As part of the Distinguished Speaker series, Nobel Prize winner David Lee will speak Thursday, Nov. 4, at the University of Central Florida.
His presentation, “The Magic of Superfluids,” will be held in room 121 of the Classroom Building I at 4:20 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
“The Magic of Superfluids” will cover the history of superfluidity in helium-4 and helium-3 as well as superconductivity.
A superfluid is a special phase of matter in which molecules exhibit strange quantum effects when cooled to temperatures near absolute zero. Superfluids are manufactured by scientists and are much colder than any naturally occurring phenomenon on the planet. They typically are about 330 degrees colder than Antarctica.
Lee graduated from Harvard University in 1952 and obtained his master’s degree from the University of Connecticut and his doctorate from Yale. At Yale, he worked under Henry A. Fairbank in the low-temperature physics group, performing experimental research on liquid helium-3.
After graduating from Yale, Lee joined Cornell University as a faculty member, where he was responsible for setting up a laboratory to study low temperature physics. Lee, together with Robert Richardson and their graduate student, won the Nobel Prize in 1996 for the discovery of superfluidity in helium-3 and the identification of its phase diagram.
The College of Sciences is the sponsor of this event through the Distinguished Speaker series, which brings high-profile guest speakers to enrich the academic experience of members of the university and the local communities.