Upcoming Events

Stay tuned! Big things will be happening in 2014!

 

Past Events

AGM

When: 6pm Wednesday 28th of August
Where: Room 64, Old Main Building (K15) (map).

Pizza will be provided as custom.
All Positions are open for nominations. This is a great opportunity to be involved and is definitely fun and rewarding. Note however that each executive position comes with responsibilities and society work can often become time consuming and that being elected means that you accept these responsibilities.
Nominate yourself here.

Facebook Event

 

First Year Info Session & Free BBQ

For those who weren't able to make it to the info session, the slides from the presentation can be downloaded from here

When: 11am Wednesday, 15th August 2013
Where: OMB Room 64

To aid 1st years physics majors to make course choices and answer questions regarding higher years physics, we will hold an information session. Come along and feel free to quiz the higher years who will be happy to provide advice and recommendations regarding textbooks and in general HOW TO SURVIVE STUDYING PHYSICS @ UNSW! Afterwards there is a BBQ on the Naked Lady Lawn. Free 1st sausage for 1st year physics majors! $1 per sausage for others.

Facebook Event

 

Foundation Day Brunch

When: 11am Wednesday, 8th August 2013
Where: OMB Room 64

To welcome back everyone to a brand new semester at the OMB, we are having a fancy little brunch complete with cupcakes, champagne, and other delicacies. The movie Moon will be screened for your enjoyment. Be there or be square!

Faceboo Event

 

End of Session Dinner

When:
6:30pm Wednesday, 5th June 2013

Where:
Mamma Teresa Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria
412 Anzac Pde, Kingsford NSW

The semester is almost at an end which means it's time for physoc's traditional end of session dinner! Join us for a fun night of socialising, trivia and - of course - eating. For this semester, it’s ALL YOU CAN EAT! Alcohol will be provided as per usual.

We're going to Mamma Teresa's which is a short walk from UNSW down Anzac Pde.

Tickets are $25 for arc members and $30 for non-arc students and staff members.

Payments can be made directly to our bank account, to Sue Hagon in the Physics School Office or at the door.

You must RSVP by Tuesday, 4th June. Click here to RSVP.

If you do not RSVP, you are still welcome to attend. Tickets for non-RSVP-ers will be sold on the night at $28 for arc members and $33 for others.

Facebook Event

Menu (All you can eat):

Garlic Bread and Salad Entrees

PASTAS
Napolitana – Traditional tomato & herb sauce
Bolognese – Traditional Italian meat sauce
Boscaiola – Creamy ham and mushroom sauce
Amatriciana – Bacon, Chilli flakes & Shallots in Napolitana sauce
Carbonara – Bacon, shallots & egg in a cream sauce
Pesto – Creamy basil, pine nut sauce with snow peas & cherry tomatoes
Rosé – Creamy Napolitana sauce (recommended with homemade ravioli)

13 INCH TRADITIONAL PIZZAS
Napolitana - Anchovies, olives, oregano & basil
Margherita - Extra cheese, extra tomato, oregano & basil
Tropical - Ham & pineapple
Capriccosa - Pepperoni, mushrooms, capsicum, onion, olives, oregano & garlic
Kingsford Special - Prawns, pepperoni, mushrooms & pineapple
Supreme - Pepperoni, cabanossi, bacon, ham, onion, mushrooms, capsicum, olives, anchovies & oregano
Seafood – Fresh tomato, prawns, parsley & garlic
Mexican - Pepperoni & capsicum
Spanish - Ham, mushrooms & chilli flakes
Four Seasons - Ham, prawns, mushrooms & capsicum
Vegetarian - Onion, mushroom, pineapple, capsicum, garlic & oregano
Mighty Meaty - Cabanossi, pepperoni, bacon and ham
BBQ Chicken - Marinated chicken breast, cheese & BBQ sauce
There are gluten free and vegetarian options available.
Gluten free bases for pizzas!

 

PHYSOC EGM

We are having an extraordinary general meeting to be held at the PHYSOC room, LG35 OMB on Friday, 17 May 2013 2:30pm

We have three executive positions vacant:
- Secretary
- Events Co-ordinator
- First Year Representative

These available to any current UNSW physics student (besides 1st year rep).

Voting will begin at 2:30pm.
If you will be late, or cannot attend at this time, you are still welcome to run or vote - simply let us know.

We are providing pizza at the EGM.

I would like to encourage any interested member to apply, especially second and first years. It's a great opportunity, and a lot of fun but note there are also some responsibilities.

Roles:
Secretary:
(truncated from the Arc guidelines, clubs and societies handbook)

The Secretary’s role is a diverse one. Apart from a close relationship with the Club’s President, the Secretary should:
•Deal with correspondence regularly (letters and emails)
•Organise meetings (be the first to arrive and last to leave)
•Maintain the documentation of the Club
•Keep the membership list up to date

The Secretary’s duties at meetings
•Draw up the meeting agenda with the President
•Check the minutes of the last meeting and present a report on the Club’s activities since last meeting
•Prepare a list of visitors and apologies of those absent
•Remind the Treasurer to prepare a financial report (as necessary)
•If a guest speaker is invited, gather necessary information for the introduction by the Chair
•Record all motions and amendments
•Take minutes on discussions
•Take an attendance list.

Events Co-Ordinator
We are looking for a motivated person who likes to have fun to help organise and plan events, make sure they run smoothly, help set up and pack up at their completion. (Note: Our first event after this EGM will be the End of Session Dinner in week13)

First Year Representative
We are looking for a first year to represent the interests and needs of their cohort and to advertise events, create flyers to distribute to not only first years but the rest of the school. (Hint: this is lots of fun...)

Facebook Event

PHYSOC EGM Executive Position Nomination

 

Movie Night

"October Sky"

When: Thursday 11th April, 6pm
Where: Room G32, Old Main Building
Free Popcorn, Drinks After

Facebook Event

Synopsis (from IMDb): In 1950's mining town called Coalwood, Homer Hickam is a kid with only one future in sight, to work in the local coalmine like his father. However in October 1957, everything changes when the first artificial satellite, Sputnik goes into orbit. With that event, Homer becomes inspired to learn how to build rockets. With his friends and the local nerd, Homer sets to do just that by trial and a lot of error. Unfortunately, most of the town and especially Homer's father thinks that they are wasting their time. Only one teacher in the high school understands their efforts and lets them know that they could become contenders in the national science fair with college scholarships being the prize. Now the gang must learn to perfect their craft and overcome the many problems facing them as they shoot for the stars.

 

Physics Research Talks 3

When: Tuesday 16th of April, 12pm-1pm. Old Main Building (K15) G64 (map).
Where: Room 64, Old Main Building
Who: Prof. Victor Flambaum, UNSW

Facebook Event

Variation of fundamental constants from Big Bang to atomic clocks, origin of matter, test of Grand Unification theories and quantum effects in strong gravitational field

Modern unification theories suggest the fundamental constants may change in expanding Universe. Study of quasar spectra indicated variation of the fine structure constant alpha in space (alpha is the dimensionless combination of electron charge, speed of light and quantum Plank constant). This spatial variation can explain fine tuning of the fundamental constants which allows humans (and any life) to appear. If the fundamental constants would be even
slightly different, life could not exist. We appeared in the area of the Universe where values of the fundamental constants are consistent with our existence.

These astrophysical results may be used to predict the variation effects for atomic clocks. These effects in atomic clocks are very small and require extremely high precision. Therefore, we are searching for enhanced effects of
the variation. One of our proposals is to use a nuclear clock where the effect is enhanced by five orders of magnitude.

We are also trying to invent more accurate clocks where accuracy is 100 times better than that in existing atomic clocks. Our proposals include Th3+ nuclear clock, clocks made from highly charged ions and compact “micromagic” clocks in optical lattice. High precision clocks are needed for numerous applications including the navigation system GPS and autopilots.

Our group provides theoretical support for tests of the Grand Unification theories of elementary particles and their interactions in high precision atomic and molecular experiments in numerous laboratories around the world. Our
new results also include a model of the matter creation (bariogenesis) after Big Bang and new quantum effects in strong gravitational field. We found that the quantum effects create black hole properties before actual formation of the black hole.

Physics Research Talks 2

When: Tuesday 26th of March, 12pm-1pm. Old Main Building (K15) G64 (map). Facebook Event
Where: Room 64, Old Main Building

“Positively charged holes in semiconductor nanostructures.”

Prof. Alex Hamilton, Condensed Matter Physics - Quantum Electonic Devices Group.

Thomson discovered the electron in 1897, and in 1879 Hall showed that negatively charged electrons in a metal carry a current and can be deflected by a magnetic field. In 1880 Rowland showed that electrical current could also be carried by positively charged particles – which we now call holes, following the development of semiconductor band theory in the early 1900’s. Today your PC contains over 10 billion transistors – and half of these use holes, not electrons, to operate.
Given that today’s transistors are already being manufactured with feature sizes down to 22nm, and we have known about holes for over 100 years, it would be nice to imagine that we understand how holes behave in nanostructures. But we don’t. In fact it is only in the past few years that we are beginning to understand just how different holes are from electrons. And it all has to do with spin…

 

Physics Research Talks 1

Our first talk will be by Prof. Sven Rogge, from the Centre for Quantum Computation & Communication Technology, here at UNSW. It will be held on the 12th of March, 12pm-1pm. Old Main Building (K15) G64 (map). Facebook Event

The topic of his talk will be: "From Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain to single molecules and atoms"
This talk will discuss the development of the transistor from its early roots to single atom devices with a brief outlook into the future of quantum electronics.

Our plan for the event is for the speaker to provied a short 15-20 min talk, with the rest of the time dedicated to Q&A and socialising. Food and drinks will be available.

This will be the first in our series of fortnightly research talks for the semester. We have a lineup of speakers who participate in different fields of physics research and they will be giving talks on what they do. Come along and learn more about where physics can take you and what physicists are currently working on at UNSW. Other academics and research students are welcome as well.

 

End of Session Dinner!

The 2012 End of Session 2 Dinner will be held on Wednesday 17th Octover at Giovannas (just down Anzac Pde). For more details, please visit our Facebook Event or RSVP directly here.

First Year Info Session

Event for all 1st Year Physics Majors to speak to higher years and Physoc Exec about Highers Years physics. Advice offered on subjects, textbooks and how to survive in general...More info, please visit our Facebook Event. Event Flyer