On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I extend a warm welcome to you for the 7th Association of Nepali Physicists in America (ANPA) Conference, scheduled to take place from July 19th to 21st, 2024. This conference will be conducted in a hybrid format, featuring in-person sessions at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Central Department of Physics, Tribhuvan University (T.U.), Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal and online session via Webex.

Since its inception in 2018, ANPA has been at the forefront of fostering collaboration among Nepali and international physicists and scientists hailing from various corners of the globe. Our primary objective has been to provide a platform for the presentation of cutting-edge scientific discoveries while facilitating connections and collaborations across academia, research institutions, and industries.

The conference program will encompass a diverse range of sessions, including keynote addresses, plenary lectures, invited talks, and contributions from students, researchers, early-career professionals, and seasoned experts in the field of Physics. These sessions are thoughtfully designed to contribute to the enrichment of the global physics community.

For the benefit of our in-person attendees, a limited number of participants will be eligible to receive financial support to cover their reasonable travel expenses, including airfare, ground transportation, meals, and lodging. The selection process for this support will be based on financial need, on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be contingent upon the availability of funds.

We are enthusiastic about the upcoming conference and eagerly anticipate engaging with participants from around the world to explore and discuss the latest advancements in the field of physics. Your participation is vital in ensuring the success of this event, and we look forward to your valuable contributions.

Warm regards,

Email: info@anpaglobal.org

Biography:

Prof. Narayan Chapagain, is a Professor of Physics at Amrit Campus, Tribhuvan University, Thamel, Kathmandu. Prof. Chapagain earned his MSc in Physics 1992 from TU and M.Tech in Space and Atmospheric Physics from Andhra University, India in 2003.  He completed his PhD in Space Physics in 2011 from Utah State University, USA. Thereafter, he worked as a postdoctoral research associate under the NASA Living with a Star Postdoctoral Fellowship program at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA until 2013.  Prof. Chapagain has more than 100 publications, among which 40 are SCIMAGO papers, which yields a total citation of 837. He has been serving as Supervisor for eight PhD students. In addition, he also served as the president of Nepal Physical Society from 2019 to 2022. 

Abstract

Space is the ultimate high ground from which a variety of satellite-based surveillance, communications, and navigation systems operate. As these technologies become increasingly intertwined into our day-to-day lives and national security, it becomes paramount to understand how they can be disrupted. When plasma in the ionosphere between a satellite and a receiver is turbulent, the transmitted signals scintillate. This scintillation poses a problem for a receiver, which can lose the ability to track that signal, adversely affecting technologies that rely on this system. Although low- to mid-latitude ionospheric irregularities have been studied for several decades, the capability to forecast their occurrence and day-to-day variability is still elusive and remains a challenge in space physics. In this presentation, our investigation of the morphology and dynamics of these ionospheric plasma irregularities will be discussed. Similarly, total electron content (TEC), i.e. the total number of electrons present per square meter along a path between a radio transmitter from a satellite and a receiver, using GPS network widely distributed across Nepal will be presented to study the trend of the ionospheric variability over Nepal. The ionospheric anomalies using the TEC data during solar eclipse as well as before and after the huge Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal (28.23°N, 84.73°E) with a magnitude of 7.8 on April 25, 2015 have been analyzed. 

Biography:

Kenan Gundogdu is a professor of physics at North Carolina State University. He received his PhD from the University of Iowa in 2004, followed by postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on developing ultrafast spectroscopic methods to study electron dynamics in condensed matter systems, with an emphasis on coherent and incoherent exciton dynamics in materials such as lead-halide perovskites and other nanostructures. His work aims to advance quantum technology applications. Specifically, he studies properties of materials that lead to macroscopic quantum effects at practically high temperatures.

Abstract

Room Temperature Perovskite Superfluorescence and its Implications for Quantum Materials

The formation of coherent macroscopic states and the manipulation of their entanglement using external stimuli are essential for emerging quantum applications. However, the observation of collective quantum phenomena such as Bose–Einstein condensation, superconductivity, superfluidity and superradiance has been limited to extremely low temperatures to suppress dephasing due to random thermal agitations. In this presentation we will talk about room-temperature superfluorescence (SF) in hybrid perovskite thin films. In SF an optically excited population of incoherent dipoles develops collective coherence spontaneously. This emergent collective state forms a giant dipole and radiates a burst of photons. Because electronic transitions dephase extremely fast, observation of SF in semiconductors is extremely rare and under high magnetic fields and at very low temperatures. Therefore, the discovery of room temperature SF in perovskites is very surprising and shows that in this material platform, there exists an extremely strong immunity to electronic dephasing due to thermal processes. To explain this observation, we propose that the formation of large polarons in hybrid perovskites provides a quantum analogue of vibration isolation to electronic excitation and protects it against dephasing even at room temperature. Understanding the origins of sustained quantum coherence and the superfluorescence phase transition at high temperatures can provide guidance to design systems for emerging quantum information technologies and to realize similar high-temperature macroscopic quantum phenomena in tailored materials.