skip to content
Home

Microstructural Kinetics Group

Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy
 

School of Physical Sciences

Subscribe to School of Physical Sciences feed
This is a superlist combining all those seminars on talks.cam taking place in one of the Departments of the School of Physical sciences, plus occasional other talks which would be of significant interest to researchers in the School. If you would like your talk or list included please contact Duncan (drs45)
URL: http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/index/6793
Updated: 41 min 22 sec ago

Fri 14 Mar 16:00: Normal mode coupling in an aspherical planet

Mon, 10/02/2025 - 13:03
Normal mode coupling in an aspherical planet

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 07 Mar 16:00: Channels or waves: controls on melt migration through the upper mantle

Mon, 10/02/2025 - 13:02
Channels or waves: controls on melt migration through the upper mantle

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 14 Feb 16:00: Reconciling seismic and thermo-chemical models of cratonic lithosphere

Mon, 10/02/2025 - 13:01
Reconciling seismic and thermo-chemical models of cratonic lithosphere

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Wed 19 Feb 14:30: Unraveling Water’s Behavior in Anisotropic Environments

Mon, 10/02/2025 - 12:02
Unraveling Water’s Behavior in Anisotropic Environments

The structure and reactivity of water in anisotropic environments, such as at interfaces or under the influence of electric fields, can differ significantly from those observed in bulk. Understanding these differences is crucial for gaining insights into various atmospheric and electrochemical processes that impact our society.

In the first part of my talk, I will discuss how ions organize at the water/air interface and demonstrate that the conventional electric double-layer model fails to provide a complete microscopic picture of these interfaces [1,2]. Using first-principles simulations, I will show that the surface of common electrolyte solutions is stratified into two distinct water layers: one depleted of ions and the other enriched with them.

Next, I will present our recent investigation into water autodissociation [3]. We employ the modern theory of polarization to perform periodic ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of water under external electric fields. Our simulations reveal that the enhancement of water dissociation in these conditions is primarily driven by entropic effects rather than enthalpic ones, as is normally assumed. Finally, I will discuss how these findings may provide crucial insights into recent kinetic measurements of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) across various electrochemical systems [4].

[1] Y. Litman, J. Lan, Y Nagata, D. M. Wilkins, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 14, 8175-8182 (2023) [2] Y. Litman, K-Y. Chiang, T. Seki, Y. Nagata, M. Bonn, Nat. Chem. (2024) 16, 644–650 (2024) [3] Y. Litman, A. Michaelides (in preparation) [4] J. M. Gisbert-González, C. G. Rodellar, J. Druce, E. Ortega, B. Roldan Cuenya, S. Z. Oener, J. Am. Chem. Soc (in press, DOI : 10.1021/jacs.4c18638)

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Wed 26 Feb 14:30: Probing biomolecular phase separation through multiscale computer simulations.

Mon, 10/02/2025 - 09:57
Probing biomolecular phase separation through multiscale computer simulations.

Biomolecular condensates play crucial roles in cellular organisation, regulating diverse biological functions, as well as contributing to disease pathologies when phase separation is dysregulated. However, the physicochemical mechanisms by which they are formed and regulated are still not well understood, especially in the complex environment inside cells consisting of thousands of different components. Computer simulations have emerged as powerful tools to investigate phase transitions in these systems. In this talk, we will discuss how coarse-grained molecular-dynamics simulations at different resolutions can probe the molecular mechanisms governing biomolecular phase separation across different systems, as well as guide the design of proteins that can give rise to condensates with specific properties.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Thu 17 Apr 14:00: Title to be confirmed

Sun, 09/02/2025 - 12:05
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Thu 13 Feb 17:00: Algebraising foundations of elliptic curves

Sat, 08/02/2025 - 19:25
Algebraising foundations of elliptic curves

Elliptic curves are one of the simplest non-trivial objects in algebraic geometry, which are pervasive in modern number theory, but also see applications in point counting algorithms and public key cryptography. Due to their geometric nature, formalising a working definition typically requires a lot of technical machinery, let alone any non-trivial results. Yet, the Lean community has managed to formalise two of the most fundamental theorems in the theory of elliptic curves, with scope for many more projects. In this talk, I will explain these theorems, and how we inadvertently discovered new proofs in our formalisation attempts. Elliptic curves are one of the simplest non-trivial objects in algebraic geometry, which are pervasive in modern number theory, but also see applications in point counting algorithms and public key cryptography. Due to their geometric nature, formalising a working definition typically requires a lot of technical machinery, let alone any non-trivial results. Yet, the Lean community has managed to formalise two of the most fundamental theorems in the theory of elliptic curves, with scope for many more projects. In this talk, I will explain these theorems, and how we inadvertently discovered new proofs in our formalisation attempts.

=== Hybrid talk ===

Join Zoom Meeting https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87143365195?pwd=SELTNkOcfVrIE1IppYCsbooOVqenzI.1

Meeting ID: 871 4336 5195

Passcode: 541180

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Wed 19 Feb 16:30: TBC

Sat, 08/02/2025 - 08:47
TBC

TBC

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Mon 17 Feb 14:00: (Cancelled)

Fri, 07/02/2025 - 18:35
(Cancelled)

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Wed 19 Feb 16:15: Searching for new physics with ultracold molecules

Fri, 07/02/2025 - 14:41
Searching for new physics with ultracold molecules

In the Standard Model of particle of physics, the electron has a tiny permanent electric dipole moment (EDM). In most theories that extend the Standard Model, this EDM is predicted to be many orders of magnitude larger due to new CP-violating mechanisms. Thus, EDM measurements are searches for new CP-violating physics which is deeply connected to the puzzle of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe. The most precise measurements of the electron EDM all use molecules. The molecules are spin polarized, and the EDM determined by measuring the spin precession frequency in an applied electric field. The precession is due to the interaction of the EDM with an effective electric field which can be exceptionally large for heavy polar molecules. To reach high precision we need long spin precession times, which is only possible with neutral molecules if they are cooled to microkelvin temperatures. I will present our efforts to measure the electron EDM using laser-cooled YbF molecules, both in a beam and, in the future, trapped in an optical lattice.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Tue 11 Feb 11:00: ML beyond Neutrino Physics: Cancer Research

Fri, 07/02/2025 - 14:09
ML beyond Neutrino Physics: Cancer Research

Not available.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 14 Feb 18:00: Modelling for the Budding Mathematician

Fri, 07/02/2025 - 13:13
Modelling for the Budding Mathematician

Both pure and applied mathematics are about modelling: one approximates concepts, while the other is concerned with ‘the real world’. Either form must contend with the inherent difficulties of the enterprise.

This talk will discuss what ‘modelling’ entails and how the tools of category theory provide natural ways to tackle the associated challenges. This is intended as a gentle introduction to categorical thinking, and no prior background is assumed. If time permits, I will also sketch an elegant new approach to modelling complex systems based on the theory of double categories and how it is connected to assume-guarantee reasoning.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Tue 11 Feb 11:15: The capacity of Constant Torsion Emergent Gravity to resolve cosmological tensions

Fri, 07/02/2025 - 11:07
The capacity of Constant Torsion Emergent Gravity to resolve cosmological tensions

Despite the success of the ΛCDM model in explaining a wide range of cosmological phenomena, observational discrepancies such as the Hubble tension and curvature tension, as well as theoretical challenges such as the inability to unify General Relativity with other fundamental forces in particle physics, have prompted a reevaluation of our current cosmological model and an exploration of other theories of gravity. We investigate the constant torsion emergent gravity (CTEG) model, a specific case of Poincare Gauge Theory (PGT) of gravity. This model introduces two extra cosmological parameters in addition to the six parameters in ΛCDM, and can be treated as a standard extension to ΛCDM with modified dark energy. This modification is then implemented with CAMB and the constraints of the cosmological parameters of PGT is obtained through nested sampling using Polychord and Cobaya. Our results offer a comparative analysis against the ΛCDM model, looking at the possibility of CTEG to resolve key observational tensions.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 14 Feb 13:00: Third law of black hole mechanics for supersymmetric black holes

Fri, 07/02/2025 - 10:41
Third law of black hole mechanics for supersymmetric black holes

The third law of black hole mechanics asserts that it is impossible for a non-extremal black hole to become extremal in finite time (in classical General Relativity). A proof of this law was claimed in the 1980s. However, counterexamples to this law were found recently: gravitational collapse of a massless charged scalar field can produce an exactly extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black hole in finite time, passing through an intermediate phase in which the solution is exactly Schwarzschild at the horizon. These examples involve matter with a large charge to mass ratio. What about theories, such as supersymmetric theories, with an upper bound on the charge to mass ratio of matter? In this case I have proved that one cannot form a supersymmetric black hole (such as extremal Reissner-Nordstrom) in finite time. Thus a third law holds for supersymmetric black holes. The proof involves ideas related to quasi-local energy. In this talk I shall review all of these developments.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Wed 12 Feb 13:30: A model-theoretic approach to Roth's theorem

Thu, 06/02/2025 - 16:53
A model-theoretic approach to Roth's theorem

The ultraproduct construction is a useful tool in model theory to study the asymptotic behavior of a class of structures. In the particular case of a class of finite groups, the ultralimit of the normalized counting measure yields a translation-invariant Keisler measure on internal sets, which has played a crucial role in the recent years in several applications of model-theoretic techniques to additive combinatorics.

In this talk, we present a model-theoretic result that resonates with Croot-Sisask’s almost periodicity technique for a general group equipped with a Keisler measure under some mild assumptions. We then show how to use this result to obtain, via an ultrafilter construction, a non-quantitative proof of Roth’s theorem on arithmetic progressions of length three. The core idea of our model-theoretic version of almost periodicity is the stability-like behaviour of a convolution of sets. We will not assume prior knowledge of model theory for this talk.

In the first part of the talk, aimed at a general (non-logic) audience, we will recall the ultraproduct construction of finite groups, as well as Łoś’s theorem, dense internal subsets and the main features of stable relations, in order to briefly outline how to prove a non-quantitative version of Roth’s theorem.

The second part of the talk will focus on a more detailed explanation of some aspects of the proofs, in particular the notions of dense and random elements and their features. If time permits, we will explain how some of these techniques can be adapted to study the collection of starting points of arithmetic progressions in the primes and in the square-free integers.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Thu 22 May 14:00: Walter Kohn: the theoretical physicist who created DFT and won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry

Thu, 06/02/2025 - 16:20
Walter Kohn: the theoretical physicist who created DFT and won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry

Abstract not available

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Thu 13 Feb 14:00: Quantum phases of matter under non-unitary dynamics

Thu, 06/02/2025 - 15:17
Quantum phases of matter under non-unitary dynamics

Recent breakthroughs in the development of digital quantum devices promise to grant computational capacities far beyond the reach of classical architectures, and open unprecedented possibilities to study quantum many-body systems. This swift progress is fueling intense interest in the complex interplay of unitary quantum dynamics and non-unitary processes arising naturally in experiments, such as dissipation stemming from coupling to the environment or projective measurements performed on the system. This talk illustrates the rich dynamical phase diagrams that can emerge in these non-unitary settings. In the first part, we address the challenges of protecting quantum coherence against environmental noise, and explore the dynamical phase diagram of dissipative quantum many-body systems. In contrast to the general expectation that in an open system coherent information is quickly lost to the dissipative environment, we construct a regime of open quantum dynamics, functioning as a quantum error-correcting code which is dynamically protected against generic boundary noise. We comment on the implications of these results for designing robust quantum devices. We then turn to the effects of local measurements performed on the system. Specifically, we demonstrate that appropriately chosen projective measurements can imprint highly non-trivial order on quantum many-body systems, realizing the out-of-equilibrium counterpart of spontaneous symmetry breaking and symmetry protected topological order.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Fri 28 Feb 14:00: Lewis Lectures 2025 - Lecture II - "Tales of the Unexpected: New Perspectives on Electrochemistry at Carbon Electrodes and Membranes"

Thu, 06/02/2025 - 12:57
Lewis Lectures 2025 - Lecture II - "Tales of the Unexpected: New Perspectives on Electrochemistry at Carbon Electrodes and Membranes"

A wide variety of carbon materials are used in electrochemistry, with diverse applications that include (bio)electroanalysis and sensors, batteries and fuel cells, and membranes. The family of carbon materials is broad, spanning sp2 and sp3 materials, and includes 1D carbon nanotubes, 2D graphene (and non-carbon analogues) and 3D graphite and conducting diamond, along with amorphous carbon and various composites. The electronic properties of each of these materials are further influenced by local structure and defects, method of preparation, and (for 1-D and 2-D materials) the conducting support, the number of layers, and their arrangement. Ultimately, all of these factors can influence interfacial charge transfer and electrochemistry. In this lecture, I shall discuss our work in this area, which has established a new paradigm for structure-activity across a wide range of carbon materials and electrochemical processes. We combine high resolution electrochemical imaging data with information from other microscopy and spectroscopy techniques applied to the same area of an electrode surface, in a correlative-electrochemical microscopy approach, to produce highly resolved and unambiguous pictures of electrode activity at the nanoscale. The new models of electrochemistry offer surprises, overturn longstanding dogma, unify observations across length scales, and provide a foundation for future rational applications of carbon electrodes.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Thu 27 Feb 14:00: Lewis Lectures 2025 - Lecture I - New Ways of Seeing Electrochemistry

Thu, 06/02/2025 - 12:56
Lewis Lectures 2025 - Lecture I - New Ways of Seeing Electrochemistry

Electrochemistry is an important, complex and beautiful subject, and a fascinating scientific area to explore! Electrochemical processes and electrified interfaces are at the heart of living systems, batteries, fuel cells and electrolyzers. Electrochemical devices are found in diagnostic and sensor platforms, from measuring glucose in blood, to trace gases in air, and for new generation DNA /RNA sequencing. And there is still much more to learn about electrochemistry. From the earliest days, electrochemists sought to visualise processes at electrochemical interfaces, and this remains true today; there is an increasing variety of microscopy techniques that have been developed to investigate electrodes and electrified interfaces in-situ and operando. In this lecture, I will concentrate on the main scanned electrochemical probe microscopes that find increasing use in labs around the world. I shall provide a personal perspective on the development of these techniques, their capabilities and highlight key applications, from materials chemistry to biophysical processes at living cells. A major focus of the lecture will be scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) and its role at the centre of a multimicroscopy strategy that can be used to dissect structure-activity at the nanoscale in unprecedented detail. Key discoveries from SECCM in fundamental electrochemistry, (electro)catalysis, corrosion, and charge storage will be highlighted, and I shall outline future directions for this technique and its role in a new era of high throughput nanoscale electrochemistry.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Tue 11 Feb 14:30: 17T7 as a Galois group over Q through Hilbert modular forms

Thu, 06/02/2025 - 11:06
17T7 as a Galois group over Q through Hilbert modular forms

The inverse Galois problem asks whether every finite group can be realised as the Galois group of a finite Galois extension of Q. For a long time, the so-called group 17T7, acting transitively on a set of 17 elements, was the smallest group in the transitive group ordering for which no such extension of Q was known. In this talk, I will describe joint work with Edgar Costa, Noam Elkies, Timo Keller, Sam Schiavone, and John Voight, in which we use certain Hilbert modular forms to find such an extension.

Add to your calendar or Include in your list

Contact us

Microstructural Kinetics Group Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy University of Cambridge 27 Charles Babbage Road Cambridge CB3 0FS + (0) 1223 334300

Contact: mkg@msm.cam.ac.uk

Site Privacy & Cookie Policies

Quick Links

Map to the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy

Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy

University of Cambridge talks

Find us

 

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge