Join us for the final Physics Colloquium of the semester on Thursday, December 1st at Noon in Tome 115.  Our very own visiting professor, Adria Updike, will be presenting "Lighting Up the Early Universe: Gamma Ray Bursts as Probes of Cosmic Chemical Evolution".  Everyone welcome.  Free pizza!

Abstract: Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are the largest explosions in the universe.  For a brief period of time, they illuminate an otherwise invisible part of the cosmos and allow us a glimpse at some of the earliest galaxies in the universe.  She has been working with the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics on the use of GRBs as probes of the universe, and with NASA Goddard on computational models of chemical evolution in galaxies as probed by GRBs.  She will discuss the history of the GRB field, how GRBs are detected and studied, and highlight some of the most interesting recent results of her collaborations with respect to cosmic chemical evolution.