“Quantum entanglement and superconductivity”
Professor Subir Sachdev
Professor of Physics, Harvard University
Held in conjunction with UNSW and the Australian Institute of Physics
Tuesday 1 September 2015
John B. Reid Theatre, AGSM Building, UNSW
Einstein called it "spooky action at a distance". Entanglement is a counter-intuitive feature of quantum theory by which two particles are deeply correlated even when separated by vast distances, such that a measurement of one particle instantaneously determines the state of the other. Remarkably, quantum entanglement can also happen en masse, determining the macroscopic properties of many electrons in certain crystals. Such states of matter can exhibit superconductivity, the ability to conduct electricity without measurable resistance, at much higher temperatures than was previously possible.
Professor Sachdev also described newly emerging connections between the theory of macroscopic quantum entanglement and Hawking's theory of black holes.