Colloquium
Upcoming Colloquium
Physics of Anime
Drs. Kristjan Stone, Roman Gomez, Caleb Baker; Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA
October 20, 2025
11:00am in HSCI-102
Like most popular culture, anime frequently incorporates real world concepts and ideas into its various stories. Some of these concepts are cultural or philosophical, helping to broaden our social or cultural understanding, and some of them are scientific. While there are anime based firmly and explicitly on real life science, other anime (especially those in the science fiction genre) include well-established physics principles alongside their fantastical ones. Sometimes these anime get the physics right, especially if we allow for the odd “miracle exemption,” and sometimes they make a few mistakes. In this presentation, we will discuss some of these concepts in an in-depth, yet beginner-friendly manner. Please join Roman, Kris, and Caleb for a one-hour romp, which is a one-part physics lecture and one-part geek-out session and will hopefully be as entertaining as it is educational.
About the Colloquium
The Colloquium is a unique opportunity for students to learn about new developments in physics and what physicists do after they graduate. Hosted by the Physics and Astronomy Department at California State University, Long Beach, the weekly meetings invite guests from universities, research laboratories, and industry to present and discuss current topics in physics. All students are encouraged to attend for a well-rounded experience and training in physics.
Colloquium Coordinator
For information and suggestions about the colloquium please contact the colloquium coordinator:
Dr. Sarah Grefe
Sarah.Grefe@csulb.edu
Schedule
| Date | Title | Speaker and Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| October 20, 2025 | Physics of Anime | Drs. Kristjan Stone, Roman Gomez, Caleb Baker; Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA |
| October 27, 2025 | (topic: plasma experiment) | William Heidbrink, UC Irvine |
| November 3, 2025 | (topic: condensed matter theory) | Clare Yu, UC Irvine |
| November 10, 2025 | (topic: condensed matter experiment) | Nicholas Dale, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| November 17, 2025 | (topic: condensed matter theory) | Elizabeth Peterson, Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| December 1, 2025 | (topic: condensed matter theory) | Gil Refael, Caltech |
| December 3, 2025 | Student Presentations | CSULB physics students |
| December 5, 2025 | Student Presentations | CSULB physics students |
Previous Colloquia
| Date | Title | Speaker and Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| October 13, 2025 | Searching for the Universe's Dark Matter | Dr. Alvine Kamaha, UCLA |
| October 6, 2025 | Faculty Research Presentations | Physics Department Faculty, CSU Long Beach |
| September 29, 2025 | Bicrystals and Bowties: Photothermoelectric and Plasmonic effects of gold nanostructures | Dr. Charlotte Evans, Sandia National Laboratory |
| September 22, 2025 | Studying strongly correlated systems with AI | Dr. Eduardo Ibarra Garcia Padilla, Harvey Mudd College |
| September 15, 2025 | A New Approach to the Flavor Puzzle | Dr. Michael Ratz, UC Irvine |
| September 8, 2025 | Department Meet 'n Mix | Department Faculty, Staff, and Student Leaders |
The Colloquium Archive has the Colloquia from previous semesters.
Sponsors
We acknowledge with gratitude donations and support from the following present sponsors:
- H.E. and H.B. Miller and Family Endowment
- Benjamin Carter
- Mary L. Bresnan
- K. Y. Shen
- American Physical Society
- Anonymous
We also acknowledge with gratitude our past donors: The Forty-Niner Shops, Inc., The Northrop Grumman Foundation, Sandra Dana, Anonymous.
If you wish to support the Colloquium, please contact the colloquium coordinator or the department chair. Thank you!
