19 October 2018 Iannis Kominis

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KOÇ UNIVERSITY PHYSICS SEMINAR
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Speaker             : Iannis Kominis, University of Crete
Title                     : Birds, leafs & eyes: the new synthesis of quantum biology
Date                     : October 19, 2018 (Friday)
Time                    : 10:30
Cookie & Tea  : SCI 103 10:15
Place                   : SCI 103
web                       https://physics-seminars.ku.edu.tr

Abstract:
Quantum information processing and quantum sensing are two central paradigms of modern quantum technology  capitalizing on the “quantum advantage” stemming from resources such as quantum coherence and entanglement. It has been a long-standing presumption that such advantage pertains only to well-isolated and carefully engineered  quantum systems. Yet again, we now discover that Nature got there first. During her billion-year-old R&D program, Nature seems to have already managed to harness non-trivial quantum effects. In this talk I will present our work on three major venues of research establishing the new interdisciplinary science of quantum biology. I will discuss  the quantum spin dynamics of the avian magnetic compass and photosynthetic reaction centers, drawing connections with quantum sensing, in particular with magnetometry. I will then present some fundamental aspects of human  vision from a quantum-optical point of view, and based on them, describe our efforts to develop an unbreakable biometric identification technique

Short Bio: Prof. Kominis obtained his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from National Technical University of Athens in 1996, and his PhD from Princeton University Physics Department in 2001. After postdoctoral positions at Princeton and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, he joined the faculty of the University of Crete in 2004. More information can be found on his group website www.quantumbiology.gr