The scientific hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence is now into its fifth decade, and we still haven't uncovered a confirmed peep from the cosmos. For that matter, we still don’t know if life – at any level of intelligence – exists beyond Earth. Could this mean that finding aliens, even if they’re out there, is a project for the ages – one that might take centuries or longer?

New technologies and new strategies for use in the search for extraterrestrial biology suggest that, despite the continued dearth of hard evidence for life elsewhere or signals from other societies, there is good reason to expect that success might not be far off – that within a few decades we might find evidence of sophisticated civilizations.

Why this is so, what contact would tell us, and what such a discovery would mean, are the subject of this talk on the continuing efforts to establish our place in the universe of thinking beings.

Could there be intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? Hundreds of billions of planets may be scattered throughout the vast starfields of the Milky Way. How many of these other worlds sport life able to send messages into space, or perhaps to travel between the stars?
In the next two decades, a radically new instrument, the Allen Telescope Array, will sensitively scrutinize the vicinities of hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions of stars, looking for a faint radio signal that would betray intelligent beings elsewhere. In addition researchers are using conventional optical telescopes to search for pulsed laser light from other worlds, a sure sign of another society.
Will these efforts lead to success? Can Nature be expected to readily cook up interesting biology on other planets? Even if alien life is common, is any of it intelligent? And finally suppose SETI finds a faint signal from a distant civilization: what then? World peace? Rioting in the streets? Would we be privy to the secrets of the ages? Or would discovery of cosmic company be the ultimate in ego deflation, proving that we are but small fry in heaven’s vast ocean?

The self-generation of magnetic fields in planets and
stars--the dynamo effect--is a long-standing problem of magnetohydrodynamics and plasma physics. Until recently, research on the self-excitation process has been primarily theoretical. This talk will address how dynamo experiments, using high speed flows of liquid sodium, have been investigating the key processes of the geodynamo and solar dynamo. I will begin with a brief tutorial on how magnetic fields are generated in planets and stars, describing the "Standard Model" of self-exciting dynamos known as the alpha-omega dynamo. In this model, axisymmetric differential rotation can produce the majority of the magnetic field, but some non-axisymmetric, turbulence driven currents are also necessary. Understanding the conversion of turbulent kinetic energy in the fluid motion into electrical currents and thus magnetic fields, is the biggest challenge for both experiments and theory at this time. Experimental evidence for these currents has recently been discovered in a 1 meter diameter, spherical, liquid sodium dynamo experiment at the University of Wisconsin. These experiments will be described and future directions will be discussed.

A report called Rising Above the Gathering Storm gathered an
unusual amount of attention when the National Academy released it in 2007, and its conclusions have guided discussion in Washington DC and elsewhere since. The report makes the case that the future of the country depends upon strengthening the national infrastructure for mathematics and science, and particularly emphasizes the importance of improving science and mathematics education in public schools.

I began working to improve teacher education in mathematics and science at UT Austin in 1997 with a program called UTeach. We were highlighted in the Gathering Storm report, and are now the nucleus of a national effort. I will describe data from across the nation indicating the scope of the problem we face if we wish to increase access of citizens from many economic and demographic groups to mathematics and science. Then I will describe the steps we took at UT Austin, the accomplishments that generated national attention, and some of the problems that are still unsolved.

Locating and characterizing the sources responsible for cosmic reionization and ending the so-called "Dark Ages" is a new frontier in theoretical and observational astronomy. A popular view is that, a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, a high density of low mass star forming galaxies were produced. Finding and studying such faint sources is a major driver for future facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the proposed Thiry Meter Telescope. Meanwhile, by harnessing the strong gravitational lensing power of massive clusters, the first candidate sources beyond z=7 are being found and studied. I will describe the progress (and limitations) of the work we are doing with Keck, Spitzer and Hubble in this area which provides a first tentative glimpse of the Universe at redshift 10.

Examples of quantum many-body systems abound in Nature. Thus, it is clear that in fields like molecular, solid-state, and nuclear physics most of the fundamental objects of discourse are interacting many-body systems. But even in elementary particle physics one is usually dealing with more than one particle. For example, at some level of reality a nucleon comprises three quarks interacting via gluons and surrounded by a cloud of mesons, which are themselves made of quark-antiquark pairs. Even more fundamentally, even the “physical vacuum” of any quantum field theory is endowed with an enormously complex infinite many-body structure due to virtual excitations. A key central role in modern physics is thus occupied by quantum many-body theory, where we are especially interested in the possible existence of any universal techniques that are powerful enough to treat the full range of many-body and field-theoretic systems. One such method is the coupled cluster method. This has become one of the most pervasive (possibly the most pervasive), most powerful, and most successful of all fully microscopic formulations of quantum many-body theory. It has probably been applied to more systems in quantum field theory, quantum chemistry, nuclear, subnuclear, condensed matter and other areas of physics than any other competing method. It has yielded numerical results which are among the most accurate available for an incredibly wide range of both finite and extended systems on either a spatial continuum or a regular discrete lattice. In this talk I aim to give an overview of the method itself and some illustrative examples of its power and range of applicability.

I review the present state of knowledge in elementary particle physics and the questions that we are currently addressing. I discuss the experimental revolutions that might occur at the Large Hadron Collider, soon to be finished at CERN. I shall also review the state of string theory. The necessity to go beyond the standard model of particle physics and to understand quantum gravity has led to this ambitious attempt to unify all the forces of nature and all forms of matter as different vibrations of a string-like object. But string theory is still in a pre-revolutionary stage.Although remarkable progress has been achieved in the last decade in understanding the perturbative and non-perturbative structure of string theory, we still lack a fundamental understanding of the theory. Many string theorists suspect that a profound conceptual change in our concept of space and time will be required for the final formulation of string theory.

In this talk I discuss 25 questions that might guide physics, in the broadest sense, over the next 25 years.

When extrasolar planets are observed to eclipse their parent stars, we are granted unprecedented access to their physical properties. It is only for these systems that we are permitted direct estimates of the planetary masses and radii, which in turn provide fundamental constraints on models of their physical structure. Furthermore, such planets afford the opportunity to study their atmospheres without the need to spatially isolate the light from the planet from that of the star. I will review the most recent results, and then describe a new observatory that will survey 2000 nearby low-mass stars with a sensitivity to detect rocky planets orbiting within their stellar habitable zones.

The internal spin states of individual neutral atoms are nearly ideal candidates for quantum bits. One key requirement for quantum logic is the ability to generate controlled, state-dependent interactions between qubits.  I will describe experiments in a double-well optical lattice where we isolate and control arrays of pairs of rubidium atoms. Using this lattice we can merge pairs of atoms into the same lattice site, resulting in the required spin-dependent exchange interactions. In addition, we demonstrate how to use light to address atoms spaced below the optical diffraction limit. These basic tools could form the physical basis for a number of recent proposals for quantum information processing that rely heavily on parallel operations. 

The rapid development in nanotechnology gives us direct access to the quantum world. While we seek to implement real-world structures for quantum information technology we are still in the process of understanding of fundamental physics within the “nano-world”. Today we are able to design solid state quantum structures for experiments which have long been known as “Gedankenexperiments” since our understanding of quantum mechanics. Combining single quantum objects to a more complex quantum system is one particular issue. Here, I will review one most simple example: connected quantum conductors. Coupling phenomena such as wave function hybridization can occur in the coherent electron transport in dual electron waveguide structures realized as quantum wires. Operation at liquid helium temperature and above is demonstrated. Mode coupling between degenerate one-dimensional subbands depends on the symmetry of the confining potential and the coupling strength.

The coupling of baryons and photons by Thomson scattering in the early universe leads to a rich structure in the power spectra of the cosmic microwave background photons and the matter. The study of the former has revolutionized cosmology and allowed precise measurement of a host of important cosmological parameters. The study of the latter is still in its infancy, but holds the potential to constrain the nature of the dark energy believed to be causing the accelerated expansion of the universe. I will discuss how we can measure this cosmic sound, and the theoretical and observational developments that need to be made before we can realize the promise of future missions.

The Josephson junction is an ideal solid-state system for building "electrical atoms" that can function as quantum bits for a quantum computer. Recent advances in the materials and design of phase qubits have dramatically improved their coherence so that high-fidelity quantum logic operations can be performed. Combined with advances in microwave electronics, full characterization of single and coupled qubit logic gates are now possible using quantum tomography techniques. I will report on several recent experiments of our group demonstrating tomographic state measurement of single and coupled qubit logic gates that provides direct proof of entanglement. I will also discuss new experimental results where Fock states (photon number states) were generated in an electrical resonator.

As our technological civilization becomes more dependent of space
technology, we become more vulnerable to changes in the space
environment in which that technology functions. These environmental changes are known as “space weather.” In this talk I will discuss what drives space weather and how it affects human activities both in space and on the Earth. I will also discuss recent efforts by the Center for integrated Space Weather Modeling to create physics-based numerical simulations of the magnetosphere to be used in forecasting space weather.

There are compelling evidences for neutrino oscillation. Oscillations between three kinds of neutrino are completely described by three mixing angles, two mass-squared differences, and one CP-violating phase. CP violation in the lepton sector, if exists, might explain why there is more matter than anti-matter in the Universe. Yet whether the CP-violating effect can be studied with neutrinos or not is dictated by the last unknown mixing angle \theta13. The primary goal of the Daya Bay experiment in China is to determine the value of \theta13 by measuring the change in flux and the energy spectrum of the antineutrinos generated by the powerful Daya Bay nuclear power complex with three sets of detectors located underground at three different locations that are within 2 km from the reactors.

This illustrated talk is directed toward both scientists and the general public. It will be on the interactions between imagination, the limits of imagination, speculation and some understanding of nature. Examples ranging from Leonardo da Vinci, through Jules Verne, the comic books, the Apollo landings on the Moon, and the astronomical exploration of the Universe. It is meant to stimulate thought on what really constitutes exploration and how popularization both stimulates and confuses real exploration. It may lead nations astray in wild “star wars” enterprises that are not really exploration. The talk will be leavened by humor and a variety of illustrations from “pulp fiction”, and end in the mystery of quasars and dark matter. The latter will not be explained.

Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has
built three multi-kilometer interferometers designed to search for gravitational waves. LIGO Scientific Collaboration recently completed a year-long science run at the design sensitivity, and is currently commissioning the next phase of the experiment, the Enhanced LIGO. I will review the current status of LIGO and some of the most recent results obtained using LIGO data. I will also describe efforts being undertaken at the Homestake mine toward designing the third generation of gravitational-wave detectors.

While materials scientists don’t typically consult comic books when selecting research topics, innovations first introduced in superhero adventures as fiction can sometimes find their way off the comic book page and into reality.
As amazing as the Fantastic Four’s powers is the fact that their costumes are undamaged when the Human Torch flames on or Mr. Fantastic stretches his elastic body. In shape memory materials, an external force or torque induces a structural change that is reversed upon warming. Some polymers can be stretched to over twice their normal dimensions and return to their original state when annealed, a feature appreciated by Mr. Fantastic. Spider-Man’s wall crawling ability has been ascribed to the same van der Waals attractive force that gecko lizards employ through the millions of microscopic hairs on their toes. Scientists have recently developed “gecko tape,” consisting of arrays of fibers that provide a strong enough attraction to support a modest weight. Before this tape is able to support a person, however, major materials constraints must be overcome (if this product ever becomes commercially available, I for one will never wait for the elevator again!). All this, and the chemical composition of Captain America’s shield, will be discussed.

The network of tests of the relativistic LCDM big bang cosmology has grown richer and tighter by far than anything I imagined when I got onto this game nearly half a century ago. I will describe why I have at last been convinced that we have a good approximation to reality on the scale of the expanding universe, and I will offer some examples to illustrate my - possibly hopeful -- suspicion that we have not yet completed physical low-redshift cosmology.

Graphene, a new recently discovered allotrope of carbon, is the first example of truly two-dimensional crystals. It also demonstrates an exotic electron energy spectrum, with chiral states ("massless Dirac fermions"). This establishes some novel and unexpected relations with relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, such as chiral Klein tunneling in pnp junctions, vacuum reconstruction around charge impurities, appearance of topologically protected zero-energy chiral states, the Zitterbewegung of charge carriers, etc. Some phenomena hardly reachable in high-energy or nuclear physics experiments may be relatively easily simulated in graphene.

Elementary particle physics today is well-explained by the so-called Standard Model (SM). Although the SM has gaps, it explains almost all phenomena observed to date. One effect clearly not included in the SM is neutrino oscillation, a phenomenon in which neutrinos spontaneously change from one of three types to another. The MINOS Experiment, currently collecting data using the NuMI long-baseline neutrino beam from Fermilab to northern Minnesota, is investigating the disappearance of muon-type neutrinos. The upcoming NOvA Experiment will examine another aspect of the oscillation effect, namely the appearance of electron-type neutrinos. In this talk, I will describe MINOS and its results to date and briefly describe NOvA and the measurements it expects to make.

The universal properties that appear in the proximity of a second order phase transition are determined by a few relevant properties. The spatial dimensionality is one of them. It determines whether a phase transition is allowed to take place and, if that is the case, influences the values of critical exponents. In this talk I will demonstrate that the spatial dimensionality of a quantum critical point can be reduced when the system is governed by an emergent symmetry, i.e. when the ground state has higher symmetry than the Hamiltonian. This is demonstrated to be the case for magnetic field tuned quantum critical points in frustrated spin systems. The critical fluctuations of a three dimensional spin system on a body centered tetragonal lattice are shown to be strictly two dimensional, explaining the peculiar high magnetic field behavior of BaCuSi2O6. The mapping of the problem onto a chemical potential tuned Bose-Einstein condensation at T=0 illustrates the generality of the mechanism for dimensionality reduction at quantum critical points.

There is an on-going revolution in neutrino physics and astrophysics. Recent developments in observational cosmology and in laboratory experiments are providing insights into these mysterious particles. Neutrinos are neutral, spin-1/2 particles that interact only through the weak interaction and gravitation.

You have heard that individual neutrinos are ghostlike and can pass through light-years worth of lead. This is true. It then may come as a surprise to learn that neutrinos are responsible for much of the heavy lifting in astrophysical environments like the early universe and the gravitational collapse of stars and associated supernova explosions. However, like the hordes of staggering zombies in old horror movies, neutrinos can more than make up for their feeble individual interactions with huge numbers. They can transport entropy, energy, and lepton number through very dense matter that almost no other particles could get through. As a result, they can influence and even dominate macroscopic processes like the creation of the light elements in the Big Bang or the explosion of a supernova. Plus, neutrinos can act collectively in strange ways which, when coupled with these macroscopic processes, could give us insights into long standing questions about the properties of these particles.

In this talk we will discuss the basic properties of neutrinos, how this information was learned, recent insight into outstanding problems in neutrino physics, and some of the astrophysical issues mentioned above.

The twin mysteries of dark energy and dark matter are driving the
development and refinement of cosmological observations to remarkable
levels. Next-generation cosmological surveys aim to exploit structure
formation probes of the dynamics of the Universe at accuracy levels of the
order of fractions of a percent. In order for these ambitious targets to
be reached, theory must keep pace with observational advances: Weak
gravitational lensing as a probe of the mass distribution offers a
prominent example where observations are already theory-limited. In this
talk I will describe some of these hurdles, and present recent work on how
they can be overcome.

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are microscopic particles that
carry macroscopic energies. Discovered by Rossi and Auger in the 1930s,
their origin remains an unsolved problem. Because they cannot be
contained by the Galactic magnetic field, they must be accelerated by
sources outside our Galaxy. The Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina
has opened the field of charged-particle astronomy by associating the
arrival directions of UHECRs with active galaxies in the supergalactic
plane within 100 Megaparsecs. The recently launched Fermi Gamma-ray
Space Telescope identifies sites of energetic particle acceleration
through gamma-ray emission. The Fermi Telescope and its first results
are described in view of prospects that gamma-ray bursts and active
galactic nuclei are the sources of UHECRs. Definitive resolution of this
problem may await the completion of IceCube, the high-energy neutrino
telescope at the South Pole.

I will discuss transport of electrons through quantum wires--nanoscale conductors in which the electrons are confined to one spatial dimension. Theory and experiments agree that the resistance of a quantum wire takes a universal value of h/2e2, where h is the Planck's constant, and e is the electron charge. However, a number of recent experiments show that in the regime of very low density of electrons in the wire the resistance increases by 40-100%. At such low densities the electrons repel each other very strongly, and may form a crystalline structure (Wigner crystal). In this regime the spins of electrons are nearly decoupled from each other, and the propagation of the spin excitations through the wire is impeded. I will argue that this effect should result in doubling of the resistance of the wire.

There is a deep connection between Physics and Computation.
Indeed, any computation can be represented as a physical process. In a keynote speech at MIT in 1981 Richard Feynman raised some provocative questions in connection to the simulation of physical phenomena using a special machine called a "Quantum Computer." Such a device was intended to mimic physical processes exactly the same as Nature. At the time it was known that deterministic simulations of quantum phenomena in classical computers required a number of resources that scaled exponentially with the number of degrees of freedom. Certainly, remarks coming from such an influential figure generated widespread interest in these ideas, and today after 27 years there are still open questions. What kind of physical phenomena can be mimicked with a Quantum Computer?, How?, and What are its limitations? Attempting to answer these questions is what this talk is about. I will illustrate the main ideas by mimicking simple physical phenomena borrowed from condensed matter physics, and present experimental results performed in a liquid Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Quantum Computer.

World changes in the recent years have led to an enhanced emphasis on energy security, nuclear non-proliferation, and Homeland security. I will discuss some of the applied nuclear physics programs at the National Labs focussed on addressing these issues. These include nuclear forensics in the event of a terrorist nuclear attack, fusion ignition, advanced designs for safe and secure nuclear power, and enhanced reactor safeguards for non-proliferation.