[Seminar] Quantum ferrofluids flex their muscles by Professor Nicholas Parker

 

The experimental achievement of quantum gases composed of atoms with large magnetic dipole moments has realized the quantum ferrofluid, a form of fluid which combines the extraordinary properties of quantum fluids with ferrofluidity.  Here, the interplay between magnetism and quantum many-body physics leads to rich physics, for example, self-bound droplets, non-local solitons, and non-trivial instabilities and patterning.  

 

In quantum fluids in general, vortices and solitons are the fundamental nonlinear excitations, and may be pictured as the “muscles” of the fluid motion.  It is then natural to ask how the dipolar interactions change these excitations.   I will review recent work in this direction, exploring the nature of solitons, vortices and turbulence in this system.  

 

 

Dr Nick Parker is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics at Newcastle University, UK.  Following his PhD at Durham University, he undertook research positions at the University of Melbourne, McMaster University, and the University of Leeds.  He joined Newcastle University in 2011.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, a Chartered Physicist and Director of Postgraduate Studies.