NOON: Deadline for instructors to submit Winter semester and full year grades
Bishop's University 2600 Rue College, SherbrookeNational Patriots’ Day (University closed)
Bishop's University 2600 Rue College, SherbrookeSt. Jean Baptiste Day (University Closed)
Bishop's University 2600 Rue College, SherbrookeCanada Day (University Closed)
Bishop's University 2600 Rue College, SherbrookeConvocation 2020
Bishop's University 2600 Rue College, SherbrookeDepartment of Physics & Astronomy Honours Thesis Defense by Joshua Aiken
OnlineDepartment of Physics & Astronomy HONOURS THESIS DEFENSE (online) Friday, August 28, 1pm Joshua Aiken On the Formation of AM CVn Stars AM CVn stars are a type of ultra-short period binary system (with orbital periods as low as 5 minutes) with a white dwarf accreting helium from a hydrogen-depleted donor star. Due to these … Continue reading Department of Physics & Astronomy Honours Thesis Defense by Joshua Aiken
Virtual Welcome and Information Session for Parents of Incoming Students
OnlineAs the 2020-21 academic year gets underway, Bishop’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor Michael Goldbloom is pleased to invite parents of new students to the University’s annual welcome and information session for parents. We look forward to this opportunity to welcome parents to the Bishop’s community and to introduce them to members of the Academic and Students Affairs teams. … Continue reading Virtual Welcome and Information Session for Parents of Incoming Students
Labour Day
Bishop's University 2600 Rue College, SherbrookeThe next EWP exam for returning students will take place online
MoodleAll RETURNING students who have not yet satisfied their EWP requirement should register for the online EWP exam by emailing ewpchair@ubishops.ca. Students requiring accommodations must email exams@ubishops.ca to register. For additional information go to the EWP website. Attention: Although the exam will be open for 4.5 hours, once you start, you will have 2 hours … Continue reading The next EWP exam for returning students will take place online
Write for Success
MoodleAttention incoming students: would you like to know how your writing compares to what is expected at university? The Writing Centre has just the service for you: "Write for Success" - essay writing followed by a FREE professional assessment and consultation. You simply write a short persuasive essay in your own space, submit it for … Continue reading Write for Success
Physics & Astronomy Seminar: Space Astronomy and Exoplanet Astrophysics
OnlineJason Rowe, Bishop’s University There are currently close to 4000 confirmed exoplanets with thousands of additional exoplanet candidates. The population shows great diversity with masses and radii ranging from Mercury-like exoplanets to brown-dwarfs with rich orbital architectures. These observations are increasing our understanding of how exoplanets form and evolve. My research program is focused on … Continue reading Physics & Astronomy Seminar: Space Astronomy and Exoplanet Astrophysics
Physics & Astronomy Seminar: Learning Around Galactic Foregrounds
OnlineSamuel Gagnon-Hartman, Bishop’s University The highly-redshifted 21 cm neutral hydrogen emission line is widely accepted as a potent probe of the early universe, particularly the Epoch of Reionization. This cosmological signal is obfuscated by intragalactic sources, which are 10^5 times brighter than the desired signal. It has been demonstrated that these galactic foregrounds are confined … Continue reading Physics & Astronomy Seminar: Learning Around Galactic Foregrounds
Physics & Astronomy Seminar – Weather on other worlds: from clouds and winds to seeking life
OnlineStanimir Metchev, Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair in Extrasolar Planets Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Western Ontario Weather systems are now known to be ubiquitous on brown dwarfs, and probably also on all extrasolar planets with atmospheres. Brightness monitoring of rotating brown dwarfs and exoplanets reveals storm- and band-like cloud structures, much like … Continue reading Physics & Astronomy Seminar – Weather on other worlds: from clouds and winds to seeking life
Physics & Astronomy Seminar: Magnetic monopoles under pure R^2 gravity
OnlineAriel Edery, Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy Bishop's University Pure R^2 gravity is equivalent to Einstein gravity with cosmological constant and a massless scalar field and it further possesses the so- called restricted Weyl symmetry which is a symmetry larger than scale symmetry. To incorporate matter, we consider a restricted Weyl invariant action composed … Continue reading Physics & Astronomy Seminar: Magnetic monopoles under pure R^2 gravity
Physics & Astronomy Seminar: Phosphine Shrouded in Mystery Above the Clouds of Venus
OnlineDereck Lizotte MSc Candidate, Department of Physics and Astronomy Bishop's University Abstract: It was recently proposed in Sousa-Silva et al. (2020) that any phosphine discovered on a terrestrial planet is a promising sign of life, due to terrestrial conditions making it such that no known abiotic process leads to its production. In fact, its continued … Continue reading Physics & Astronomy Seminar: Phosphine Shrouded in Mystery Above the Clouds of Venus
Thanksgiving (no classes)
Bishop's University 2600 Rue College, SherbrookeHow Atmospheric and Planetary Interiors Affect the Observable Atmosphere in Giant Planets
OnlineBenjamin Leblanc, MSc Candidate Department of Physics and Astronomy Bishop's University Abstract: Observations of transiting exoplanets has been limited by space- and ground-based telescopes not initially designed for precise time series spectrophotometry or by the small sample size of directly imaged planets. To properly understand the atmospheres of giant planets there will need to be … Continue reading How Atmospheric and Planetary Interiors Affect the Observable Atmosphere in Giant Planets
Physics seminar: The SETI Paradox and How to Avoid It
OnlineDr. James Sikora, Postdoctoral Researcher Department of Physics and Astronomy Abstract: Searches for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has frequently been viewed as a high-risk high-reward endeavour that is likely to be unsuccessful. This perspective is beginning to shift with the development of increasingly sensitive detectors that are aiding large surveys. However, as described by the so-called … Continue reading Physics seminar: The SETI Paradox and How to Avoid It
Physics seminar: Inferring Mass Profiles of Galaxies and Globular Clusters using Hierarchical Bayes
OnlineGwendolyn Eadie, PhD Assistant Professor, Astrostatistics David A. Dunlap Dept. of Astronomy & Astrophysics / Department of Statistical Sciences University of Toronto Abstract: Understanding how mass is distributed in dynamical systems such as galaxies is important to many areas of astronomy. However, inferring quantities such as the cumulative mass profile of these systems is made … Continue reading Physics seminar: Inferring Mass Profiles of Galaxies and Globular Clusters using Hierarchical Bayes
Physics Seminar – Lost Horizons: Dynamics of Regular Black Hole Formation and Evaporation
OnlineProfessor Gabor Kunstatter, Department of Physics The University of Winnipeg Abstract: In February of 2016, LIGO announced the detection of gravitational waves emitted by the merger of two massive black holes, providing astounding confirmation of the validity in the strong field region of Einstein's theory of gravity as well as the first direct evidence for … Continue reading Physics Seminar – Lost Horizons: Dynamics of Regular Black Hole Formation and Evaporation
Physics Seminar: Windy Quasar Blows Away the Competition
OnlineProfessor Sarah Gallagher, Science Advisor to the President of the Canadian Space Agency University of Western At cosmic noon, when the universe was about a third to a half its present age, both galaxies and their central, supermassive black holes went through phases of explosive growth when stars were formed in abundance and gas falling … Continue reading Physics Seminar: Windy Quasar Blows Away the Competition
Physics Seminar: The Origin and Utility of Changing-Look Quasars
OnlineDr. John Ruan, Department of Physics and Astronomy Bishop's University Abstract: The proliferation of wide-field multi-epoch imaging surveys has now opened a new window to the time-domain for discovery of new and rare time-variable phenomena. From these surveys, the recent discovery of ‘changing-look’ quasars poses potential challenges to our understanding of accretion onto supermassive black … Continue reading Physics Seminar: The Origin and Utility of Changing-Look Quasars
Physics Seminar: Subatomic Physics Research in Canada: Planning and Strategy
OnlineDr. Svetlana Barkanova, Department of Physics Memorial University of Newfoundland Abstract: Soon, we may see a revolution in our understanding of the nature of matter and its interactions, as we seek answers to questions such as the nature of the dark matter, the reasons for dominance of matter over antimatter in the Universe, and the … Continue reading Physics Seminar: Subatomic Physics Research in Canada: Planning and Strategy
The December EWP Exam
MoodleThe next EWP exam for students who entered BU before September 2020 will take place on Moodle using Proctorio invigilation software on December 4th between 7:30 and 14:00. To register, send an email to EWPCHAIR@ubishops.ca by December 2 at noon. Students who require accommodations will write the exam on the same day. Please register with … Continue reading The December EWP Exam
Physics Seminar: Planets Big and Small
OnlineDr. Eve Lee, Assistant Professor Department of Physics McGill University From gas-poor Earths to gas-rich Jupiters, planets come in a variety of sizes. I will describe the physics behind the diversity of exoplanets-- -how the core and gas assembly processes give rise to the observed distribution of radii and orbital periods. Observationally, there is a … Continue reading Physics Seminar: Planets Big and Small