status and, because of ongoing health risks to the unvaccinated, those who are unvaccinated are expected to adopt the risk mitigation measures advised by public health officials (masking and social distancing, etc.) Public convening may not be safe for all and carries a risk for contracting COVID-19, particularly for those unvaccinated. Participants will not know the vaccination status of others, including venue staff, and should follow appropriate risk mitigation measures.

Online Dean of Students Orientation Session

The Division will provide online orientation materials (via Canvas) that incoming graduate students can review at their own pace. Incoming students should have received an email invitation to access the Canvas materials in early August. 

10:30 am - 12:00 pm Campus Tour 

A special campus tour will be led by Jack Begley, Anuj Apte, Wesley Cassidy, Rachel Scrandis, Nat Alden, Scott Mackey, Claire Lessler and Jesse Lin)

Outside of Logan Center for the Arts (915 E 60th St)

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Welcome Back Lunch

Welcoming back all of our physics community to campus for the 2024-25 academic year. 

KPTC Courtyard

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Zhen Tian (BSD)

https://radonc.uchicago.edu/faculty/zhen-tian

Dr. Zhen Tian is an Assistant Professor and board-certified Medical Physicist in the department of Radiation & Cellular Oncology at the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on the use of artificial intelligence and parallel computing to advance radiotherapy. She has developed expertise in GPU-based iterative low dose image reconstruction, ultra-fast Monte Carlo dose calculation and microscopic Monte Carlo simulation, AI-based autoplanning for radiotherapy. She has been awarded a R37 grant and a R01 grant from NIH.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Peter Maurer (PME)

https://maurer-lab.com/

Our lab investigates new quantum sensing techniques and their application to probe physical properties of biological processes with nanoscale resolution. The scientific challenges that we address fall roughly into two distinct yet synergetic areas: Next Generation Quantum Sciences and Applications to Biological Targets. We explore the experimental aspects of these questions by combining techniques from quantum engineering, single-molecule biophysics, and physical chemistry. In the first thrust, we explore both diamond based technology and alternative qubit systems, while in the second thrust we rely primarily on established qubit sensors, notably nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. The resulting insights gained from our work will lead to (i) a deeper understanding and improved control of quantum systems in a noisy environment and (ii) establish quantum technology as a new resource for biophysical research and biomedicine. 

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Giulia Galli (PME)

https://galligroup.uchicago.edu/

We develop theoretical and computational methods to predict and engineer material and molecular properties from first principles. We focus on problems relevant to the development of sustainable energy sources and quantum technologies.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

9:00 am - 12:00 pm  PHYS 300 Workshop on the Teaching and Learning of Physics 

This workshop will provide students with tools to developing and utilizing skills to be a more effective Teaching Assistant. It is required for all Teaching Assistants to participate. Research Assistants and Fellows are strongly encouraged to attend so that you will be eligible to hold Teaching Assistantships in the future.

KPTC 103, KPTC 105

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Game Day (Hosted by Jordan Kemp, Wesley Cassidy, Lauren Weiss and Claire Lessler) 

Family Feud game - current students vs incoming students

KPTC 206.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

10:00 am - 11:00 am Crerar Library Tour with Jennifer Hart (optional)

In addition to the general tour of the library by Jennifer Hart, you will be shown some areas which are normally inaccessible to students. 

The Library offers access to physics journal subscriptions, books and other resources, most available online.   We also offer services such as paging and scanning of materials and assistance with questions about finding information and how to organize your work and data. More information about what is available and how to access our collections and services (both on and off campus) is in our physics guide.

5730 S. Ellis Ave, Library Atrium. The library is diagonally across the Science Quadrangle from KPTC

11:00 am - 11:30 am Allison Squires (PME)

https://squireslab.uchicago.edu/

The Squires Group's research centers on sensing, imaging, and manipulating nanoscale processes in biophysics and other complex systems. We engineer new windows and handles for the nanoscale that allow us to directly interact with molecules and particles one at a time, so that we can measure their unique features, watch them in action, and control their movements and interactions.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Karri DiPetrillo (Physics)

https://kdipetri.web.cern.ch/kdipetri/Research.html

Our goal is to understand the fundamental particles and forces that make up the universe. Our work is based in Geneva, Switzerland at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where we study the highest energy particle collisions ever produced in a laboratory. We collaborate with thousands of physicists from across the globe on operating and upgrading the ATLAS Experiment, a massive detector designed to reconstruct the byproducts of LHC collisions. We use the resulting data to characterize known particles with unprecedented precision and to search for evidence of new fundamental particles.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm  Student Presentations on Various Topics (Created by Scott Mackey)

Scott will be hosting a "fireslide" session where current students will give a quick presentation about their research, about themselves. 

KPTC 206

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm David Miller (Physics)

http://millerlab.uchicago.edu/

The Miller Lab explores the properties of fundamental particles at the edge of current technologies, ranging from the highest energy particle collisions ever produced in a lab at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland using the novel instrumentation of the ATLAS Experiment, to searches for axion-like particles using small-scale experiments, to building dedicated high-speed electronics and real-time data processing, and cutting-edge data analysis and machine learning algorithms. Recent efforts in the Miller Lab on the ATLAS experiment have focused on operating the ATLAS level 1 trigger system for Run 3, designing triggers for the HL-LHC, measuring detailed properties of jets and jet substructure, and searching for new particles. In the arena of machine learning, we’re working on symmetry-group based architectures that provide interpretable physics-informed outputs, and allow for a principled approach to both classification and regression tasks. Our new efforts in searching for dark matter include both dark photons and axions using the BREAD (Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection) experiment. 

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Alex Drlica-Wagner (Astro)

https://astro.uchicago.edu/people/alex-drlica-wagner.php

My research focuses on using astrophysical observations to understand the fundamental nature of dark matter and dark energy. I work on large cosmic surveys including the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Recently, I have been interested in using the faintest and most dark-matter-dominated galaxies to try to understand the fundamental nature of dark matter. I consider myself to be an experimental particle cosmologist, and I am heavily invested in the instruments and infrastructure that make these large surveys possible.

Presentation will be held in KPTC 206. This is an optional session. 

Friday, September 27, 2024

9:00 am - 12:00 pm  PHYS 300 Workshop on the Teaching and Learning of Physics 

This workshop will provide students with tools to developing and utilizing skills to be a more effective Teaching Assistant. It is required for all Teaching Assistants to participate. Research Assistants and Fellows are strongly encouraged to attend so that you will be eligible to hold Teaching Assistantships in the future.

KPTC 103, KPTC 105