Dinner Speech - Stefan Buhmann
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What happens when we switch off the light: from quantum vacuum to the Casimir effect
| When |
Jul 05, 2017
from 05:30 PM to 06:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Where | FRIAS, Albertstr. 19, lecture hall |
| Contact Name | Heike Kleditzsch |
| Contact Phone | (0)761 203-97600 |
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Quantum physics teaches us that it is impossible to have completely darkness. Instead, even if we try switch off the light as completely as possible in a given region of space, there will still be tiny light particles, or virtual photons which are spontaneous created in empty space. I will introduce this counterintuitive concept of the quantum vacuum and discuss how it leads to the prediction of a new type of electromagnetic force: the Casimir force. This force, which is responsible for the sticky feet of geckoes is also of ever-increasing relevance to nanotechnology.
