Event Host: College of Arts and Sciences
Short Description: Quantum mechanics seems to be everywhere, from superhero movies to Fortune 500 companies. Nadya Mason bridges the divide between popular imaginations of quantum and real quantum mechanical devices.
Quantum mechanics seems to be everywhere, from superhero movies to Fortune 500 companies. But what makes quantum mechanics so different and special? How can it be used (and can objects really pass through barriers)? Nadya Mason bridges the divide between popular imaginations of quantum and real quantum mechanical devices, covering the basics of quantum mechanics; how solid-state quantum devices are measured; and how quantum mechanics creates both limits and promises for computer processing.
Nadya Mason is a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and director of the Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (I-MRSEC). A condensed matter experimentalist, Mason focuses on electron behavior in low-dimensional materials such as nanowires, graphene and nano-structured superconductors. She earned her PhD in physics from Stanford University and engaged in postdoctoral research as a Junior Fellow at Harvard University. In addition to maintaining a rigorous research program and teaching, Mason works to increase diversity in the physical sciences.
Science Sundays is a free public lecture series offered and supported by The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences and its sponsoring science centers. Speakers are leading experts in their fields dedicated to making their work interesting and accessible for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Science Sundays brings leading-edge work directly to the public with lectures covering diverse topics in science, arts and technology that touch our everyday lives.
Each lecture is from 3-4 p.m. at the Ohio Union U.S. Bank Conference Theatre, followed by a free, informal reception from 4-5 p.m. at the Ohio Staters Traditions Room in the Ohio Union.
