Sarah Croke - is a postdoctoral researcher at Perimeter Institute. From Ireland and the UK originally, she received a BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics from University College Cork, Ireland in 2003. After a brief stint as a radio astronomer, completing an MSc in Astrophysics, she studied Quantum Information and Quantum Optics under the supervision of Prof Stephen Barnett at the University of Strathclyde, UK, receiving a PhD in 2007. She has been a postdoc at PI since November 2007.
This is an introductory talk on quantum cryptography, focusing on quantum key distribution (QKD) with a cool little demo involving polarized light. QKD gives us the amazing ability to send messages with absolute security
Throughout history science has aimed at unification, whereby more phenomena are explained by more fundamental theories with simpler principles. We will discuss how string theory aims at being the ultimate unified theory of all elementary forces in nature.
Assuming that you are really (really) strong, what are the biggest objects in the Universe that hold together enough that you could throw them? What are they made of and why are they so big? In this talk, I will show how studies of the large scale structure of the Universe enable us to reconstruct the initial conditions at the Big-Bang and test the fundamental laws of physics.