Join the University of Surrey and University of East Anglia will each have roughly 30 minutes to deliver a punchy, interactive topic based 'micro' talk. Within an overall session theme of Quantum Physicss.
University of Surrey: Dr Lisa Morrison, Lecturer in Physics and Physics Admissions Tutor in the School of Mathematics and Physics, presents Entanglement at the Horizon: Quantum Physics and Black Holes. Black holes are among the most extreme and exotic objects in the universe. Traditionally described using Einstein’s theory of general relativity, they are often pictured as ‘cosmic prisons’, trapping matter, light, and information inside them forever. However, when quantum physics is brought into the picture, a far stranger story emerges. At the edge of a black hole, even ’empty’ space is alive with quantum activity, where particles can appear from nothing, some of which fall into the black hole itself and become trapped forever. More intriguingly still, quantum entanglement suggests that what falls into a black hole may forever remain mysteriously connected to what escapes. This talk explores how quantum physics reshapes our understanding of black holes, revealing how empty space, radiation, and entanglement play a surprising and fundamental role.
University of East Anglia: Stephen Ashworth, Professor of Chemical Physics and Science Communication in the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Physics, will present Quantum Physics in Measurement. Modern life is dependent on precise and accurate measurements. In turn, our system of units depends on the realisation of quantities such as the second and the metre. Recently, the kilogram definition was changed, and is now realised using a Kibble balance, for which a detailed knowledge of the local gravitational field is necessary. The realisation of the second is dependent on the measurement of an atomic transition in caesium. This talk explores how quantum physics can be utilised to help make the measurements required to realise these fundamental quantities.