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 Physics at Virginia
ABSTRACT:

Entanglement is the strangest feature of quantum theory, often dubbed ''spooky action at a distance’’. Quantum entanglement can occur on a macroscopic scale with trillions of electrons, leading to "strange metals" and novel superconductors which can conduct electricity without resistance even at relatively high temperatures. Remarkably, related entanglement structures arise across the horizon of a black hole, and give rise to Hawking’s quantum paradox. This lecture will be designed to introduce these forefront topics in current physics research to a general audience.

VIDEO:
Colloquium
Thursday, April 6, 2023
7:00 PM
Gilmer Hall, Room 301
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Hoxton Lecture


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"Probing the Universe with Gravitational Waves"


Barry C. Barish , Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Caltech, and Distinguished Professor of Physics, at UC Riverside, Nobel Laureate 2017
[Host: Emeritus Professor Brad Cox]
ABSTRACT:

The discovery of gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein in 1916, is enabling both important tests of the theory of general relativity, and represents the birth of a new astronomy. Modern astronomy, using all types of electromagnetic radiation, has giving us an amazing understanding of the complexities of the universe, and how it has evolved. Now, gravitational waves and neutrinos are beginning to provide the opportunity to pursue some of the same astrophysical phenomena in very different ways, as well as to observe phenomena that cannot be studied with electromagnetic radiation. The detection of gravitational waves and the emergence and prospects for this exciting new science will be explored.

VIDEO:
Colloquium
Monday, April 25, 2022
7:00 PM
Newcomb Hall, Room Newcomb Hall Theater
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Hoxton Lecture


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"The Physics of Life"


William Bialek , Princeton University
[Host: Marija Vucelja]
ABSTRACT:

In the four hundred years since Galileo, the physics community has constructed a remarkably successful mathematical description of the world around us.  From deep inside the atomic nucleus to the structure of the universe on the largest scales, from the flow air over the wing of an airplane to the flow of electrons in a computer chip, we can predict in detail what we see, and what will happen when we look in places we have never looked before.  What are the limits to this predictive power?  In particular, can we imagine a theoretical physicist’s approach to the complex and diverse phenomena of the living world?  Is there something fundamentally unpredictable about life, or are we missing some deep theoretical principles that could bring the living world under the predictive umbrella of physics?  Exploring this question gives us an opportunity to reflect on what we expect from our scientific theories, and on many beautiful phenomena.  I hope to leave you with a deeper appreciation for the precision of life’s basic mechanisms, and with optimism about the prospects for better theories. 

VIDEO:
Colloquium
Thursday, March 22, 2018
7:00 PM
Chemistry , Room 402
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Hoxton Lecture


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ABSTRACT:

In 2016, scientists announced the first ever detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes, launching a new era of gravitational wave astrophysics. Gravitational waves were predicted by Einstein a hundred years earlier. I will describe the science, technology, and human story behind these discoveries that provide a window into some of the most violent and warped events in the Universe.

 

Colloquium
Thursday, September 21, 2017
7:00 PM
Chemistry Building, Room 402
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Special Colloquium and Hoxton Lecture


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ABSTRACT:

Many complex phenomena are so familiar that we hardly realize that they defy our normal intuition.  Examples include the anomalous flow of granular material, the long messy tendrils left by honey spooned from one dish to another, the pesky rings deposited by spilled coffee on a table after the liquid evaporates or the common splash of a drop of liquid onto a countertop.  Aside from being uncommonly beautiful to see, many of these phenomena involve non-linear behavior where the system is far from equilibrium.  Although most of the world we know is beyond description by equilibrium theories, we are still only at the threshold of learning how to deal with such deep and complex behavior.  Thus, these are phenomena that can lead the inquisitive into new realms of physics.

SLIDESHOW:
Colloquium
Thursday, April 14, 2016
7:00 PM
Chemistry Building, Room 402
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Special Colloquium: Hoxton Lecture


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ABSTRACT:

Inflationary cosmology gives a plausible explanation for many observed features of the universe, including its uniformity, its mass density, and the patterns of the ripples that are observed in the cosmic microwave background. Beyond what we can observe, most versions of inflation imply that our universe is not unique, but is part of a possibly infinite multiverse. I will describe the workings of inflation, the evidence for inflation, and why I believe that the possibility of a multiverse should be taken seriously.

SLIDESHOW:
Colloquium
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
7:00 PM
Chemistry Building, Room Chemistry Building, Room 402
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Special Colloquium: Hoxton Lecture


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"Quantum Networks in Quantum Optics"


H. Jeff Kimble , Caltech
[Host: Brad Cox]
ABSTRACT:

This talk will discuss the opportunities for the exploration of physical systems that have not heretofore existed in the natural world.

Colloquium
Thursday, March 27, 2014
7:00 PM
Chemistry 402, Room 402
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Hoxton Lecture


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"The World According to Higgs"


Chris Quigg , Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
[Host: Brad Cox]
ABSTRACT:

New developments in particle physics offer a new and radically simple conception of the universe. Fundamental particles called quarks and leptons make up everyday matter, and two new laws of nature rule their interactions. Until July 4, 2012, our neat story was missing one piece, a particle called the Higgs boson. Without it, there would be no atoms, no chemistry, no liquids or solids, and no basis for life. Why did thousands of physicists devote decades to the hunt, and how does the “discovery of the century” change the way we see the world?

Colloquium
Thursday, April 18, 2013
7:00 PM
Chemistry Building, Room Chemistry 402
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Hoxton Lecture


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"The National Ignition Facility: Pathway to Energy Security and Physics of the Cosmos"


Edward Moses , National Ignition Facility
[Host: Brad Cox]
ABSTRACT:

The National Ignition Facility (NIF), at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, is the world’s most energetic laser system. NIF is capable of producing over 1.8 MJ and 500 TW of ultraviolet light, 100 times more than any other operating laser. Completed in March 2009, it is maturing rapidly and transitioning into the world’s premier high-energy-density science experimental facility, while supporting its strategic security, fundamental science, and energy security missions.

By concentrating intense laser energy into target only millimeters in length, NIF can, for the first time, produce conditions emulating those found in planetary interiors and stellar environments and creating fusion energy to power our future. The extreme conditions of energy density, pressure, and temperature will enable scientists to pursue fundamental science experiments designed to address a range of scientific questions, from observing new states of matter to exploring the origin of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. Early experiments have been successfully completed in support of materials equations of state, materials strength, and radiation transport in extreme temperature and pressure conditions.

The National Ignition Campaign, an international effort pursued on the NIF, aims to demonstrate fusion burn and generate more energy output than the laser energy delivered to the target. Achieving this ignition goal will validate the viability of inertial fusion energy (IFE) as a clean source of energy. A laser-based IFE power plant will require advances in high-repetition-rate lasers, large-scale target fabrication, target injection and tracking, and other supporting technologies. These capabilities could lead to an operational prototype IFE power plant in 10 to 15 years. LLNL, in partnership with academia, national laboratories, and industry, is developing a Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE) baseline design concept and examining technology choices for developing a LIFE prototype power plant.

This talk will describe the unprecedented experimental capabilities of the NIF, its role in strategic security and fundamental science, and the pathway to achieving fusion ignition to create a clean and secure energy future.

Colloquium
Thursday, April 12, 2012
7:00 PM
Chemistry Building, Room 402
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Special Colloquium: Hoxton Lecture


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"Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Climate Change and Energy in the 21st Century"


Burton Richter , Stanford University
[Host: Brad Cox]
ABSTRACT:

Professor Richter is the co-winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of the J/Ψ particle which was the first observation of a particle containing a fourth quark named the charm quark and was a central part of the so-called November revolution of particle physics. He has accumulated many other honors in his career including a long tenure as the director of Stanford Linear Acceleratory Laboratory from 1984 to 1999. He has also been the recipient of the E.O. Lawrence Medal, has served as president of the American Physical Society, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He presently serves on the board of directors of Scientists and Engineers for America, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government and is a Senior Fellow by Courtesy of the Center for Environmental Science and Policy at Stanford Institute for International Studies. In the past several years Professor Richter has turned his attention to the central problem of the 21st century, the effect of human activity on the global climate. He has written a book with the same title as his lecture.

SLIDESHOW:
Colloquium
Thursday, April 7, 2011
7:00 PM
Chemistry , Room 402
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Hoxton Lecture


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"The Birth of Cosmic Ray Astronomy on the Argentine Pampas"


Alan Watson , University of Leeds, United Kingdom
[Host: Physics Department]
Colloquium
Thursday, April 17, 2008
7:30 PM
Physics Building, Room Chemistry Building, Room 402
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Hoxton Lecture


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"From the Big Bang to the Nobel Prize"


John Mather , Goddard Space Center
[Host: Brad Cox]
ABSTRACT:
The history of the universe in a nutshell, from the Big Bang to now, and on to the future – John Mather will tell the story of how we got here, how the Universe began with a Big Bang, how it could have produced an Earth where sentient beings can live, and how those beings are discovering their history. Mather was Project Scientist for NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, which measured the spectrum (the color) of the heat radiation from the Big Bang, discovered hot and cold spots in that radiation, and hunted for the first objects that formed after the great explosion. He will explain Einstein’s biggest mistake, show how Edwin Hubble discovered the expansion of the universe, how the COBE mission was built, and how the COBE data support the Big Bang theory. He will also show NASA’s plans for the next great telescope in space, the James Webb Space Telescope. It will look even farther back in time than the Hubble Space Telescope, and will look inside the dusty cocoons where stars and planets are being born today. Planned for launch in 2013, it may lead to another Nobel prize for some lucky observer.
Condensed Matter Seminar
Thursday, March 22, 2007
7:30 PM
Chemistry Building, Room 402
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Hoxton Lecture


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"Supernovae, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Universe"


Saul Perlmutter , University of California - Berkeley
[Host: Brad Cox]
ABSTRACT:

This constant acted as a sort of anti-gravity to counteract the force of gravity that would otherwise be pulling the masses of the universe together. When astronomers such as Hubble and others subsequently observed the red shifts of far distant stars and galaxies, they discovered that the universe is not static but, indeed, is expanding. Therefore, it no longer seemed necessary to have a counter balance to gravity. It is said that Einstein, when he heard of the expansion of the universe, characterized his use of a cosmological constant his greatest mistake. Indeed, for the better part of 100 years the standard view of the universe was that its expansion rate was gradually slowing down under the influence of the gravity of its components. The question of the future of the universe was posed in terms of, depending on the total mass of the universe, whether the universe would come to a stop and fall back in on itself, come to a halt at infinite time, or continue to expand forever. Professor Perlmutter and his colleagues, using Supernovas Type Ia as “standard candles” because of their great brightness, have measured the expansion rate of the universe at much large distances than previously possible. In doing so, they have made the remarkable discovery that the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating. There appears to be a previously undetected force of nature that acts like antigravity, dominating the gravitational force and causing the universe to expand faster and faster with time. So the better part of a century after the cosmological constant was abandoned, it seems that it must be re-employed to describe this new phenomenon which has been labeled dark energy. Perhaps Einstein was right after all!

Nuclear Physics Seminar
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
7:30 PM
Chemistry Building Auditorium, Room 402
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Hoxton Lecture


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"Ultra-Precise Laser Spectroscopy: Counting the Ripples of a Light Wave"


Professor Theodor Hansch , Director of Max Panck Institute
[Host: Department of Physics]
Atomic Physics Seminar
Monday, February 9, 2004
7:00 PM
Physics Building, Room 203
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34th Annual Hoxton Lecture


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"The Universe of the Elementary Particles"


Gerald 't Hooft , University of Utrecht
[Host: Department of Physics]
Colloquium
Monday, October 29, 2001
7:30 PM
Chemistry Building , Room 402
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The Llewellyn G. Hoxton Lecture Please not time and place


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"Electronics in the Internet Age"


Justin Rattner , Intel Fellow and Director of Intel's Microprocessor Research Lab
Condensed Matter Seminar
Thursday, April 26, 2001
7:30 PM
Chemistry Building, Room Chemistry Auditorium
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31st Annual Llewellyn G. Hoxton Lecture


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To add a speaker, send an email to phys-speakers@Virginia.EDU. Please include the seminar type (e.g. Seminars and Colloquia), date, name of the speaker, title of talk, and an abstract (if available).