Advanced Seminar (Oberseminar)
Achim Rosch and Simon Trebst

Tue 12:00-13:30
seminar room | Institute for Theoretical Physics (container building)

The seminar will start on Tue April 8th, 2014.


Overview

The classification of knots is a central aspect of topology — the mathematical discipline which investigates those properties of a system that remain unchanged when one tries to deform it continuously, such as the number of knots in a rope. In physics, the topological properties of the quantum mechanical wave function of a many-particle system turn out to be the essential ingredients to some of the most fascinating phenomena in solid state physics.

The seminar will give an introduction to topological defects and their deep relation to quantum mechanics. We will discuss how the concept of Berry phases can be used to characterize the different forms of topological defects and provide an overview of experimentally observed manifestations of topological defects in quantum matter.

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