Public Talk: “Quantum Entangled Beasts: How and Where to Find Them”

Prof J.C. Séamus Davis, University of Oxford

7pm, Wednesday 18 June 2025, Central London venue: Institute of Physics, 37 Caledonian Road, London N1 9BU

Illustration: Celtic Entangled Beasts

The International Year of Quantum Science and Technology is 2025, recognizing the centenary of our most fundamental and successful theory of physics. Moreover quantum technology e.g. quantum computing is now emerging with the promise of revolutionary changes to our society and economy. Yet, in many ways, quantum physics feels as if it is a set of eerie and counterintuitive ideas of no direct relevance to our lives. Why is this? One reason is that we cannot perceive the strangeness (and astonishing beauty) of the quantum phenomena all around us by using our own senses.

In this conversation, we will survey the key concepts of quantum physics with a focus on quantum entanglement, a deeply mysterious yet highly productive resource of quantum physics. Then, we will explore and dismiss the ‘fake news’ concept that quantum physics only occurs at the atomic scale and never in the macroscopic world all around us.  On that basis, we will consider and demonstrate how to create instruments that allow humans to perceive and quantify  macroscopic quantum entanglement in human-scale objects and devices. Finally, we will listen together to the acoustic signature of macroscopic quantum entanglement, emerging from objects that you can hold in the palm of your hand.

The talk will take place at the Institute of Physics, London – please watch this space for registration information. This public event is run as part of our international conference “Condensed Matter Physics in the City 2025”.

The speaker:

Prof. Séamus Davis’ work in high-sensitivity quantum tunnelling spectroscopy on strongly correlated quantum materials was recognised by many prizes, including the O.V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize (2020) and the O.E. Buckley Memorial Prize (2023). He is a fellow of the Fellow of the Royal Irish Academy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he currently holds a Royal Society Research Professorship at the University of Oxford. Further information can be found on his group website.

Séamus is also well-known for his wonderful Irish humour, so his talk comes with a guarantee of being not only informative but also a lot of fun!

Contact:

Please direct queries to cmpinthecity2020@gmail.com.

Social Media:

You can follow the twitter account of the Hubbard Theory Consortium @HTCPhysics for related announcements – the conference hashtag is #cmpcity25.