Il corso sarà tenuto dal Prof. Terry J. Quinn e dal prof Richard Davis - Bureau Internationaql des Poids ed Mesures (BIPM) Sèvres - France

The International System of units (SI) will be redefined soon. The SI units will not be linked anymore to artifacts or materials' properties, but to fundamental constants of nature.
New experiments, often based on quantum physics, will primarily realize the units.

CALENDARIO:
inizio corso previsto per il 9-11 marzo 2016

Metrology is close to a revolution. The organizations of the Metre Convention are
supporting a redefinition of the International System of units (SI), the basis of primary
metrology, as well as of everyday measurements.
The SI units will not be linked anymore to artefacts or materials' properties, but to
fundamental constants of nature. The realization of SI units will be mostly based on
quantum metrology experiments, involving both atomic and solid-state quantum
phenomena.

The course organised by the PhD in Metrology is intended to provide a broad basis of
knowledge on the future measurement standards and the basics of metrology which
affects every type of measurement, from primary to everyday level, therefore it is
considered a course of fundamental interest for all the PhD courses.
Students, Researchers, and Professionals related to all fields of measurement are warmly
invited.



The course will take place on March 9-11th, 2016
at the Politecnico of Torino
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications (DET)
Conference room, 5th floor
The

March 9th , h 14.30 - 17.30
Quinn: Origins and signature of the Metre Convention in 1875
Quinn: The creation and development of the BIPM from 1875 to the present day
Davis: Present situation with the kilogram, and the realization of the future kilogram
definition based on a fixed numerical value of a physical constant

March 10th, h 10 - 12
Quinn: History of units (what we now call base units from 1791 to the present day)
Quinn: Origins and development of the New SI
March 10th, h 12 - 13 INRIM satellite seminars
Filippo Levi: redefinition of the second
Maria Luisa Rastello: definition and realization of the candela in the frame of the new SI
Luca Callegaro: Electrical impedance units and standards in the framework of the new
International System of units

March 10th, h 15 - 17
Davis: Redefinition of the Kelvin: the meaning of the Boltzmann constant, the realization
of the present definition of thermodynamic temperature, experiments to measure the
Boltzmann constant, how temperature metrology would change in the near future and a
guess about the longer term prospects.

March 11th, h 10 - 13
Quinn: The Mutual Recognition Arrangement of the Comité International des Poids et
Mesures
Davis: The impact on other areas of metrology: electrical metrology and metrology in
chemistry (relation of the kg to the mole);
Davis: The fine structure constant and the role of this dimensionless quantity in
metrology.

The Lecturers:
Terry J. Quinn, Emeritus Director of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures
(BIPM), Sèvres, France, where he was Director from 1988 to 2003. He worked at the
National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington, UK from 1962 to 1977.
His scientific interests have been in the field of metrology, first in temperature
measurement and radiometry, then in mass measurement and determination of
fundamental constants. He has published measurements of the Gas constant, the Stefan
Boltzmann constant, and the Newtonian constant of gravitation. He carried out
experiments related to the fifth force and to reports of anomalous weights of spinning
rotors. During his time at the NPL and after, he developed the cryogenic radiometer with
his colleague John Martin. Since retirement in 2004, he has continued his work on the
measurement of G, he was Editor of the Royal Society journal of the history of science,
Notes and Records of the Royal Society, from 2004 to 2007.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (United Kingdom), a Fellow of the American
Physical Society, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 2002 and was
appointed CBE on his retirement in 2004.
Richard S. Davis, Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Sèvres, France,
where he was Director of the Mass Department from 1993 to 2010 and now acts as
Consultant.
His research interests were devoted to the metrology of mass and related quantities, and
of fundamental constants, since his activity at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (1974-1990) and then at BIPM (1993-2010).
Davis published widely cited papers on the determination of the Faraday constant, the
Boltzmann constant, the gravitational constant. He is co-author of several papers on mass
metrology, mass comparators, influence parameters on mass calibration.
He was strongly involved in international metrology organizations and committees,
including the Consultative Committee for Mass (CCM), and the Consultative Committee for
Thermometry (CCT) where he acted as Executive Secretary. During his career he actively
disseminated the metrological culture being lecturer in metrology schools and training
courses. He very recently published a paper on a didactical experiment, suitable to be
carried out in schools, for the realization of the mass standard in the new SI.