Physics Colloquium

A new year, a new chance to get involved in the Physics Department. Join us as we gather for the first Friday of the new school year to meet and share what's going on in physics!

Catch up with old friends and meet new ones as we say hello to all our fellow physics faculty and students. We will also share information about what is happening in the department. Join us to learn about student work opportunities, research opportunities, joining the Society of Physics Students, and our colloquia series.

Pizza and drinks will be available in Hayes Hall 215 on Friday, Aug. 29, from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Grab a slice and head to Hayes 211/213 for the presentation. We hope to see you there!

"Dominant narratives in introductory physics education often focus on student preparation in mathematics. Students who have not reached a certain level of proficiency as determined by math placement tests are often labeled as underprepared. In this presentation, I will challenge this narrative by reframing the notion of underprepared. Indeed, many physics departments and instructors are underprepared to support the students accepted into their institutions. The Transforming Introductory Physics Sequences to Support all Students (TIPSSS) Network is a network of physicists developing curricular materials, transforming courses, and researching the effectiveness of these efforts to help departments meet the needs of their physics students, regardless of the students’ prior mathematics preparation. I will present and overview of the TIPSSS activities and also preliminary findings from the TIPSSS research studies."

Join us on Friday, Sept. 5, for this exciting presentation from Geraldine Cochran, associate professor of physics at The Ohio State University. Lunch will be available in Hayes 216 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and the presentation will begin in Hayes 211/213 at 12:10 p.m. We hope to see you there!

"Atoms in highly excited states, known as Rydberg atoms, interact strongly via dipole-dipole interactions. Our lab found that when exciting Rydberg states near a Föster resonance, these dipole-dipole interactions mediate the production of an entangled trio of Rydberg atoms. This unique three-body system has potential applications in quantum simulation and multi-qubit quantum gates, assuming it has a long enough coherence time to allow for quantum operations. 

"As one of the few labs capable of producing coherent evolution in a bulk gas, we are focusing on building a “toolbox” of control mechanisms for this state. We have demonstrated that background dipole-dipole interactions have a large impact on coherence, as coherence times decrease from 200ns to 50ns as interaction strength increases. I am investigating the impact of inhomogeneous (or position-dependent) broadening on the coherence time of our system. We hypothesize that undoing this source of noise with the spin-echo pulse sequence will increase coherence times."

Join us on Friday, Sept. 12, for the first of this year's honors talks presented by Dominick Frost, a physics student pursuing honors this year. Lunch will be available in Hayes 216 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and the presentation will begin in Hayes 211/213 at 12:10 p.m. Come and support your fellow physics classmates. We hope to see you there!

Cosmology — the science of studying the Universe as a dynamical object — turns the universe into the ultimate high-energy laboratory, allowing us to study fundamental physics on a vast range of scales. The very early universe — the first moments in the universe’s life — is of particular interest, as it allows us to probe these energy scales that are otherwise impossible to create in a terrestrial environment. The relatively recent introduction of cosmic inflation — a period of rapid expansion of the early universe — suggests how we might understand a possible first piece of the puzzle. In the inflationary paradigm, this period of rapid expansion must be closely followed by a period of thermalization, in which particles are created and the universe becomes hot.

How the inflationary epoch gave way to this hot-big bang is still unknown. In this talk, I will discuss two possible models through which the thermalization of the universe may have been sparked: gauge preheating and axion kination. In studying these models, we hope to continue writing the universe’s story and continue to expand on our understanding of high-energy particle physics.

Join us on Friday, Sept. 19, for the second of this year's honors talks presented by Christine Kessens, a physics student pursuing honors this year. Lunch will be available in Hayes 216 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and the presentation will begin in Hayes 211/213 at 12:10 p.m. Come and support your fellow physics classmates. We hope to see you there!

Two physics alumni will join us virtually to share their journey after Kenyon and the steps they took to get there.

Dilara Sen graduated from Kenyon in May of 2025 as a physics student and worked in both Frank Peiris and Aaron Reinhard’s labs. She is now in her first year as a graduate student at Northwestern University working in an experimental condensed matter laboratory.

After graduating in May of 2025, Luke Wilson started as a technical solutions engineer at Epic Systems, working on healthcare technology solutions. In addition to core physics coursework, Luke conducted research in the Wade Lab and completed the computing concentration.

After their discussion, Assistant Director for Career Development Lori Gastin will give a short presentation followed by Q&A on CDO resources, job search strategies and networking tools available to you as you explore opportunities to pursue after Kenyon.

Join us on Friday, Sept. 26, for this exciting presentation on opportunities to pursue after Kenyon. Lunch will be available in Hayes 216 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and the presentation will begin in Hayes 211/213 at 12:10 p.m. We hope to see you there!