Geneva University: Exploring Flatland with cold atoms

GENEVA UNIVERSITY
École de physique
Département de physique nucléaire et corspusculaire
24, quai Ernest-Ansermet
1211 Genève 4
Tél.: (022) 379 62 73
Fax: (022) 379 69 92

Lundi 12 mars 2012
17h00 - Ecole de Physique, Auditoire Stueckelberg
« Exploring Flatland with cold atoms »
Prof. Jean Dalibard
Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, CNRS,
Physics Department of Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris

In his world-famous novel "Flatland" published in 1884, the English writer Edwin Abbott imagined a social life in a two-dimensional world. With a very original use of geometrical notions, E. Abbott produced a unique satire of his own society.
Long after Abbott's visionary allegory, Microscopic Physics has provided a practical path for the exploration of low-dimensional worlds. With the realization of quantum wells for example, it has been possible to produce two-dimensional gases of electrons. The properties of these fluids dramatically differ from the standard three-dimensional case, and some of them are still lacking a full understanding.
During the last decade, a novel environment has been developed for the study of low-dimensional phenomena. It consists of cold atomic gases that are confined in tailor-made electromagnetic traps. With these gases, one hopes to simulate and understand more complex condensed-matter systems. The talk will discuss some aspects of this research, both from an experimental and a theoretical perspective.

Une verrée en compagnie du conférencier sera offerte après le colloque.
Prof. Markus Büttiker

by Université de Genève