Events Vertical

Title: Mapping the Quantum Limits of Classical Simulatability

Abstract: Quantum many-body systems are significantly more challenging to simulate than their classical counterparts. This is primarily due to the quantum sign problem, which prevents a reformulation in terms of stochastically sampling classical configurations. While many “sign problem-free” models have been discovered, which admit high-accuracy numerical simulations, many believe that certain phases of matter are intrinsically sign-problematic. In this talk, I present counterexamples to a number of no-go theorems by constructing sign problem-free models for phases of matter believed to be sign-problematic, and develop a revised perspective for how one should think about intrinsic sign problems.

Title: The interesting and unusual: Anomaly Detection in Astronomy’s Big Data Era

Abstract: Astrophysics has always made use of the unexpected, from unusual supernovae to the discovery of objects such as pulsars. As we enter an era dominated by data from facilities such as the Vera C Rubin Observatory, producing 30 Terabytes and 10 million alerts a night, this talk considers whether there’s still a place for anomalies, and how we might find them. Zooniverse co-founder Prof. Chris Lintott (University of Oxford/Gresham College) will use examples from nearly twenty years of citizen science to make the case for anomalies, including the most interesting star in the galaxy and an unusual light-echo, and then explore how modern machine learning can - and can’t - help us make these discoveries at Rubin scales.

Professor Chris Lintott is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and Gresham Professor of Astronomy in London. He is best known for his work on galaxy formation and citizen science, leading the Zooniverse project which has enabled millions of volunteers worldwide to contribute to scientific discoveries—from distant galaxies to exoplanets and beyond. Alongside his academic work, Chris has presented the BBC’s The Sky at Night TV program for more than 25 years, is an occasional stand-up comic, and is a passionate advocate for public engagement in science. He’s the author of several popular science books, including ‘Accidental Astronomy' and ‘The Crowd and the Cosmos’, and combines deep expertise with an accessible, often entertaining approach. When not exploring the universe, he enjoys cricket, real tennis, cooking, and walking his lurcher, Mr. Max.

Zoom Meeting

https://umn.zoom.us/s/93134319363

Host: Clem Pryke

It Came From Outer Space: Interstellar Objects and Solar System Stories.

In July 2025, a telescope in Chile detected an incoming object, known as 3I/ATLAS. This small comet likely formed more than seven billion years ago - before the Sun - in a star system in a very different part of the galaxy to that which we find ourselves in, and is only the third interstellar object yet detected passing through the Solar System. In this talk, Chris Lintott explores what these enigmatic objects can tell us and how they might have influenced the Earth’s formation, place them in the context of what we’re learning from the small bodies of the Solar System, including the latest results from the OSIRIS-REx mission to threatening near Earth object Bennu. The results taken together suggest a much more dynamic, and even chaotic, history for the Solar System than many would have expected. With the Vera Rubin Observatory, which will discover 3-5 million asteroids in the next year or two now coming on stream, we stand on the cusp of a revolution in what we know about our cosmic neighbourhood - and the interstellar objects that visit it.

Wednesday, September 16th, 2026, at 7 pm.

Bio: Professor Chris Lintott is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and Gresham Professor of Astronomy in London. He is best known for his work on galaxy formation and citizen science, leading the Zooniverse project which has enabled millions of volunteers worldwide to contribute to scientific discoveries—from distant galaxies to exoplanets and beyond. Alongside his academic work, Chris has presented the BBC’s The Sky at Night TV program for more than 25 years, is an occasional stand-up comic, and is a passionate advocate for public engagement in science. He’s the author of several popular science books, including ‘Accidental Astronomy' and ‘The Crowd and the Cosmos’, and combines deep expertise with an accessible, often entertaining approach. When not exploring the universe, he enjoys cricket, real tennis, cooking, and walking his lurcher, Mr. Max.

More information on the Kaufmanis public lecture and registration

Title: Quantum materials through the nano-lens: polariton waves, phase competition, and surprises beyond the diffraction limit

Abstract: Textbook optics holds that the stubborn “diffraction limit” limits the ultimate spatial resolution achievable by optical imaging.  However, I’ll show how marrying “conventional” optics with a sharp scanned probe circumvents this diffraction limit, empowering a nanometer-resolved optical spectroscopy mediated fundamentally by electromagnetic near-fields.  In this seminar, I review and celebrate the breakthrough of “nano-optics” into the energy, temperature, and spatial scales important to fundamental studies of quantum materials.  In this class of matter, intrinsic spatial inhomogeneity at scales well below the diffraction limit of light provides a feature, not a bug!  I’ll show how light waves can be coaxed to propagate in nanometer-scale volumes as polaritons, which we excite, manipulate, and even train into propagating backwards in quantum materials, as revealed through nano-optics of freestanding membranes [1].  I’ll also show how nano-optics allows mapping and quantifying the identity of electronic and structural phases of matter that both compete and coexist at nanometer scales thanks to strong interactions, and will be key to multifunctional technologies enabled by quantum materials [2].   Finally, I will show how nano-optics at cryogenic temperatures helps uncover the keys to stabilize superconductivity in a new family of quasi-two-dimensional “square planar”  nickel oxides.  I will share my perspectives for the future of nano-spectroscopy of quantum materials, a future that is simultaneously ultra-bright and ultra-small, and fundamentally transformative for metrology of complex matter at nanometer scales [3].

Welcome back to campus Gophers!

Start of fall full semester and first 7-week sessions

University closed, No classes

Universe in the Park is hosted by the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics and area state and local parks.

Representatives of the Institute will present a short (~20 min) outdoor public talk and slide show. Presentations cover a variety of astronomical topics such as: the history of matter, how astronomers "see," and a journey through our solar system. For the 2024 season, talks will be outdoors to ensure they are as safe as possible.

Afterwards, if weather allows, attendees have the opportunity to view the sky through multiple 8-inch reflecting telescopes, operated by the staff and provided by the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics. Additionally, free star maps (e.g., www.skymaps.com) and instructions are provided. Throughout the evening, audience members are encouraged to ask questions and discuss topics ranging from backyard astronomy to the latest scientific discoveries.

Although a vehicle permit is usually required to enter the parks, the events are free to the public.

Universe in the Park is hosted by the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics and area state and local parks.

Representatives of the Institute will present a short (~20 min) outdoor public talk and slide show. Presentations cover a variety of astronomical topics such as: the history of matter, how astronomers "see," and a journey through our solar system. For the 2024 season, talks will be outdoors to ensure they are as safe as possible.

Afterwards, if weather allows, attendees have the opportunity to view the sky through multiple 8-inch reflecting telescopes, operated by the staff and provided by the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics. Additionally, free star maps (e.g., www.skymaps.com) and instructions are provided. Throughout the evening, audience members are encouraged to ask questions and discuss topics ranging from backyard astronomy to the latest scientific discoveries.

Although a vehicle permit is usually required to enter the parks, the events are free to the public.

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of aerosol properties and behavior. With laboratory experiments, participants will gain practical skill training to sample, measure, and characterize airborne particulate matter in a variety of applications, including PM2.5 air pollution measurements, industrial hygiene sampling, nanoparticle exposure measurements, and contamination controls in microelectronics and pharmaceutical cleanrooms.

Course details and registration