JILA Auditorium

Abstract: Symmetry and topology are two of the conceptual pillars that underlie our understanding of matter. While both ideas are old, over the past several years a new appreciation of their interplay has led to dramatic progress in our understanding of topological electronic materials. A paradigm that has emerged is that insulating electronic states with an energy gap fall into distinct topological classes. Interfaces between different topological phases exhibit gapless conducting states that are protected and are impossible to get rid of.

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Abstract: Symmetries and topology are central to our understanding of physical systems. Topology, for instance, explains the precise quantization of the Hall effect and the protection of surface states in topological insulators against scattering from disorder or bumps. However discrete symmetries and topology have not, until recently, contributed much to our understanding of the fluid dynamics of oceans and atmospheres.

Abstract: Over that last 10+ years there has emerged some evidence that when a reaction vessel is reduced to the micron-sized dimensions (e.g. droplets), bimolecular reactions speed up by many orders of magnitude. The mechanism(s) for rate acceleration in droplets remains unclear but has clear implications for understanding the chemistry of atmospheric aerosols. A key uncertainty in the interpretation of droplet kinetics is how to properly link reaction rates measured in beaker scale containers with those occurring in micron-sized spaces.

Abstract: The creation of a matter-wave interferometer can be achieved by loading Bose-Einstein condensed atoms into a crystal of light formed by interfering laser beams. By translating this optical lattice in a specific way, the traditional steps of interferometry can all be implemented, i.e., splitting, propagating, reflecting, and recombining the quantum wavefunction. Using this concept, we have designed and built a compact device to sense inertial signals, including accelerations, rotations, gravity, and gravity gradients.

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Speaker bio: Ben Brubaker is a New York City-based science journalist who covers theoretical computer science as a staff writer for Quanta Magazine. His writing has also appeared in Scientific American, and Physics Today, and elsewhere. He received a Ph.D. in physics from Yale University and conducted postdoctoral research at JILA before moving into science writing.
 

Reception at 5:30 at the Sink. We'll meet at the hbar at 5:15 to head over.

Abstract: Living systems exhibit unique emergent properties such as self-assembly, rigidity, resilience, and robustness.

Abstract: Reactions of the hydroxyl radical (OH) in the gas phase and at the gas-liquid interface initiate and propagate complex chemical schemes in combustion, planetary atmospheres, and the interstellar medium. In aqueous aerosols, the confinement of the reactants near the air-water interface leads to complex behavior of the particle reactive uptake with particle composition. In the gas phase, the branching ratio between the abstraction and addition mechanisms is highly dependent on the reactant’s structure and the gas temperature.

Absract: The promising optoelectronic properties of halide perovskites position them as candidate materials for solar cells, displays, and more. Their compositional and process flexibility provides a large and attractive design space and has led to outstanding optoelectronic figures of merit. However, the same flexibility also gives rise to challenges in reproducibility and phase stability.