Events at Physics |
Events on Thursday, September 29th, 2011
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
- Coupled modes and parametric quantum informationprocessing--from classical pendula to single photons
- Time: 10:00 am
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Jose Aumentado, NIST Boulder
- Abstract: The simple harmonic oscillator is a fundamental building block of everyday physics, from playground swings to the state of light. However, energy dissipates in many of these systems in ways that can be well described by extending these oscillator-like systems through coupling to other oscillators. This kind of coupling can be intuitively understood from a classical standpoint, but it also forms the basis for the most basic linear optical element-- the beamsplitter. In this talk, I'll show how simple superconducting devices (SQUIDs and resonators) can be used to create this interaction with microwave light, coupling microwave Fock states between harmonic oscillator modes at different frequencies combining elements of both cavity-QED and linear quantum optics. This generalized beam-splitter process, although simple, can be used to swap unknown quantum states and even build up straightforward interferometers (like 'real' beam splitters) albeit in a more abstract frequency space. I will discuss the experimental verification of this process so far, as well as briefly discuss how systems like this might be extended to address other problems more traditionally addressed in quantum optics.
- Host: Robert McDermott
- NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
- Probing Dark Matter with Neutrinos
- Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Ina Sarcevic, University of Arizona
- Abstract: Dark Matter particles can be captured in the core of the Sun or the Earth, or in the Galactic center, by interacting with the nuclei in the medium. The capture rate depends on the composition of the medium, dark matter mass and its local density. If the captured dark matter annihilate or decay into the Standard Model particles, there is a possibility of producing neutrinos which can be detected via muon tracks or showers. I will present theoretical predictions for the indirect detection of the dark matter particles via neutrino signals due to their annihilations in the core of the Sun/Earth and in the Galactic center. I will discuss how measurements of muons and/or showers by IceCube and KM3NeT may be able to distinguish between different dark matter models, such as gravitino, Kaluza-Klein particle or leptophilic dark matter.
- Host: Reina Maruyama
- Astronomy Colloquium
- Large-Scale Flows in Galaxies for the last 6 Billion Years"
- Time: 3:30 pm
- Place: 4421 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Nicolas Lehner, University of Notre Dame
- Abstract: The general issue of how gas flows into and out of galaxies has become one of the most critical problems in understanding the evolution of galaxies and their fundamental properties. New observational results based on the powerful combination of the Hubble, LBT, and Keck spectroscopy and images have constrained the mass and chemical composition of the large scale flows in and out of galaxies. These significant advances signal major progress toward answering some of the key open questions in galaxy formation studies. I will present and discuss some of these recent and exciting developments.
- Graduate Introductory Seminar
- High Energy Phenomenology, String Theory, and Theoretical Cosmology
- Time: 5:30 pm
- Place: 2223 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Barger, Chung, Everett, Hashimoto, Shiu