Physics 838 Graduate Student Seminar

In 1990, a seminar was initiated for QMC (formerly CNAM/CSR) graduate students in order to present their research to the other students, postdocs, and faculty in the Center. In addition to fostering a rich, collaborative environment in which students learn about the breadth and scope of research being done in QMC, the idea of this series is to teach several crucial skills to our students:

1) How to present their research in a clear and time-efficient way to an audience that was not expert in their area of research;

2) How to best answer questions during their presentations;

3) How to ask good questions when in an audience (or interview), in particular about research beyond their own narrow PhD topic.

In this seminar, students submit formalized feedback to each weekly presenter, providing informative information about presentation style, research content and tips for improvement.

Best Speaker Awards

At the end of each term, a cash prize award is given for the best student and postdoc presentations based on class feedback scores. Previous winners are listed here:

2025 (spring)  Jarryd Horn (student)

2024 (fall) Jared Erb (student)

2023 (fall) Jared Erb (student), Peter Czajka (postdoc)

2022 (fall) Sungha Baek (student), Keenan Avers (postdoc)

2020 (fall) Shukai Ma 

2019 (spring) Rui Zhang (student), Tarapada Sarkar (postdoc)

2018 (fall) Chris Eckberg (student), Jen-Hao Yeh (postdoc)

2015 Paul Syers, Jasper Drisko

2014 Sean Fackler, Paul Syers,

2013 Kevin Kirshenbaum, Kirsten Burson

2012 Baladitya Suri, Kristen Burson

2011 (fall) Sergii Pershoguba, Ted Thorbeck

2011 (spring) Anirban Gangopadhyay, Baladitya Suri

2010 (fall) Christian J. Long, Tomasz M. Kott

2010 (spring) Tomasz M. Kott, Kevin Kirshenbaum

2009 (fall) Arun Luykx, Jen-Hao Yeh

PHYS838C Seminar: Nadav Shaibe

Calendar
Physics 838 Seminar
Date
09.29.2025 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location
John S. Toll Room 1201

Description

Title: Universal Frequency Correlations and Recurrence Statistics of Complex Impedance Matrices





Abstract: Linear electromagnetic wave scattering systems can be characterized by an impedance matrix that relates the voltages and currents at the ports of the system. When the system size becomes greater than the wavelength of the fields involved, the impedance matrix becomes a complicated function of the details of the system, in which case a statistical model, such as the Random Coupling Model (RCM) becomes useful. The statistics of the elements of the RCM impedance matrix depend on the excitation frequency, the spectral density of the modes of the enclosed system volume, the average loss factor (Q^-1) of the system, and the properties of the coupling ports as given by their radiation impedances. In this talk, properties of the elements of impedance matrices are explored numerically and experimentally. These include the two point frequency correlation functions for the complex impedance of elements and the expected difference in frequencies between which impedance values are approximately repeated. Universal scaling arguments are then given for these quantities, hence these results are generic for all sufficiently complicated scattering systems, including acoustic and optical systems. The experimental data presented in this talk come from microwave graphs, billiards, and three-dimensional cavities with embedded tunable perturbers such as metasurfaces. The data is found to be in generally good agreement with the predictions for the two point frequency correlations and the frequency interval for successive repetitions of impedance matrix elements values.




Advisor: Steve Anlage