Duke Physics Department Colloquium: Observing quantum effects in the motion of a millimeter-sized object

"Observing quantum effects in the motion of a millimeter-sized object" - A major challenge in physics is to understand how the classical behavior of macroscopic objects emerges from laws that are fundamentally quantum mechanical. The field of optomechanics seeks to address this issue by studying quantum effects in the motion of macroscopic objects that are coupled to individual photons. In the past few years, experiments have demonstrated a number of quantum effects in these devices, including ground-state cooling, entanglement, and the quantum back-action of displacement measurements. I will give an overview of our group's work on these topics. I will also describe our recent work on optomechanical effects in superfluid helium devices. Faculty Host: Gleb Finkelstein. Refreshments will be served before and after the event in Physics room 128.