High-Temperature Superconductivity: From Broken Symmetries to Cell Phones

Who:  Laura H. Greene, Swanlund Chair, Professor of Physics - (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Where:  Wexner Center Film/Video Theater
When:  Wednesday, October 5, 2005 at 04:30
Type:  Public Lecture

Description: ABSTRACT: Superconductivity, observed in many metals when cooled to extremely low temperatures, was discovered in 1911. In 1986, materials were discovered that superconduct at much more easily obtainable temperatures. This discovery motivated an unprecedented world-wide flurry of research: Not only are applications promising, but these high-temperature superconductors represent a new solid state of matter that break certain fundamental symmetries of Nature.

Additional Notes: BIO: Laura H. Greene, Swanlund Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Ohio State and her PhD from Cornell, then worked at Bell Laboratories and Bellcore. She researches experimental condensed matter physics focusing on strongly-correlated electron systems, primarily investigating the mechanisms of unconventional superconductivity by planar tunneling and point-contact electron spectroscopies, and develops new, novel materials and methods of materials microanalyses. She has served on numerous committees and boards, including the International Union of Pure and Applied Physicists (IUPAP) as the US representative to the C5 (low-temperature physics) commission and has served on their US Liaison Committee; the Board of Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies of Science; Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics; Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee for the Department of Energy (DoE); Sloan Foundation Fellow Selection Committee; Schedule and Selection Committee and General Council for Gordon Research Conferences; numerous Committees for the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Editorial Board for the Institute of Physics (UK) Journal Reports on the Progress in Physics. Greene is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the AAAS and the APS. She received the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award from the APS, the E. O. Lawrence Award from the DoE and this year is a visiting scholar for Phi Beta Kappa. Over her career, Greene has co-authored ~150 publications and presented over 250 invited talks.