Physics & Astronomy Brickwedde Lecture: Charles L. Kane

Description

Charles L. Kane, a professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania, will give the 2023 Ferdinand G. Brickwedde Lectures in Physics titled "The Emergence of Topological Quantum Matter," hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

A cocktail reception will immediately follow.

Abstract:

Matter can arrange itself in the most ingenious ways. In addition to the solid, liquid, and gas phases that are familiar in classical physics, electronic phases of matter with both useful and exotic properties are made possible by quantum mechanics. In the last century, the thorough understanding of the simplest quantum electronic phase—the electrical insulator—enabled the development of the semiconductor technology that is ubiquitous in today's information age. In the present century, new "topological" electronic phases are being discovered that allow the seemingly impossible to occur: Indivisible objects, like an electron or a quantum bit of information, can be split into two, allowing mysterious features of quantum mechanics to be harnessed for future technologies. Our understanding of topological phases builds on deep ideas in mathematics. We will try to convey that they are as beautiful as they are fundamental.

The Brickwedde Lectures are made possible through a contribution by Ferdinand G. Brickwedde and his wife, Langhorne Howard Brickwedde. A Johns Hopkins alumnus (BA '22, MA '24, and PhD in physics '25), Professor Brickwedde had a distinguished research and academic career. Most notably a co-discoverer of Deuterium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen, he was long associated with the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) and was dean of the College of Chemistry and Physics at Pennsylvania State University from 1956-1963. He was an Evan Pugh Research Professor of Physics Emeritus until his death on March 29, 1989.