Arthur H. Compton Lectures

The 69th Compton Lecture Series

Every Saturday morning beginning April 11, through June 13, 2009, lectures start at 11:00 a.m. (No lecture on May 23rd).

Lecturer: Nelia Mann, McCormick Fellow and Postdoctoral Scholar in the Enrico Fermi Institute
Topic: "FROM QUANTUM MECHANICS TO THE STRING"

Kersten Physics Teaching Center
5720 S. Ellis Avenue, Room 106
Chicago, IL 60637

What does the world look like at the smallest distance scales? We know that if you take an ordinary object and cut it into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually you will be left with individual atoms. We also know that you can break this atom apart into electrons, protons and neutrons, and that the protons and neutrons themselves can be broken apart into quarks. Does this process ever end? Are quarks really “fundamental,” or is there some internal structure to them? Over the past century our view of the physics of fundamental objects has changed dramatically, from the development of relativity and quantum mechanics, to the discovery of quarks and the forces that act on them, to the efforts to unify quantum mechanics and gravity into one grand theory of everything. Nelia Mann will present a discussion of particle physics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, starting with relativity and quantum mechanics, and proceeding through the development of the standard model of particle physics, and on to modern theoretical ideas such as string theory.

Purpose of the Compton Lecture Series

The purpose of these lectures is to make accessible some of the remarkable recent developments in physical science to the non-specialized public, and to share with laymen some of the intellectual and cultural excitement associated with scientific developments that may affect in some way the lives of all of us and are a significant part of our cultural heritage. The lectures often, but not exclusively, are focused on areas of research being pursued at the Enrico Fermi Institute.

The idea of these lectures originated with John Simpson when he was Director of the EFI and holder of the Compton chair. Funds from a bequest of John W. Watzek, a good friend of Compton, support the Arthur H. Compton endowment and have supported the lectures from 1976 through 1986. Presently, funding is provided within the budget of the Enrico Fermi Institute.

From the outset, Compton lecturers have been nominated by the Director of the EFI from the group of young scientists active in research as Fellows or post-doctoral associates. It is this group, which is in many cases at the center of research, that attacks frontier questions with a fresh view and new ideas. Awarding the Compton Lectureship to the best of these scientists is in general appreciated as a sign of recognition and encouragement that seems more important than the modest stipend also included in the award. Compton lectures are neither given by graduate students nor by full-time faculty members.

Compton lectures are presented in every Spring and Fall quarter; each set of lectures comprise 10 one-hour presentation on successive Saturday mornings in the Kersten Physics Lecture Hall. The lectures are advertised through letters and posters sent to area high schools, libraries, colleges and to individuals, through local newspapers and radio stations (WFMT), and by word of mouth. Depending on the popularity of a particular lecture (or topic), the attendance varies from fifty to "standing room only", and includes people with a wide variety of backgrounds: from faculty to laypersons, and from Hyde Parkers to commuters from distant suburbs.

Of the 67 lecturers since 1976, ten are now faculty members at the University of Chicago, and many have faculty positions elsewhere. There are at least two books (Robert Wald - Space, Time and Gravity, UC Press, 1977) and (Nickolas Solomey - The Elusive Neutrino: A Subatomic Detective Story, Scientific American Library, New York, 1997) which grew out of a set of successful Compton Lectures.

Present and Recent Abstracts:

Past Compton Lectures

1976 - Present 

Series Name Title
W '76 Bruce D. Winstein What's Interesting About Elementary Particles
S '76 Robert M. Wald Space, Time, and Gravity: From the Big Bang to Black Holes
F '76 Ian Hutcheon The Early History of the Solar System: An Experimental Viewpoint
W '77 Earl Swallow Hyperons, Crab Eyes, and Solar Energy: From Basic Science to Practical, Applications
S '77 Paul J. Wiita Exploding Stars and Exploding Galaxies: Rapid Evolutions in Astrophysics
F '77 Joseph J. O'Gallagher Science Meets the Energy Crisis: The Physics of Solar and Other Sources
S '78 Sydney W. Falk, Jr. Nuclear Astrophysics, Alchemy in the Universe
F '78 Bruce McKibben High Energy Astronomy: Cosmic Rays, X-rays, and Gamma Rays
S '79 Christopher T. Hill Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons
F '79 Lindsay Schachinger Quarks and Symmetries
S '80 Michael S. Turner Big Bang Cosmology: From Primordial Soup to the Expanding Universe
F '80 Reinhard Furrer Radiation: Lasers, Atomic Clocks, and a Surprising Look into Nature
S '81 Jocelyn Keene Our Galaxy, The Milky Way
F '81 K. Wyatt Merritt Neutrino Physics
S '82 Simon Swordy Eyes on the Universe
F '82 George Gollin High Tech, Fast-Tech: Research Tools of Elementary Particle Physics
S '83 Mark J. Oreglia The High Energy Particle Accelerators: Their History Achievements, and Future
F '83 Lee Lindblom White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes
S '84 Lee Smolin Einstein's Revenge?: The Current Crisis in the Relationship of Quantum Physics to General Relativity
F '84 Jeff Rabin Limits of Imagination: The Physics of Science Fiction
S '85 Richard Hinton The Solar System Strikes Back
F '85 Myron Campbell Experiments that Changed the Course of Physics
S '86 Jennie Traschen Heros and Heretics: Black Holes and Curved Spacetime
F '86 Yau-Wai Wah Paradoxes in Physics
S '87 Fulvio Melia Cosmic Violence: From Quark Stars to Quasars
F '87 Brian Newport tar Stuff: The Origins of Ordinary Matter
S '88 Dan E. Amidei From Chemistry to the Supercollider: The Search for the Structure of Matter
F '88 Heinrich Jaeger Superconductivity: A Cold Subject Becomes a Hot Topic
S '89 Edward DeLuca The Sun: From the Inside Out
F '89 Hitoshi Yamamoto Symmetry in Physics: Classical, Quantum, and Beyond
S '90 Raymond Goldstein Phase Transitions: From the Molecular to the Macroscopic
F '90 Barrett Milliken Exploring the Universe with Elementary Particles
S '91 Anthony R. Barker Denizens of the Subatomic Zoo
F '91 Angela Olinto The Universe Then and Now
S '92 Ruth Gregory To Boldly Go Where No Universe Has Gone Before
F '92 Jan Chabala Excitement in the Microworld
S '93 Elliott Cheu From Rutherford to the SSC: Tools of the Trade
F '93 Steven Simon The Oldest Rocks in the World: Meteorites and Moon Rocks
S '94 Nickolas Solomey The Perplexing Story of the Neutrino
F '94 Aaron Roodman Great Mistakes in Science: The Difficulties of Experimental Physics
S '95 Clifford Lopate From the Past Through Tomorrow: The Changing World as Seen by Scientists
F '95 Eanna Flanagan The Fabric of Space and Time
S '96 Suzanne Staggs Imag(in)ing the Universe: Novel Techniques for Developing World Views
F '96 James J. Connell Prometheus' Return: Myths and Misconceptions about Nuclear Science
S '97 Lucy F. Fortson Astronomy with Particles: How the Study of Cosmic Rays Became Astroparticle Physics
F '97 Shankar C. Venkataramani The Chaos Revolution and Beyond: Physics in a Nonlinear World
S '98 Harald Ries Solar Energy - The Future Option?
F '98 Walter Wild Challenges in Imaging
S '99 Joseph Mohr Exploring the Mysteries of Our Evolving Universe: Observational Tests of Big Bang Cosmology
F '99 Finn Larsen Black Holes, Quantum Mechanics, and String Theory
S '00 Haim Diamant The Power of Analogy in the Study of Complex Systems
F '00 Richard Kessler History of Anti-Matter
S '01 Edward Brown Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Planets
F '01 Maria Spiropulu Invasions in Particle Physics
S '02 Clem Pryke Sketching the Biggest Picture---The Adventure of Experimental Cosmology
F '02 Scott Wakely Pursuit of the New Messengers: Astrophysics in the Extreme Universe
S '03 Frank Timmes Cosmic Fireworks
F '03 Mathew Pelton Quantum Optics: From the Possible to the Actual
S '04 Matthew Hedman The Age of Things: Sticks, Stones and the Universe
F '04 Ambreesh Gupta The Origin of Mass in Particle Physics
S '05 Risa Wechsler The Story of Galaxy Formation in Our Universe
F '05 Dorothea Samtleben Challenges to Seeing the Invisible: Foregrounds and Backgrounds in the Scientific Exploration of the Universe
S '06 Nicholas Halmagyi String Theory: With a View Towards Reality
F '06 Brian Odom Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe: Looking for Clues in Surprising Places
S '07 Elizabeth Hays The Quest for Gamma Rays: Exploring the Most Violent Places in the Universe
F '07 Nathan Gemelke Shining Light on Ultracold Atoms - Illuminating Complex Matters
S '08 Kathryn Schaffer Seeing and Believing: Detection, Measurement, and Inference in Experimental Physics
S '09 Brian Humensky Stars: Their Life and Afterlife