The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is organising an Institute Lecture on Friday, January 10, 2020. The details of the lecture are given below:

Title : Quantum entanglement: “spooky action at a distance” in the lab and in black holes

Speaker : Prof. Subir Sachdev, Department Chair, Herchel Smith Professor of Physics, Harvard University, USA

Abstract: The strangest feature of the quantum theory was dubbed “spooky action at a distance” by Einstein. Today, we have convincing evidence that quantum particles far apart can entangle with each other, so that the observation of one can instantaneously determine the state of the other. I will describe how this quantum feature is playing a central role in many modern developments in physics. Quantum entanglement can occur on a macroscopic scale with trillions of electrons, leading to new forms of matter with properties of technological importance. In high temperature superconductors, such as YBa2Cu3O7, there appears to be a “quantum critical point” whose entanglement structure is being explored by experiment and theory. Related entanglement structures arise across black hole horizons, and recent advances have shed new light on Hawking’s information paradox. I will use simple models of entanglement to describe these mutually beneficial developments across different fields of physics.

About the speaker: Prof. Subir Sachdev is currently the Chair, Physics Department, Harvard University, USA and holds the Herchel Smith Professorship. He has also held various other positions of honor such as Stanley S. Hanna Visiting Professor at Stanford University, Homi Bhabha Chair Professor at TIFR among others. He has received various honors/prizes such as Dirac Medal of the ICTP Trieste, Lars Onsagers Prize, Star Family Prize, Lorentz Chair. He has been associated with various academies of science and engineering across the globe.