Upcoming Meeting:
Date and Time: Nov 27th, 2024, 15:15-16:00
Place: Mega + zoom
Fika: Yes, provided to those physically present!

We will talk about Building an energy-efficient superconducting computer with Professor Vladimir Krasnov from Fysikum.

The Meissner effect
Image credit: Shutterstock

More details on the upcoming activity :
The current demand for computing power is pushing the boundaries of silicon-based technology and there has hence been a renewed interest in the development of superconducting (SC) computers. SC computers could leverage the unique properties of superconductors – materials that offer zero electrical resistance at low temperatures- to drastically reduce the power consumption associated with traditional computing processes. Because of their near-frictionless operation, these machines can theoretically also operate at much higher clock speeds than their silicon counterparts. This translates to faster processing times and the potential to tackle even more complex computational problems. Yet, building a SC computer is a very challenging task. In this talk, Vladimir Krasnov, professor at the Condensed Matter and Quantum Optics (KOMKO) group at Fysikum, will present an overview of both the historical developments as well as the current state of the art in SC digital electronics and will present his own groups recent results on the development of novel vortex-based SC electronics. Don't miss this opportunity to keep up with developing technology!

About News and Views :
Research in physics spans a wide range of topics from very tiny constituents of the universe like atoms, to big complex structures like galaxies. Each field of research has its own concepts, tools, and methods. We will leverage our knowledge from classrooms and textbooks to discuss “news and views” on highlighted research projects at the cutting edge of research. We will choose an article to discuss from an easily accessible source and/or learn about research done by the many research groups here, keeping in mind the diversity of theoretical, experimental and numerical work that is a part of physics research work nowadays. In our discussions, we will try to discuss the big picture, rather than technical details. The format will be very informal and open-ended discussions are welcome! We hope these meetings will help all of us to broaden our view of physics, to find out what we are interested in and motivate us to do some research ourselves!

Schedule :

This term (Autumn 2024), we are planning to continue having roughly two sessions a month. As we have been doing for the past many years, we will have presentations on new and exciting research topics that we work on here at Stockholm University and Nordita. We will attempt to keep the level so as to be understandable from our Bachelors program onwards! All sessions will be hybrid in Mega (or another available room in Albanova) + Zoom.

Earlier Meetings:

2024-11-06 We talked about Why are there so few women Physics Nobel laureates? with Professor Barbro Åsman from Fysikum.
2024-10-16 We talked about The Nobel prize in physics 2024 with Professor John Hertz from Nordita and the Niels Bohr Institute.
2024-10-02 We talked about What is Entropy?! with Supriya Krishnamurthy, organiser of News and Views!
2024-09-18 We talked about The hunt for gravitationally lensed supernovae with Nikki Arendse. Don't miss the unique video in the link above where Nikki explains the discovery of supernova SN Zwicky using her own watercolour paintings!
2024-09-04 We talked about Whats up with the Higgs? with Sara Strandberg.
2024-06-12 We talked about Will there ever be an AI scientist? with Jens Jasche.
2024-05-29 We talked about Molecules in Space with Åsa Larson. More information can also be found here
2024-05-15 We talked about Amongst sea ice and Polar Bears: Why go to the Arctic on an icebreaker? with Michael Tjernström.
2024-04-24 We talked about Applications of AI in Cancer Imaging: from Diagnosis to Radiation Therapy with Mehdi Astaraki.
2024-04-10 We talked about Detecting single gravitons with quantum sensing with Germain Tobar and Sreenath K. Manikandan.
2024-03-27 We talked about The quest for new particles: why, what, where, and when? with Kyrylo Bondarenko from Nordita. For interested participants, Kyrylo suggested this short video as a warm-up!
2024-03-06 We talked about The science of Networks with Yu Tian from Nordita.
2024-02-21 We talked about Feynmans reversed sprinkler puzzle solved with Dhrubaditya Mitra from Nordita and SU.
2024-02-07 We talked about LISA gets the go-ahead: whats next for gravitational waves? with Yutong He from Nordita and the department of Astronomy at SU.
2024-01-24 We talked about Our ever-changing galaxy- dynamics of the Milky Way with Axel Widmark from the Oskar Klein center at Fysikum.
2023-12-14 We talked about What the heck, gravity! with Guilherme Franzmann from Nordita and the Dept. of Philosophy at Stockholm University. See also this YouTube video by Sean Caroll on Finding Gravity within Quantum Mechanics . More information also in this Scientific American article
2023-11-22 We talked about Looking through dust and time: the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) opens a new window on stellar nurseries and young galaxies with Angela Adamo from the Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University. More information on the discoveries that JWST has facilitated can be found here . Professor Adamo's own work with JWST data is mentioned (in swedish) here .
2023-11-08 We talked about How to select Nobel prizes in Physics with Professor Mats Larsson from Fysikum.
2023-10-18 We talked about Nobel prize in Physics 2023 with Professor Eva Lindroth from the Atomic Physics Group at Fysikum. More information and reading material can be found here .
2023-10-04 We talked about A practical introduction to time travel with Fabio Costa from Nordita. See also the introduction in this article and this article for more detailed information. For the more philosophically inclined here is a useful reference.
2023-09-20 We talked about Quantum Thermalization and its breakdown with Ivan Khaymovich from Nordita. See also this article and this video course by Mark Srednicki for more detailed information. For those interested, Ivans slides can be found here .
2023-08-29 We talked about Anyons — From Theory to Experiments with Hans Hansson from the Condensed Matter and Quantum Optics group at Fysikum. See also this for more detailed information.
2023-06-14 We talked about Ride your own wave: from vertical forcing to horizontal motion with Anthony Bonfils. See also this article.
2023-05-31 We talked about Multi-messenger astronomy with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory with Chad Finley from the Astroparticle and Elementary particle Physics division at Fysikum.
2023-05-10 We talked about Shor's algorithm with Ingemar Bengtsson from the KOMKO division at Fysikum who also recommends this book to find out more about cryptography!
2023-04-26 We talked about The DESIREE infrastructure at SU with Mark Stockett from the Atomic Physics division at Fysikum.
2023-04-05 We talked about A hitchhiker’s guide to the cosmos with Aliki Litsa co-organiser of News and Views.
2023-03-22 We talked about Knowns and Unknowns of the Quantum-Gravity interface with Magdalena Zych from Fysikum.
2023-03-01 We talked about the Unruh effect with Robert Jonsson from Nordita.
2023-02-08 We talked about Shedding light on water: More than just one liquid? with Sharon Berkowicz from the Chemical Physics group at Fysikum.
2022-11-30 We talked about Gamma Ray bursts with Nikhil Sarin from Nordita.
2022-11-16 We continued talking about the peculiarities of Quantum Physics, in particular The measurement problem in Quantum physics with Jonas Larson from Komko, Fysikum. Here is also an article by Bell on the issue.
2022-11-02 We continued talking about the Noble prize in Physics 2022 , this time with Elisabet Edvardsson from Komko, Fysikum. Here is also a pedagogic and interactive introduction to Bell's theorem .
2022-10-12 We talked about Noble prize in Physics 2022 with Sofia Qvarfort from Nordita.
2022-09-28 We talked about Gravitational lensing with Edvard Mörtsell from CoPS, Fysikum.
2022-09-07 We talked about Newton's Critique of the Law of Universal Gravity with Hans v. Zur‑Mühlen from Nordita. For those who missed this, or are interested in a second look, here are

Hans' slides

2022-06-15 We talked about Ubiquitous but mysterious ocean waves with Anthony Bonfils, News and Views (ex) co-organiser!
2022-06-01 We discussed Sagittarius A* the super-massive black hole at the center of our galaxy with Jonas Enander . More information is also available in this (swedish) blog .
2022-05-11 We talked about Quantum Field theory boosts brain model with Arvind Kumar (KTH) and Dhrubaditya Mitra (Nordita).
2022-04-20 We talked about Decoding the laws of nature using the universe as a laboratory with David Marsh.
2022-04-06 We talked about Computer graphics: the physics that goes into it and the physics we get out of it with Axel Gagge. Here is one more reference for those interested!
2022-03-23 We discussed a mathematical problem with no classical solution which however turns out to be solvable using quantum rules, providing a quantum solution to an old (sudoku-like) puzzle!
2022-03-09 We discussed the multi-messenger gravitational-wave era and how the neutron star collision event of 2017 has been unlocking cosmic mysteries with Mattia Bulla. For those who missed our last session. here are also the Slides from Mattia's talk.
2022-02-23 We discussed how physicists model complex phenomenon such as patterns on Lizard scales !
2022-02-02 We discussed nanoscale Kirigami and how Graphene gets bent with Habib Rostami. Here are also the Slides from Habib's talk for those of you who missed it.
2021-12-08 We continued discussing The 2021 Nobel prize and the work of Giorgio Parisi with Supriya Krishnamurthy.
2021-11-17 We discussed The 2021 Nobel prize and the work of Syukoru Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann with Anthony Bonfils. Here are also Anthony's slides from his presentation.
2021-11-03 We discussed The quest for Quantum Materials with Matthias Geilhufe .
2021-10-20 We discussed An introduction to the VASCO project with Beatriz Villarroel. See also this YouTube clip for an explanation of this project.
2021-10-06 We discussed Surface tension scars soft solids
2021-09-22 We discussed Quantum Solution to the classical drag puzzle with Dhrubaditya Mitra.
2021-06-09 We discussed Dark Matter with Tim Linden. Here are also an informative set of Podcasts on this and other subjects,
2021-05-26 We discussed Laser cooling of antimatter with Svante Jonsell.
2021-05-05 We discussed Mixing indistiguishable systems leads to a Quantum Gibbs paradox .
2021-04-21 We discussed Recent investigations of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave background with Jon Gudmundsson.
2021-03-31 We discussed The mass of the Higgs boson and other puzzles in particle physics with Sara Strandberg.
2021-03-10 We discussed A superconducting qubit that protects itself .
2021-02-24 We discussed "Between disorder and order: Towards a reliable prediction of climate variability with Woosok Moon. More information on this blog run by climate scientist Isaac Held.
2021-02-10 We discussed Charge transport in a Bose-Einstein condensate
2021-01-27 We discussed Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning in Physics and other applications with Jens Jasche. An article on how Physicists can help with understanding Machine learning can be found here !
2020-12-16 We discussed The sounds of levitating water droplets .
2020-11-25 We discussed Deformable circuits and Biorobots .
2020-11-11 We discussed Nanoscale Warming and Cooling .
2020-10-28 We discussed the work of the 2020 Nobel Laureates Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez with Magnus Axelsson.
2020-10-14 We discussed the work of the 2020 Nobel Laureate Roger Penrose with Fawad Hassan.
2020-09-23 We discussed Harvesting energy from falling water droplets.
2020-02-18 We discussed Heat transferred in a previously unknown way .
2020-02-04 We discussed a "Functional” Cure for HIV .
2019-12-10 We discussed AI Copernicus.
2019-11-12 We discussed a quantum time machine.
2019-10-29 We discussed Quantum Computers.
2019-10-15 We discussed the 2019 physics Nobel prize with Ariel Goobar.
2019-10-01 We discussed A tiny swimmer generates rapid, far-reaching signals in water.
2019-02-20 We discussed From simple liquids to colloids and soft matter.
2019-02-13 We discussed A Theory to Tackle Supercooling.
2019-02-06 We discussed Hawking radiation from optical analogue of a black hole.
2019-01-30 We discussed Quantum corral herds surface electrons into a fractal lattice.
2018-12-12 We discussed The Plot Thickens for a Fourth Neutrino.
2018-11-28 We will discuss Leidenfrost drops are on a roll.
2018-11-21 We discussed Counting the Quanta of Sound.
2018-11-14 We discussed 2017 Physics Nobel Prize: The LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.
2018-11-07 We discussed 2018 Physics Nobel Prize: Tools made of light.
2018-10-31 Exams! No meeting unfortunately!
2018-10-24 We discussed Ants know the secret to avoiding traffic jams.
  which was written based on the research article Collective clog control.