UB Workshop to Explore Spin, Quantum Optics and Optical Metamaterials

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Recent developments in the field of metamaterials and transformation optics have enabled unprecedented control over light propagation and a possibility of "engineering" space for light propagation. These developments, which open a new paradigm in spin- and quantum-related phenomena in optical physics, are the subject of "Beyond the Imagination of Nature: Spin, Quantum Optics and Metamaterials," a workshop for researchers presented by the University at Buffalo and the U.S. Army Research Office on Sept. 19-20.

The invitation-only workshop will be held at the Embassy Suites in downtown Buffalo, 200 Delaware Ave. Science and technology reporters are welcome to attend.

For more information and the complete program, go to http://bit.ly/pbCGEe or contact Kate Kowalski at 716-645-5377, kjkowals@buffalo.edu

"The objective of this workshop is to capture the state-of-the-art in three fascinating fields of modern optical physics: spin, quantum optics and optical metamaterials, and hopefully to generate new ideas and initiate new collaborations at the interface of these fields," says Natalia Litchinitser, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Litchinitser is co-organizing the workshop with Richard Hammond, adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and theoretical physicist for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

Specific themes to be discussed at the workshop include:

--Progress in optical metamaterials: from theory to experiments

--Transformation optics: endless opportunities for tailoring space for light

--Spin-optics: spin and angular momentum properties of light

--Unconventional polarization states of light and optical vortices

--Quantum and nonlinear optics in conventional and novel media

Confirmed invited speakers include:

Govind Agrawal (University of Rochester)

Sir Michael Berry (University of Bristol, United Kingdom)

Konstantin Bliokh (National University of Ireland)

Joseph Eberly (University of Rochester)

Ildar Gabitov (University of Arizona)

Joseph Haus (University of Dayton)

Natalia Litchinitser (UB)

Miles Padgett (University of Glasgow, United Kingdom)

Ekaterina Poutrina (Duke University)

Paras N. Prasad (UB)

Michael Scalora (U.S. Army, Aviation and Missile Command)

Vladimir Shalaev (Purdue University)

Grover Swartzlander (Rochester Institute of Technology)

The workshops are also sponsored by the UB Office of the Vice President for Research and the UB 2020 Strategic Strength Initiatives in Integrated Nanostructured Systems and Information and Computing Technology.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.