{"id":37539,"date":"2025-05-07T14:05:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T12:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/fstm-en\/?post_type=events&p=37539"},"modified":"2025-05-08T10:03:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:03:17","slug":"physics-colloquium-talk-by-professor-william-d-phillips","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/fstm-en\/events\/physics-colloquium-talk-by-professor-william-d-phillips\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobel Physics Colloquium \/ talk by professor William D. Phillips \/ a Nobel Prize laureate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\nA New Measure: The revolutionary, quantum reform of the modern metric system<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International System of Units (the SI), the modern metric system, recently underwent its most revolutionary change since its origins during the French Revolution. The nature of this revolution is that all of the base units of the SI are now defined by fixing values of natural constants. Our measurement system is now, both philosophically and practically, decidedly quantum. This talk will recall some of the history of how units have been defined in the past, describe why the quantum reform was needed, and how it is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the speaker:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bProf.<\/strong> William D. Phillips<\/strong> is an American physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In 1997, along with Steven Chu and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to laser cooling. This technique allows slowing down the movement of gaseous atoms in order to better study them. He also invented the Zeeman slower. Bill Phillips is also Professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William D. Phillips website<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spring DPhyMS colloquia will continue with the new format:<\/p>\n\n\n\n