A National Celebration of
the 50th Anniversary of the Laser
Symposium
The laser has become a ubiquitous tool over a wide range of science and technology. This symposium will celebrate its first half century through a range of talks by internationally leading scientists. Three of the speakers have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for laser related work. The national perspective on the importance of the laser is given by eminent UK scientists.
The current interests of the speakers span the range from fundamental studies of quantum optics, lasers and matter waves through to science education and renewable energy.
Laser Industry in Scotland
Scottish Industry has been at the forefront of laser technology for the five decades of the laser, supported by a world class research base. "Laser 50 Scotland" describes and celebrates this success. The official launch of "Laser 50 Scotland" will be by Jim Mather, MSP, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism.
Glasgow Science Centre, Tuesday 2nd November 2010
| Symposium Programme: | |
| 12.30 | Registration |
| 13:00 | Welcome |
| 13.15 | Laser Cooling, Single Molecule Biology and Sustainable Energy Solutions, Steven Chu, United States Secretary of Energy |
| 14.00 | What is Quantum Optics? Roy Glauber ForMemRS, Harvard University |
| 14.30 | Coffee break |
| 15.30 | The Quantum Optics of Stickiness, Eric Cornell, NIST/JILA, University of Colorado |
| 16.00 | Looking on the Bright Side of Light, David Hanna FRS, University of Southampton |
| 16.30 | Small and Light, Edward Hinds FRS, Imperial College London |
| 17.00 | Security, Insecurity, Paranoia and Quantum Mechanics, Stephen Barnett FRS, University of Strathclyde |
| "Laser 50 Scotland" Launch: | |
| 17.30 - 18.30 | Laser industry reception and exhibits |
| 18.30 | Laser 50 Scotland Launch |
| 19.00 | Close |
Full programme details available below or as a PDF (236KB).
Watch videos from the symposium.
This event is organised by the Department of Physics at the University of Strathclyde in cooperation with SUPA, Institute of Physics, SPIE, OSA and IEEE Photonics Society. It runs in parallel with the Strathclyde Expo 2010.
Strathclyde Expo 2010
Expo'10 will be held at the Glasgow Science Centre on the morning of the 2nd of November 2010 overlapping with the Laserfest celebrations in the afternoon. This event provides a unique opportunity for representatives from industry to learn about the latest cutting edge research and expertise available from the University of Strathclyde and understand how collaborating with Strathclyde might be of benefit. Keynote speakers are Lena Wilson (Chief Exec. of Scottish Enterprise) and Melfort Campbell (Chief Exec. Of the IMES group) Information will also be available on a range of funding mechanisms to work with the University. For more information and to register see www.strath.ac.uk/expo.
Programme Details
Laser Cooling, Single Molecule Biology and Sustainable Energy Solutions
Steven Chu, US Secretary of Energy
Steven Chu is currently the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips for his work on cooling and trapping atoms. He was previously a Professor of Physics and Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where his research was concerned primarily with the study of biological systems at the single molecule level. He has been a Professor of Physics at Stanford University. He has devoted his recent scientific career to the search for new solutions to energy challenges and stopping global climate change - a mission he continues with even greater urgency as Secretary of Energy.
What is Quantum Optics?
Roy Glauber ForMemRS, Harvard University
Roy Glauber received his bachelor's degree and his PhD from Harvard University. He was awarded the Nobel prize in physics in 2005. He is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University. His recent research has dealt with problems in a number of areas of quantum optics, a field which, broadly speaking, studies the quantum electrodynamical interactions of light and matter. Quantum mechanics endows light quanta with most of the interesting and sometimes enigmatic behaviors characteristic of atomic particles, such as multi-particle interferences and entanglement. Quantum optics embraces these behaviors and suggests ways of implementing them.
The Quantum Optics of Stickiness
Eric Cornell, NIST/JILA, University of Colorado
What we think of as "empty" space is really filled with a fluctuating electric field. These tiny electric fields are spooky-seeming but entirely real. They give rise to the stickiness of a perfecly clean glass surface. I will talk about a set of expeiments we did on this so-called Casimir-Polder force, using ultracold atoms. Time permitting I will explore connections to eschatolgy as well.
Eric Cornell received his B.S. in physics from Stanford University and Ph.D. in physics at MIT. He is currently a Professor at the University of Colorado and a Physicist at the United States Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology. In 2001, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Carl Wieman and Wolfgang Ketterle.
Looking on the Bright Side of Light
David Hanna FRS, University of Southampton
In the talk I intend to look at the laser in terms of the extraordinary increase in brightness over pre-existing light sources. This will involve a little background history to indicate the challenges posed and overcome, some examples of consequences (some unanticipated) of having this brightness at our disposal, and the suggestion that there will be lots more to come (quite possibly unanticipated at this time).
David Hanna he read Mathematics with Physics at Cambridge University, graduating in 1962, and gained a PhD from the University of Southampton. His academic career began with appointment to a lectureship at Southampton University in 1967. He was promoted to a Chair in Physics in 1988 and in 1989 was appointed to the position of Deputy Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre.In 1993 he was awarded the Max Born Medal and Prize by the German Physical Society. In 2000 he was awarded the Quantum Electronics Prize of the European Physical Society and a Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 2003 he was awarded the Charles Hard Townes Award of the Optical Society.
Small and Light
Ed Hinds FRS, Imperial College
Much of the past practical interest in lasers stems from the high intensity they can produce by emitting many identical photons. An alternative way to produce high intensity is to confine the light in very small structures. In this way it is possible to make even a single photon have a large electric field. By micro-fabricating small optical circuits and cavities, researchers are starting to control photons using single atoms or single molecules. This opens the way to a new quantum technology based on the flow and interaction of photons on integrated chips.
Ed Hinds is noted for his work with cold matter. He obtained both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate from the University of Oxford before moving to the United States to teach at Columbia University. He served as Professor of Physics at Yale University before returning to the United Kingdom in 1994 to start the Sussex Centre for Optical and Atomic Physics. In 1994 he was made a Fellow of the American Physical Society, in 1996 a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and in 1998 received The Humboldt Prize. In 2008 he was awarded both the Thompson Medal and the Rumford Medal, the latter for 'his extensive and highly innovative work in ultra-cold matter'. He is a Professor at Imperial College London.
Security, Insecurity, Paranoia and Quantum Mechanics
Stephen Barnett FRS, University of Strathclyde
Every user of the internet or an ATM machine has to worry about information security. Developments in quantum information, enabled by advances in laser technology, are both challenging current techniques for secrecy and providing the possibility of radically new approaches.
Steve Barnett joined the Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde in 1991, becoming Professor of Quantum Optics in 1996. He was born in London and studied at Imperial College London before moving to Scotland via Oxford. His principal research interests are in theoretical quantum optics, quantum information and the foundations of quantum theory. He is best known for his work on the quantum theory of optical phase for which the Institute of Physics awarded him their Maxwell Medal for theoretical physics in 1994.
