Krishna Rajagopal, Associate Dept Head & Prof/MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
IAP 2014 Physics Lecture Series
Sponsor(s): Physics
Contact: Denise Wahkor, 4-315, 617 253-4855, DENISEW@MIT.EDU
| Jan/15 | Wed | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
The development of new technologies at scales approaching the quantum regime is driving new theoretical and experimental research in engineered quantum systems.
I will show how ideas from quantum information and coherent control are driving the development of novel devices, such as sensors and computers, that surpass the performance of any classical device.
Paola Cappellaro - Professor- Department of Physics
| Jan/16 | Thu | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
Fermions, particles with half-integer spin such as electrons, protons and neutrons, are the building blocks of matter. Strong interactions among them give rise to novel states of matter whose properties are often not fully understood. I will describe our experiments on Fermi gases in and out of equilibrium, including the observation of superfluidity and the creation and observation of propagating topological excitations.
Martin Zwierlein - Professor- Department of Physics
| Jan/17 | Fri | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
It is an exciting time in the field of gravitational wave astrophysics; new
detectors are under construction around the world and significant results are
expected in the next few years. I'll introduce the technological challenges
involved in gravitational wave detectors, talk briefly about the status of the
projects that are currently underway, and wrap up with the research that is
happening at MIT.
Matthew Evans - Professor- Department of Physics
| Jan/21 | Tue | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
The concept of symmetry plays a vital role in modern physics. I will talk about the experiments that have forced us to accept that many presumed symmetries of nature are broken. I will also discuss how studying asymmetric processes at the LHC provides an opportunity to look for new types of forces.
Michael Williams - Professor- Department of Physics
| Jan/22 | Wed | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
Quantum mechanics is not only a theory of physics, but also a theory of information. In this talk, I'll sketch some of the implications that quantum mechanics has for information and computing. These implications include secret messages that are immune to eavesdropping and computers that perform certain tasks exponentially faster than any previous computing device.
Aram Harrow - Professor- Department Physics
| Jan/23 | Thu | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
The organization was Kimball Physics, now successful high tech company. The mission is to do good physics, and have fun. However, if mistakes are learning experiences, there were numerous learning experiences. The learning experiences will be shared.
Dr. Chuck Crawford - '59 (VI), SCD '62 (VI)
| Jan/24 | Fri | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
A talk about cybersecurity, but it's also about a Lagrangian-like approach to finding a career path after graduation, given a special set of boundary conditions. I will talk about what to make of Edward Snowden's revelations about our current surveillance state, why it's not as bad as that sounds, what it's like to pretend to be a software engineer, why Internet freedom and strong cryptography should matter to physicists.
Yan Zhu - '12 (VIII)
| Jan/27 | Mon | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
The early chemical evolution of the Galaxy and the Universe is vital to our understanding of a host of astrophysical phenomena. Since the oldest Galactic stars are relics from the high-redshift Universe, they probe the chemical and dynamical conditions of a time when large galaxies first began to assemble. I will show a few video clips about observing with the 6.5m Magellan telescope in the Atacama desert in Chile.
Anna Frebel - Professor- Department of Physics
| Jan/29 | Wed | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
Dark matter comprises five-sixths of the matter in the universe, and is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model. I will explore how measurements of photons can be used to probe the nature of dark matter, and discuss a potential signal of dark matter annihilation in gamma rays.
Tracy Slatyer - Professor-Department of Physics
| Jan/31 | Fri | 01:30PM-02:30PM | 6-120 |
During the past few years, scientists have been marveling at the amazing properties of 2-dimensional
crystals. I will introduce the properties of graphene and several other 2D crystals, which can serve as ingredients to make (relativistic) quantum sandwiches, by combining and stacking the different ingredients.
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero - Professor- Department of Physics