| Physics at the University of Virginia | ||||||
| Academics | People | Research | Announcements | Facilities | Administration | Classes |
| Friday, August 29, 2008 | Available | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | ||
| Physics Building |
| Friday, September 5, 2008 | Michael Raymer [Host: Olivier Pfister] | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | University of Oregon | |
| Physics Building | “Photon Wave Mechanics and Spin-Orbit Interaction in Single Photons” |
| We often use the term “photon” in reference to individual quantum objects, or particles of light, rather than as excitations of the electromagnetic field. Yet, quantum mechanics textbooks contain no satisfactory wave equation for the photon wave function. I review the analog of the Dirac equation for a photon, which completely describes the evolution of the photon’s quantum wave function in coordinate space. Single photons carry orbital angular momentum as well as spin angular momentum. When a single photon travels in a multimode optical fiber, its spin and orbital angular momenta interact, modifying the shape of the photon wave function as it travels. Close analogy of this behavior can be found with that of an electron in a cylindrical potential, in spite of the fact that a photon has no magnetic moment. We are carrying out related experiments to illustrate the usefulness of the photon wave function concept. |
| Friday, September 12, 2008 | Alexander Kusenko [Host: PQ Hung] | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | UCLA | |
| Physics Building | “Neutrinos, and the dark side of the light fermions” |
| The past decade has been marked by some remarkable discoveries in the neutrino physics: the particles once believed to be massless have turned out to be massive and have shown evidence of lepton family number violation, as well as other interesting phenomena. While this is exciting, the future may hold even more dramatic discoveries, the hints for which begin to appear in astrophysics and cosmology. The observed neutrino masses imply the existence of some yet undiscovered "right-handed" states, which can be very massive and unreachable, but which can also be light enough to constitute the cosmological dark matter and to account for a number of astrophysical phenomena, from supernova asymmetries and the pulsar kicks to the peculiarities in the reionization and formation of the first stars. I will review the recent progress in neutrino physics, as well as the clues that may lead to future discoveries. |
| Friday, September 19, 2008 | Available | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | ||
| Physics Building |
| Friday, September 26, 2008 | Oded Kishony [Host: Keith Williams] | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | Charlottesville, Violinmaker | |
| Physics Building | “TBA” |
| Friday, October 3, 2008 | Available | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | ||
| Physics Building |
| Friday, October 10, 2008 | Available [Host: ] | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | ||
| Physics Building |
| Friday, October 17, 2008 | Costas Soukolos [Host: Michael Fowler] | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | Ames Lab | |
| Physics Building | “Bending Back the Light: The science of negative refraction” |
| Friday, October 24, 2008 | Mark Adams [Host: Bascom Deaver] | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | ||
| Physics Building | “TBA” |
| Friday, October 31, 2008 | Available | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | ||
| Physics Building |
| Friday, November 7, 2008 | Carl Caves [Host: Olivier Pfister] | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | University of New Mexico | |
| Physics Building | “Quantum-limited measurements: One physicist's crooked path from quantum optics to quantum information” |
| Quantum information science has changed our view of quantum mechanics. Originally viewed as a nag, whose uncertainty principles restrict what we can do, quantum mechanics mechanics is now seen as a liberator, allowing us to do things, such as secure key distribution and efficient computations, that could not be done in the realistic world of classical physics. Yet there is one area, that of quantum limits on high-precision measurements, where the two faces of quantum mechanics remain locked in battle. Using my own career as a convenient backdrop, I will trace the history of quantum-limited measurements, from the use of nonclassical light to improve the phase sensitivity of an interferometer, to the modern perspective on how quantum entanglement can be used to improve measurement precision, and finally to how to do quantum metrology without entanglement. |
| Friday, November 14, 2008 | Andy Sandorfi [Host: Xiaochao Zheng] | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | JLab | |
| Physics Building | “Novel Physics with Frozen-Spin Polarized Solid Hydrogen” |
| Friday, November 21, 2008 | Available | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | ||
| Physics Building |
| Friday, December 5, 2008 | Availalbe | |
| 4:00 PM, Room 204 | ||
| Physics Building |
To add a speaker, send an email to jy2b@Virginia.EDU. Include the seminar type (e.g. Colloquia), date, name of the speaker, title of talk, and an abstract (if available). [Please send a copy of the email to phys-seminars@Virginia.EDU.]
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