51st Annual Smith Lecture, April 4, 2013.

The Department of Physics at The Ohio State University presents the 51st Annual Smith Lecture Thursday April 4, 2013.

Speaking at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Rd. is David J. Wineland, a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado, and the 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physics.

The 2012 Nobel Prize was awarded to Wineland for his work that addresses a quantum physics-based computer.  Central to Wineland's work is "a superposition state," that posits the possibility that a creature such as a cat can be simultaneously alive and dead.  Such feline experiences inform modern  research on possible supercomputers.

Wineland's presentation begins at 8:00 p.m.