Winter Term dates 2024/25
Thursday, 4 p.m. (c.t.)
From 4 p.m., all listeners are invited to the colloquium-coffee in front of HS 2.
Location: HS 2, IG 1, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, 48149 Münster
If you would like to receive the weekly announcements by e-mail, please write to: physkoll@uni-muenster.de.
10.10.2024 Prof. Hubert Krenner / Prof. Anika Schlenhoff / Jun.-Prof. Iris Niehues
Antrittsvorlesungen - Physikalisches Institut, Universität Münster
The ability to control and sense the properties of solid-state materials on the nanoscale lays the foundation for both groundbreaking fundamental discoveries and technological applications. By employing advanced measurement techniques, we are pushing the limits of spatial resolution and investigate the intrinsic properties of solid-state nanosystems. These encompass 2D materials and surface spin textures in thin-film systems, as well as single quantum emitters for quantum technologies and integrated circuits controlled by nano-earthquakes. We aim for a profound understanding of the interactions between light, spin, charge, and matter, with the ultimate goal of attaining comprehensive control over nanomaterials in the quantum domain.17.10.2024 Dr. Pauline Gagnon (CERN)
The tragic destiny of Mileva Maric Einstein
What were Albert Einstein's first wife’s contributions to his extraordinary productivity in the first years of his career? A first biography of Mileva Marić Einstein was published in Serbian in 1969 but remained largely unknown despite being translated first in German, then in French in the 1990’s. The publication of Mileva and Albert’s love letters in 1987 revealed how they lived together while two recent publications shed more light on Mileva Marić’s life and work. I will review this evidence in its social and historical context to give a better idea of her contributions. In this presentation, I avoid all type of speculation and do not attack Albert Einstein personally, but rather strictly stick to facts. The audience will be able to appreciate why such a talented physicist has been so unkindly treated by history.24.10.2024 Prof. Dr. Svetlana Gurevich
Antrittsvorlesungen - Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Münster
Dynamics and control of optical pulses in time-delayed micro-cavities
Real-world complex systems can be strongly influenced by time delays due to unavoidable finite signal propagation speeds and time-delayed dynamical systems have proven to be a fertile framework for the modeling of nonlinear phenomena. Nonlinear laser dynamics is one of the fields where time-delayed system are frequently employed to model the arising complex dynamics. In this talk, we will explore the use of time-delayed models to describe the dynamics of ultrashort pulses in optical micro-cavities, highlighting their potential for optical frequency comb generation.
07.11.2024 Dr. Johannes Michel (University of Amsterdam and NIKHEF)
QCD Frontiers from TeV to MeV Scales
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is gearing up for its high-luminosity phase, is stress testing the Standard Model of particle physics at an unprecedented level of detail. I give an overview of major recent highlights of the LHC experimental program on the TeV precision frontier, ranging from the direct observation of Higgs Yukawa interactions -- the fifth force of Nature -- and rare phenomena involving top quarks, including their quantum entanglement, to ultra-precise measurements of the mass of the W boson. In particular, I review some of the theory advances in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) making this progress possible, many of which concern the physics of transverse-momentum distributions (TMDs). I then relate these ideas to one of the least understood aspects of the Standard Model, the deeply nonlinear dynamics of quarks and gluons confining into color-neutral hadrons at a scale of hundreds of MeV. I showcase how heavy (bottom and charm) quarks provide a unique view into this phenomenon of hadronization by effectively serving as static sources of the gluon field, and outline the opportunities that heavy hadrons offer towards establishing a future Quantum Information Theory of hadronization.
21.11.2024 Dr. Bernd Schmidt (Düsseldorf) & Dr. Ali Sadeghi (Twente)
>>> Die Vorträge werden vom CRC Intelligent Matter organisiert und finden um 15 Uhr s.t. im Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN) statt.
Dr. Bernd M. Schmidt, HHU Düsseldorf:
"Photoresponsive Macrocycles & Mechanoresponsive Metal-Organic Cages – Influencing Supramolecular Architectures with Stimuli"
Dr. Ali Sadeghi, University of Twente, The Netherlands:
"Additive Manufacturing of Multifunctional Soft Robots: Integrating Sensing and Actuation for Safe and Adaptive Systems"
Informationen zu den Vortragenden und zur Veranstaltung finden Sie in der Ankündigung und auf der Seite vom CRC Intelligent Matter: https://www.uni-muenster.de/SFB1459/
05.12.2024 Prof. Marco Peloso (University of Padua)
Axion inflation
Cosmological inflation provides initial conditions for the subsequent `big-bang’ era consistent with observational data. After an overview of the general framework and basic phenomenological predictions, we explore the theoretical motivations behind a specific class of inflationary models known as axion inflation. The coupling between axion inflation and gauge fields can significantly enhance the amplitude of these fields, leading to diverse observational consequences, including non-Gaussianity at Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) scales, a gravitational wave background detectable at Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) and interferometer scales, and the potential formation of Primordial Black Holes. We conclude by presenting recent results in the strong back-reaction regime, where gauge field amplification alters the inflationary dynamics in a complex, non-trivial manner.
09.01.2025 Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Kampert (Universität Wuppertal)
Unraveling the mysteries of the most energetic particles in Nature
Cosmic rays with energies greater than 1020 eV are regularly observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory over an area of 3000 km2. They are known to be of extragalactic origin, but despite the enormous progress made in recent years, Nature has not yet fully revealed their sources. However, a simultaneous description of the observed energy spectrum, mass composition and arrival directions points to powerful nearby starburst galaxies as a key contributor - an observation independently supported by multi-messenger observations of high-energy photons and neutrinos. The enormous particle energies arriving at Earth can also be used to explore fundamental and Beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics, and some examples are presented.
Following the talk, the Research Training Group 2149 cordially invites you to a reception with refreshments in front of the HS 2.
16.01.2025 Prof. Dr. Björn Baumeier (Eindhoven University)
Simulating electronic processes in complex molecular systems with embedded ab-initio methods
Complex molecular systems, such as molecular aggregates, thin films, interfaces, solvated dyes, or macromolecules, find a variety of use in electronic devices or biomedical applications. At the heart of their functionality lies an intricate interplay of electronic and structural processes and resolving this interplay – experimentally and computationally – is crucial both for a fundamental understanding and guided material design.
However, as materials become more complex and real-world conditions come into play, accurately simulating these systems becomes a significant computational challenge. Macroscopic phenomena like optical absorption, luminescence, electrical conductivity, and other bulk or surface material properties cannot be fully captured by microscale models alone. As a result, studying electronic excitations in complex disordered systems remains a challenge for ab-initio methods.
Exploiting the, often, localized nature of excitations in such disordered systems makes it possible to construct multiscale embedding models instead, in which the overall system is partitioned into smaller, tractable regions of interest with appropriate interregion couplings.
In my talk, I will discuss several strategies for building such embedded models, including quantum-quantum and quantum-classical embeddings, as well as machine-learning tools. I will focus in particular on showcasing the application to (inverse) photoemission and optical spectroscopy of molecular films for OLEDs, excitonic conversion processes in a polymer-fullerene blend, and charge-transport regulation in polymer-composites.23.01.2025 Prof. Dr. Klaus Blaum (MPI Heidelberg)
Precision Tests of the Standard Model at low energies using stored exotic ions in Penning traps
The four fundamental interactions and their symmetries, the fundamental constants as well as the properties of elementary particles like masses and moments, determine the basic structure of the universe and are the basis for our so well tested Standard Model (SM) of physics. Performing stringent tests on these interactions and symmetries in extreme conditions at lowest energies and with highest precision by comparing, e.g., the properties of particles and their counterpart, the antiparticles, will allow us to search for physics beyond the SM. Any improvement of these tests beyond their present limits requires novel experimental techniques.
An overview is given on recent mass and g-factor measurements with extreme precision on single or few cooled ions stored in Penning traps. Among others the most stringent test of bound-state quantum electrodynamics could be performed. Here, the development of a novel technique, based upon the coupling of two ions as an ion crystal, enabled the most precise determination of a g-factor difference to date. This difference, determined for the isotopes 20,22Ne9+ with a relative precision of 5.6 × 10−13 with respect to the g factor, improved the precision for isotopic shifts of g factors by about two orders of magnitude. Our latest results on precision measurements with exotic ions in Penning traps will be presented
30.01.2025 Dr. Mihai A. Petrovici (Universität Bern)
Computing with physics: Biological and bio-inspired intelligence
Whether biological or artificial, intelligence ultimately boils down to the ability of physical substrates to perform (complex) computations efficiently. Understanding intelligence thus requires overcoming a set of interrelated - and interdisciplinary - challenges. As computational neuroscientists, we need to figure out which aspects of biological dynamics are relevant for information processing. As physicists, we need to build appropriate theories and models thereof. As computer scientists, we need to understand which algorithms can "run" on such dynamics. And as engineers, we seek to build devices that emulate them efficiently.
Originally, artificial intelligence was clearly inspired by the brain, but has since diverged away... Or has it? In offering some answers to the grand challenges above, I will address the AI revolution, and how it interacts with modern neuroscience and neuromorphic technology, both as benefactor and beneficiary. In particular, I will address a series of interconnected questions. How can cortical networks, bound by spatiotemporal locality constraints, learn to solve complex problems in the first place? How can they do so using spikes - the universal information carriers in the mammalian brain? And how can we efficiently emulate such neuro-synaptic dynamics in silico?