FALL 2026 WEEKLY COLLOQUIUM SERIES
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 20262:55 PM Pizza & Drinks3:05 PM–4:20 PM TalkBiological Sciences Room 247Zoom Link |
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Making the most out of comparing data and models
Dr. Christine Nattrass
University Tennessee, Knoxville
ABSTRACT
The most important test of a model is whether or not it agrees with data. We live in an era where we measure data in petabytes. We also have increasingly sophisticated models which frequently take into account several effects and may have many parameters. Meaningful comparisons require sophisticated statistical methods. I will discuss our efforts to streamline methods for comparing data to Monte Carlo simulations of those collisions and how we extract quantitative information about the quark gluon plasma, a hot, dense phase of nuclear matter from high energy nuclear collisions. This includes steps taken to get the data in the HEPData data base, a digitized open format; implementing the analysis logic in a program called Rivet; and using Rivet output as input for a Bayesian parameter estimation.
Fall 2026 Colloquium Schedule
(will be updated throughout the semester)
Meets every Thursday in Biological Sciences Room 247
2:55 PM Pizza & Drinks · 3:05 PM–4:20 PM Talk
Date | Invited Speaker | Institution | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
09/03/2026 | Department Faculty | California State University, Los Angeles | Department Research Opportunities (Meet & Greet) |
09/10/2026 | Ondrej Chvala | University of Texas at Austin | U.S. Nuclear Power: Then, Now, and Next |
09/17/2026 | Christine Nattrass | University Tennessee, Knoxville | Making the most out of comparing data and models |
09/24/2026 | Barry Weissman | David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA | Secrets of corneal physiology |
10/01/2026 | Travis Olson | University of Houston | |
10/08/2026 | Shawn Pollard | University of Memphis | Disorder by Design: Ferrimagnets for High-Speed, Low-Power Spintronics |
10/15/2026 | Yannis Semertzidis |
| Conquering the high frequency axion dark matter range |
10/22/2026 | Axel Drees | State University of New York at Stony Brook | |
10/29/2026 | Ondrej Chvala | University of Texas at Austin | |
11/05/2026 | Rahul Patel |
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11/12/2026 | TBA | ||
11/19/2026 | Sara Callori | California State University, San Bernardino | From Myth to Material: A Materials Physics Perspective on Adamantium |
11/26/2026 | Thanksgiving – Campus Closed | ||
12/03/2026 | Megan Connors | ||
12/10/2026 | Jonathan Daniel | ||
Archived access to the Zoom recording of Dr. Caitlin Duffy's talk from October 9, 2025, "When Metals Become Strange"
Note: You will be prompted to login to Zoom; use passcode: 0#U@FS5$
