Colloquium

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In electronic band theory the dynamics of electrons in crystal lattices can exhibit novel phenomena associated with the anomalous velocity. Modern work on this subject revives an idea which appeared in its primitive form some fifty years ago to interpret the anomalous Hall effect in magnetically ordered states of matter, namely the appearance of a Hall conductivity in materials that have spontaneously broken time reversal symmetry without an applied magnetic field. The signature of the anomalous velocity is the coupling of electron motion to applied static and time-dependent fields through...

Equity and inclusion are important goals for higher education. Data can play a central role in achieving these goals. First, data are essential for probing equity. To provide an example, I will describe the discovery of a pattern of gendered performance differences in large foundational courses, both at Michigan and at an array of other Universities. Data can also help create solutions, as when we test new course designs and develop tools that personalize education. 
Over the last year, a group of ten large public research universities have launched the Sloan Equity and Inclusion in...

Band-limited functions can oscillate arbitrarily faster than their fastest Fourier component over arbitrarily long intervals: they can ‘superoscillate’. In physics, this counterintuitive mathematical phenomenon is associated with almost-destructive interference, and occurs near phase singularities in optics and on the world’s ocean tides; and it is associated with quantum weak measurements. Where superoscillations occur, functions are exponentially weak and vulnerable to noise. They are an unexpectedly compact way of representing fractals. Superoscillations in red light can escape as gamma...

This colloquium aims to explain why classical thermodynamics is insufficient for solids. After a review of classical equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermodynamics, two examples will be considered, grain growth and crystal plasticity, the latter one in more details. The major complication for development of thermodynamic theory for these cases was the lack of understanding of phase flow geometry. Recently, this geometry was described for dynamics of edge dislocations. Based on this finding, thermodynamics of crystal plasticity can be constructed. It includes two new thermodynamic parameters, entropy and temperature of microstructure.They have simple physical meaning: the rate of microstructure entropy coincides with the rate of slip avalanches while microstructure temperature is average energy drop in a slip avalanche. Perhaps, the phase flow geometry and the corresponding thermodynamic are common for many avalanche-type phenomena.

The nature of dark matter is one of the most important open problems in modern physics. Axions, originally introduced to resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and axion-like particles (ALPs) are strongly motivated dark matter candidates. Nuclear spins interacting with axion-like background dark matter experience a torque, oscillating at the axion Compton frequency. The Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiments (CASPEr) use precision magnetometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to search for the effects of this interaction. CASPEr has the potential to...

The concept of “courses ” has not changed much over centuries. However, online learning technology is quickly starting to challenge our understanding of what it means by a “course”. The abundance of online learning resources challenges the role of courses being the disseminators of knowledge, while the high registration numbers and low finishing numbers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) challenges not only the necessity to “pass” a course, but also the optimum length and scope of a course. Given the fact that more than 70% of today’s undergraduate students are non-traditional in one way or another, it might be a good time to think about how online learning technology might help to evolve the structure of courses to accommodate an increasingly diverse student population. In this workshop, I will initiate the discussion of “what might a future STEM course look like”, by introducing three relatively old ideas: mastery-based learning, flipped or blended classroom , and modularized instructional design. I will talk about how those ideas, when combined with the latest online learning technologies, might re-shape how students take a course, how teachers teach a course, and how instructors create a course , especially for STEM disciplines. We will also brainstorm about what STEM instructors can do to embrace the possible changes ahead.

Superconducting qubits offer excellent prospects for manipulating quantum information, with good qubit lifetimes, high fidelity single- and two-qubit gates, and straightforward scalability (admittedly with multi-dimensional interconnect challenges). One interesting route for experimental development is the exploration of hybrid systems, i.e. coupling superconducting qubits to other systems. I will report on our group's efforts to develop approaches that will allow interfacing superconducting qubits in a quantum-coherent fashion to mechanical resonators and to optomechanical devices. The...