Physicists Expand Equation of State for Fermi-Hubbard Model

In new research appearing in Physical Review Letters, an international research team, including UC Davis physicists, has expanded the Fermi-Hubbard model, allowing for a more detailed exploration of materials and their properties. In the study, the researchers measured the equation of state for Ytterbium atoms in an optical lattice. Specifically, they used the fermionic isotope 173Yb, which is a metallic element with atoms that can adopt six possible states.

Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez Returns to Alma Mater to Host ‘Secrets of the Universe’ Screenings

This week, Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez returned to his alma mater in Mexico to host screenings of ‘Secrets of the Universe,’ an IMAX film that explores the formation of the universe through the eyes of Aggie researchers. Calderón de la Barca Sánchez, a UC Davis physics professor, hopes the film will inspire students to pursue STEM education and careers.

'Oppenheimer' and UC Davis

Early in the movie 'Oppenheimer,' J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) visits the Berkeley laboratory where Ernest Lawrence is building a particle accelerator to study nuclear physics. The scene reminded me that the giant magnets from one of those accelerators later came to UC Davis, forming the core of the cyclotron at the Crocker Nuclear Laboratory on campus. It is one of several links between Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project and UC Davis.

Removing the Arrow of Time from The Equation

How did the universe become so good at hiding quantum physics? In two new papers appearing in Physical Review Research, UC Davis and Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers introduce a new model to explain the phenomenon of decoherence, when a system’s behavior shifts from being explainable by quantum mechanics to being explainable by classical mechanics. The new model divorces the arrow of time from the go-to theoretical tool for understanding decoherence: the Caldeira-Leggett model.

Perception Inception: Exploring Decision-Making in the Brain with Rishidev Chaudhuri

Associate Professor Rishidev Chaudhuri’s research sits in the nexus of mathematics, physics and neuroscience. Chaudhuri studies processing strategies in the brain using mathematics and physics. One direction of his research concerns the neural underpinnings of decision-making, an avenue of research that’s making neuroscientists rethink longstanding narratives about how the brain functions.