2012 Winter ConferencesBiophysics
January 2 - 7, 2012 Growth and Form: Pattern Formation in BiologyOrganizers:
How do biological systems
regulate growth and produce the patterns
seen in nature? This conference will
explore this broad question that spans
such diverse topics as developmental
biology, cancer, biomineralization, and
flocking. Specific examples include
embryonic development, the formation and
structure of organs and tissues, wound
healing, branching structure of neurons
and blood vessels, leaf arrangement and
flower patterns, microstructure of bones
and seashells, swarming of bacteria and
biofilm formation, and flocking of birds
and fish. An increasing number of
physicists, mathematicians, engineers, and
biologists are using physical principles,
statistical mechanics, and modeling to
approach this wide spectrum of
problems. Indeed, 2010 was the 150th
anniversary of the birth of D'Arcy
Wentworth Thompson, the author of the
classic work On Growth and Form.
Unlike the biologists of his day who
emphasized the role of evolution in
determining the form and structure of
living organisms, Thompson pointed out the
importance of physical laws and mechanics.
This is true now more than ever. For more information, please click here. Condensed
Matter Physics New Directions in Ultracold Atomic SystemsOrganizers:
This conference will
cover the latest developments in
ultra-cold atoms and molecules. The
precision and control of atomic physics
now allows the study of well-characterized
and tunable many-body systems, ranging
from dynamics of strongly correlated
bosons and fermions to quantum magnetism.
This has created a new direction in
condensed matter physics, the experimental
study of idealized model systems, which is
strongly connected to theoretical work. Astrophysics
ExoClimes 2012: The Diversity of Planetary AtmospheresOrganizers: Ground-based surveys and
NASA's Kepler mission are discovering
countless planets, for which only mass,
radius and orbit are known. Scientists and
the public want to know what these worlds
are like, which is largely a question of
climate. Yet modelers are unable to rely
on the myriad data that pin the climate
models of Earth and --to a lesser degree--
those of other solar system worlds.
Instead, we need models of planetary
atmospheres that are robust to incident
flux, rotation rate, chemistry,
ionization, and surface gravity, to name a
few. In the last half-decade, data from
the ground and space have begun to place
useful constraints on general circulation
and 1-D climate models of hot, gaseous
exoplanets; in the upcoming decade, new
instruments and facilities will enable the
characterization of potentially habitable
terrestrial planets. Modelers need
empirical data to guide their models, and
astronomers need qualitatively new models
to interpret their data. This meeting will
provide a timely opportunity for
astrophysicists, planetary scientists and
climate modelers to exchange ideas about
the state of the art. The two principal
themes will be: 1) what exoplanet
properties can we measure in the
foreseeable future? and 2) how will these
data constrain climate models? For more information, please click here. Astrophysics
The Physics of Astronomical TransientsOrganizers: Rapid advances in
detector technology, computer processing
power and data storage are fostering a
data-driven revolution in astrophysics.
This is enabling surveys that probe
ever-larger areas of the sky and
ever-fainter sources, opening up a vast
discovery space. These advances also add
temporal information to what was
previously a relatively static picture of
the sky. In addition to aiding the
discovery of whole new classes of variable
astronomical phenomena, temporal
information probes the fundamental physics
of the underlying objects. Coupling these
surveys with innovative exploration
strategies and novel theoretical work will
open new windows onto the universe. This
meeting will focus on issues related to
the physics and discovery of astronomical
transients. Topics will range from the
extragalactic: detection of gamma-ray
bursts, and supernovae in distant
galaxies, variable AGN, to the galactic:
variable stars, novae, and other
cataclysmic events. Astrophysics
Inflationary Theory and Its Confrontation with Data in the Planck EraOrganizers: See Program at: http://tinyurl.com/AspenInflationWinter12Schedule Condensed Matter
Physics New Paradigms for Low-Dimensional Electronic MaterialsOrganizers:
Several of the most exciting recent developments in condensed matter involve new ways to create and probe low-dimensional electronic materials. The metallic interface between some insulating oxides and the metallic surface of a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator are both examples of novel 2D electron systems that inherit properties from the 3D host materials, via electronic correlations in the first case and spin-orbit coupling in the second. The ``conventional'' two-dimensional electron gas has continued to produce surprises such as paired quantum Hall states, while graphene is an intrinisically two-dimensional system with several novel features. Another area of progress in quantum condensed matter was the development of new probes of 2D or quasi-2D systems; to pick just one example, advances in spin-resolved photoemission were crucial in confirming theoretical predictions about the surface states of topological insulators. We propose a winter conference that will bring together experimentalists and theorists working in these rapidly developing areas of quantum condensed matter. The combination of fields above is broad enough to go beyond topical workshops while focused enough to have common interests and intense discussions. As an example, while topological insulators and oxide interfaces originally involved different materials families and workers from different backgrounds, it is becoming clear that realizing the potential of topological insulators will likely require creating interfaces to more correlated materials (magnets and super-conductors). Participants should leave with a better understanding of the remarkable recent progress in quantum condensed matter and an appreciation of where future progress is likely. Particle
Physics The Hunt for New Particles, from the Alps to the Plains to the RockiesOrganizers: Particle physics is about
to experience one of its most exciting
years in recent history. By winter 2012,
the LHC experiments (in the Alps) are
expected to have analyzed several orders
of magnitude more data than for their
first results of early 2011 and analyses
from the final run of the Tevatron (in the
Plains) will be nearing completion. There
is great potential for discoveries of new
particles, or laws of nature. We plan to
gather together (in the Rockies) a diverse
group of experimentalists and theorists
and incite energetic exchange of ideas,
information and knowledge gathered at the
newly explored frontiers of particle
physics, that will shape the future of the
field. In addition to the hunt for new
particles at colliders, our current
understanding of the nature of electroweak
scale dark matter will also be
highlighted, as well as the latest results
on heavy-ion, neutrino and heavy flavor
physics. For more information, please click here.
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