Advanced Seminar (Oberseminar)
Alex Altland, Achim Rosch and Simon Trebst

Mon 14:00-15:30
conference room I | Institute for Theoretical Physics (new building)

The seminar will start on Mon April 13th, 2015.


Overview

In introductory courses we get to know condensed matter systems as perfectly regular (translationally invariant) extended quantum systems. However, much as the real world isn't perfect, real solids are categorically subject to lattice imperfections, impurities, and other manifestations of dirt. The observable consequences of the presence of disorder are manifold. They range from sometimes unwanted (disorder obscuring otherwise pristine experimental data), sometimes useful (no lightbulb without disorder) side effects to the formation of unexpected and highly exotic quantum interference phenomena, which owe their existence entirely to a conspiracy of quantum mechanics and disorder scattering.

In this seminar we introduce the conceptual and methodological knowledge required to understand the physics of disorder in large quantum systems. We aim to keep a balance between the discussion of physical phenomena, and methodological tools required to get along in the dirty condensed matter system's world.

Prerequisites

For some talks previous knowledge in Quantum Field Theory is useful, but several topics can also be covered with a basic background in quantum mechanics.

Talks

Preliminary schedule