Physicists Carl Wieman (right) and partner Eric Cornell with the apparatus used to achieve the Bose-Einstein condensate, research that won them the Nobel Prize in 2001. Wieman will present a public lecture and meet with faculty and administrators at The University of Alabama Sept. 21-22. (Photo by Ken Abbott / University of Colorado at Boulder.)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Nobel Prize-winner and internationally renowned physicist Carl E. Wieman will be at The University of Alabama on Sept. 21 and 22. Wieman will give a presentation on the work that won him the Nobel Prize, “Bose-Einstein Condensation: Quantum Weirdness at the Lowest Temperature in the Universe,” on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in 107 Shelby Hall on the UA campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Wieman was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in physics for his landmark creation of the world’s first Bose-Einstein condensate, a new form of matter that is created when a laboratory apparatus is used to chill a group of atoms to just a few hundred billionths of a degree above absolute zero. The atoms within the condensate obey the laws of quantum physics and are as close to absolute zero—minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius—as the laws of physics allow. The creation established a new branch of atomic physics that has provided a treasure-trove of discoveries. Wieman won the Nobel Prize along with collaborator and fellow University of Colorado at Boulder physics professor Eric Cornell.

Nobel Prize winning physicist Carl Wieman will present a public lecture and meet with faculty and administrators at The University of Alabama Sept. 21-22. Wieman was the first physicist to achieve a new form of matter called the Bose-Einstein condensate, a discovery that won him the Nobel Prize in 2001. (Photo by Ken Abbott / University of Colorado at Boulder.)

A staunch supporter of undergraduate education, Wieman will also speak to UA faculty. His lecture, “Using the Tools of Science to Teach Science,” will deal with efficiently using technology that is available today in the classroom. It will be held on Sept. 22 at 4 p.m., in 107 Shelby Hall on the UA campus.

While at UA, Wieman will also meet with UA President Robert E. Witt, Dr. Judy Bonner, provost and vice-president for academic affairs, and other members of the UA administration, as well as hold informal seminars with physics faculty and with students in the Blount Undergraduate Initiative and the UA Honors College.

Wieman has received numerous other honors and awards, including the 1993 E.O. Lawrence Award in Physics, the 1995 Einstein Medal for Laser Science, and the 2000 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics from the Franklin Institute. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Wieman, a 1973 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also holds a doctorate from Stanford University and an honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Chicago.

Wieman’s visit is hosted by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences and is part of the University’s Excellence in Teaching Initiative.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state with 6,600 students and 360 faculty. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships, and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.