Physics 5101, Physics Seminar (Colloquium), Spring, 2008
3:30-5:00PM, Thursday, Revised 5/16/08
NOTE!! From 3:00-3:30pm, there will USUALLY be FREE refreshments!
Please come to refreshments! What other class gives you FREE food??
Coming to refreshments also gives you an opportunity to interact with & talk
informally with the speaker & with some Physics faculty!
This class officially meets in Science Room 007, however, it
  usually meets in Science Room 234!
Spring, 2008 TTU Academic Calendar. Final Exam Schedule.
NOTE: Colloquia are finished for the academic year!
In Fall, 2008, Dr. Stefan Estericher will run the seminar series & "teach" Physics 5101.
Instructor & Contact Information
Dr. Charles W. Myles, Professor of Physics. Office: Science Room 18. Phone: 742-3768. Office Hours: Right 10-noon Mon. - Fri. & by appointment. E-mail: Charley.Myles@ttu.edu. A class email distribution list will be developed & we can have email discussions . It is vital that I have your correct email address, that you tell me if it changes, & that you check your email DAILY!! Here is an important email announcement!!

Class Meetings: NOTE! This class officially meets 3:30-5pm Thursday. But, from 3-3:30pm there are usually refreshments in Room 103. You are strongly encouraged to come to this & to interact informally with the speaker & the  faculty. What other course gives you free refreshments? This class officially meets in Room 007. However, it will usually meet in Room 234. We will meet only occasionally (if at all) in Room 7. Occasionally, we may also meet elsewhere on campus.
PLEASE! Watch the weekly Colloquium announcements carefully for meeting times & places!

Syllabus, Course Topics & Objective
Objective: The course objective is to expose physics graduate students to current research in a variety of physics & physics-related sub-areas. This will be achieved by having (hopefully pedagogical!) research talks on a variety of topics by a variety of speakers. Syllabus. Details (rules, grading scheme) are there.
Topics: A TENTATIVE list of speakers & tentative topics is on the Announcement Page.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES & RULES:
1. ATTEND EACH COLLQUIUM!!! 
2. CELL PHONES & BEEPERS MUST BE TURNED OFF!!
3. PAY ATTENTION to the speakers!
4. Out of COURTESY TO THE SPEAKERS, NO sleeping, eating,
drinking, talking, reading, doing homework, etc. is allowed, during the talks.
5. Out of COURTESY TO THE SPEAKERS & to the audience,
please ARRIVE ON TIME!
     It is VERY RUDE to noisily barge into a room where a talk is already underway!!

THIS IS A GRADUATE COURSE designed for students in any graduate program in Physics. Each speaker has been requested to design their talk so that a first year graduate student in Physics can understand at least a major portion.
Attendance & Grades
This is a pass-fail (P/F) course. You must keep a Colloquium Notebook in which you write notes on each talk. This notebook should be written in during each talk & should be kept throughout the semester!! It should NOT be constructed at the semester's end for grading purposes!! This notebook needn't be detailed, but it should be enough to convince me that you were there & paying attention. At semester's end, your notebooks must be turned in. Then, you will also turn in A Report, which summarizes, in one (1) page each, the three (3) talks (3 pages total) which, in your opinion, were the three (3) best.

To receive a P grade in this course, you must:
1. ATTEND at least 10 (83%) of the 12 scheduled colloquia. I allow two (2)
missed colloquia, which should normally be sufficient for cases of illness, etc.
Further absences won't be excused without a doctor's note or a similar "official" excuse.
2. At semester's end, you must turn in the Colloquium Notebook discussed above.
NOTE!!! This means a BOUND NOTEBOOK!!! IT DOES NOT MEAN a bunch of loose papers stapled together!
3. At semester's end, you must turn in the Report discussed above.
The deadline to turn in the material in items 2 & 3 will be set later.
Once that deadline is set, THERE WILL BE NO EXTENSIONS!

NOTE!! Failure to turn in the notebook & the reports will result in an F grade in this course!!!

Announcements & Calendar Items
Announcement Page: Important Announcements, changes in the schedule, & other Calendar Items are here. Please check it often!
Miscellaneous Topics
1. Check out the Top 10 most influential people of the last 1000 years! (Link borrowed from Dr. Tom Gibson!)

2. Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics! Did you ever wonder why there aren't more women physicists? Actually, a number of women made very important contributions to many areas of physics in the 1900's. Here is a website which discusses this in detail!

3. Do you want to know more about Dr. Myles (education, experience, research, etc.)? His Homepage & his Research Page have details. For some physics news, go to Physics Central. For news at a more advanced level, go to Focus News from the American Physical Society. For some Physics Fun, click Here.

WY Physics LogoThe WORLD YEAR OF PHYSICS 2005 marked 100 years since Albert Einstein published 3 pioneering papers (Relativity, Brownian Motion, Photoelectric Effect), which changed physics forever & are considered the beginning of "modern" physics! (He won the 1921 Nobel Prize for the Photoelectric Effect!).  The United Nations, the US Congress, & the governments & scientific societies of many countries have endorsed it. 2005 events will highlight the vitality & importance of physics & bring physics excitement to the public. For more information, click the image on the left.

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