The South Australian branch of the Australian Institute of Physics is pleased to invite you to the annual Claire Corani Memorial free public lecture. This years' talk is presented by the 2024 AIP Women in Physics lecturer Professor Susan Coppersmith. The Claire Corani Memorial Prize in Physics will be awarded at this event after the public lecture.

Title: What do theoretical physicists do?

Presenter: Professor Susan Coppersmith

Date and Time: Wednesday 14 August at 6:30pm

Location: Horace Lamb Lecture Theatre, Horace Lamb Building, The University of Adelaide NT Campus

Abstract

Physics is important because of its intellectual depth and beauty, and also because understanding physics leads new technologies that can greatly enhance our lives. But how does physics get done, and what is like to be a physicist?

The physics focus of the talk is quantum mechanics, which says that every subatomic particle has both particle-like and wave-like properties. Quantum mechanics has enabled advances including lasers and smartphones and continues to give rise to new technologies such as quantum computers. The talk will describe the back-and-forth between theory and experiment that is critical to progress. It will also discuss the process for becoming a physicist and what working as a physicist is like.

Biography:

Susan Coppersmith is currently a Scientia Professor and the Head of the School of Physics at UNSW Sydney in Sydney, Australia. She has been working to develop quantum computers using quantum dots in silicon/silicon-germanium heterostructures since 2001. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.

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