The Department of Physics in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences presents its Physics Colloquium, titled "Spectroscopy for the Masses - of Carbon Atoms" by Eric J. Heller of the Department of Physics at Harvard University. The lecture will be from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, in PHYS 133. Refreshments will begin at 3:30 p.m. in PHYS 134.

The talk highlights new insights that force a re-interpretation of parts of condensed matter spectroscopy, especially relevant to graphene.  Absorption, Raman scattering, and ultrafast pump-probe measurements are affected and reveal a dynamical picture much different than previously believed. The explanation of phonon-assisted transitions is sharpened, revealing the dangers of a long traditional approximation to light absorption in solids.

Heller received a Ph.D. in chemical physics in 1973 from Harvard University, and joined the faculty at UCLA after a post-doc at the University of Chicago. After a stint at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1982-84, Heller joined the chemistry faculty at the University of Washington. He became professor of physics and director of the Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics at Harvard University in 1993, sharing a joint appointment with the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in 1999.  

Heller's research has focused on semiclassical physics, quantum chaos, molecular spectroscopy and condensed matter physics. Heller has turned some of his research into art, with exhibits that have traveled extensively; visit ericjhellergallery.com for more information.

He has also written two books, Why You Hear What You Hear, Princeton University Press, 2013, and The Semiclassical Way, Princeton University Press, forthcoming in 2018.

Heller is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Science, and the American Philosophical Society.