Mesoscopic Theory Center at Michigan State University

The MTC Lecture Series  The lecture will be held at the Cyclotron Seminar Room at 12:30. Refreshments will be served in the Cyclotron Atrium at 12:00 (noon). We invite everyone interested in the development of modern mesoscopic science. Students are especially welcome.

MTC Lecture Series	Speaker	Title and Abstract
Friday, February 9, 2007	Debashis Mukherjee, Indian Association For the Cultivation of Science
Friday, December 15th, 2006	Thomas Schaeffer, North Carolina State	From Trapped Atoms to Liberated Quarks
Friday, November 17th, 2006	Stefan Frauendorf, Notre Dame	Emergent Phenomena in Mesoscopic Physics	pdf file
Wednesday, October 11th, 2006	Leonid Levitov, MIT	Quantum Optics with Solid State Qubits

Mesoscopic Science

At the start of this 21st Century the science of mesoscopic systems is emerging as one of the key research frontiers . Mesoscopic science applies to systems  which are intermediate between the microworld of high energy and elementary particles and the macroworld of our everyday life. The theoretical and experimental understanding of mesoscopic systems impacts diverse aspects of our lives such as energy, technology, medicine and biology.

The atomic nucleus is a typical mesoscopic system on a femto-meter scale. At the next level of scale in mesoscopic science we find complex atoms and molecules, atomic clusters, small metallic grains, quantum dots and quantum wires. The applied frontiers of mesoscopic physics include the nanoscience related to small solid-state devices, soft condensed matter and quantum optics. Proposals for quantum computers are based on mesoscopic properties of specific design.

The main physical problem in such systems is the emergence of complexity and coherent collective effects from the interactions of elementary constituents. Nuclear physics provides many examples of these diverse mesoscopic  phenomena including phase transitions, superfluidity and superconductivity and quantum chaos, and how these phenomena change between self-sustaining stable systems and those that are open to decay. The rare isotopes studied theoretically and experimentally at the NSCL provide unique new examples of such mesoscopic systems.

In the October 2004 we held a  workshop on "Nuclei and Mesoscopic Physics". The MTC was established in the fall of 2006 in order to create a platform for collaborations between nuclear and condensed matter physicists, chemists, mathematicians and scientists in related areas. The MTC will host lectures and seminars by  experts in the subfields of mesoscopic science, courses for students, workshops on specialized topics and summer schools.

Our Logo symbolizes the wide varity of mesoscopic systems and the interrelated theoretical models used for their understanding.

Vladimir Zelevinsky - MTC Coordinator (Nuclear Theory, MSU)

Norman Birge (Solid State Experiment, MSU)
B. Alex Brown (Nuclear Theory, MSU)
Pawel Danielewicz (Nuclear Theory, MSU)
Thomas Duguet (Nuclear Theory, MSU)
Mark Dykman (Solid State Theory and Quantum Information, MSU)
Marco Fornari (Solid State Theory, Central Michigan University)
Mihai Horoi (Nuclear Theory, Central Michigan University)
Koblar Jackson (Solid State Theory, Central Michigan University)
Filomena Nunes (Nuclear Theory, MSU)
Piotr Piecuch (Theoretical Chemistry, MSU)
Carlo Piermarocchi (Solid State Theory and Quantum Information, MSU)
Michael Shapiro (Mathematics and Quantum Information, MSU)
Alexander Volya (Nuclear Theory, Florida State University)
William Wedemeyer (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, MSU)

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