A. Del Maestro, B. Rosenow, J.A. Hoyos and T. Vojta, to appear in Physical Review Letters (2010)

1. Superconductor-metal quantum phase transition in nanowiresThomas Vojta, Missouri University of Science and Technology, DMR 0906566 • As a result of recent advances in nanotechnology, scientists can now produce tiny electronic devices such as ultrathin nanowires, which are only a few billionths of a meter wide. • Measurements reveal that sufficiently thick wires completely lose their electrical resistance at low temperatures, which is the hallmark of super- conductivity. Wires that are too narrow keep their resistance down to the lowest temperatures. • Vojta and coworkers developed a theoretical framework for calculating the resistivity in these wires and performed extensive computer simulations. • Nanoscale superconductors are fascinating laboratories for testing the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, and they are at the heart of the current quantum information revolution. Schematic of a freely suspended super- conducting MoGe nanowire. The inset shows the micrograph of a sample wire. (picture courtesy nanogallery.info) A. Del Maestro, B. Rosenow, J.A. Hoyos and T. Vojta, to appear in Physical Review Letters (2010)

2. Superconductor-metal quantum phase transition in nanowiresThomas Vojta, Missouri University of Science and Technology, DMR 0906566 Advanced Research Training in Condensed Matter and Materials Theory Graduate students: Man Young Lee, Manal Al-Ali, Fawaz Hrahsheh, Chetan Kotabage, and David Nodzadze Undergraduate students: 8 undergraduates have helped upgrading the computer cluster and running the simulations • Lecture series on physics Nobel prize • Vojta has initiated a series of yearly “Nobel prize” lectures at Missouri S&T • These lectures are given every year after the physics Nobel prize has been announced • They explain the physics behind the prize for a diverse non-specialist audience