The Twenty-Fifth Arnold O. Beckman Lecture on Science and Innovation: The Center for Advanced Study, Department of Physics and the Research Board announce that J.C. Séamus Davis will speak on “Visualizing Quantum Matter” on Monday, May 4, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana. J.C. Séamus Davis is the J.G, White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences, Cornell University. He is also Senior Physicist, Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the SUPA Distinguished Professor of Physics, School of Physics and Astronomy, St. Andrews University, Scotland.
Everything around us, everything each of us has ever experienced, and virtually everything underpinning our technological society and economy is governed by quantum mechanics. Yet this most fundamental physical theory of nature often feels as if it is a set of somewhat eerie and counterintuitive ideas of no direct relevance to our lives. Why is this? One reason is that we cannot perceive the strangeness (and astonishing beauty) of the quantum mechanical phenomena all around us by using our own senses. In this lecture he will describe the recent development of techniques that allow us to image electronic quantum phenomena directly at the atomic scale. As examples, you will visually explore the previously unseen and very beautiful forms of quantum matter making up electronic liquid crystals [1,2]; hybridized heavy-fermions [3,4]; topological surface-states [5]; and high temperature superconductors [6,7]. He will discuss the implications for fundamental physics research, and also for advanced materials and new technologies, arising from these quantum matter visualization techniques. [1] Science 315, 1380 (2007) [2] Science 327, 181 (2010) [3] Nature 466, 374 (2010) [4] Nat. Phys. 9, 468 (2013) [5] PNAS 113, 1316 (2015) [6] Science 336, 563 (2012) [7] Science 344, 612 (2014)
This presentation is free and open to the public. For more information: cas.illinois.edu, or call 217-333-6729.
Thanks to the Center for Advanced Study listserv for this information item.
**********