Bethany Downer

Abstract: The Hubble Space Telescope, a collaboration between the United States and Europe, will mark 35 years of operations in April 2025. The James Webb Space Telescope, a collaboration between the United States, Europe, and Canada, is the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. Bethany will share mission highlights as well as insights into the process that brings raw data and science from these observatories for a public audience, as well the latest breaking news and spectacular images.

Bio: Bethany Downer, of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, specializes in science and technology communication for the space industry. She is the Chief Science Communications Officer for the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes for the European Space Agency. Bethany is a member of the IAF Space Education and Outreach Committee (SEOC) and the Workforce Development-Young Professionals Programme Committee (WD-YPP). She has also conducted space science outreach to over 10,000 Canadian students and is actively supporting students and young professionals in Atlantic Canada who want to pursue careers in the space domain. Bethany has twice been named one of Canada's Top 30 under 30, and is a recipient of the Canadian Sovereign’s Medal from the country’s Governor General.

Makoto Fujirawa

Abstract: Does antimatter fall the same way as normal matter? Many compelling arguments suggest it should, but no one had directly observed antimatter fall—until recently. Experiments with antimatter are challenging; studying its gravitational properties even more so. I will discuss our recent observation of the gravitational free-fall of antihydrogen atoms with the ALPHA-g experiment at CERN, as well as the future prospects with (anti)hydrogen fountains under development at the HAICU project in Vancouver.

Bio: Makoto Fujiwara is a Senior Scientist at TRIUMF—Canada’s particle accelerator center in Vancouver. A native of Japan, he earned his Ph.D. from Univ. of British Columbia and has held positions at the University of Tokyo, CERN (Switzerland), and RIKEN (Japan). Since joining TRIUMF, he has served as the head of the Particle Physics Department and as Deputy Associate Director. In 2005, Fujiwara co-founded the international antimatter project ALPHA at the CERN laboratory and has since led its Canadian group. His contributions to antimatter research have been recognized with numerous awards internationally, including the Outstanding Young Scientist by the Nuclear Physics Forum in Japan, the John Dawson Award from the American Physical Society, and the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award in Canada. He is a fellow of Americal Physical Society.

Brynle Barrett

Abstract: Gravity is a fundamental force of nature that profoundly affects our everyday lives. We experience gravity as a perpetual pull toward the Earth’s surface. This force varies on a small scale due to a variety of effects, such as the local density of crustal rock and the position of the Moon in the sky. These small changes in gravitational acceleration are essential for navigation systems, natural resource exploration, and defence. My research uses laser-cooled atoms to create super-sensitive “quantum sensors” for measuring gravity at extremely small scales. In this talk, I will discuss how we cool atoms toward absolute zero, how we use these atoms as sensors, and what exciting things they can tell us about our surroundings.

Bio: Brynle Barrett is an Associate Professor at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). His area of expertise is quantum inertial sensors, cold atoms and matter-wave interferometry. Brynle received his BSc from Saint Mary’s University in 2005 and his PhD from York University in 2012 for his research on matter-wave interferometry and its application to precise tests of quantum electrodynamics. He was awarded a post-doctoral research fellowship from the French space agency (CNES) to construct a mobile cold-atom-based sensor for quantum tests of Einstein’s equivalence principle at the Laboratoire Photonique, Numerique et Nanoscience (LP2N) in Bordeaux. This experiment was the first to test the equivalence principle in weightlessness onboard an aircraft undergoing parabolic flight. In 2015, Brynle was recruited by iXblue (now Exail)—a French tech company that specializes in fiber-optic gyroscopes, photonic components, and inertial navigation—to establish a joint academic-industrial laboratory to develop quantum technologies for positioning and navigation. He joined the physics faculty at UNB in January 2021 and established the Quantum Sensing and Ultra-cold Matter (QSUM) laboratory. Brynle has co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications in atomic physics, and three industrial patents pertaining to quantum inertial sensors and cold-atom technology.

Jeff Dahn

Abstract: Renewable energy sources like Solar and Wind need to proliferate to eliminate fossil fuel use. Energy storage (both long term and short term) is required since these are variable sources. I will examine many proposed energy storage technologies with the principles of first year physics principles to show that many are "poor choices" while others are "good choices". Using Lithium-ion batteries to store energy is a "good choice". I will describe the current state-of-the-art in advanced batteries and challenges going forward to improve the technology.

Bio: Jeff Dahn obtained his B.Sc. in Physics from Dalhousie University (1978) and his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1982. Dahn then worked at NRC (82-85) and at Moli Energy Limited (85-90) before joining the Physics Department at Simon Fraser University in 1990. He returned to Dalhousie University in 1996. At Moli, he did pioneering work on lithium-ion batteries.

In 2016, Dr. Dahn began a research partnership with Tesla as the NSERC/Tesla Canada industrial research chair which will run at least till 2026. Jeff Dahn is the author or co-author of over 820 refereed journal papers and 78 inventions with patents issued or filed.

Dahn’s research in the lithium-ion battery field has been recognized by numerous awards including a Governor General’s Innovation Award (2016) and the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal in Science and Engineering (2017), Canada’s top science prize. He was awarded the Olin Palladium Medal by the Electrochemical Society (its highest honor) in 2023. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020. He was also awarded the Canadian Association of Physicists Medal for Excellence in Teaching in 2009.

Dr. Dahn’s wife Kathy, daughters Hannah and Tara, and son, Jackson are all Dalhousie graduates, as are their spouses. He has 5 grandchildren. All of the family resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

CAP Lecture Tour

Pablo Bianucci

Abstract: Light tends to roam free in space, but we can play tricks to trap it. When we can trap photons in microscopic spaces, their interactions with matter change quantitatively and qualitatively and we can harness those changes to our advantage. For instance, we can use trapped light to make ultra-sensitive sensors, highly-efficient lasers and sources of quantum photons, and to optically control the mechanical vibrations of matter. The workhorse device for trapping light at such small scales is the optical micro-resonator. I will introduce the working principles of different optical micro-resonators, how they can be modeled, studied, and fabricated, as wellas some of the cool phenomena that have been demonstrated with them.

Bio: Pablo Bianucci did his undergraduate studies in Physics at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, finishing in 2001. He then moved to the University of Texas at Austin to do a PhD, which kept him busy until 2007. After that, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta, McGill University, and Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. In 2012 he started as a professor at Concordia University's Department of Physics, where he is now an Associate Professor. His research involves optical micro-resonators of different types, both looking at their fundamental physics and at possible applications.