Events at Physics |
Events on Friday, January 24th, 2014
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)
- Majorana Physics Through the Cabibbo Haze
- Time: 2:00 pm
- Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Jue Zhang, University of Florida
- Abstract: Motivated by SO(10), where the charge two-thirds and neutral Dirac Yukawa matrices are related, we propose a special form of the seesaw Majorana matrix. It not only can mitigate the severe hierarchy of the quark sector, but also contains a Gatto-Sartori-Tonin like relation, which predicts specific values for the light neutrino masses. Two different ways of obtaining that special Majorana matrix from the family symmetry $Z_7 rtimes Z_3$ will be presented. The first way requires a linear combination of two dimension-five family invariant operators, while in the second one a single dimension-six operator is needed.
- Physics Department Colloquium
- Validation of Quantum Devices
- Time: 3:30 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee at 4:30 pm)
- Speaker: Matthias Troyer, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
- Abstract: About a century after the development of quantum mechanics we have now reached an exciting time where non-trivial devices that make use of quantum effects can be built. While a universal quantum computer of non-trivial size is still out of reach there are a number commercial and experimental devices: quantum random number generators, quantum encryption systems, and analog quantum simulators. In this colloquium I will present some of these devices and validation tests we performed on them. Quantum random number generators use the inherent randomness in quantum measurements to produce true random numbers, unlike classical pseudorandom number generators which are inherently deterministic. Optical lattice emulators use ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices to mimic typical models of condensed matter physics. Finally, I will discuss the devices built by Canadian company D-Wave systems, which are special purpose quantum simulators for solving hard classical optimization problems.
- Host: Sue Coppersmith