Colloquium
Upcoming Colloquium
Energetic particles and spin polarized fuel for magnetic fusion energy
Dr. William Heidbrink, UC Irvine
October 27, 2025
11:00am in HSCI-102
In this colloquium, I will answer the following questions.
- Why is fusion energy desirable?
- Why is it hard to make a fusion reactor that produces more energy than it consumes?
- What is my research team trying to do to make more fusion reactions?
- How will we measure the lifetime of spin polarized fuel in the DIII-D tokamak?
About the Colloquium
The Colloquium is a unique opportunity for students to learn about new developments in physics and what physicists do after they graduate. Hosted by the Physics and Astronomy Department at California State University, °µÍøÊÓƵ, the weekly meetings invite guests from universities, research laboratories, and industry to present and discuss current topics in physics. All students are encouraged to attend for a well-rounded experience and training in physics.
Colloquium Coordinator
For information and suggestions about the colloquium please contact the colloquium coordinator:
Dr. Sarah Grefe
Sarah.Grefe@csulb.edu
Schedule
| Date | Title | Speaker and Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| October 27, 2025 | Energetic particles and spin polarized fuel for magnetic fusion energy | Dr. William Heidbrink, UC Irvine |
| November 3, 2025 | (topic: astrophyics) | Dr. Margaret Lazzarini, CSU Los Angeles |
| November 10, 2025 | (topic: condensed matter experiment) | Nicholas Dale, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| November 17, 2025 | (topic: condensed matter theory) | Elizabeth Peterson, Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| December 1, 2025 | (topic: condensed matter theory) | Gil Refael, Caltech |
| December 3, 2025 | Student Presentations | °µÍøÊÓƵphysics students |
| December 5, 2025 | Student Presentations | °µÍøÊÓƵphysics students |
Previous Colloquia
| Date | Title | Speaker and Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| October 20, 2025 | Physics of Anime | Drs. Kristjan Stone, Roman Gomez, Caleb Baker; Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA |
| October 13, 2025 | Searching for the Universe's Dark Matter | Dr. Alvine Kamaha, UCLA |
| October 6, 2025 | Faculty Research Presentations | Physics Department Faculty, CSU °µÍøÊÓƵ |
| September 29, 2025 | Bicrystals and Bowties: Photothermoelectric and Plasmonic effects of gold nanostructures | Dr. Charlotte Evans, Sandia National Laboratory |
| September 22, 2025 | Studying strongly correlated systems with AI | Dr. Eduardo Ibarra Garcia Padilla, Harvey Mudd College |
| September 15, 2025 | A New Approach to the Flavor Puzzle | Dr. Michael Ratz, UC Irvine |
| September 8, 2025 | Department Meet 'n Mix | Department Faculty, Staff, and Student Leaders |
The Colloquium Archive has the Colloquia from previous semesters.
Sponsors
We acknowledge with gratitude donations and support from the following present sponsors:
- H.E. and H.B. Miller and Family Endowment
- Benjamin Carter
- Mary L. Bresnan
- K. Y. Shen
- American Physical Society
- Anonymous
We also acknowledge with gratitude our past donors: The Forty-Niner Shops, Inc., The Northrop Grumman Foundation, Sandra Dana, Anonymous.
If you wish to support the Colloquium, please contact the colloquium coordinator or the department chair. Thank you!
