Past Events

Abstract: The discovery of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts in 1958 revealed the hazardous radiative environment for spacecraft operating within. Understanding, modeling, and eventually predicting the dynamics of energetic electrons in the radiation belts have long been targets that space physicists have pursued. Since the launch of NASA Van Allen Probes in 2012, significant progress has been achieved in understanding the strong enhancement of relativistic electrons in the radiation belt.

Abstract: The emergence of quasiparticles with fractional charge and fractional statistics is an essential feature of fractional quantum Hall states, which occur in two-dimensional electron gas under a strong magnetic field. An interesting question is whether fractional electron states can form spontaneously in quantum materials without the external magnetic field.

Abstract: Ancient remnants from the early universe surround our galaxy, which you may know as globular clusters. Although now on their old age, understanding how these clusters were formed has the potential to provide insight into the physical conditions that prevailed during an epoch that cannot be directly observed. We now know that globular clusters can form during extreme episodes of star formation in the relatively nearby universe, but the actual physical conditions that give rise to globular clusters have vexed both observers and theorists for decades.

Abstract: Reliable theoretical prediction of complex chemical processes in condensed phases requires an accurate quantum mechanical description of interatomic interactions.  If these are to be used in a molecular dynamics calculation, they are often generated “on the fly” from approximate solutions of the electronic Schrödinger equation as the simulation proceeds, a technique known as ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD).   However, due to the high computational cost of these quantum calculations, alternative approaches employing machine learning methods represent an attract

Abstract:  The average quantum physicist on the street would say that a quantum-mechanical

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Abstract: Integrated sensors have fundamentally revolutionized nearly all electronic systems. How can quantum technology contribute? In this talk, I aim to present recent advances in integrated quantum nonlinear photonics and electromechanics and outline their potential to enhance sensing technologies. I'll start by presenting Stokowski [1] and Park's [2] demonstrations of integrated quantum optical sensors and squeezed light sources in thin-film lithium niobate.

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Millisecond pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars with phenomenal rotational stability. Pulsar timing arrays world-wide monitor over 100 of these cosmic clocks in order to search for perturbations due to gravitational waves at nanohertz frequencies. The tell-tale sign of a stochastic background ofgravitational waves in pulsar timing data is the presence of quadrupolar spatial correlations.

Abstract: In order to harness the intrinsic ability of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals to couple strongly with light, it is important to efficiently outcouple energy from photoexcited quantum dots (QDs), much like how nature uses molecular antennas to direct light during photosynthesis. This talk focuses on aromatic acceptor ligands for triplet-fusion based photon upconversion, where orbital overlap between the QD donor and molecular acceptor is critical for efficient energy transduction.

Abstract: Quantum neural networks have been widely studied in recent years due to their potential practical utility and recent results showing their ability to efficiently express cert

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Abstract: Symmetry and topology are two of the conceptual pillars that underlie our understanding of matter. While both ideas are old, over the past several years a new appreciation of their interplay has led to dramatic progress in our understanding of topological electronic materials. A paradigm that has emerged is that insulating electronic states with an energy gap fall into distinct topological classes. Interfaces between different topological phases exhibit gapless conducting states that are protected and are impossible to get rid of.

Abstract: Over that last 10+ years there has emerged some evidence that when a reaction vessel is reduced to the micron-sized dimensions (e.g. droplets), bimolecular reactions speed up by many orders of magnitude. The mechanism(s) for rate acceleration in droplets remains unclear but has clear implications for understanding the chemistry of atmospheric aerosols. A key uncertainty in the interpretation of droplet kinetics is how to properly link reaction rates measured in beaker scale containers with those occurring in micron-sized spaces.

Conventional quantum algorithms use certain resources that are assumed to be given at almost no cost but are hard to pro

This week's LASP Seminar, "Brines and Habitability on Mars," with Alejandro Soto has been cancelled.