The Nobel Prize-winning research responsible for a new form of matter and the lowest temperature ever recorded will be discussed Dec. 17 at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Nobel laureate and CU-Boulder distinguished professor of physics Carl Wieman will present the talk, "Bose-Einstein Condensate: Quantum Weirdness at the Lowest Temperature in the Universe," at 2 p.m. in Duane Physics room G1B30.
The presentation is free and open to the public and will kick off the CU-Boulder physics department's Saturday Physics Series. Shows in the series are intended for high school students, teachers and adults.
Wieman and Eric Cornell, a research physicist and fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and an adjoint professor of physics at CU-Boulder, received the 2001 Nobel Prize in physics. They won for their landmark 1995 creation of the world's first Bose-Einstein condensate, a new form of matter that occurs at just a few hundred billionths of a degree above absolute zero.
Wieman and Cornell created the condensate by cooling atoms to the lowest temperature ever recorded. The discovery opened up a new field of research that is now actively pursued around the world.
During the show, Wieman will discuss the research he and Cornell conducted to create the new form of matter, and why it is different and interesting and ended up winning them the Nobel Prize. Wieman is a President's Teaching Scholar and was the 2004 U.S. Professor of the Year for all doctoral and research universities.
The remaining shows for the 2006 Saturday Physics Series are:
Jan. 21, 2 p.m., Duane Physics room G1B30, Professor Emeritus Albert Bartlett of physics, "Arithmetic, Population and Energy: Sustainability 101."
Feb. 18, 2 p.m., Duane Physics room G1B30, Associate Professor Shijie Zhong of physics, "A Journey to the Earth's Interior."
March 18, 2 p.m., Duane Physics room G1B30, Assistant Professor Jamie Nagle of physics, "Evolution, Intelligent Design, Creationism and Physics."
April 15, 2 p.m., Duane Physics room G1B30, John Cumalat, chair and professor of physics, "Physics at the Energy Frontier."
For more information call (303) 492-4318.