Events List for the Academic Year
Event Time:
Monday, March 8, 2021 | 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
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2021-03-08T15:00:00
2021-03-08T16:00:00
Galaxy Formation in Lyman-alpha or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Scattered Light
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Lyman-alpha emission is produced ubiquitously by excited hydrogen, so it is a powerful tracer of the interactions among gas, stars, and AGN that shape galaxy formation. However, the resonant scattering of this emission line makes its interpretation complex. In this talk, I will describe three related surveys of galaxies at z~2-3 that make use of Lyman-alpha emission: the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey (KBSS), the KBSS-Lya, and the Keck Lyman Continuum Survey (KCLS). Through deep imaging and spectroscopy of thousands of diverse galaxies, we can use Lyman-alpha emission to characterize galaxy feedback, supermassive black hole growth, and the nature of cosmic reionization. In each of these efforts, the scattered nature of Lyman-alpha emission can be a tool as well as a challenge.
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Event Time:
Monday, March 8, 2021 | 10:15 am - 12:15 pm
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2021-03-08T10:15:00
2021-03-08T12:15:00
Departmental Doctoral Oral Examination (Thesis Title: “New Physics Hunt at the Large Hadron Collider with the ATLAS Detector: Search for Heavy Exotic Resonances and Upgrade of the Transition Radiation Tracker DAQ Syst”)
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Abstract: (see this link)
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via Zoom
Event Time:
Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
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2021-03-04T16:00:00
2021-03-04T17:00:00
The Physics of Race Cars
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While motorsports events can appear to the general viewing public as a parade of cars driving around tracks in circles, in reality race drivers operating their cars at the grip limit are constantly on a razor's edge, balancing and adjusting the behavior of the car with a variety of inputs and techniques that are foreign to the average road driver. At the same time, race car designers and race engineers are faced with complex compromises that generate a surprising range of solutions and car performance despite the underlying principles being well understood, and often despite engines being standardized across race series. Using simple, first-year physics, and some qualitative understanding of tire behavior, we'll take a beginner's look at race driving and the techniques used to minimize lap time, as well as the design differences between road cars and race cars, and the changes that grassroots motorsports enthusiasts must make to convert their road cars into high performance race vehicles.
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Event Time:
Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 10:00 am - 11:00 am
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2021-03-04T10:00:00
2021-03-04T11:00:00
CM Seminar - Understanding strong correlation effects in materials: from HTSCs to ruthenates.
Event Information:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/64183011430?pwd=U2lFNXEwSmlBRWVBdTR5OG1ZdlVSZz09
Meeting ID: 641 8301 1430
Passcode: 113399
Talk title: Understanding strong correlation effects in materials: from HTSCs to ruthenates.
Speaker: Eva Pavarini - Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Abstract: In the last decades, key theoretical advances and the increasing power of massively parallel supercomputers gave us access to the systematic study of strongly correlated materials, both at the single and two-particle level. In this talk I will present recent results for paradigmatic systems, high-temperature superconducting cuprates and layered ruthenates. For cuprates I will discuss spin-spin correlations and trends in the hopping integral range, t'/t; for ruthenates, the nature of the metal-insulator transition, Higgs bosons and the stability of xy-orbital ordering in the presence of sizable spin-orbit coupling [1-5].
[1] J. Musshoff, A. Kiani, and E. Pavarini, Phys. Rev. B 103, 075136 (2021)
[2] J. Musshoff, G. Zhang, E. Koch, E.Pavarini, Phys. Rev. B 100, 045116 (2019)
[3] G. Zhang, E. Gorelov, E. Sarvestani, and E. Pavarini, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 106402 (2016)
[4] G. Zhang and E. Pavarini, Phys. Rev. B 95, 075145 (2017)
[5] G. Zhang and E. Pavarini, Phys. Rev. B 101, 205128 (2020)
Event Location:
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Event Time:
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 | 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
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2021-03-03T11:00:00
2021-03-03T12:00:00
Special Seminar by Hans Boschker - Laser-Light for Epitaxy
Event Information:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/68506225698?pwd=S2ZBRGsrbzZBQVVZZFNwYk5ZSEduQT09
Meeting ID: 685 0622 5698
Passcode: 113399
Talk title: Laser-Light for Epitaxy
Speaker: Hans Boschker, Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Physics Stuttgart, Germany
Abstract: Complex-oxide heterostructures are a leading example of quantum-matter heterostructures that open a new arena of solid-state physics. For the scientific development of this field and for a range of potential applications, the growth of high-purity heterostructures is required. We have developed a new thin-film deposition technique that is especially suited to the growth of oxide heterostructures with atomic precision. Thermal laser epitaxy (TLE) uses chemical elements as sources which are evaporated with continuous-wave lasers [1]. The lasers’ virtually arbitrary power density allows for the evaporation of almost all elements of the periodic table in the same setup. This is demonstrated by showing elemental metal films of a large range of elements; from high-vapour-pressure elements like S and Bi to low-vapour-pressure elements like W and Ta. I will discuss the benefits of thermal laser epitaxy for high-purity deposition of complex-oxide materials and heterostructures with almost all elements from the periodic table. Compared to existing methods such as molecular beam epitaxy and pulsed laser deposition, TLE is clean, simple, fast and versatile. TLE will open new possibilities for research and applications because it will enable higher quality heterostructures and it will expand the range of materials used in high-quality heterostructures. Furthermore, I will present results of a new substrate heater that is based on a ~10 µm laser [2]. This laser light is directly absorbed by oxide crystals and therefore allows for a heating system that is ultra-clean, has very fast ramp rates and can reach extremely high temperatures.
[1] Film Deposition by Thermal Laser Evaporation, W. Braun and J. Mannhart, AIP Advances 9, 085310 (2019).
[2] In situ Thermal Preparation of Oxide Surfaces, W. Braun, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. Mater. 8, 071112 (2020).
Short Bio: Hans Boschker studied applied physics at the University of Twente. He graduated in 2006, working on superconducting electronic devices under the supervision of Prof. Hilgenkamp. For his PhD thesis, he worked on the conducting LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface, La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 thin films, La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 magnetocrystalline anisotropy and La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/SrTiO3 interfaces under the supervision of Prof. Rijnders and Prof. Blank at the University of Twente. He graduated Cum Laude in 2011. From 2011 to 2019, he worked as a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart in the group of Prof. Mannhart, focusing on oxide device physics. Research highlights are the observation and study of the superconducting gap of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface, the development of integrated circuits and nanoscale transistors using the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface, and the discovery of a conducting and magnetic electron system in atomically thin SrRuO3. He presently works at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research as a project manager on the development of thermal laser epitaxy.
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Event Time:
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 | 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
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2021-03-03T11:00:00
2021-03-03T12:00:00
Minisuperspacetime Foam
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It has been suggested that Planck-scale "spacetime foam" could have significant macroscopic consequences, perhaps even offering a way to address the cosmological constant problem. I will describe progress in constructing a locally spherically symmetric minisuperspace model with a positive cosmological constant that may shed light on these questions. Classically, the model includes spacetimes that contain both expanding and contracting regions. Quantum mechanically, the Wheeler-DeWitt equation is relatively tractable, and has stationary solutions, although as usual there are interpretational ambiguities. The model may also admit instantons that describe the nucleation of contracting regions in an exponentially expanding spacetime. Results so far are quite incomplete, but the approach seems promising.
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Event Time:
Monday, March 1, 2021 | 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Event Location:
Virtual
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2021-03-01T17:30:00
2021-03-01T19:00:00
Meet Your Major
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Are you a first year UBC student interested in physics or astronomy degree programs? Or, you are just curious in general, wondering what students in PHAS programs study? Join us on Monday, March 1st at 5:30pm for "Meet Your Major" - chat with PHAS academic advisors and student representatives to learn more about options available for you!
Register now at the Meet Your Major website.
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Virtual
Event Time:
Monday, March 1, 2021 | 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
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2021-03-01T15:00:00
2021-03-01T16:00:00
A new approach to analyzing complex data
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Is your data too complex? This can help. In this talk, we will introduce the scattering transform, a novel approach to extract information from complex data. We will explain its principle and show that it shares mathematical similarities with convolutional neural nets — but it does not require any training and is interpretable! We will demonstrate its power by applying it to datasets in astronomy, cosmology and oceanography for parameter estimation and outlier detection.
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Event Time:
Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
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2021-02-25T16:00:00
2021-02-25T17:30:00
3-minute thesis presentations
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We'll find out about research happening in several different areas of Physics & Astronomy.
Come and support our graduate students in the Departmental heat of the annual 3-minute thesis competition!
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Event Time:
Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
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2021-02-25T12:30:00
2021-02-25T14:30:00
Final PhD Oral Examination (Thesis Title: “Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Magnetometry at Low Temperature with application to antimatter gravity experiments by ALPHA”)
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Abstract:
The Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) has never been directly examined with an antimatter test body. To address this, ALPHA is planning to measure the Earth's gravitational field using antihydrogen atoms as test masses. The experiment calls for the careful release of antiatoms from a magnetic trap and requires precise characterization of the magnetic fields that are used. This thesis considers the need for magnetic field characterization from the perspective of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) as a magnetic sensing technique.
A variety of theories from statistics and condensed matter physics are assembled into a framework for understanding and predicting the performance of solid-state NMR magnetometers. This framework is applied to two types of NMR sensors that were developed for ALPHA's gravity experiments. Data acquired while commissioning the apparatus provide experimental confirmation of the theoretical precision predicted for each sensor type. A room temperature sensor based on 1H NMR in natural rubber exhibits a precision of about 170 nT at 1 T. A cryogenic sensor based on 27Al NMR in microparticulate aluminium displays a precision of about 34 uT at 25 K and 1 T. These NMR data are then used to estimate the experimental constraint that should result from upcoming measurements of the gravitational field (gbar) experienced by antihydrogen atoms in the lab.
Improvements to the expected constraint on gbar are sought through advances in state-of-the-art solid-state NMR magnetometry. A broad survey of candidate materials has been conducted in search of NMR samples that promise better precision at low temperature. An yttrium-bismuth sample is proposed as a candidate with the potential to improve sensor precision by a factor of ~7 over the use of aluminium.
Further gains in performance are predicted through the introduction of broadband (or ``delay line'') probes. A brief review and assessment of these probes is presented.
Event Location:
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Event Time:
Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 10:00 am - 11:00 am
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2021-02-25T10:00:00
2021-02-25T11:00:00
CM Seminar - Ultrafast dynamics of excitons, electrons and phonons in momentum space
Event Information:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/64183011430?pwd=U2lFNXEwSmlBRWVBdTR5OG1ZdlVSZz09
Meeting ID: 641 8301 1430
Passcode: 113399
Ultrafast dynamics of excitons, electrons and phonons in momentum space
Abstract: The dynamics of quasi-particles in non-equilibrium states of matter reveal the underlying microscopic coupling between electronic, spin and vibrational degrees of freedom. We aim for a quantum-state-resolved picture of coupling on the level of quasi-particle self-energies, which goes beyond established ensemble-average descriptions, and which requires ultrafast momentum-resolving techniques. The dynamics of electrons and excitons are measured with four-dimensional time- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (trARPES), featuring a high-repetition-rate XUV laser source and momentum microscope detector [1,2]. I will discuss exciton and electron dynamics in the semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide WSe2 [3,4,5,6]. We retrieve fundamental exciton properties like the binding energy and the exciton-phonon interaction and reconstruct the real-space excitonic wave function via Fourier transform of the photoelectrons’ momentum distribution [3]. I will sketch the capability of multidimensional photoemission spectroscopy of providing orbital information [7]. The complementary view of ultrafast phonon dynamics is obtained through femtosecond electron diffraction. The elastic and inelastic scattering signal reveals the temporal evolution of vibrational excitation of the lattice and momentum-resolved information of transient phonon populations [8].
[1] M. Puppin et al., Rev. Sci. Inst. 90, 23104 (2019).
[2] J. Maklar et al., Rev. Sci. Inst. 91, 123112 (2020).
[3] S. Dong et al., arXiv:2012.15328 (2020).
[4] R. Bertoni et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 277201 (2016).
[5] D. Christiansen et al., Phys. Rev. B 100, 205401 (2019).
[6] M. Dendzik et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 096401 (2020).
[7] S. Beaulieu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 216404 (2020).
[8] L. Waldecker et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 036803 (2017).
Short Bio: Study of Physics at Technical University Munich; PhD (2004) at Free University Berlin & Hahn-Meitner Institut under the supervision of Frank Willig; postdoc at the University of Toronto (with Dwayne Miller) and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching (with Ferenc Krausz and Reinhard Kienberger); since 2010: head of the Max Planck Research Group Structural & Electronic Surface Dynamics at the Fritz-Haber-Institut; since 2016: Consolidator Grant of the European Research Council (ERC)
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Event Time:
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
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2021-02-24T11:00:00
2021-02-24T12:00:00
Multimessenger signals from BHNS systems with 'realistic' mass ratios
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Within systems producing gravitational waves detectable by current gravitational wave detectors, those that also yield electromagnetic signals are particularly interesting. Binary neutron stars do so in a spectacular way, which has been illustrated by the event GW170817. In such system, strong gravity effects on matter prompted signals in a wide spectra and timescales providing crucial complementary information to that gathered from gravitational waves. For black hole - neutron star binaries, while in principle similar signals are possible, it requires configurations (low mass ratios/high BH spins) so far not strongly supported by available observations. We will discuss a relevant mechanism that allows 'realistic' systems to nevertheless yield an electromagnetic counterpart.
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Event Time:
Monday, February 22, 2021 | 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
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2021-02-22T15:00:00
2021-02-22T16:00:00
Discovering Two New Asteroid Populations
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We discovered two new dynamical populations of asteroids in our improved orbital distribution model of the near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) produced 10 years ago as my Master's thesis at UBC. These populations include NEAs that have decoupled from Venus (have orbits entirely interior to Venus' orbit), a difficult orbit to achieve, and asteroids evolving to retrograde orbits (backwards around the Sun), a process previously thought not to be dynamically possible. I will describe our model and discuss the typical dynamical behavior these populations of asteroids exhibit and compare that to the orbital evolution and characteristics of the few, rare known objects that have very recently been discovered in both populations. I will end with an open question of whether the production of asteroids on retrograde orbits in the main asteroid belt can explain the origins of some known Kuiper Belt objects on high inclination orbits that have been discovered over the past two decades, with origins as yet unexplained.
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Event Time:
Friday, February 19, 2021 | 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
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2021-02-19T14:00:00
2021-02-19T16:00:00
Departmental Doctoral Oral Examination (Thesis Title: “Search for Axion Like Particles with the BaBar detector”)
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Abstract:
Even though the Standard Model of particle physics is a very successful model, we know that it is incomplete. There is physics beyond the Standard Model. One extension of the Standard Model is the introduction of Axion Like Particles, ALPs. ALPs can be produced in electron-positron colliders and detected in the specialized detectors built around their interaction point, like the PEP-II collider and the BaBar detector at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. This work presents a search for an ALP that couple exclusively to photons in 5% of the BaBar data. We search for an excess in the invariant mass distribution of ALP candidates over a smooth background. The results are consistent with the data being composed only of Standard Model background. 90% upper limits are set on the ALP production cross section and coupling constant. These limits exclude previously unexplored regions of the phase space in the mass range 0.29 GeV/c^2 to 5 GeV/c^2 .
In searches involving photons, it is important to be able to efficiently detect them while rejecting other types of particles. Many high energy particle detectors detect photons in electromagnetic calorimeters that are made up of many cells. A photon interacting with the calorimeter typically leaves a different energy distribution in the cells than some other particle types, hadrons, for example. Discriminating variables for photons, based on Zernike moments, are developed in order to improve the photon identification at Belle II. One of the new variables is found to be the best at identifying photons among all other such variables used at Belle II for photons with energies in the energy range most relevant to e+e− → BB events.
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Event Time:
Thursday, February 18, 2021 | 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
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2021-02-18T16:00:00
2021-02-18T17:00:00
AI for physics & physics for AI
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A central goal of physics is to discover mathematical
patterns in data. For example, after four years of analyzing data
tables on planetary orbits, Johannes Kepler started a scientific
revolution in 1605 by discovering that Mars' orbit was an ellipse. I
describe how we can automate such tasks with machine learning and not
only discover symbolic formulas accurately matching datasets
(so-called symbolic regression), equations of motion and conserved
quantities, but also auto-discover which degrees of freedom are most
useful for predicting time evolution (for example, optimal generalized
coordinates extracted from video data). The methods I present exploit
numerous ideas from physics to recursively simplify neural networks,
ranging from symmetries to differentiable manifolds, curvature and
topological defects, and also take advantage of mathematical insights
from knot theory and graph modularity.
BIO: Max Tegmark is a professor doing AI and physics research at MIT
as part of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence & Fundamental
Interactions and the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines. He
advocates for positive use of technology as president of the Future of
Life Institute. He is the author of over 250 publications as well as
the New York Times bestsellers “Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of
Artificial Intelligence” and "Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest
for the Ultimate Nature of Reality". His AI research focuses on
intelligible intelligence.
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Thursday, February 18, 2021 | 10:00 am - 11:00 am
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2021-02-18T10:00:00
2021-02-18T11:00:00
CM Seminar - Fractal Views on Quantum Materials
Event Information:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/64183011430?pwd=U2lFNXEwSmlBRWVBdTR5OG1ZdlVSZz09
Meeting ID: 641 8301 1430
Passcode: 113399
Abstract: Inside conventional materials like metals and semiconductors, electrons are evenly distributed — like liquid filling a container. But electrons inside many quantum materials act more like an exotic gumbo: nanoscale images show that the electrons form complex shapes with interesting textures on multiple length scales. I will discuss how understanding the formation of these patterns is vital to our understanding of electronic properties and to our eventual technological control of quantum matter. We have defined new paradigms for interpreting and understanding nanoscale electronic textures observed at the surface of these materials by employing theoretical tools from fractal mathematics and disordered statistical mechanics. This allows us to use the rich spatial information available from scanning probes in order to diagnose criticality from the spatial structure alone, without the need of a sweep of temperature or external field. This new conceptual framework has enabled the discovery of universal, fractal electronic textures across a variety of quantum materials. [Nat. Commun. 10, 4568 (2019); Nat. Phys. 14, 1056 (2018); PRL 116, 036401 (2016); Nat. 529, 329 (2015); Nat. Commun. 3, 915 (2012)]
Bio: Erica W. Carlson, Ph.D., is Professor of Physics at Purdue University. Prof. Carlson holds a BS in Physics from the California Institute of Technology (1994), as well as a Ph.D. in Physics from UCLA (2000). A theoretical physicist, Prof. Carlson researches electronic phase transitions in quantum materials. In 2015, she was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society "for theoretical insights into the critical role of electron nematicity, disorder, and noise in novel phases of strongly correlated electron systems and predicting unique characteristics." Prof. Carlson has been on the faculty at Purdue University since 2003, where she was recently named a "150th Anniversary Professor" in recognition of teaching excellence. Her latest work popularizing science can be found at thegreatcourses.com/courses/understanding-the-quantum-world and youtube.com/QuantumCoffeehouse
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Event Time:
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 | 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
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2021-02-17T11:00:00
2021-02-17T12:00:00
Probing Dark Energy with CHIME
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CHIME will use Intensity Mapping of the 21cm line of neutral hydrogen to map large-scale structure between redshifts of 0.8 and 2.5. By measuring Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) we will place constraints on the dark energy equation of state as it begins to dominate the expansion of the Universe, particularly at redshifts poorly probed by current BAO surveys.
In this talk I will introduce CHIME, a transit radio interferometer designed specifically for this purpose. I will discuss the promise and pitfalls of Intensity Mapping and describe how we plan to confront the many challenges of such observations, in particular removal of astrophysical foregrounds which are six orders of magnitude larger than the 21cm signal. CHIME started operating at the DRAO in Penticton, BC at the end of 2018 and I will report on current progress and lessons already learned.
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Thursday, February 11, 2021 | 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
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2021-02-11T16:00:00
2021-02-11T17:00:00
Calibrating Perception
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Sensory systems are constantly recalibrating their sensitivity and response properties to match the statistics of the current stimulus environment. These adaptations are intrinsic to neural coding and affect all stages of processing, profoundly impacting every perceptual experience. In our work we explore how vision is adapted to the natural visual world, and how it adjusts to changes in the world (e.g. as we move to a different environment) or to changes in the observer (e.g. as we age). Because these calibrations fit the mind to the world, adaptation predicts that physiologically identical observers living in different environments will experience their worlds in very different ways, while observers exposed to the same world will have similar perceptual experiences, even if their visual systems are very different.
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Thursday, February 11, 2021 | 10:00 am - 11:00 am
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2021-02-11T10:00:00
2021-02-11T11:00:00
CM Seminar - Error correction of logical quantum bits encoded in a superconducting cavity
Event Information:
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/64183011430?pwd=U2lFNXEwSmlBRWVBdTR5OG1ZdlVSZz09
Meeting ID: 641 8301 1430
Passcode: 113399
Abstract: The accuracy of logical operations on quantum bits (qubits) must be improved for quantum computers to surpass classical ones in useful tasks. To that effect, quantum information must be robust to noise that affects the underlying physical system. Rather than suppressing noise, quantum error correction aims at preventing it from causing logical errors. This approach derives from the reasonable assumption that noise is local: it does not act in a coordinated way on different parts of the physical system. Therefore, if a logical qubit is encoded non-locally, it is possible, during a limited time, to detect and correct noise-induced evolution before it corrupts the encoded information. We will discuss how recent experiments [1, 2] based on superconducting cavities and transmon artificial atoms - employed here as ancillary non-linear elements - realize this error correction, and its prospect for reservoir engineering implementations that would realize the desirable next stage: autonomous quantum error correction.
[1] Grimm et al. , Nature, 584, 205–209 (2020); [2] Campagne-Ibarcq et al., Nature, 584, 368-372 (2020).
Bio: Michel Devoret graduated from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications in Paris in 1975 and started graduate work in molecular quantum physics at the University of Orsay. He then joined Professor Anatole Abragam's laboratory in CEA-Saclay to work on NMR in solid hydrogen, and received his PhD from Paris University in 1982. He spent two post-doctoral years working on macroscopic quantum tunneling with John Clarke's laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. He pursued this research on quantum mechanical electronics upon his return to Saclay, starting his own research group with Daniel Esteve and Cristian Urbina. The main achievements of the "quantronics group" were in this period the measurement of the traversal time of tunneling, the invention of the single electron pump (now the basis of a new standard of capacitance), the first measurement of the effect of atomic valence on the conductance of a single atom, and the first observation of the Ramsey fringes of a superconducting artificial atom (quantronium). He became director of research at the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA) at Saclay. In 2007, Michel has been appointed to the College de France, where he taught until 2012. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003) and a member of the French Academy of Sciences (2008). Michel has received the Ampere Prize of the French Academy of Science (together with Daniel Esteve, 1991), the Descartes-Huygens Prize of the Royal Academy of Science of the Netherlands (1996) and the Europhysics-Agilent Prize of the European Physical Society (together with Daniel Esteve, Hans Mooij and Yasunobu Nakamura, 2004). He is also a recipient of the John Stewart Bell Prize, which he received jointly with Rob Schoelkopf in 2013. In 2014, he has been awarded, together with John Martinis and Rob Schoelkopf, the Fritz London Memorial Prize. He received the Olli Lounaasma Prize in 2016.
Currently the F. W. Beinecke Professor of Applied Physics at Yale University -- which he joined permanently in 2002 – his research is on quantum information systems based on superconducting tunnel junction circuits. He now focuses on the new phenomena of quantum error correction, fault-tolerant quantum operations and remote entanglement.
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Event Time:
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 | 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
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2021-02-10T11:00:00
2021-02-10T12:00:00
New physics and the black hole mass gap
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In this talk I will demonstrate the potential of the black hole mass gap to probe new physics. The mass gap, in which no black holes can be formed, is a standard prediction of stellar structure theory. I will show that physics beyond the Standard Model can dramatically alter the late stages of stellar evolution, when it acts as an additional source of energy (loss) or modifies the equation of state. This results in variations in black hole populations, most prominently observable through shifts of the mass gap. The gravitational wave observations by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration will bring the edges of the black hole mass gap in sight in the coming years, making this a promising novel probe of new physics.
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