Greater than the sum of its quarks

One of the most profound discoveries in science is that simple rules often lead to complex phenomena. Emergence, the observation that more is different, is ubiquitous: one water molecule is not a fluid, one neuron is not conscious, and one DNA molecule is not alive.

Some of the most dramatic and strangest examples of emergence are found in materials made of a septillion or more quantum particles. Strange things happen. Quantum behaviours of many particles can be even weirder than the quantum physics of one particle.

At November's BrisScience, UQ's Professor Ben Powell will take you on a tour of some of the strangest effects of quantum mechanics and the most surprising new physics that emerges from interactions between unimaginably large numbers of quantum particles.

Doors open at 6pm. Lecture commences at 6.30pm and will include an interactive Q&A session. Light refreshments between 7.30-8pm.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is to be held at Auditorium 1 at the State Library of Queensland, just around the corner from The Edge.

Watch the recording

 Professor Ben Powell is an award-winning theoretical physicist. He grew up in London, then moved to Bristol, where he played drums in several unsuccessful Britpop bands and studied physics. In 2002 he moved to Brisbane to take up a two-year contract as a researcher. He never left. Ben is fascinated by the way quantum systems of many particles lead to qualitatively new physics. His research aims to understand what new physics happens in quantum many particle systems and how to design new materials to control these emergent behaviours so that, ultimately, we can harness them in new technologies.