Spin Centennial: Celebrating 100 Years of Spin at the University of Michigan

The Centennial marks 100 years since the concept of spin was “invented” by two young physicists in the Netherlands, who then came to the U.S. and began their academic careers at the University of Michigan.

In 1925, to explain puzzles in the observed spectra of atoms, George Uhlenbeck and Samuel Goudsmit postulated the existence of a new intrinsic property of the electron, which came to be known as spin. In 1926, Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit joined the University of Michigan Physics Department. The physics department at the University of Michigan, and others across the world, have continued to harness this revolutionary concept to advance the fields of Quantum Mechanics, Nuclear Physics, and, more recently, Quantum Computing.

Wednesday, November 5
340 West Hall

Join us for a Special Physics Colloquium (1:30-2:30 pm)
Gerald Gabrielse, Board of Trustees Professor in Physics/Director of CFP (Northwestern University)

Coffee Break 2:30-3:00 pm

Spin Centennial Symposium (2:30-5:30 pm)
The special colloquium will be followed by a symposium of talks for the general public on the history of spin in physics and its applications, which impact everyone’s life every day and into the future.