Join us for Annual Graduate Alumni Day, where three UK Mathematics alumni from the University of South Florida, Georgia Tech, and Microsoft return to share the career paths and insights from life in and beyond academia. Come ready to listen, ask and leave with a clearer picture of what's possible.

Schedule:

• 2:00 PM — Mathematicians in the Age of Technology | Tefjol Pllaha, University of South Florida
• 3:00 PM — An Academic Professional Does What? | Hunter Lehmann, Georgia Institute of Technology
• 4:30 PM — Life After the Ph.D.: Research Beyond Academia | Vasily Zadorozhnyy, Microsoft

Dr. Sang Mo Yang, Sogang University, South Korea

Title: Ferroelectricity at the Nanoscale: Emerging Materials and Local Probes

Abstract: Ferroelectricity on the nanoscale has been the subject of considerable interest in condensed matter physics for over half a century. Beyond its fundamental importance, ferroelectricity provides essential functionality for advanced electronic devices, including nonvolatile memories, field-effect transistors and tunnel junctions. 

However, conventional perovskite-based ferroelectric oxides (e.g., Pb(Zr,Ti)O3) face significant challenges in achieving device performance that can compete with current dynamic random-access memories and flash memories. Over the past decade, novel ferroelectricity has been discovered in new material systems, including fluorite-structured HfO2-based thin films, two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials and 2D perovskite halides. These discoveries have brought about a renaissance in the ferroelectric research community. 

In this colloquium, I will present our group’s recent efforts to investigate and understand ferroelectricity across these emerging material platforms [1] using various scanning probe microscopy techniques.
[1] T. H. Jung et al., “Spatially Resolved Observation of Ferroelectric-to-Paraelectric Phase Transition in a Two-Dimensional Halide Perovskite,” Advanced Materials 37, 2506270 (2025)

Dr. Joel Leja, Penn State University

Title: Alien oceans: hot springs, phosphorus, and the search for life in the solar system

Abstract: The discovery of liquid water oceans on Saturn’s moon Enceladus in 2006 and as many as a dozen other moons in the solar system (most notably Jupiter’s moon Europa) has greatly changed our understanding of our solar system’s "habitable zone." Rather than simply searching for liquid water, planetary scientists now need a framework to assess the relative likelihood of different planetary targets to host the physical and chemical ingredients required to support detectable biology. 

In this talk, I will discuss the planetary (hydrothermal) and exogenous (meteoritic sedimentation) processes leading to nutrients and bioavailable energy on ocean moons. I show how even a relatively tectonically quiescent seafloor can lead to hydrothermal circulation. I will then focus on a specific bioessential nutrient produced by this circulation: phosphorus that was recently discovered on Enceladus. Our published results anticipated those observations to within analytical error of the satellite. I show how models integrating stellar stoichiometry and an understanding of thermodynamics and fluid dynamics can lead to testable predictions of icy moon ocean chemistry. Finally, I discuss the implications for exoplanet and future planetary science missions. 

Title: TBA

Abstract: TBA

Title: Exact Transition Amplitudes in Liouville CFT and the Cigar

Abstract: We study exact transition amplitudes in certain 2D CFTs — Liouville theory and the SL(2,R)/U(1) coset model describing Witten's 2D black hole. Using bootstrapped conserved currents and a generating functional approach based on canonical transformations, we compute these transitions both recursively and via functional integral representations. The tree-level evaluation of the generating functional reproduces exact results, while providing a diagrammatic framework for loop corrections. We also find that the statistics of Liouville transition elements at higher oscillator levels exhibit level repulsion.