In the past years, studies with atoms at nanokelvin temperatures have led to some of the most exciting results in experimental physics. Relying on the exquisite control and accuracy that is unique to atomic physics, ultracold atoms have been employed to study quantum phenomena in their most pristine form. The observation of matter wave interference and the creation of vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates are just two examples in a long list of remarkable achievements.

Based on the success of ultracold atoms, we work towards the creation of a new player in the world of extremely cold quantum matter, ultracold dipolar molecules. Our molecule of choice is NaK, formed by one 23Na and one 40K atom. In contrast to simple atoms, the NaK molecule has a large electric dipole moment, in fact, larger than the well-known dipole moment of a water molecule. At nanokelvin temperatures, strongly dipolar NaK molecules should enable the creation of novel states of matter, such as quantum crystals, supersolids or exotic superfluids, which have not been observed so far…

In my talk I will present the key techniques for the production of ultracold dipolar molecules, explain their properties and give an outlook on the rich experimental possibilities.

A main goal of particle physics is the search for new particles and interactions.  This can be done by combining theory calculations, based on the Standard Model, with precision measurements and looking for inconsistencies.  A very active research area, where relatively large new-physics effects are expected, is the study of quark flavor changing processes, knows as flavor physics.  Critical to flavor physics research are non-perturbative calculations achieved by combining quantum field theory with high-performance computing- a technique knows as Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD).  My talk will begin by setting the stage for Lattice QCD in flavor physics.  A brief overview of the technique will be given to convey a sense of the size and complexity of these calculations.  I will then describe the Fermilab-Lattice and MILC Collaboration’s current flavor-physics calculations for the process known as (neutral) B-mixing.

Quantum computing offers the potential to speed up information processing as well as completely secure data transfer.  Our research effort aims to create a quantum network consisting of site-controlled cavity-coupled QDs interconnected by waveguides in photonic crystals.  The spin of an electron confined to a quantum dot serves as our quantum bit, or “qubit,” because it is relatively long lived, can be placed into a superposition of 0- and 1-states, and evolves according to quantum mechanics.  Entanglement between two distant qubits can be achieved if the quantum dots are each coupled to a photonic crystal cavity linked by a waveguide.  I will describe the device design and experimental techniques that allow us to charge our quantum dots with a known number of electrons and optically initialize as well as manipulate their spin.  I will also talk about the material science and engineering challenges of integrating this basic qubit into photonic crystals and the steps we have taken towards this integration.

Schlumberger Limited is the world’s leading oilfield services company supplying technology, information solutions and integrated project management that optimize reservoir performance for customers working in the oil and gas industry. Founded in 1926, today the company employs more than 118,000 people of over 140 nationalities working in approximately 85 countries.  Schlumberger offers a full range of wireline and logging while drilling tools and services, delivering formation evaluation that accurately characterizes reservoir rocks and fluids.  A core portion of these services characterizes reservoir fluids in situ by making downhole measurement on their composition as well as physical properties.

During this talk, I will describe Schlumberger’s current commercial offerings and the value that is derived from acquiring a better understanding of reservoir fluids.  I will then describe the work being done to develop new techniques that both improve on existing measurements and allow us to offer entirely new measurements to our clients.  Examples of these new techniques include terahertz time-domain spectroscopy to accurately quantify the water cut in a fluid sample.

We report the unbiased folding of hyper-stable RNA tetraloops to less than 1 Å RMSD from their experimentally determined structures using molecular dynamics simulations started from the unfolded state. RNA tetraloops with loop sequences UUCG, GCAA, or CUUG are hyper-stable due to the formation of non-canonical loop-stabilizing interactions, all of which are faithfully reproduced to angstrom-level accuracy in replica-exchange molecular dynamics simulations including explicit solvent and ion molecules. This is accomplished using new RNA parameters in which existing biases that favor rigid, highly stacked conformations are ameliorated in order to accurately capture the inherent flexibility of single-stranded RNA loops, accurate base stacking energetics, and purine anti-syn interconversions. In a departure from traditional quantum chemistry-centric approaches to force-field optimization, our parameters are calibrated directly from thermodynamic and kinetic measurements of intra and inter-nucleotide structural transitions. The ability to recapitulate the signature non-canonical interactions of the three most abundant stem-loop motifs should enable the accurate prediction of RNA tertiary structure using unbiased all-atom molecular dynamics simulations.

A joint MIT-Williams effort has, for over a decade, jointly explored the outer solar system through observing occultations of distant stars by Pluto and objects beyond it. We have monitored changes in Pluto’s atmosphere, which is of particular interest because the results indicate that Pluto’s atmosphere will not have snowed out by the time NASA’s New Horizon’s spacecraft arrives in July 2015.  Our most recent result involved NASA’s instrumented plane, SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), used by our speaker to observe an occultation by Pluto in June 2011, with a resulting analysis of Pluto’s atmosphere and the observed central flash. Simultaneously, Drs. Pasachoff and Babcock as well as Shubhanga Pandey ’14 observed the event from Hawaii.  The month before, a similar group plus Matt Hosek ’12 observed a different occultation by Pluto from our 24″ telescope at Williamstown.  Our speaker will describe the entire program and the latest results.  The continuing project is supported by separate NASA Planetary Astronomy grants to MIT and to Williams College.

A coherent XUV and soft x-ray light source can be realized through high-order harmonic generation (HHG). HHG transfers the spatial and temporal coherence of laser light to the soft x-ray and extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and is now being used for many exciting applications. This is typically realized with low repetition rate (< 100 kHz) amplified femtosecond laser systems producing high-energy pulses (>100 μJ), with average powers up to tens of Watts. In an alternative method, the modes of a frequency comb and a high-finesse external cavity can be locked, leading to >100 MHz repetition rates and multi-kiloWatt average powers for the driving laser while still supporting peak intensities sufficient for HHG.

I will discuss the advances we have made to improve the XUV yield of intracavity HHG by six orders of magnitude from the first demonstrations of this technique in 2005. We have generated HHG pulse trains at 154 MHz repetition rate with average power of more than 200 microWatt/harmonic. This has enabled the first direct frequency comb spectroscopy in the XUV, allowing MHz resolution of atomic lines at 82 nm and 63 nm with intrinsic absolute frequency calibration, bringing XUV spectroscopy out of the “light bulb” age. In addition to frequency metrology, this tabletop high average brightness XUV light source has promising applications in strong field and molecular physics studies, and more traditional XUV applications currently served by synchrotron facilities.

“The question, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” has been asked for millenia by people who speculate on the need for a creator of our Universe.  Today, exciting scientific advances provide new insight into this cosmological mystery: Not only can something arise from nothing, something will always arise from nothing.  Lawrence Krauss will present a mind-bending trip back to the beginning of the beginning and the end of the end, reviewing the remarkable developments in cosmology and particle physics over the past 20 years that have revolutionized our picture of the origin of the universe, and of its future, and which have literally revolutionized our understanding of both nothing, and something.  In the process, it has become clear that  not only can our universe naturally arise from nothing, without supernatural shenanigans,  but that it probably did.”

Over the last decade and a half, superconducting circuits have advanced to the point where we can generate and detect highly-entangled states, and perform universal quantum gates. Meanwhile, the coherence properties of these systems have improved more than 10,000-fold. I will describe recent experiments, such as the latest advance in coherence using a three-dimensional implementation of qubits interacting with microwave cavities, called “3D circuit QED.” The control and strong interactions possible in superconducting circuits make it possible to generate non-classical states of light, including large superpositions known as “Schrodinger cat” states. This field has many interesting prospects both for applications in quantum information processing, and fundamental investigations of the boundary between the macroscopic classical world and the microscopic world of the quantum.