Dr William Phillips won the Nobel Prize for a pretty cool invention thataids cutting edge physics and is in Ireland for a series of lectures, he iswell worth catching, writes Dick Ahlstrom.
How lasers can help create the coldest temperatures in the universe will be explained at three public lectures by the winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for physics. The three lectures take place next week in Cork, Dublin and Belfast.
Dr William Phillips of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland, USA, shared the 1997 prize with Prof Steven Chu of the US and Prof Claude Cohen-Tannoudji of France. Together they developed methods for using laser light to cool gases down to less than a millionth of a degree above absolute zero.
At this temperature, atoms move at no more than one km per hour, compared to their normal room temperature speeds of about 4,000 km per hour. This means they can be studied at comparative leisure and much can be learned about how they interact.
Dr Phillips will describe in layman's terms how laser cooling works and about the weird and wonderful properties that atoms at this temperature exhibit. His props for the lectures include salad bowls, balloons, ping-pong balls and carnations, so he plans to entertain at least as much as inform his audiences.
His three lectures are organised by the Institute of Physics in Ireland. They represent an excellent opportunity for people to learn about one of the latest frontiers of experimental physics.
Dr Phillips will speak at University College Cork on Tuesday October 29th, at 2.30 p.m. The talk takes place in Room G19, Kane Building, and spaces may be reserved by contacting Paddy McCarthy at 021 490-290, or by e-mailing: pjm@ucc.ie.
The Dublin lecture is at Dublin City University's Hub Lecture Theatre, on Wednesday October 30th, at 4p.m. The contact for tickets is John T. Costello, at 01 7005304, or jtc@physics.dcu.ie.
The Belfast lecture is on Thursday October 31st, at Queens University, Belfast. It takes place at 4 p.m. in the Department of Physics, Larmor Lecture Theatre, and the contact there is Jim McCann on 04890 273180, or e-mail J.F.McCann@am.qub.ac.uk.