A revision of our system of units, the SI, is currently discussed and may be implemented as early as 2018. The new SI is a logical extension of an argument made in 1983 when the meter was redefined to be based on the exact value of the speed of light. In the new SI all units will be derived from seven fundamental reference constants, thus replacing the seven base units of the current system. For example, the unit of mass, the kilogram, is currently defined by an artifact called the International Prototype of the Kilogram (IPK). In the future we will be able to realize the unit of mass, not just at the kilogram level, from a fixed value of the Planck constant, which has units of kg m^2/s. One condition for redefinition is agreement between different measurements of the Planck constant. Currently two measurement strategies lead to values with relative uncertainties less than 100 parts per billion (ppb): (1) Avogadro’s number can be determined by estimating the number of atoms in a well characterized crystal. From Avogadro’s number h can be calculated using the Rydberg constant, which is known with much smaller uncertainty (2) A watt balance can be used to measure mechanical power in units of electrical power. Electrical power can be measured as the product of the Planck constant and two frequencies by utilizing the Josephson effect and the Quantum Hall effect. NIST has carried out measurements of h with watt balances for over 20 years. In the past 18 months a new team has performed a largely independent determination of h. I will describe this measurement and measurements from other laboratories.
Since Tony Skyrme's discovery of skyrmions in particle physics in the 1960's, its notion has been generalized to a certain type of mathematical object (topologically stable whirls) that are realized in different areas of physics. This colloquium focuses on magnets without inversion symmetry, like MnSi, where in 2009 a skyrmion crystal was observed as a new magnetic state. In recent years, magnetic skyrmions have attracted a great deal of interest as they have been found in different materials (metals, semiconductors, and even insulators), and on different length and temperature scales. Furthermore, the peculiar twist of the magnetization in the skyrmion crystal leads to a very efficient coupling to electric currents which makes it also interesting for spintronics. We study the interplay of electric currents and skyrmions as well as the induced forces onto each other. Very characteristic for the skyrmion crystal is a finite and quantized Magnus force which can be understood in close analogy to the Magnus force acting on a spinning ball leading to famous “banana kicks” in soccer.
Physics thrives on the strong convection of ideas between the lab and the cosmos, yet each new generation of physicist is surprised as it rediscovers the forgotten fact that discovery cuts across the boundaries of our specialities. Here, I shall argue that recent discoveries in particle, condensed matter and astronomy place us again at extraordinary juncture for a new convection of ideas. I shall try to sketch this pragmatic outlook from a condensed matter physics perspective, using examples drawn from my work and others. How some elegant equations from string theory and gravity led us to discover a novel phase transition in two dimensional Heisenberg magnets; how a discussion with a particle physicist suggested a new way of understanding heavy electron superconductors, and how the discovery of Ising electrons in the "hidden order" material, URu2Si2 suggests a form of order long thought to be forbidden - called "hastatic order".
The quarks feel all five types of boson-mediated interactions: electromagnetic, strong, weak, Higgs and gravitational. In this talk I will discuss theoretical and experimental constraints on hypothetical new interactions among quarks. Interactions of this type can be hidden if they have a very short range, or if they are very weak, or by other mechanisms such as momentum-dependent couplings. A related question is how strongly can quarks interact with dark matter.
