During Family Weekend, Professor of Physics Aaron Reinhard will discuss his sabbatical research in Durham, England.
"Photons are the smallest indivisible units of light energy. They behave like particles, but only sort-of. For example, most particles collide when they meet, but photons pass through one another undisturbed. In this talk, I will introduce the idea of Rydberg polaritons, or quasi-particles that allow for effective photon-photon interactions. I will discuss applications of photon-photon interactions to quantum information, where one uses single quantum objects as the bits in a computer.
"This research was done during my sabbatical in Durham, England. Therefore, I will explain the history of the experiment I joined, as well as my own contributions. I will also discuss some of my family’s experiences living in the UK and traveling in Europe."
Join us on Friday, Oct. 17, for this exciting presentation from our own Professor Aaron Reinhard and hear about his exciting work during his sabbatical. Lunch will be available in the Hayes Hall lobby from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and the presentation will begin in Hayes 109 at 12:10 p.m. We hope to see you there!