| October 2025 |
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 29 Grant Remmen, Strings from almost nothing (12:30 PM - 1:30 PM) | 30 Isabel Sands, Astro-particle Phenomena from Dark Matter and Cosmic Rays in MHD Galaxy Formation Simulations (2:00 PM - 3:15 PM) + Abstract | 1 Fabrizio Rompineve, Gravitational waves from the early Universe and cosmic Domain Walls (2:00 PM - 3:15 PM) + Abstract Mathew Calkins (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) | 2 Astro Journal Club, Ian Williams & Arjun Suresh (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM) Daniel Harlow, Quantum black holes and the emergence of space and time (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) + Abstract | 3 Andrea Cappelli, Hydrodynamics with anomalies and effective field theory (1:30 PM - 2:30 PM) + Abstract |
| 6 Gus Beane, How To Simulate a Galaxy (12:30 PM - 1:30 PM) | 7 Gabriele Franciolini, Searching for subsolar mass primordial black holes with gravitational waves (2:00 PM - 3:15 PM) + Abstract | 8 Oliver Janssen, A prior on initial conditions in inflation from the gravitational path integral? (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM) + Abstract Mathew Calkins (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) | 9 Astro Journal Club, Ian Williams & Arjun Suresh (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM) Marcelo Rozenberg, Simple Memristive Circuits for Brain-Inspired Computing (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) -- Abstract: The idea of using electronic circuits to mimic the brain—known as neuromorphic electronics—dates back to Carver Mead and spans models from simple leaky-integrate-and-fire neurons to detailed Hodgkin–Huxley dynamics. Implementing spiking neural networks directly in hardware is highly attractive: it enables real-time operation without numerical approximations, scales naturally with system size, and yields neuromorphic circuits ready for practical deployment. Yet, traditional CMOS-based implementations remain complex, demand specialized fabrication facilities, and are limited by device variability. In our work, we pursue a radically different and much simpler path based on memristive behavior. I will first describe our decade-long effort to realize artificial neurons using a remarkable property of quantum materials—the Mott metal–insulator transition. I will then turn to our more recent work on a new spiking neuron built from an inexpensive, conventional off-the-shelf electronic component: the overlooked thyristor. I will also show how equally simple synaptic circuits allow us to quantitatively reproduce textbook neuron and synapse models, enabling the implementation of basic spiking neural network motifs. Our approach establishes a novel “theoretical hardware” framework for neuroscience, with promising applications in brain–machine interfaces, autonomous systems, and robotics. | 10 Lukas Lindwasser, Where is the KdV equation? Mapping the space of integrable equations (12:00 PM - 1:00 PM) + Abstract |
| 13 | 14 Eliot Quataert, The Fates of Stars Orbiting too Close to Massive Black Holes (2:00 PM - 3:15 PM) + Abstract | 15 Maryum Sayeed, Looking for Companionship: Testing Binarity of Lithium-Rich Red Giants (11:00 AM - 11:30 AM) + Abstract Maria Nocchi, A double-copy picture of strings in AdS (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM) + Abstract Mathew Calkins (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) | 16 Astro Journal Club, Ian Williams & Arjun Suresh (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM) Simon Sponberg, Supra-resonant Dynamics and Self-excited Oscillations in Insect Flight (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) + Abstract | 17 Eliezer Rabinovici, On Persistent Symmetry Breaking (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM) + Abstract |
| 20 Itai Linial, Dynamics and Formation of Energetic Transients near Massive Black Holes (12:30 PM - 1:30 PM) | 21 Colin Hill, Uncovering Physics Beyond the Standard Model in the Cosmic Microwave Background (2:00 PM - 3:15 PM) + Abstract | 22 Badal Bhalla, Three-body Encounters with Primordial Black Holes (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM) + Abstract Elizabeth Himwich, w(1+infinity) Symmetry in 4D Gravitational Scattering and Celestial Holography (2:00 PM - 3:15 PM) + Abstract Mathew Calkins (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) | 23 Astro Journal Club, Ian Williams & Arjun Suresh (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM) Priyamvada Natarajan, New Insights Into the Formation of the First Black Holes (4:00 PM) + Abstract | 24 |
| 27 Hector Afonso Cruz, The First Billion Years in Seconds: A Fast Analytical Model for the 21-cm Cosmology with Population III Stars (12:30 PM - 1:30 PM) Marc Henneaux, The Wheeler-DeWitt equation and the BMS symmetry (2:00 PM - 2:50 PM) + Abstract | 28 Alvise Raccanelli, Learning clustering in Plato’s cave (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM) + Abstract Neelima Sehgal, Discoveries from CMB-HD (2:00 PM - 3:15 PM) + Abstract Javad Shabani, Chalk Talk: 2025 Nobel Prize Winners Research (3:30 PM - 4:45 PM) + Abstract | 29 Saniya Heeba, Dark Matter @ Finite Temperature (2:00 PM - 3:15 PM) + Abstract Mathew Calkins (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) | 30 Astro Journal Club, Ian Williams & Arjun Suresh (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM) Thibault Damour, High-Precision Gravitational Scattering (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM) Stefano Martiniani, Though This Be Disorder, Yet There Is Order in’t (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) + Abstract | 31 Sebastian-Philip Harris, Holographic Interfaces in Symmetric Product Orbifolds (11:00 AM - 12:15 PM) + Abstract Chrysoula Markou, Building string spectra (12:30 PM - 1:30 PM) + Abstract |