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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Pablo Jarillo-Herrero (MIT)
• Wednesday 04 June 2025, 16:15-17:15
• Venue: Venue to be confirmed.
• Series: Cavendish Quantum Colloquium; organiser: Lucas Sá.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Vedika Khemani (Stanford)
• Wednesday 18 June 2025, 16:15-17:15
• Venue: Venue to be confirmed.
• Series: Cavendish Quantum Colloquium; organiser: Lucas Sá.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Peter Littlewood (Chicago)
• Wednesday 21 May 2025, 16:15-17:15
• Venue: Venue to be confirmed.
• Series: Cavendish Quantum Colloquium; organiser: Lucas Sá.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Simon Trebst (Cologne)
• Wednesday 07 May 2025, 16:15-17:15
• Venue: Venue to be confirmed.
• Series: Cavendish Quantum Colloquium; organiser: Lucas Sá.

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Light’s unparalleled speed and natural parallelism open new frontiers for computing. In this talk, I explore how gain-based computing—harnessing light–matter interactions in driven–dissipative systems—can tackle complex optimization tasks by encoding them in the system’s gain and loss rates. As such systems spontaneously evolve toward minimal-loss modes, they effectively solve Ising, XY, or even k-local Hamiltonians, offering novel approaches to challenging combinatorial problems. I will compare two major hardware paradigms: (i) Spontaneous Dynamics in polariton condensates, lasers, and atomic media, where interactions emerge from intrinsic nonlinearities. and (ii) Engineered Couplings via optical modulations and feedback loops, allowing more direct control over gain and loss pathways. Along the way, I will present proof-of-concept experiments that highlight the promise of these platforms and examine the key challenges in scaling them up to useful and potentially transformative computing systems.

• Speaker: Natalia Berloff (DAMTP)
• Wednesday 05 March 2025, 16:15-17:15
• Venue: Small Lecture Theatre, Cavendish Laboratory, J.J. Thomson Avenue.
• Series: Cavendish Quantum Colloquium; organiser: Lucas Sá.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Dominik Hahn, Oxford
• Thursday 24 April 2025, 14:00-15:30
• Venue: TCM Seminar Room.
• Series: Theory of Condensed Matter; organiser: Gaurav.

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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.

• Speaker: Pin Yu Chew, University of Cambridge
• Wednesday 26 February 2025, 14:30-15:00
• Venue: Unilever Lecture Theatre, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.
• Series: Theory - Chemistry Research Interest Group; organiser: Lisa Masters.

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Obtaining accurate predictions of thermodynamic properties, especially free energies which define the state of a system, is one of the key goals in atomistic simulations. This can enable a direct understanding of atomic-scale processes and provide a direct link to experiment. Achieving this requires converged statistical sampling from accurate wavefunction based potential energy surfaces, which is a formidable challenge due to the very high computational cost of such methods. Here, we leverage advances in machine learning potentials to efficiently obtain converged thermodynamic properties at increasing levels of theory. To showcase the potential of this approach, I will use the ion pairing of CaCO3 as a benchmark system, since it presents a significant challenge from both electronic structure and sampling perspectives. I will show that a machine learning framework based on second order Møller-Plesset Perturbation Theory delivers excellent agreement with experiment for the ion-pair association free energy—a challenging property for first principles atomistic simulations. Furthermore I will show that classical force fields get the right answer for the wrong reasons. Finally, I will discuss steps towards developing CCSD accuracy machine learning models, the ‘gold-standard’ of quantum chemical methods.

• Speaker: Niamh O'Neill, University of Cambridge
• Wednesday 26 February 2025, 15:00-15:30
• Venue: Unilever Lecture Theatre, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.
• Series: Theory - Chemistry Research Interest Group; organiser: Lisa Masters.

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We consider the harmonic map heat flow for maps from the plane to the two-sphere. It is known that solutions to the initial value problem exhibit bubbling along a well-chosen sequence of times – the solution decomposes into a superposition of harmonic maps. We prove that every sequence of times admits a subsequence along which bubbling occurs. This is deduced as a corollary of our main theorem, which shows that the solution approaches the family of multi-bubble configurations in continuous time. This is a joint work with Andrew Lawrie (University of Maryland) and Wilhelm Schlag (Yale University).

• Speaker: Jacek Jendrej (Sorbonne)
• Monday 24 February 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: MR13.
• Series: Partial Differential Equations seminar; organiser: Giacomo Ageno.

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Simplicial volume is a homotopy invariant for compact manifolds introduced by Gromov that measures the complexity of a manifold in terms of singular simplices. A celebrated question by Gromov (~’90) asks whether all oriented closed connected aspherical manifolds with zero simplicial volume also have vanishing Euler characteristic. In this talk, we will describe the problem and we will show counterexamples to some variations of the previous question. Moreover, we will describe some new strategies to approach the problem as well as the relation between Gromov’s question and other classical problems in topology. This will include joint works with Clara Löh and George Raptis, and with Alberto Casali.

• Speaker: Marco Moraschini (Università di Bologna)
• Wednesday 19 February 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: CMS, MR15.
• Series: Differential Geometry and Topology Seminar; organiser: Oscar Randal-Williams.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Mark Costantini (DAMTP)
• Friday 14 March 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR19 (Potter Room, Pavilion B), CMS.
• Series: HEP phenomenology joint Cavendish-DAMTP seminar; organiser: Nico Gubernari.

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Precision computations for standard candle processes are a staple of the physics programme at colliders such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The highest precision can be achieved in perturbative computations. In perturbation theory, however, calculations truncated at a fixed order inevitably have inherent theoretical uncertainty. This uncertainty quantifies the contributions from the missing higher-order terms (MHOU) that have not been accounted for. Traditionally, scale variation has been employed to estimate this uncertainty. In this talk, I introduce a straightforward yet effective prescription to directly incorporate these missing higher-order terms through theory nuisance parameters (TNPs). By varying these parameters, the associated uncertainty can effectively be estimated.

I will elaborate on how this methodology can be applied across various processes pertinent to LHC physics, specifically at next-to-leading (NLO) and next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbation theory. The findings reveal that in scenarios where scale variations yield consistent and reliable results, we can successfully mimic their outcomes using TNPs. Moreover, we will observe a considerable improvement in scenarios where traditional scale variation methods tend to underestimate the uncertainty involved.

• Speaker: Rene Poncelet (Cracow, INP)
• Friday 21 February 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR19 (Potter Room, Pavilion B), CMS.
• Series: HEP phenomenology joint Cavendish-DAMTP seminar; organiser: Terry Generet.

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The concept of Brauer Groups, originally developed to classify division algebras, has now found many uses in scheme theory and class field theory. Brauer Groups over a field k is defined as the collection of central simple algebras over k modulo certain equivalence relations and this project is set out to formalise the correspondence between the Brauer groups and the second Galois cohomology groups Br(k) ≅ H²(Gal(k_sep/k) , k ⃰_sep). In this talk, we give a complete formalisation between the relative Brauer group of a finite dimensional field extension Br(K/k) and the second group cohomology H²(Gal (K/k) , K ⃰) as the first step.

=== Hybrid talk ===

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

Meeting ID: 871 4336 5195

Passcode: 541180

• Speaker: Jujian Zhang (Imperial College London)
• Thursday 20 February 2025, 17:00-18:00
• Venue: MR14 Centre for Mathematical Sciences.
• Series: Formalisation of mathematics with interactive theorem provers ; organiser: Anand Rao Tadipatri.

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Simplicial volume is a homotopy invariant for compact manifolds introduced by Gromov that measures the complexity of a manifold in terms of singular simplices. A celebrated question by Gromov (~’90) asks whether all oriented closed connected aspherical manifolds with zero simplicial volume also have vanishing Euler characteristic. In this talk, we will describe the problem and we will show counterexamples to some variations of the previous question. Moreover, we will describe some new strategies to approach the problem as well as the relation between Gromov’s question and other classical problems in topology. This will include joint works with Clara Löh and George Raptis, and with Alberto Casali.

• Speaker: Marco Moraschini (Università di Bologna)
• Wednesday 19 February 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: CMS, MR15.
• Series: Differential Geometry and Topology Seminar; organiser: Oscar Randal-Williams.

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Coarse graph theory is a developing area, which focuses on the large-scale geometric structure of graphs, particularly through the lens of quasi-isometry. A central goal here is to find coarse analogues of classical graph-theoretic results. We discuss some initial steps in this direction. Joint work with Tung Nguyen and Paul Seymour.

• Speaker: Alexander Scott (Oxford)
• Thursday 20 February 2025, 14:30-15:30
• Venue: MR12.
• Series: Combinatorics Seminar; organiser: ibl10.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Speaker to be confirmed
• Wednesday 07 May 2025, 14:30-15:30
• Venue: Unilever Lecture Theatre, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.
• Series: Theory - Chemistry Research Interest Group; organiser: Lisa Masters.

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With a planet teaming with life all around us, it is tempting to think that any life on other worlds must be like Earth life. But is that true, and if it is not, what limits can we place on where we might look for life on other worlds? Starting from the still-controversial possibility of the presence of phosphine in the clouds of Venus, I will discuss what we know (not much) can model (some) and speculate about how the chemistry of life might work on other worlds under conditions very different from Earth. In particular, different atmospheres give different chemistries, possibly chemistries that use solvents other than water as their base. Alternative solvents open up the possibility of life on many bodies previously considered uninhabitable, such as the clouds of Venus, the surface of Mars, even the Moon. I will end with some thoughts on complex, even intelligent, life and where we might find it.

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_N2YxZjU5NTgtYzIwNi00MTY2LThkY2ItZjQyMTJmNjdkMWQw%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2249a50445-bdfa-4b79-ade3-547b4f3986e9%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2253b919d9-f8a7-4f56-9bb0-baaf0ba7404d%22%7d

• Speaker: William Bains
• Tuesday 18 February 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Venue: Chemistry Dept, Unilever Lecture Theatre and Zoom.
• Series: Centre for Atmospheric Science seminars, Chemistry Dept.; organiser: Dr Megan Brown.

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This talk presents an overview of past, current, and future contributions to the ATLAS experiment, spanning from Standard Model precision measurements to new physics searches and the development of advanced luminosity detectors.

The discussion begins with ATLAS forward detectors, focusing on the LUCID system for luminosity monitoring. The evolution from LUCID -2 to LUCID -3 is explored, highlighting the challenges posed by HL-LHC conditions and the new detector prototypes under development: LUCID JF , LUCID JN, and Fiber. Performance studies demonstrate their potential to ensure robust and precise luminosity measurements across various beam conditions.

The second part of the talk delves into key ATLAS physics analyses, emphasising precision measurements of Standard Model processes, including W and Z boson cross sections and their role in PDF constraints. The importance of V+jets and V+ heavy-flavor jets final states is also discussed. Additionally, I will present a search for long-lived particles based on dE/dx measurements and the identification of low-β signatures, providing a potential signature of physics beyond the Standard Model

Finally, the talk will conclude with an outreach project conducted in Bologna aimed at children aged 5 to 11, designed to study gender bias in STEM fields and promote equal opportunities in science from an early age.

• Speaker: Laura Fabbri, University of Bologna
• Tuesday 18 February 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Venue: Ryle Seminar Room.
• Series: Cavendish HEP Seminars; organiser: Dr. Aashaq Shah.

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Simplicial volume is a homotopy invariant for compact manifolds introduced by Gromov that measures the complexity of a manifold in terms of singular simplices. A celebrated question by Gromov (~’90) asks whether all oriented closed connected aspherical manifolds with zero simplicial volume also have vanishing Euler characteristic. In this talk, we will describe the problem and we will show counterexamples to some variations of the previous question. Moreover, we will describe some new strategies to approach the problem as well as the relation between Gromov’s question and other classical problems in topology. This will include joint works with Clara Löh and George Raptis, and with Alberto Casali.

• Speaker: Marco Moraschini (Università di Bologna)
• Sunday 16 February 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: CMS, MR15.
• Series: Differential Geometry and Topology Seminar; organiser: Henry Wilton.

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Since any Fano variety can be recovered from its derived category up to isomorphism, we ask whether less information determines the variety – this is called a categorical Torelli question. In this talk, we consider an n-fold cover X → Y ramified in a divisor Z. The cyclic group of order n acts on X. We study how a certain subcategory of Db(X) (the Kuznetsov component) behaves under this group action. We combine this with techniques from topological K-theory and Hodge theory to prove that this subcategory determines X for two new classes of Fano threefolds which arise as double covers of (weighted) projective spaces. This is joint work with Augustinas Jacovskis and Franco Rota (arXiv:2310.13651).

• Speaker: Hannah Dell, University of Bonn
• Wednesday 19 February 2025, 14:15-15:15
• Venue: CMS MR13.
• Series: Algebraic Geometry Seminar; organiser: Dhruv Ranganathan.

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