Nobel Laureate William D. Phillips, Ph.D., will discuss how the use of ultra-cold atoms is influencing the accuracy of telling time. His lecture, “Time, Einstein and the Coolest Stuff in the Universe,” is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., November 13, at the L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center, located on the campus of Norfolk State University. It is free and open to the public.
Phillips’ lecture will combine live demonstrations with down-to-earth explanations of some of today’s most exciting modern physics, displaying the thrill and fun of modern science.
Phillips, a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, is a Fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute, a cooperative operation of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland. NIST is the U.S. National Meteorology Institute and among its responsibilities is the accurate measurement of time. Phillips leads the Laser Cooling and Trapping Group of NIST’s Physical Measurement Laboratory. The division he works in uses laser light to cool atoms to extremely cold temperatures for use in atomic clocks—the most accurate keepers of time ever made.
These highly accurate clocks are essential to industry, commerce and science and are the heart of the Global Positioning System (GPS), which has numerous uses in modern-day life such as guiding cars, airplanes and hikers to their destinations.
For more information, call the NSU Office of Communications and Marketing at (757) 823-8373.
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