Physics Department News
Christmas lectures go off with a bang!
Setting crisps on fire, making spinach glow, and detonating hundreds of ping pong balls were just some of the experiments the children attending Warwick’s Christmas lectures were treated to this year.
Mind boggling optical illusions, giant glow sticks, drill-powered umbrellas, and hundreds of bubbles also featured in the interactive shows.
Ally Caldecote, who organised of the events said: “It was great to demonstrate some exciting live science to local children and their teachers, group leaders and families. We also really enjoyed meeting some young scientists and having them up on stage helping us with our experiments.
“We are always delighted at the enthusiasm for these events and this year we were able to take to the stage at Warwick Arts Centre’s biggest theatre and were thrilled to be sold out.”
Both shows in Warwick’s annual science extravaganza were performed to capacity audiences at the Butterworth Hall. More than 500 tickets at the two events were booked free of charge by local schools, youth groups, Cubs, Brownies, Scouts and Guides.
A Spin Entanglement Witness for Quantum Gravity - Is Gravity a Quantum Force?
Understanding gravity in the framework of quantum mechanics is one of the great challenges in modern physics. Along this line, a prime question is to find whether gravity is a quantum entity subject to the rules of quantum mechanics. It is fair to say that there are no feasible ideas yet to test the quantum coherent behaviour of gravity directly in a laboratory experiment. In a recent paper, Gavin Morley and colleagues introduce an idea for such a test based on the principle that two objects cannot be entangled without a quantum mediator.
350,000 stellar systems to be mapped by Warwick astronomers
Warwick Astronomers have joined the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V), making Warwick the first UK institution to be formally part of the project. Within SDSS-V, Boris Gaensicke will lead a spectroscopic survey of all stars within 100pc of the Earth - encompassing 350,000 systems, many of which are likely to host planetary systems.
Gavin Bell selected as WIHEA Fellow for 2017-20
Dr Gavin Bell has become the first member of the Physics department to be selected as a fellow of the Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA).
A WIHEA Fellowship recognises and rewards outstanding achievements in learning and teaching and is an exceptional opportunity to engage with colleagues across the university, improve the student experience, make a genuine difference to Warwick and strengthen career development.