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November 16, 2009
Michael H. Freedman
Director of Station Q, Microsoft Research
University of California, Santa Barbara
Jordan Hall, Room 105
5:00 pm
"Creating the Quantum Computer"
Free and Open to the Public,
Reception in the Galleria at 4:15 p.m.
The underlying logic of our computers is of the 19th century. Computers might, instead, be designed to “think” in a quantum mechanical way. The tidal wave that brought us quantum mechanics may wash over us again 100 years later.
There is reason to believe that quantum computing is the ultimate mode of information processing consistent with physics. So the short answer to, “What will quantum computers do?” is, “Everything possible.” Topology is geometry after you have forgotten local details; it deals with discrete structures. In physics local detail is usually of paramount importance. However one of the key physical ideas of the last 50 years – the “renormalization group” – tells us there are low temperature systems whose most important properties are topological in nature. The discrete nature of topology will allow us to control quantum mechanical evolutions in these systems with amazing precision. This is just what quantum computation requires.
Event Poster
November 24, 2009
Eric E. Schadt
Chief Scientific Officer, Pacific Biosciences
Jordan Hall, Room 101
4:00 pm
"An Integrative Biology Approach to Reverse Engineering Living Systems"
Free and Open to the Public
Eric E. Schadt oversees the scientific strategy for Pacific Biosciences, including creating the vision for next-generation applications of the company's technology, contributing to the evolution of Pacific Biosciences' transformative sequencing technology, and playing a key role in the company's strategic relationships. He is also a founding member of Sage Bionetworks–an open access genomics initiative designed to build and support databases and an accessible platform for creating innovative dynamic disease models.
He joined Pacific Biosciences in May 2009 from Rosetta Inpharmatics, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. in Seattle, where he was Executive Scientific Director of Genetics.
Event Poster
October 8, 2009
Robert P. Kirshner
Clowes Professor of Science
Harvard University
Hesburgh Library Auditorium
7:00 p.m.
"Exploding Stars and the Accelerating Cosmos- Einstein's Blunder Undone"
Open to the Public
Recent observations of exploding stars located halfway across the Universe reveal an astonishing fact: the ex-pansion of the Universe is speeding up! Apparently, the universe is dominated by a mysterious “dark energy” that drives cosmic acceleration. Robert P. Kirshner, a distinguished astronomer and science educator, explains this astonishing new picture of the universe in a lively, richly illustrated presentation, drawing his own first-hand account of the discovery.
Event Poster |
