Abstract:
The world’s most powerful electromagnets (>1,000,000 the Earth’s magnetic field) are developed and utilized at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (the MagLab). This talk answers the question….’why would anyone DO such a thing? I will survey applications in condensed matter physics, chemistry and biology. Primary research areas include (a) Quantum Matter, addressing our limited understanding of strongly interacting electron systems; (b) Complex Fluids, such as petroleum and pharmaceuticals; (c) Magnetic Resonance of both nuclei (NMR) and electrons (EMR), understand metallo-proteins and catalysts, (d) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging of living brains. Expressed differently: (a) applying the energy of 200 sticks of dynamite to slightly perturb electrons; (b) weighing molecule mixtures as nature provides them…messy, very messy; (c) playing ‘Where’s the spin?’ with the entire periodic table; and (d) the printing the High-Definition ‘Mouse Brain Atlas’. Jokes will be told.