aspuru-list October 2011

aspuru-list@lists.fas.harvard.edu

24 participants
60 discussions

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [qip] topological quantum computing reading group -- 4pm today

by Cedric Yen-Yu Lin

Hi group, We'll have a meeting later today at 4pm. See you soon! Cheers, Cedric _______________________________________________ qip mailing list qip(a)mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/qip

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [Aspuru-meetings-list] No group meeting this Monday

by Joel Yuen

Due to holidays. We will resume next Monday with Alejandro. -- Joel Yuen-Zhou PhD candidate in Chemical Physics Harvard University CCB, 12 Oxford St. Mailbox 107, Cambridge, MA, USA. _______________________________________________ Aspuru-meetings-list mailing list Aspuru-meetings-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu https://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/aspuru-meetings-list

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [Aspuru-meetings-list] HUCE Weekly Calendar Email October 6 - 20

by Center for the Environment

Highlights: Tuesday, October 11: Join HUCE for the next Biodiveristy, Ecology, & Global Change talk with Joshua Tewksbury, Walker Professor of Natural History, Department of Biology, University of Washington. His lecture, “Catchers in the Rye: Ecology, Society, and Climate Change,” explores the impacts of climate change and how ecology plays a role in our response to environmental issues. Wednesday, October 12: Joshua Tewksbury will give an encore presentation at a HUCE Special Lunch Seminar on "Interactions between plants and their biotic associates: Co-evolution, fragmentation, and consequence of loss." Lunch will be provided! Thursday, October 13: The Future of Energy lecture series welcomes Chris Somerville, Director of the Energy Biosciences Institute, Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Visiting Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on producing fuels through biochemical innovation. Calendar Listings: October 7, 2011 8:45am - 9:30am MSI Chalktalk Breakfast HUCE Seminar Room, 24 Oxford Street 3rd Floor, Cambridge “Progress towards whole community P-SIF (protein stable isotope fingerprinting)” with Ann Pearson, FAS-EPS. Host: David Johnston. Please join us for coffee/tea/pastries at 8:30 am. 12:00pm “Harvesting the Wind: Interactions Between Wind Energy Deployment and Atmospheric Dynamics” 100F Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge Featuring Julie Lundquist, University of Colorado at Boulder. Host: Xi Lu 3:00pm - 5:00pm After Fukushima, Nuclear Energy 2.0: Environmental Benefits and Risks MIT Building 4-163, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge This presentation will discuss a new paradigm in which (i) nuclear energy can be used to displace large amounts of fossil fuels (and their related CO2 emissions) from the transportation sector, and (ii) nuclear can be combined with and stabilize renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar) to enable their expansion. October 9, 2011 2:00pm Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge Author and naturalist Michael Wojtech will explain how to identify trees by their bark. http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures_and_special_events/index.php October 10, 2011 11:45am - 12:45pm Harvard Energy Journal Club HUCE Seminar Room 24 Oxford Street, 3rd Floor Cambridge Facilitating discussion and furthering our understanding of the technical details of energy technology and science. Visit the Energy Journal website for updates and topics of discussion. http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hejc/ Contact Name: Dan Recht drecht(a)fas.harvard.edu October 11, 2011 3:00pm ClimaTea HUCE Seminar Room, 24 Oxford Street 3rd Floor, Cambridge Visit the ClimaTea website for a list of speakers and topics: http://www.seas.harvard.edu/climate/seminars/climatea.html 5:00pm Biodiversity, Ecology, & Global Change Biolabs Lecture Hall, 16 Divinity Ave, Cambridge “Catchers in the Rye: Ecology, Society, and Climate Change” featuring Joshua Tewksbury, Walker Professor of Natural History, Department of Biology, University of Washington Contact Name: Lisa Matthews matthew(a)fas.harvard.edu October 12, 2011 11:00am - 12:00pm OEB Special Seminar BioLabs Main Lecture Hall, 16 Divinity Ave., Cambridge “Evolutionary Forces in Humans and Pathogens” with Pardis Sabeti (Harvard University, FAS-OEB) 12:30pm Special Lunch Seminar HUCE Seminar Room 24 Oxford Street, 3rd floor, Cambridge "Interactions between plants and their biotic associates: Co-evolution, fragmentation, and consequence of loss" with Joshua Tewksbury, Walker Professor of Natural History, Department of Biology, University of Washington. Lunch provided! Contact Name: Lisa Matthews lisa_matthews(a)harvard.edu 1:00pm - 5:00pm National Fossil Day Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge Explore the amazing prehistoric world of fossils including trilobites, dinosaurs, Ice Age mammals, and other creatures. http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures_and_special_events/index.php 4:10pm - 5:30pm Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy Room L-382, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge “On Welfare Frameworks and Catastrophic Climate Risks” http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k82245&pageid=icb.page443881 Contact Name: Jason Chapman 617-496-8054 6:00pm Life in the Extreme Deep Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge Peter Girguis, Loeb Associate Professor of Natural Sciences at Harvard, will discuss how biologists are working with environmental and industry officials to understand how natural “oil-eating” microbes are able to aid in the cleanup. A reception to follow in the museum’s new photographic exhibition, Life in the Extreme Deep. Pre-registration recommended to members(a)oeb.harvard.edu. http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures_and_special_events/index.php 8:00pm - 9:00pm Environmental Action Committee Meeting Quincy House, Spindell Room, Harvard University, Cambridge Everyone interested in learning about the EAC and/or learning how to help make a difference for the environment is welcome. http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~eac/ Contact Name: Jackson Salovaara jsalov(a)fas.harvard.edu October 13, 2011 5:30pm MSI Seminar Haller Hall, Room 102, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge "Using what phage have learned to kill gram-positive pathogens" with Vincent Fischetti, Rockefeller University. Host: Michael Gilmore 11:30am - 1:00pm Ecology Journal Club HUCE Seminar Room 310 24 Oxford St. 3rd Floor, Cambridge Reading and discussion group on diverse topics in ecology. Visit the website for topics of discussion. All interested researchers are welcome and lunch is provided. http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/pringle/journalclub.htm Contact Name: Primrose Boynton pboynton(a)fas.harvard.edu 5:00pm Future of Energy Lecture Science Center D, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge “The Development of Liquid Fuels from Lignocellulose” with Chris Somerville, Director of the Energy Biosciences Institute, and professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a visiting scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Contact Name: Lisa Matthews mailto:lisa_matthews@harvard.edu 7:00pm BASEA Forum First Parish in Cambridge Unitarian Universalist, 3 Church Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge “Reaching Sustainability” with Ken Ward of 350.org. http://www.BASEA.org October 14, 2011 7:00am – 5:00pm Molecules, Movement, and Motors Radcliffe Gymnasium 10 Garden Street, Radcliffe Yard, Cambridge The symposium will bring together experts in genetics, chemistry, biology, physics, medicine, and engineering to discuss the mechanics of motors—from naturally occurring motors, such as those inside cells, to new synthetic motors made from DNA. Registration is required to 617-495-8600. http://www.radcliffe.edu October 16, 2011 11:00am - 5:00pm Green Solutions Expo Newton Centre Green & Wainwright Bank, Newton A Newton/Needham Chamber of Commerce Expo with solutions you need to reduce your carbon footprint, over 60 exhibitors, and tips on how to live a "green" life style. http://greendecade.org/green-solutions-expo.html October 17, 2011 11:45am - 12:45pm Harvard Energy Journal Club HUCE Seminar Room 24 Oxford Street, 3rd Floor, Cambridge Facilitating discussion and furthering our understanding of the technical details of energy technology and science. Visit the Energy Journal website for updates and topics of discussion. http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hejc/ Contact Name: Dan Recht drecht(a)fas.harvard.edu 12:15pm - 2:00pm STS Circle Lecture 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 100, Room 106, Cambridge With Gary Edmond (UNSW School of Law), "Advice for the Courts? Science Studies, Criminal Justice, and the Forensic Science Crisis." Please RSVP to sts(a)hks.harvard.edu by the Thursday before. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/sts 4:00pm EPS Colloquium Haller Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge With Michael Manga, UC Berkeley. Hosted by Brendan Meade. Contact Name: Sabinna Cappo scappo(a)fas.harvard.edu October 18, 2011 3:00pm ClimaTea HUCE Seminar Room, 24 Oxford Street 3rd Floor, Cambridge Visit the ClimaTea website for a list of speakers and topics: http://www.seas.harvard.edu/climate/seminars/climatea.html October 19, 2011 - October 20, 2011 Garden Design Master Class with Rosemary Alexander Weld Hill, 1300 Centre Street, Boston Spend two days exploring principles of garden design with renowned garden designer Rosemary Alexander. http://arboretum.harvard.edu/ October 19, 2011 4:10pm - 5:30pm Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy Room L-382, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge “The Environment, Trade, and Directed Technical Change” http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k82245&pageid=icb.page443881 Contact Name: Jason Chapman 617-496-8054 8:00pm - 9:00pm Environmental Action Committee Meeting Quincy House, Spindell Room, Harvard University, Cambridge Everyone interested in learning about the EAC and/or learning how to help make a difference for the environment is welcome. http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~eac/ Contact Name: Jackson Salovaara jsalov(a)fas.harvard.edu October 20, 2011 11:30am - 1:00pm Ecology Journal Club HUCE Seminar Room 310 24 Oxford St. 3rd Floor, Cambridge Reading and discussion group on diverse topics in ecology. Visit the website for topics of discussion. All interested researchers are welcome and lunch is provided. http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/pringle/journalclub.htm Contact Name: Primrose Boynton pboynton(a)fas.harvard.edu 6:30pm Earth's Surprising Climate History MIT 32-123, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Featuring Paul Hoffman, Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology Emeritus at Harvard University. His talk focuses on the beginnings of climate change as a science to his own involvement in the controversy over the ultimate climatic disturbance: snowball Earth. http://web.mit.edu/science/events/john_carlson_lecture.pdf Contact Name: Shira Wieder swieder(a)mit.edu --- Always check the calendar on the website for updated information. If you would like to submit an event to the calendar, contact Lisa Matthews at the Center for the Environment: lisa_matthews(a)harvard.edu. Be sure to sign up to receive the HUCE newsletter. <a href="http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=7532d1fbf18f39219ac742ebe&id=6a7b338f8a…" title="Like HUCE Weekly Calendar Email October 6 - 20 on Facebook" rel="fblikebtn"><img src="http://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/fb/like.gif" border="0" alt="Like HUCE Weekly Calendar Email October 6 - 20 on Facebook" height="20" width="48" style="display:inline;"/></a> Become a Fan of HUCE on Facebook You are receiving this email because you indicated interest in Harvard University Center for the Environment events. [62]Unsubscribe aspuru-meetings-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu from this list. Links: 62. http://harvard.us1.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=7532d1fbf18f39219ac742ebe&… Our mailing address is: 24 Oxford St. Cambridge, MA 02138 (T) 617-495-0368 www.environment.harvard.edu Copyright (C) 2008 Harvard University. All rights reserved. _______________________________________________ Aspuru-meetings-list mailing list Aspuru-meetings-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu https://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/aspuru-meetings-list

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Excitonics Seminar, TODAY. 3 pm, 36-428

by Cathy Bourgeois

Please post and forward to your group - Thanks Center for Excitonics Seminar Series Announcement TUES, October 4, 2011 3:00 PM RLE Haus Room: 36-428 Comparing the Primary Electron Transfer Process in Organic Photovoltaic Heterojunctions with Photosynthetic Reaction Centers Garry Rumbles National Renewable Energy Laboratory, University of Colorado Abstract This presentation will focus on some of the fundamental science associated with the rapidly emerging field of organic photovoltaics (OPV). It will include a discussion of how the OPV field is evolving, examine some of the fundamental scientific issues that underpin the subject, and will discuss how spectroscopy can help to understand these issues. The goal is to enable both a better understanding of how these systems function and consequently help to advance solar energy conversion efficiencies of future OPV devices. So-called organic photovoltaic devices have seen certified power conversion efficiencies increase from 2.5% in 2001 to ~9% in 2011. Close inspection of the strategies employed to realize this impressive improvement in performance reveal a common approach of synthesizing new donor polymers, fullerene acceptors and, in some cases, new device architectures. It is questionable as to whether this approach will result in a similar four-fold level of improvement over the next ten years. And it is this question that motivates the work that will be described. At the heart of all OPV devices is the donor-acceptor interface, where photogenerated excitons are dissociated into separated charge carriers. Using flash photolysis, timeresolved microwave conductivity as a tool for detecting mobile carriers, a number of recently-studied systems will be demonstrated. These may include systems that contain new conjugated polymers, novel derivatives of fullerenes, single-walled carbon nanotubes and colloidal quantum dots, to name a few. These studies will serve to highlight a fundamental issue that we have yet fully understand: how are these carriers created with such efficiency and yield, and in a system that does not immediately suggest that this is possible? The talk will therefore include a speculative discussion about how we might better understand this process by looking at the function of Nature's photosynthetic reaction centers. Bio Garry received his B.Sc (hons) in Chemistry with Electronics at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom in 1980 and his Ph.D in Molecular Photochemistry at the University of London, United Kingdom in 1984. Currently, he is a NREL Fellow in the Chemical and Material Science Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado as well as Professor Adjoint in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. His research interest is in next generation solar photoconversion concepts based on conjugated molecules and polymers combined and nanostructured species, with a focus on the fundamental photophysics of exciton dynamics and charge generation and recombination kinetics. Light refreshments will be served. The Center for Excitonics is an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science and Office of Basic Energy Sciences

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Fwd: Funding cuts to NSF, NIST

by Alan Aspuru-Guzik

Dear all, It's time to become activists for science. See below. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Funding cuts to NSF, NIST Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2011 19:39:19 -0400 From: opa(a)aps.org Reply-To: opa(a)aps.org To: alan(a)aspuru.com URGENT ALERT TO THE APS MEMBERSHIP: FUNDING CUTS TO NSF, NIST THE ISSUE IN BRIEF: The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed cuts to both the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in its FY 2012 budget for Commerce, Justice and Science agencies. DETAILS: In a September 15 markup, the Committee cut spending for several science agencies in the $52.701 billion plan it approved for those portions of the FY 2012 federal budget. The science portion of the budget is $626 million, or 1.2%, below the total CJS budget for the current fiscal year, and nearly $5 billion below the president's 2012 request for those agencies. This included cuts to the NSF and NIST budgets. Under that budget, NSF has been cut by $161,077,000, or 2.3%, from the current fiscal year.s $6.86 billion and nearly 14% below the $7.767 billion requested by the Administration. The NIST budget was cut by $70 million, or 9.3%, to $680 million. Those cuts included elimination of funding for all new grants under its competitive construction program and trimmed construction funding to $60 million from $69.86 million in the current fiscal year; Obama proposed $84.6 million. NIST also saw the Senate panel eliminate funding for two of its programs, the Technology Innovation Program, and the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program, which promotes management among businesses, schools, and other organizations. In order to keep activities moving forward, Senators need to hear from us that the FY 2012 NSF budget should be no lower than the FY 2011 NSF budget, the level the House Appropriations Committee has proposed. Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Subcommittee Chair Barbara Mikulski stated that the science budget cuts were made grudgingly -- she has been an ardent supporter of NSF and NIST funding, but said that she had less to work with for the FY 2012 budget. Mikulski's subcommittee had less to spend in writing this bill. The total discretionary budget authority in this legislation is $52.701 billion, a reduction of $626 million or 1.2 percent from the current fiscal year. However, other areas of the CJS budget were increased. Therefore, it is important for APS members to let their Senators know that cuts to NSF and NIST budgets are damaging and that money should be found to restore them. For NSF, this means, at a minimum, matching what the House did: keeping funding at the FY2011 level. ACTION REQUIRED: Contact your Senators IMMEDIATELY to emphasize the devastating impact on American science, innovation and economic growth the Senate plan would cause. To assist you in framing your message, we have provided pre-written messages to your senators and representative, which you should personalize or rewrite as you deem appropriate: http://www.aps.org/link/alert.cfm (See webpage pointers below for further instruction.) WEB PAGE POINTERS: (1) While individualizing your letter is not essential, we ask that you make minor edits to the subject line and the first line of the text of each email. (2) If you are a government employee, please do not use government resources, such as a government computer, to send your communication. (3) Your browser will take you to a page where you will enter your name and address. (4) After entering your address, click the "Edit/Send Email button." A window with an individual email message to the four offices will appear. Click "Send Emails" to transmit the communication. (5) Electronic submission is preferred. (6) For further help, e-mail the APS Washington Office at opa(a)aps.org. To stop receiving email of this nature from APS, click on the link below. http://ultron.aps.org/cgi-bin/scrconf.pl?MID=61025338&UNIT=OPA&ACTION=-1

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Fwd: 2012 Perimeter Institute Postdoctoral Recruitment

by Alan Aspuru-Guzik

Dear all, FYI -------- Original Message -------- Subject: 2012 Perimeter Institute Postdoctoral Recruitment Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2011 18:01:38 -0400 From: Sheri Keffer <contact(a)perimeterinstitute.ca> To: Alan Aspuru-Guzik <alan(a)aspuru.com> Dear Colleague: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is inviting applications for Postdoctoral Research positions. For more information please visit: http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/Scientific/Applications/Postdoctoral_Resea… We hope you will share the news by: 1. Forwarding this information directly to prospective candidates who may be interested in this opportunity. 2. Hanging the poster located at the above link. Perimeter Institute offers a dynamic, multi-disciplinary environment with maximum research freedom and opportunity to collaborate. We welcome all candidates to *apply by November 15th*, but applications will be considered until all positions are filled. Thank you in advance for forwarding and sharing this information. Sincerely, Sheri Keffer /Human Resources Manager Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics/ To remove yourself from this email list click here <http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/sugar/index.php?entryPoint=removeme&identi…>

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [qip] today, tomorrow

by Edward Farhi

Hi Quanta Today (Monday) at 4:00 Antonello Scardicchio will give a talk in 6C-442 on Quantum Satisfiability. At the group meeting on Tuesday at 11:00, Anto and Chris will tell us about what they have been up to. Best, Eddie ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Edward Farhi Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics Director Center for Theoretical Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology 6-300 Cambridge MA 02139 617 253 4871 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: _______________________________________________ qip mailing list qip(a)mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/qip

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Announcement: Excitonics Seminar, Tues. Oct. 4. 3 pm, 36-428

by Cathy Bourgeois

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [Aspuru-meetings-list] Group meeting today by Mike Stopa

by Joel Yuen

When: Monday October 3 from 2 to 3 PM Where: Cabot Division Room at Mallinckrodt What: Mike Stopa is up for group meeting: *Numerical method for adding spin ½ particles* *Mike Stopa* A standard model for many-molecule systems is to treat each molecules as a two-level system described by a spin which is up or down. Thus the collective state of N such molecules can be described, through the addition of angular momentum formalism, as a state with total angular momentum J<= N/2. In the case where an interaction Hamiltonian (such as a vector potential of an electromagnetic field or a surface Plasmon polariton) commutes with the total angular momentum of the composite system, J is a conserved quantum number. Transitions induced by the interaction therefore merely connect different values of Jz (the z-component of angular momentum). However, to the extent that the interaction breaks this symmetry, different values of J may be accessed. In this talk I will describe the construction of composite angular momentum states and their numerical computation from a collection of spin ½ systems. This construction, and the counting of the resultant degeneracy, are necessary first steps to model the effect of disorder in the interaction in breaking these so-called Dicke states. -- Joel Yuen-Zhou PhD candidate in Chemical Physics Harvard University CCB, 12 Oxford St. Mailbox 107, Cambridge, MA, USA. _______________________________________________ Aspuru-meetings-list mailing list Aspuru-meetings-list(a)lists.fas.harvard.edu https://lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/aspuru-meetings-list

12 years, 7 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Prize.

by Alan Aspuru-Guzik

Dear group, Please find the attached prize call. If you want to write a general audience paper about your research, this is an opportunity to get a fancy Harvard prize, Alan -- Alán Aspuru-Guzik | Associate Professor Harvard University | Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology 12 Oxford Street, Room M113 | Cambridge, MA 02138 (617)-384-8188 | http://aspuru.chem.harvard.edu | http://about.me/aspuru

12 years, 7 months

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aspuru-list October 2011