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. Davis: “In this lecture I will describe the recent development of techniques that allow us to image electronic quantum phenomena directly at the atomic scale. As examples, we 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]. I 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: Phone: 217-333-6729 or www.cas.illinois.edu
Thanks to the Center for Advanced Study for this information item.
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