Integrated Calendar

QCD matter has a complex phase
stucture, with a deconfined Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) expected to be present under conditions of extreme pressure or temperature. The hot QGP filled the universe about 10 microseconds after the Big Bang, and a high-pressure QGP may exist today in the core of neutron stars.
Hot QCD matter can be generated in the laboratory via the collision of heavy atomic nu-clei at high energy. Such collisions are complex, however, generating thousands of parti-cles in the final state, and quantitative study of the QGP in such events presents unprec-edented challenges for both experiment and theory. I will review recent progress in our understanding of the nature and properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma, based on meas-urements from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, together with theoretical modeling. I will also discuss some surprising connections that have emerged in recent years between study of the QGP and other
areas of physics, including string theory and cold atomic gases.

Core collapse supernovae (SNe) are highly heterogeneous and mark the various ways in which massive stars end their lives. Explaining the observed diversity remains a key unsolved problem. The effects of mass, metallicity, binarity and rotation on the evolution and subsequent explosions of massive stars are not well understood. Large samples of events, recently collected through single untargeted surveys such as PTF, unlock new observational insights to this problem. By comparing the light curve shapes of numerous SNe we find three distinct sub-types of H-rich events, pointing towards different mechanisms at work and hinting at the effects of binarity. Discovering SNe in a range of host galaxy types and luminosities has allowed us to elucidate the significance of metallicity in creating different types of stripped SN progenitors. Early discovery and rapid followup enable us to constrain additional properties of SN progenitors, including their radius and pre-explosion structure. As more data is gathered, we approach a more complete understanding of the mysteries behind these explosive events.

The rational design of nanoparticles has been increasingly important for the successful applications in the detection of biological targets and also for the development of catalysis in energy harvesting and storage. Simultaneous prerequisite is the better understanding of size, composition and shape dependent nanoscaling-laws of nanoparticles.
In the first part, I will discuss about chemical design magnetic nanoparticles as the ultra-sensitive MRI probes (with more than 10 times higher sensitivity than conventional ones) and multi-modal nanoparticles for highly accurate and false-free capabilities in the monitoring of biological species and drug delivery. In the latter part of my talk, “laterally confined 2-dimensional” nanoparticles will be introduced to demonstrate their capabilities as excellent host materials for energy conversion and storage.