5 Fascinating Physics Lectures for Senior Seminar

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around suggestions for five different physics lecture topics for a senior seminar. Participants share ideas and clarify the requirements for the presentations, focusing on interesting and less commonly covered topics in physics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests topics including Neutrino Oscillations, Symmetries in physics, Quasars & Active Galactic Nuclei, Big Bang cosmology, and Electroweak unification.
  • Another participant mentions that the seminar requires lectures on topics not heavily covered in classes, aiming to demonstrate knowledge of physics.
  • A participant expresses interest in Quasars & Active Galactic Nuclei and requests more information about the presentation level and length.
  • One participant shares their experience giving a talk on alternative theories of cosmology, suggesting it could be adapted for the seminar.
  • Another participant indicates their focus will be on black holes and seeks additional topic suggestions related to that theme.
  • Suggestions for black hole topics include the discovery of black holes, Hawking radiation, gravitational radiation from black holes, and derivations from Einstein's equations in general relativity.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the need for interesting and diverse topics for the seminar, but multiple competing views on specific topics and approaches remain. The discussion is ongoing with no consensus on the final list of topics.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention varying requirements for the seminar, including presentation length and level, which may influence topic selection. There is also a focus on topics that are not extensively covered in prior classes.

Who May Find This Useful

Students preparing for physics seminars, educators seeking topic ideas for upper-division physics courses, and individuals interested in contemporary physics discussions.

spidersdaron
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I have to give five different lectures on related topics physics for my senior seminar. I want to do something really interesting not that physics isn't interesting I just want my lectures to go over well. so does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
why are you giving seminars?
 
Neutrino Oscillations, Symmetries in physics and the detection of parity violation, Quasars & Active Galactic Nuclei, Observational findings that supports Big Bang cosmology, Electroweak unification and the Higgs Boson.
 
For my school ( I am not sure if this is same for other schools, I am undergrad.) we have a senior level course where we give lectures on topics in physics, it is a requirement. The Topics can't be things that we covered a lot in our classes. It is a way for us to demonstrate our knowledge of physics.
 
so what about my suggestions? ;-)
 
i thought people did science so they wouldn't have to talk infront of others.
 
naa you always have to give talks at conferences etc and also teach classes sometimes
 
Okki2 said:
i thought people did science so they wouldn't have to talk infront of others.

couldn't be further from the truth
 
malawi_glenn, thanks I liked your ideas a lot... i am considering the Quasars & Active Galactic Nuclei.
 
  • #10
spidersdaron said:
malawi_glenn, thanks I liked your ideas a lot... i am considering the Quasars & Active Galactic Nuclei.

cool, just tell us more what kind of level and length the presentations should be and we can give you more advices.

I can make a looooooong list if you want of things I would love to give a talk on hehe
 
  • #11
I once gave a talk on alternative theories of cosmology, an idea which could be adapted to your needs. It's interesting to let other students know that there are credible theories other than the 'standard models'.
 
  • #12
My talks have to be 45 minutes long and of senior or junior level, basically upper division physics students.
 
  • #13
So you want more suggestions or? What are your speciality in physics? Astrophysics? Material physics? It is hard to help you if you don't help us ;-)
 
  • #14
I just talk to my Professor for that class... we talk for while and i guess all my lectures are going to be about black holes. I just have to pick five different topic with black holes or about black holes I already have a few in mind thanks to Malawi glenn. anything else any of you can offer will be very much appreciated thanks for the help people...
 
  • #15
Well I think you should know more about black holes than me, but here are the topics I can think of, except AGN & quasars

Discovery of BH's: stellar and galactical,

Hawking radiation, detection in space and experiment (LHC for instance)

Black Holes as sources for gravitational radiation

Derivation of Black Holes from Einsteins eq's on GR
 

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