Frontiers of Neurophysics, an exploration of the interface of physics and neuroscience
September 27th and 28th, 2018
UCLA Physics & Astronomy Department, PAB 4-740

Organizers: Alex Levine (UCLA Center for Biological Physics)
This workshop, hosted by the Bhaumik Institute of Theoretical Physics and the UCLA Center for Biological Physics, will explore the emerging connections between physics and neuroscience as part of the UCLA Julian Schwinger Centennial Celebration.  Topics include:

- Information theory and neural encoding of sensory data
- The application of the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems to neural networks
- The statistical physics of nonlinear actors on quenched random networks
Click here to register for our workshop.

Confirmed speakers include:

Henry Abarbanel (UCSD)

William Bialek (Princeton)

Christopher del Negro (William & Mary)

Jack Feldman (UCLA)

Mayank Mehta (UCLA)

PUBLIC LECTURE: William Bialek (Princeton), Lenart Auditorium, Fowler Museum, Thursday, September 27th, 6:00pm - "The Physics of Life: How Much Can We Calculate" - In the four hundred years since Galileo, the physics community has constructed a remarkably successful mathematical description of the world around us.  From deep inside the atomic nucleus to the structure of the universe on the largest scales, from the flow air over the wing of an airplane to the flow of electrons in a computer chip, we can predict in detail what we see, and what will happen when we look in places we have never looked before.  What are the limits to this predictive power?  In particular, can we imagine a theoretical physicist’s approach to the complex and diverse phenomena of the living world?  Is there something fundamentally unpredictable about life, or are we missing some deep theoretical principles that could bring the living world under the predictive umbrella of physics?  Exploring this question gives us an opportunity to reflect on what we expect from our scientific theories, and on many beautiful phenomena.  I hope to leave you with a deeper appreciation for the precision of life’s basic mechanisms, and with optimism about the prospects for better theories. 

Southern California Strings Seminar Fall 2018
The Southern California Strings Seminar returns to UCLA for Fall 2018 on Friday, October 5th. We gather and discuss new ideas and developments, both general and specialized, in the field. This year's speakers include David Kutasov (University of Chicago), Aitor Lewkowyzc (Stanford), and Mark Mezei (Stanford).

Click this link for the SCSS schedule of speakers.