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Welcome to the AIP Women in Physics Lecture Tour Public Lecture at Queensland University of Technology! Join us for an inspiring event showcasing the achievements of women in the field of physics. This in-person lecture offers a unique opportunity to learn from leading experts, network with fellow enthusiasts, and celebrate the contributions of women in physics. Don't miss out on this exciting event!

Lecture Title: What do theoretical physicists do?

Physics is important because of its intellectual depth and beauty, and also because understanding physics leads new technologies that can greatly enhance our lives. But how does physics get done, and what is like to be a physicist?

The physics focus of the talk is quantum mechanics, which says that every subatomic particle has both particle-like and wave-like properties. Quantum mechanics has enabled advances including lasers and smartphones and continues to give rise to new technologies such as quantum computers. The talk will describe the back-and-forth between theory and experiment that is critical to progress. It will also discuss the process for becoming a physicist and what working as a physicist is like.

About the speaker (Dr. Susan Coppersmith):

Susan Coppersmith is currently a Scientia Professor and the Head of the School of Physics at UNSW Sydney in Sydney, Australia. She has been working to develop quantum computers using quantum dots in silicon/silicon-germanium heterostructures since 2001. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Coppersmith is a theoretical condensed matter physicist, received her PhD from Cornell University, performed postdoctoral work at Brookhaven National Laboratories and AT&T Bell Laboratories, and was a visiting lecturer at Princeton University. She was a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey (USA), a Professor at the University of Chicago, and a Professor and Department Chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is currently a Scientia Professor of Physics and the Head of the School of Physics at UNSW Sydney in Sydney, Australia.

Dr. Coppersmith’s research has focused on a variety of complex condensed matter systems driven far from thermal equilibrium. Over the past two decades a major research focus has been on the development of quantum computers using silicon quantum dots.

Dr. Coppersmith has served as Chair of the Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee of the National Research Council of the US, as Chair of the Division of Condensed Matter Physics and of the Topical Group for Statistical and Nonlinear Physics of the American Physical Society, as Chair of the Section on Physics of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Gordon Research Conferences.

Dr. Coppersmith has been elected to be a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.