Over the past 10 years, Eric Dooryhee has been using Synchrotron Radiation Diffraction (SRD) to examine ancient objects and artifacts from the Louvre museum collections. Nowadays he is concerned with SRD's future frontiers as group leader for the x-ray powder diffraction beamline at what will be the most advanced synchrotron light source in the world, NSLS-II at Brookhaven Lab. Dooryhee is a physicist who has specialized in powder diffraction at most of the research facilities where he has worked. These include the Synchrotron Radiation Source at Daresbury, UK; the Interdisciplinary Research Center with Ions and Lasers in Caen, France; the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France; and the Neel Institute, also in Grenoble. He has a master's degree in hard condensed matter physics and crystallography, and a Ph.D. in radiation physics, both from the University of Paris. Subsequently, Dooryhee's work has included studies on a range of artifacts: cosmetic products, ancient ceramics and fresco paintings of the Mediterranean from the Greco-Roman times, gilded medieval Islamic glazed ceramics and easel paintings of the Renaissance. More recently, he did more diffraction and spectroscopic work on the Maya Blue pigment, renowned for its remarkable resistance in the forests of Meso-America for the last centuries. Since 2005, Dooryhee has run a series of international conferences called SR2A, for Synchrotron Radiation in Art and Archaeology.

During the academic year the Physics Program offers a series of lectures by research faculty on various aspects of Physics, usually on their own research or some topic of public interest. The lectures are held in Lecture Room 001 (ground floor) of the Earth and Space Sciences Building on the second Friday of the month at 7:30 pm.

Unless otherwise noted, the WORLDS OF PHYSICS colloquium is always scheduled to be held on the SECOND FRIDAY OF THE MONTH.

The lectures are free, and are given while the University is in session - so NOT in January, June, July and August.

If you are not sure how to get here there are directions and campus maps to help. The ESS building is in the upper-left corner of D5 on the map. The best parking lot is the large one in C5, which provides direct access (no curbs) to the building.

Disability-related accommodations are available. Call the Department at the number above before 4 pm to advise us of your requirements.

Our colleagues in Astronomy, Biosciences and Geosciences have parallel lecture series (first, third and last Friday of the month) same time, same place during the school year.

Teachers take note. It is now possible to get in-service credit for Worlds of Physics and for Astronomy and Geology Open Night lectures and related Geology meetings. The link describes what is involved.

This talk will explore issues in secondary physics education, particularly in U.S. urban school districts. Quantitative and qualitative data will be presented on the status of secondary physics participation and accessibility, and it will be analyzed to determine the role of standardized assessments and other policy initiatives in driving physics-related curricular frameworks in secondary schools. Finally, policy solutions for improving the accessibility, quality, and status of K-12 physics education will be proposed.

In 1905 Einstein published the theory of special relativity; he followed it with the theory of general relativity in 1915. Most people did not understand these theories at the time, and nobody expected much practical consequence of these ideas in our everyday life. Yet, as we will see in the talk, 100 years later we could not find our way in NYC without taking into account Einsien's theories. Professor Mihaly is the Chair of the department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University.

We live in the extended atmosphere of a moderately active star. While ordinary sunlight enables and sustains life, the Sun produces radiation at invisible "colors", and a wind of plasma that has weather systems and seasons and pervades the entire solar system. These don't affect our biology very much, but substantially affect our 21st-century electric power, communications and spacecraft. This talk will describe how spacecraft near and very far from the Earth constantly picture the Sun in x-rays, measure the weather in the solar wind, and how it affects us by shaking the Earth's magnetic field. Also, how what we learned from spacecraft in the solar wind helps us understand the physics of other stars and galaxies. Miriam Forman is a space physicist and teacher in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook. Her current research is about magnetic turbulence in the solar wind. Following the presentation, there will be refreshments and an opportunity for discussion.

An amazing scientific revolution happened during the gloriously confusing years 1895-1914. The atom was finally ``seen" and accepted as ``real" rather than an unmeasurable idealization. The three dominant physicists of the 20th century (Rutherford, Einstein, and Bohr) were in their youthful prime. ``Chemical Physics""became a science, which continues to thrive today, as the basis for the material science, electronics and biomedical advances, that still have not reached a horizon. During the years 1906-1913, several key discoveries mark the birth of solid-state physics. Einstein brilliantly applied the early quantum theory of Planck to the problem of mechanical oscillations of molecules, helping to understand the mysterious low temperature suppression of specific heat of solids. Eucken made the first systematic study of heat conductivity, finding that the conductance of solids diminishes as the reciprocal absolute temperature. Einstein was unable to reconcile this with existing theories, but Debye succeeded. His formulation, ``a perfect harmonic crystal is a perfect heat conductor" is the first example of our modern understanding of solid-state physics. This lecture will be illustrated with some demonstrations of heat conduction, and of the normal modes of vibration, which are the basis of our modern picture.