Colloquium: Dr. Todd Pittman | UMBC

ABSTRACT: The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Clauser, Alain Aspect, and Anton Zeilinger for experiments with entangled photons.  This may have left you wondering, “What are entangled photons, and how does one actually do experiments with them?” In this talk I will discuss questions like these and, more broadly, the concept of quantum entanglement.  I’ll frame the discussion with an historical timeline that begins with deep insights by people like Schrodinger and Einstein in the 1930’s, goes through the Nobel Prize-winning experiments of the 1970’s - 1990’s, and into the Quantum Information Science revolution happening today.  I will also highlight an exciting history of entangled photon research right here at UMBC, with numerous pioneering advances and connections to the Nobel Prize by UMBC Physics Faculty members Yanhua Shih, Mort Rubin, and Jim Franson.