Particles Go Quantum

As the 2015 UN International Year of Light and recent Physics Nobel Prizes celebrate our control on light and matter, we are only now starting to explore a new ‘strong coupling' regime of physics. It can be obtained by confining light in solid-state structures. This setting gives rise to new particles – half light, half matter – which inherit the best properties of their parents: they move fast and interact easily, a promising game-changer for quantum technology and photonics.

No, not a talk on a substance made of pure ‘The Fonz’, but the coldest stuff in the Universe. Strange properties, as predicted by quantum mechanics, start to emerge as one cools matter down to ever lower temperatures. I will talk about how we achieve this using lasers and magnetic fields, the resulting unintuitive effects that we see in the lab, and how they can provide more stable financial markets, GPS-free navigation, and even reduce traffic jams.

Can we understand more of quantum physics through music? Indeed music seems to represent a perfect medium to convey abstract physics concepts, as superposition. For this reason, Martin, who is one of the most prominent guitarists to emerge from Sweden in recent years, is currently Artist-in-residence at the University of Southampton within the Quantum Light and Matter Group. Join him for a flavour of his latest musical investigations.