All Scheduled Events, Physics | AS

February 17, 2026 Tuesday 10:00 AM For Zoom link, contact es185@nyu.edu +
726 Broadway, 940 & Zoom
Center for Quantum Phenomena Seminars (cqp)

Special Talk
Ethan Lake
UC Berkeley

Many-body Memories

Are there many-body systems capable of retaining long-term memory of their initial conditions, even when coupled to a generic noisy environment? This question is central to a wide range of problems in nonequilibrium dynamics, condensed matter physics, and applied quantum science, and we are only just beginning to answer it. In this talk, I will overview progress in this direction, for both classical and quantum information.

On the classical side, I will describe spin systems that encode information in a self-organising, noise-robust way. Studying these systems has led to new discoveries in nonequilibrium statistical physics, and has demonstrated that systems which retain order in the absence of any symmetry may be more common than previously thought. On the quantum side, I will present many-body systems whose native dynamics autonomously protects quantum information against decoherence. These systems have the potential to significantly streamline experimental quantum error correction efforts, and define a new direction in the classification of nonequilibrium phases of quantum matter.

February 18, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Alice Garoffolo
University of Pennsylvania

TBA

TBA

February 18, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
Hybrid: 726 Bdwy, 871 and Zoom
Soft Condensed Matter Seminars (csmr)

Corentin Coulais
UVA

Learning to Change Shape and to Locomote without a Brain

One of the distinctive functionalities of living materials, such as biological polymers, cells, tissues, and living organisms is the ability to change shape and to navigate complex and unpredictable terrains.
A frontier of material science is to create synthetic materials that emulate these life-like capabilities. Yet, advanced materials miss a crucial property that is prevalent in living materials: the ability to adapt their shape-changing response to changing conditions and to learn by modifying their components locally after fabrication. Here, inspired by recent developments in physical learning, we create active metamaterials—metamaterials energized from within—which learn to exhibit robust cycles of shape-changes. The robustness of these cycles is rooted in an emergent feedback loop between the active metamaterial and the environment, which is mediated by elastic deformations and stresses, and controlled by non-reciprocity—the breaking of the action-reaction principle. Our findings opens avenues for the use of metamaterials and physical learning to design adaptive materials and brainless robots.

February 19, 2026 Thursday 2:00 PM For Zoom link, contact es185@nyu.edu +
726 Broadway, 1067 & Zoom
Center for Quantum Phenomena Seminars (cqp)

Special Talk
Samuel Garratt
Princeton

Complexity of Quantum Matter

Over the last several decades a number of exciting connections between many-body physics and computational complexity have emerged. These arise in systems as diverse as glasses, mutually-gravitating celestial bodies, and interacting quantum spins. Studying such connections in many-body quantum systems promises to teach us about how we can use quantum computers to solve outstanding scientific problems. First I will discuss a relation between the thermodynamic properties of quantum systems and the resources required to describe these systems on classical computers. Then I will address the preparation of equilibrium states, a key primitive in future simulations on quantum computers. Remarkably, the complexity of this task is encoded in the way that a system relaxes when it is perturbed away from equilibrium. These two results relate the physical phenomena that we observe in nature to our ability to simulate those phenomena using both classical and quantum computers.

February 19, 2026 Thursday 4:00 PM +
726 Broadway, Room 940
Physics Colloquia (colloquia)

Sebastian Will
Columbia University

Creating and Exploring Bose-Einstein Condensates of Dipolar Molecules

Ultracold dipolar molecules feature strong long-range interactions and, on the theory side, have long been envisioned as a powerful platform for many-body quantum physics. However, experimentally, the cooling of molecules to quantum degeneracy has been a long-standing challenge.
Recently, we have created the first BEC of dipolar molecules [1]. We evaporatively cool a gas of sodium-cesium molecules to below 10 nanokelvin, deep in the quantum degenerate regime. The BECs live for several seconds. This dramatic improvement over previous molecular cooling efforts is enabled by collisional shielding via microwave dressing, suppressing inelastic losses by four orders of magnitude [2]. Microwave dressing also provides an exceptional level of tunability of dipole-dipole interactions, opening the door to novel phases of matter in molecular quantum liquids. Most recently, we have observed self-bound droplets in a gas of strongly dipolar molecules [3].
In this talk, I will describe our experimental approach, discuss recent results, and give an outlook on new opportunities enabled by molecular BECs for many-body quantum physics, quantum simulation, and quantum computing. In addition, I will briefly highlight our broader efforts in quantum, including recent advances on single-atom trapping in metasurface optical tweezer arrays [4].
Figure: Formation of self-bound droplets in a BEC of dipolar NaCs molecules
References:
[1] Bigagli, Yuan, Zhang, et al., Observation of Bose-Einstein condensation of dipolar molecules, Nature 631, 289-293 (2024)
[2] Yuan, Zhang, et al., Extreme loss suppression and wide tunability of dipolar interactions in an ultracold molecular gas, arXiv:2505.08773 (2025)
[3] Zhang, Yuan, et al., Observation of self-bound droplets of ultracold dipolar molecules, arXiv:2507.15208 (2025) (Nature, accepted)
[4] Holman, Xu, et al., Trapping of single atoms in metasurface optical tweezer arrays, Nature, 649, 859-865 (2026)

February 23, 2026 Monday 10:00 AM For Zoom link, contact es185@nyu.edu +
726 Broadway, 940 & Zoom
Center for Quantum Phenomena Seminars (cqp)

Special Talk
Patrick Ledwith
MIT

Strong Correlations in Topological Bands

Many of the most remarkable phenomena in condensed matter physics emerge in strongly correlated systems, where electron interactions give rise to exotic phases beyond band theory. While most work on strongly correlated systems has focused on correlations generated by tightly localized orbitals, quantum Hall phases show that strong correlations in topological bands can have a very different nature. In this talk, I will present analytical methods that target the wide landscape of topological bands beyond Landau levels. I will begin by showing how a specific geometric aspect of a bands' wavefunctions leads to phenomena spanning electron fractionalization to layer-skyrmion lattices with chiral collective modes. Next, I will introduce a small parameter motivated by the wavefunctions in twisted bilayer graphene. Its systematic expansion reconciles seemingly incompatible observations of band topology and fluctuating moments and predicts the emergence of arbitrarily light three-particle bound states that are topologically protected from mixing with electrons. I will conclude with future directions, including old questions of Mott physics that a systematic expansion parameter may shed light on.

February 23, 2026 Monday 12:30 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Other Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics Events (ccpp)

CCPP Brown Bag
Yifan Wang
NYU

February 25, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Sahand Seifnashri
IAS

TBA

TBA

February 26, 2026 Thursday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, Room 1067
Center for Quantum Information Physics Seminars (cqip)

Leah Weiss
University of Chicago

A nanoscale spin-photon interface with chemically synthesized molecules for quantum technologies

Quantum control and readout of polyatomic molecules is a frontier for quantum information science. The nanometer size and portability of chemically synthesized molecules present an opportunity for bottom-up design of qubits with properties tailored toward spin-optical technologies (e.g., in quantum sensing and networking). With this motivation, we have developed a proof-of-principal molecular spin qubit using a central rare-earth ion (erbium) coordinated by organic ligands. This molecular architecture combines a coherent ground-state spin and a high-resolution spin-photon interface at telecommunication frequencies [1]. We have further demonstrated optical control of spin polarization and readout that is both spin- and site-selective, distinguishing between electronic spin-states and occupation of distinct physical sites within a solid-state molecular crystal. Operation at frequencies compatible with state-of-the-art photonic and microwave devices opens opportunities for development of hybrid molecular technologies at the interface of quantum science and chemical engineering. [1] Weiss, L R., et al. "A high-resolution molecular spin-photon interface at telecommunication wavelengths." Science 390, 6768 (2025)

February 26, 2026 Thursday 4:00 PM +
726 Broadway, Room 940
Physics Colloquia (colloquia)

Natasha Holmes
Cornell University

Andre Adler Colloquium:
What Does It Mean For Physics Labs To Be Authentic?

Educational innovation is pushing towards providing students with authentic learning experiences. But what counts as authentic? In this talk, I’ll discuss the various ways we’ve been conceptualizing authenticity in introductory physics labs, from simulating authentic practice to embedding the lab exercises in more advanced physics topics, such as particle physics and active matter. We’ll discuss preliminary data about student learning and perceptions and explore future research questions.

February 26, 2026 Thursday 4:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Physics Colloquia (colloquia)

Natasha Holmes
Cornell University

Andre Adler Colloquium: What Does It Mean For Physics Labs To Be Authentic?

Educational innovation is pushing towards providing students with authentic learning experiences. But what counts as authentic? In this talk, I’ll discuss the various ways we’ve been conceptualizing authenticity in introductory physics labs, from simulating authentic practice to embedding the lab exercises in more advanced physics topics, such as particle physics and active matter. We’ll discuss preliminary data about student learning and perceptions and explore future research questions.

March 2, 2026 Monday 12:30 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Other Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics Events (ccpp)

CCPP Brown Bag
Yacine Ali-Haimoud
NYU

March 3, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Astrophysics and Relativity Seminars (astro)

Nadine Soliman
California Institute of Technology

TBD

March 4, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Regina Caputo
NASA Goddard

TBA

TBA

March 4, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
Hybrid: 726 Bdwy, 871 and Zoom
Soft Condensed Matter Seminars (csmr)

Xiaoming Mao
University of Michigan

TBA

March 5, 2026 Thursday 11:00 AM +
726 Broadway, Room 1067
Center for Quantum Information Physics Seminars (cqip)

Ziyi Zhao
Yale University

Superconducting switches for modular quantum networks

Josephson-junction-based superconducting circuits enable coherent control of microwave signals at cryogenic temperatures, providing a foundation for modular quantum networks. This talk presents superconducting microwave switches that provide rapid, low-loss, and scalable routing of microwave signals, establishing a versatile building block for modular quantum networks. The architecture integrates a Tunable Inductor Bridge (TIB) as the switch, a seam-free 2D–3D interface that couples the TIB to high-Q cavities, and a current-controlled TIB that implements a persistent-current switch to realize a “set-and-forget” control. Our switch achieves a broadband 20-dB on/off ratio, 200 pW power handling, and 600 MHz modulation bandwidth. Combining the TIB with the 2D-3D interface, we show designs and preliminary results of a small two-module quantum network.

March 9, 2026 Monday 12:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Other Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics Events (ccpp)

CCPP Brown Bag
Mudit Garg
NYU

March 10, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Astrophysics and Relativity Seminars (astro)

Eli Waxman
Weizmann Institute

TBA

March 11, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Jiji Fan
Brown University

TBA

TBA

March 12, 2026 Thursday 11:00 AM +
726 Broadway, Room 1067
Center for Quantum Information Physics Seminars (cqip)

Benedikt Frohn
Forschungszentrum Jülich

Non-Local Transport in proximitized Multi-Terminal Topological-Insulator Nanoribbons

Hybrid systems that combine superconductors with topological insulators offer a promising route toward topological superconductivity, but progress is often limited by interface quality and by device concepts that do not scale well. In this talk, I will present scalable multi-terminal hybrid junctions based on selectively grown topological-insulator nanoribbons defined by stencil lithography, operated in a regime where voltage-driven Andreev processes coexist with current-induced heating. To interpret the measurements, we combine the experiments with a self-consistent three-terminal transport model. This analysis allows us to disentangle electronic and thermal contributions, identify the role of cross-heating, and discuss the competition between crossed Andreev reflection and elastic co-tunneling in configurations with multiple biased terminals. Overall, the results demonstrate robust proximity coupling throughout the device and establish a scalable architecture for multi-terminal hybrid topological systems.

March 12, 2026 Thursday 4:00 PM +
726 Bdwy, 940
Physics Colloquia (colloquia)

Victor M Yakovenko
Department of Physics and JQI, University of Maryland, College Park

The Mathematics of Human Population Growth and CO2 Emissions

https://physics.umd.edu/~yakovenk/
As a postdoc, I attended a physics colloquium presented by Sergei Kapitza at Rutgers University in the fall of 1992. His talk argued that human population growth is hyperbolic with a singularity in the year 2026. Actually, this claim was first published in Science by Heinz von Foerster et al. in 1960. Using current empirical data from 10,000 BCE to 2023 CE, we re-examine this claim. We find that human population initially grew exponentially in time as N(t)~exp(t/T) with T~3000 years. This growth then gradually evolved to be super-exponential with a form similar to the Bose function in statistical physics. Population growth further accelerated around 1700, entering the hyperbolic regime N(t)=C/(t_s-t) with the extrapolated singularity year t_s=2030, which essentially confirms the claim by Kapitza and von Foerster et al. We attribute the onset of the hyperbolic regime to the transition to massive use of fossil fuels upon the Industrial Revolution, as evidenced by a linear relation that we find between population and the increase in CO2 level from 1700 to 2000. But in the 21st century, the inverse population curve 1/N(t) deviates from a straight line and follows a pattern of "avoided crossing". As a result, the singularity transforms into a square-root Lorentzian peak of the width \tau=32 years. The predicted year t_s=2030 of the peak in human population is much earlier than in other demographic forecasts. We also find that the increase in the CO2 level since 1700 is well fitted by arccot[(t_s-t)/\tau_F] with \tau_F=40 years, which implies a Lorentzian peak in the annual emissions d(CO2)/dt at the same year t_s=2030.
Publication: V. M. Yakovenko, Physica A 661, 130412 (2025)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2025.130412 (open access)
Video recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJPFApdokrg

March 23, 2026 Monday 12:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Other Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics Events (ccpp)

CCPP Brown Bag
Andrei Gruzinov
NYU

Pulsar: Power and Force

March 24, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Astrophysics and Relativity Seminars (astro)

Yanqin Wu
University of Toronto

TBD

March 26, 2026 Thursday 4:00 PM +
726 Broadway, Room 940
Physics Colloquia (colloquia)

Amy Rowat
UCLA

Biophysical Approaches to Understand and Harness Cellular Mechanobiology

March 31, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Astrophysics and Relativity Seminars (astro)

Nicolas Fernandez Gonzalez
Rutgers University

TBA

April 1, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Kevin Langhoff
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

TBA

TBA

April 2, 2026 Thursday 11:00 AM +
726 Broadway, Room 1067
Center for Quantum Information Physics Seminars (cqip)

Michael Cubeddu
Aliro Quantum Technologies

TBA

April 2, 2026 Thursday 4:00 PM +
726 Broadway, Room 940
Physics Colloquia (colloquia)

Vidya Madhavan
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign

Ultrafast Measurements of Massive Phase Oscillations of a Condensate

The Anderson-Higgs mechanism manifests in quantum materials, with the Meissner effect in superconductors serving as a notable example. Here, photons gain mass through interactions with condensed Cooper pairs, leading to the expulsion of magnetic fields from the superconductor's interior. A similar process has been predicted to occur in a charge density wave (CDW) condensate, where the collective phase oscillations (phasons), which are typically massless, could acquire mass via a Anderson-Higgs-like mechanism. Although the concept of massive phasons was proposed decades ago, it is only recently that THz emission from the unconventional CDW insulator (TaSe4)2I has been detected and linked to this mode. To directly confirm the presence of these massive phasons, local charge oscillations must be measured with femtosecond temporal resolution, which is a challenging task.
In this talk, I will present a pump-probe scanning tunneling microscope that enables local measurement of local charge dynamics. Using this tool, we observe charge oscillations at 0.22 THz, displaying the temperature dependence expected of an excitation acquiring mass through the Higgs mechanism. Remarkably, we also detect a second excitation with equal intensity. I will present evidence that this mode results from the splitting of the massive phason into two massless modes, akin to the decay of a neutral pion into two photons. This work not only confirms the existence of Higgs-ed massive phasons in (TaSe4)2I but also uncovers their complex interactions with other modes, opening new avenues for exploring dynamic phenomena such as light-induced superconductivity.

April 7, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Astrophysics and Relativity Seminars (astro)

Anna-Christina Eilers
MIT

TBD!

April 7, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 1067, CQP Seminar
Center for Quantum Phenomena Seminars (cqp)

Lee R. Liu
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University

Shining New Light on Highly Symmetric Molecules

The C60 fullerene molecule has been the subject of intense study for four decades, starting with the identification in mass spectra of carbon soot in 1985. Following the observation of quantum-state resolved infrared spectra in 2019, C60 is now the largest and most symmetric molecule for which rovibrational quantum state resolution has been achieved. I will talk about recent results on laboratory spectroscopy of gas phase C60, including probing its dynamics, collision properties, and nuclear spin statistics. This motivates quantum state-resolved spectroscopy of "large" symmetric molecules as a window into the properties of complex quantum systems with symmetries and degrees of freedom not readily available in other composite systems. I will also address the outstanding problem of restrictive selection rules in probing highly symmetric molecules.

April 8, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Silviu Pufu
Princeton

TBA

TBA

April 9, 2026 Thursday 11:00 AM +
726 Broadway, Room 1067
Center for Quantum Information Physics Seminars (cqip)

Javier Sanchez-Yamagishi
UC Irvine

TBA

April 14, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Astrophysics and Relativity Seminars (astro)

Andrei M. Beloborodov
Columbia University

TBD

April 15, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Alfredo Guevara
IAS

TBA

TBA

April 20, 2026 Monday 12:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Other Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics Events (ccpp)

CCPP Brown Bag
Drummond Fielding
NYU

April 21, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Astrophysics and Relativity Seminars (astro)

Charlie Conroy
Harvard University

TBD!

April 21, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 1067, CQP Seminar
Center for Quantum Phenomena Seminars (cqp)

Ankit Disa
Cornell University

TBA

April 22, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Jan Albert
Princeton

TBA

TBA

April 27, 2026 Monday 12:30 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Other Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics Events (ccpp)

CCPP Brown Bag
Matthew Kleban
NYU

April 28, 2026 Tuesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
Astrophysics and Relativity Seminars (astro)

Kelsey Lund
UC Berkeley

TBD

April 29, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Huangyu Xiao
Harvard University/Boston University

TBA

TBA

April 30, 2026 Thursday 11:00 AM +
726 Broadway, Room 1067
Center for Quantum Information Physics Seminars (cqip)

Arman Babakhani
JP Morgan Chase, Global Research

TBA

May 6, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Ciaran Williams
University at Buffalo

TBA

TBA

November 11, 2026 Wednesday 2:00 PM +
726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar
High Energy Physics Seminars (hep)

Alexander Penin
U. of Alberta