[seminar] Sir Michael Berry, Colloquium & Seminar, March 21st and 22nd

[Hrvoje Buljan]

Dear colleagues,

it is my pleasure to announce the visit of Sir Michael Berry to Zagreb.
Sir Michael will give two talks at the Department of Physics Faculty of
Science. First a colloquium for a general physics audience on Wednesday
March 21st, and next a theoretical physics talk on Thursday March 22nd.
The visit is organized within the QuantiXLie Center of Excellence.

The places, times, titles and abstracts of the talks are below (and
attached):

-------------------------------------
Colloquium

Venue: Department of Physics Faculty of Science, room F08
Time:  15.15

Nature's optics and our understanding of light

Michael Berry,
H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, UK

Optical phenomena visible to everyone abundantly illustrate important
concepts in science and mathematics. The phenomena considered include
rainbows, sparkling reflections on water, green flashes, earthlight on the
moon, glories, daylight, crystals, and the squint moon. The concepts
include refraction, wave interference, numerical experiments, asymptotics,
Regge poles, polarization singularities, conical intersections, and visual
illusions.

-------------------------------------
Theoretical Physics Seminar

Optical curl forces and beyond

Michael Berry,
H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, UK

A physical example of a force that depends on position but is not
derivable from a potential, that is, a nonconservative force with non-zero
curl, is the force on an absorbing dielectric particle in an optical
field. The resulting dynamics need not be Hamiltonian or Lagrangian, yet
is non-dissipative, with unfamiliar chaotic dynamics. Noether’s
theorem does not apply, so the link between symmetries and conservation
laws is broken. Although unambiguous in optics, the physical existence of
curl forces has been controversial among engineers. Motion under curl
forces near optical vortices can be understood in detail, and the full
series of superadiabatic correction forces derived, leading to an exact
slow manifold in which fast (internal) and slow (external) motion of the
particle is separated. These classical optical forces have quantum
effects.

--------------------------------------------

See you there
Hrvoje Buljan

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