Matter is made of particles flying like tiny billiard balls through empty space, right? “No” said Paul Dirac: the vacuum is actually not empty, rather it looks like an infinitely deep sea. 'Elementary' particles like electrons and protons are just ripples on this Dirac sea. Since then physicists have discovered that the vacuum is not unique: each choice of vacuum leads to new elementary particles, the so-called quasiparticles. Louk Rademaker, a KITP condensed matter physicist, will guide a tour of phonons, excitons, magnons, Higgsons, and other crazy-ons, and show that these wild notions are as real as the modern technology that depends on them.
Doors open at SOhO at 5:00PM. Dinner and drinks will be available, and there is no cover charge for this event, so come to SOhO: Eat, think, and be merry! More information at http://www.sohosb.com/calendar/.
