Events on Thursday, March 12th, 2026
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
- Only the ambidextrous can flock: chirality destroys order in polar active matter
- Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: John Toner, University of Oregon
- Abstract: I'll show that flocks of chiral living creatures (i.e., organisms that are right or left handed) moving on a surface, composed of critters can not form a long range ordered flocking state (i.e., a state in which the spatially averaged velocity vector
- Host: Alex Levchenko
- Astronomy Colloquium
- Probing Supermassive Black Holes in the Golden Era of Time Domain Astronomy
- Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
- Place: 4421 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Dr. Jason Hinkle, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Abstract: Optical transient surveys have ushered in the golden era of time-domain astronomy and exposed an unexpected diversity of transient phenomena, including nuclear transients: flares powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes (SMBHs). These transients provide a means to identify and study otherwise quiescent SMBHs across a range of masses and redshifts. This complements the longstanding study of actively-accreting SMBHs, or active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In this talk, I will discuss the physics underpinning these transients, the role of the surrounding nuclear environment in setting their observable signatures, and their utility as probes of SMBHs. I will conclude with a look towards the future of nuclear transients in the era of deep surveys like LSST and Roman.