Dr. Steve Rolston
Professor & Co-Director
Joint Quantum Institute
Dept. of Physics, University of Maryland

Where is My Quantum Computer?

Twenty years ago mathematician Peter Shor proved that a computer based on the laws of quantum mechanics could in principle factor large numbers in polynomial time, a problem believed to be exponentially difficult for classical computation.  Given the importance of this problem to modern cryptography, it understandably stimulated a great deal of excitement and effort.  Dozens of candidate systems have been proposed and many worked on, but we are still many years away from a machine that threatens our financial transactions.  In this talk I will highlight the challenges to build large, controllable systems that maintain their quantum character, and look at where we are, where we will be going, and what we have learned along the way.

Our annual department retreat will be February 19-20th at the Carol Joy Holling Retreat Center.

Why Isn't God Ambidextrous?

Dr. Tim Gay, Department of Physics, University of Nebraska – Lincoln

Thursday, January 29nd, 2015: 4:00 p.m., Hixon-Lied Science Building, 244

Until 1957, scientists thought that the fundamental laws of Nature must be the same whether they were applied to our Universe or the Universe that is a mirror reflection of our own.  The implications of the discovery that this is not true - essentially that Nature is "handed" - will be discussed.  Some interesting applications of handedness, or "chirality"  in agriculture, biology, chemistry, and physics will be presented.  I will also talk about some new physics experiments on chirality that may shed light on how life began on this planet.

Dr. Gay’s group is interested in polarized electron physics. Their work involves studies of polarized electrons scattering from atomic and chiral molecular targets, the development of novel sources of polarized electrons and electron polarimeters, and investigations of the fundamental nature of the electron.

Evidence from multiple indirect measurements implies that 80% of the mass in the universe is dark, non-baryonic and hence is composed of a new type of undiscovered particles.  I will describe why Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are the most popular candidate for the dark matter and describe how WIMPs would interact in a detector.  I will then describe a leading experiment attempting to directly detect WIMP interactions, the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) and present results.

Dr. Sander is interested in finding evidence of new physics. Towards that end, he is a primary investigator on the SuperCDMS collaboration looking to directly detect dark matter. He is also working on developing new detection techniques for the next generation of rare event searches.

The PHYSNIC onSATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21st @ NOON! As the name suggests, this event is a physics picnic, where the entire physics department including faculty go to ELMWOOD PARK (66th and Elmwood Park RD.) eat food, socialize and play games!

If you need a ride to the physnic, or if you are willing to drive other students that do, there is a sign up sheet on the door of HLSB G55. 

Free and Open to the Public!  Come Visit Dr. Zepf's Haunted Physics Lab!