The study of phases of matter and transitions between them is a central theme of condensed matter physics. In this regard, Landau’s symmetry-breaking theory has been hugely successful. More recently, it has been found that there are phase transitions in (topological) materials which fall outside the paradigm of Landau’s theory. Ideas borrowed from topology have played a vital role in this understanding. In this talk, I will begin with an overview of topological materials and their phase transitions. I will also relate these ideas to some of our recent work in a class of 2D materials.

Meeting ID: 961 9063 6215 
Passcode: 282924

Quantum Mechanics is at the very core of fundamental physics. In this talk, I will briefly discuss the Quantum mechanical methods used to calculate the properties of more than two-body systems. I will also describe quite a simple technique one can use to calculate the decay rates of these states. 

Zoom Meeting ID: 948 5501 3332
Passcode: 269173

Faisal Ali Mubarak (M’12) was born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1982. He received a B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the Rijswijk Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Rijswijk, The Netherlands, in 2006 and an M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, in 2009. In 2009, he joined the VSL-Dutch Metrology Institute, Delft, where he is currently leading the RF & Microwave measurements group as a Principal Research Scientist. His current research interests include RF component measurement techniques up to millimetre-wave frequencies. In 2017, he was one of the co-founders of Vertigo Technologies, Delft, a company developing innovative measurement techniques and instruments. Mr Mubarak is a member of the International Consultative Committee for Electricity and Magnetism Working Group on Radiofrequency Quantities and the European Association of National Metrology Institutes technical sub-committee on Radiofrequencies and Microwaves (WG-RF). He is also a member of the IEEE MTT-11 Technical Committee. He was a corecipient of the Outstanding Group Achievement Award of the Delft University of Technology and the Ritsema van Eck Prize for designing and launching the first Dutch university satellite in 2007.

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Joao is the chief troublemaker at the CERN Media Lab. He has a background in physics but spends most of his professional time conceiving interactive applications for science visualization and education. Over the years, his 3D animations, simulation images and scientific illustrations have been frequently featured in several major media outlets worldwide.
His main approach for science communication is the creation of visual and personalized metaphors for complex scientific concepts. Joao has been key in establishing state-of-the-art multimedia installations for science centres and visit points at top research institutions worldwide. He regularly collaborates with artists developing science-inspired pieces, coaches scientists on public outreach and mentors many students. One of his big side projects is “Phantom of the Universe”, an award-winning planetarium show about Dark Matter viewed by over 10 million people in more than 500 planetariums in 82 countries and 22 languages.

Neurovascular coupling(NVC), the close spatial and temporal relationship between neural activity and hemodynamics, plays a central role of regulating the cerebral blood flow and maintaining normal brain function. However, the quantitative relationship between changes in hemodynamics and neural activity, particularly the spatiotemporal variations within the evoked brain region, remains murky. More importantly, although a broad spectrum of neurological and cerebrovascular diseases are known to affect neurovascular coupling, the quantitative change of the coupling function and its dependence on the severity or the time course of the disorders remain largely unknown. Here, we integrate large-scale ultraflexible NeuralThreads (NET) with functional optical imaging for simultaneous mapping of laminar neural activity at multiple locations, cerebral blood flow, and oxygenation. This novel multimodal neural platform enables quantification and tracking of neurovascular coupling in a spatiotemporally resolved manner and over chronic periods.

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https://lums-edu-pk.zoom.us/j/98827597216?pwd=Z2xma3NYTEplaGZ6dUE4dWNpRmU2Zz09

Meeting ID: 988 2759 7216
Passcode: 740479        

Ali Raza Mirza is a senior Ph.D. student in the Physics department at LUMS. In 2010, He is awarded a Gold Medal from "The University of Gujrat" in BSc annual examination. He has done a master's and M.Phil. from QAU Islamabad and GCU Lahore respectively. He has worked as a visiting lecturer at Riphah International University for a semester. In 2021, during his Ph.D., he has been awarded a scholarship namely the 'International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP) by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) and worked as a visiting researcher at the University of Manchester. Ali Raza Mirza does calligraphy in his leisure time. 

We have always thought of mass as an intrinsic property of a material substance. The discovery that all material substances are made of some fundamental particles just shifts the problem of understanding the nature of mass from substance to its constitutions. However, recent developments in understanding the nature of particles and their interactions that have culminated in the standard model of particle physics have revolutionized our understanding of mass. Mass is not an intrinsic property of a material substance. It is not something that matter just has. It is a behavior of the quantum fields. It is something that they do rather than what they are. The objective of this talk is to explain to a general audience this new understanding of the nature of mass.

Muhammad Hamza Waseem is pursuing a DPhil in Physics at the University of Oxford. His studies are funded by a Rhodes Scholarship. His research revolves around quantum structures, applied category theory, natural language processing, and magnonics. During his undergraduate studies in electrical engineering at UET Lahore, Hamza helped develop the first lab for single photon quantum physics in Pakistan. He also co-authored a book 'Quantum Mechanics in the Single Photon Laboratory' published by the Institute of Physics (IOP), UK.

Keen on public engagement with science, Hamza has helped organize the Lahore Science Mela, the biggest annual science festival in Pakistan. He co-founded Spectra—an online magazine aimed at training popular science writers in Pakistan. For science popularization, Hamza has been awarded the 2021 Diana Award and was highly commended at the 2021 SEPnet Public Engagement Awards.

At Oxford, Hamza teaches mathematics and physics at Mathematical Institute and Department of Computer Science.  He has also been a Lecturer in Physics at Magdalen College. He is a Research Scientist at Cambridge Quantum and Research Fellow at Global Centre for Advanced Studies, Dublin. He can be contacted at hamza.waseem@physics.ox.ac.uk.

Salman Hameed is Charles Taylor Chair and Professor of Integrated Science and Humanities at Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. His primary research interest focuses on understanding the reception of science in Muslim societies and how Muslims view the relationship between science & religion. Salman is also actively engaged in science communication and is the founder and CEO of Kainaat Studios that produces astronomy content in Urdu (https://www.youtube.com/KainaatAstronomyInUrdu). He also has a weekly astronomy segment in English for a radio station in Western Massachusetts. Through Kainaat Studios, he also produces astronomy content in Urdu specially aimed at kids in Pakistan. His writings have appeared in Dawn Magazine, Express Tribune, Science, and the Guardian.