William D. Phillips

A New Measure: the Revolutionary Reform of the Metric System

Category: Agora Talks

Date: 30 June 2020

Duration: 30 min

Quality: HD MD SD

William D. Phillips (2020) - A New Measure: the Revolutionary Reform of the Metric System

Abstract

Base units like the metre, the second and the kilogram are used every day. And while these units seem so common, their definition is tricky. Since 20 May 2019 none of the seven base units depends anymore on something like a prototype of a kilogram or a metre but solely on natural constants. In this conversation, Nobel Laureate Bill Phillips and physicist Rainer Blatt discuss the definition of the kilogram based on the scientific achievements of the Nobel Laureates Brian D. Josephson and Klaus von Klitzing. In this conversation, both physicists will illustrate how quantum effects are used to define the kilogram, and will discuss if there is a need to redefine the base unit of time although everything seems fixed.

 

William D. Phillips, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Laser Cooling and Trapping Group, USA

Moderator: Rainer Blatt, Professor, University of Innsbruck, Department of Experimental Physics, Austria

 

Click on the Online Science Days logo to be forwarded to the full programme of the OSDs. The full programme of the OSDs will also lead you to the respective recordings of the different events.
Click on the Online Science Days logo to be forwarded to the full programme of the OSDs. The full programme of the OSDs will also lead you to the respective recordings of the different events.