Internal Seminar: Shannon Unit

Join us for July's first Internal Seminar Series on July 10, from 17:30 to 18:00 in B250. This month's first seminar features the Theory of Quantum Matter Unit (Nic Shannon).

Theory of Quantum Matter Unit (Nic Shannon)

Speaker : Owen Benton

Title : Is ice a quantum liquid?

Abstract : Ice is one of the most ubiquitous and one of the most mysterious materials on Earth, displaying at least 17 different crystal structures. In the most common form of ice (ice Ih) the oxygen ions form an ordered lattice while the protons remain disordered- in flat contradiction with the ordinary picture of solids. The disordered proton configurations are governed by strong constraints (the "ice rules") and the conventional wisdom would have it that at low temperatures the protons are trapped in a single configuration, unable to move without violating those constraints. However, recent experiments have called this into question, suggesting that the protons can remain mobile by collective quantum tunnelling. Here we will discuss the consequences of this quantum tunnelling, including the intriguing possibility that the protons in ice Ih could form a quantum liquid at low temperatures, in which they are not merely disordered but continually fluctuate from one state to another.