OXFORD, Miss. – A renowned physicist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is to speak Tuesday (Oct. 21) at the University of Mississippi.
Roman Jackiw, Jerrold Zacharias Professor of Physics at MIT, plans to discuss “Fractional Charge” at 4 p.m. in Lewis Hall, Room 101. The event is free and open to the public.
“Fractional charge is a peculiar quantum mechanical phenomenon,” Jackiw said. “Its effects are seen experimentally in polyacetylene, a one-dimensional linear system. Recently, theorists have suggested that graphene – a two dimensional, planar material – may also support it. I shall describe the mathematics and physics behind this manifestation of ‘quantum weirdness.'”
Marco Cavaglia, assistant professor of physics at UM, arranged Jackiw’s visit.
“Professor Jackiw is one of the major theoretical high-energy physicists currently active in the U.S. and perhaps worldwide,” Cavaglia said. “He is also an excellent speaker, and it is always a pleasure to listen to his crystal-clear lectures.”
A native of Poland, Jackiw earned his doctorate from Cornell University in 1966 and has been a professor at the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics since 1969. Jackiw also won the 1995 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics and the prestigious Dirac Medal in theoretical physics in 1998, along with colleague Stephen Adler. “For physicists, a Dirac Medal is second only to a Nobel Prize,” said Tom Marshall, chair of the UM Department of Physics and Astronomy.
For more information, including assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-7046 or visit www.phy.olemiss.edu .