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Image of Lighted Pumpkins
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Physics Halloween Party 2023

This Halloween come join the spookiest party in town at the Physics Halloween Party 2023 on Tuesday, October 31st, from 4pm to 8pm in RCH 112. Dress up in your scariest Halloween costume and spook your fellow physicists. The main event will include a pumpkin carving contest where best prize goes to the team with the best physics-inspired pumpkin. Judges will award the winning team of the pumpkin carving contest with gift cards. Similarly, the person with the best costume will win a gift card. Did I mention, FREE PIZZA! Come enjoy a slice with your fellow physicist.  

Note Halloween costumes are optional. 

Image of Dr Sergey Frolov
Wednesday, December 6, 2023 10:30 am - 10:30 am EST (GMT -05:00)

Quantum Matters Seminar By Sergey Frolov - No, you have not discovered a Majorana Fermion

Is what I tell myself. There was a time when I thought I may have discovered it, others did too. Around 2012 several groups including ours found evidence of these quantum excitations in electrical circuits containing nanowires of semiconductor covered by a superconductor. The dramatic signatures were peaks in conductance that appeared under conditions expected from theory for Majorana modes, which are their own anti-modes and may possess non-Abelian properties. But a few years later, similar features in the data were identified due to an interesting, but a more mundane effect - which we call trivial states such as Andreev bound states. Over time more and more data pointed at the trivial and not at the exotic explanation. But because Majorana claims kept coming, this led to some digging and even retractions. What we learned after 10 years is that we have a much better handle on what effects show up in these nanowires, which positions us well for the ultimate Majorana discovery which we should be able to tell apart from all the non-Majorana things we saw. The second lesson we learned is that materials quality of device constituents, superconductors and semiconductors, as well as how samples are fabricated - are the make-or-break factors for making this happen. So while  I cannot report an exciting physics discovery, I can walk you through the scientific process that took place, a 10-year event of independent value which taught me how to do science better.

Wednesday, December 13, 2023 10:30 am - 10:30 am EST (GMT -05:00)

Quantum Matters Seminar By Kin Fai Mak - Semiconductor Moiré Materials

The discovery of moiré materials has enabled condensed matter experimentation in new regimes. In this talk, Kin Fai Mak will discuss the general features of moiré materials built on 2D semiconductors, with a particular focus on the interplay between strong electronic correlations and non-trivial band topology. Specifically, he will discuss how we can explore Hubbard physics and quantum Hall physics under zero magnetic field in these materials. The results may shed light on some of the deepest problems in condensed matter physics.