Physics Department Colloquium

Exciting 1D gases

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Abstract: 1D gases with point contact interactions are special because they are integrable many-body systems, which means that they have many extra conserved quantities, beyond the usual few (energy, momentum, etc.). I will explain how we make bundles of 1D Bose gases in the lab, the various ways we excite them out of equilibrium, and how we use them as model systems for studying quantum dynamics.

A Matter of Mystery

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Abstract: Neutrinos are enigmatic particles. Their properties are rather basic and yet so bizarre and surprising that at times we hardly believe them. We barely notice their presence, and yet they are everywhere and are essential to things as glaring as the sun’s energy production. The minuscule but non-zero mass of a neutrino, nearly a million times smaller than the electron (the next lightest particle), has enormous consequences for our understanding of these particles and their role in shaping the universe.

Two tales about time in living (and not-so-living) transport networks

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Abstract: We utilize transport systems daily to commute, e.g. via road networks, or bring energy to our houses through the power grid. Our body needs transport networks, such as the lymphatic, arterial or venous system, to distribute nutrients and remove waste. If the transported quantity is information, for example carried by an electrical signal, then even the internet and the brain can be thought of as members of this broad class of webs.

What's new? Isn't fusion energy always 30 years away?

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Abstract: Fusion energy is a promising technology for producing clean, limitless, zero-carbon energy. Recently, there has been a paradigm shift where today, privately funded research dominates over the historic government-funded fusion program. Private research and development paths to fusion have very short timelines, and some future milestones appear speculative. I will discuss plasma and nuclear physics constraints that experiments will face as they progress toward the fusion goal.

How much of a meritocracy? Untangling the drivers of productivity and prominence among scientists"

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Coffee, tea and cookies will be available in G1B31 (across from G1B20) from 3:30–3:50 p.m.

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Abstract: Abstract: Simple measures of the productivity and prominence vary enormously across both individual scientists and across institutions. But, how much do these sometimes enormous inequalities represent genuine meritocratic differences, and how much are they biased by non-meritocratic factors that may limit scientific progress?

Quantum Simulation - from Dipolar Quantum Solids to Kinetic Nagaoka Ferromagnetism

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Abstract: Quantum simulations with ultracold atoms in optical lattices enter the next phase, in which we can extend bosonic and fermionic Hubbard models in a wide range of ways. I will present recent results in which we realized strongly correlated dipolar quantum gases and observed quantum-phase transitions to stripe and checkerboard phases.