Reminder: the ITAMP talk is not today but Friday at 1 pm.
Tony
On Monday, October 28, 2013 4:04:08 PM UTC-4, tony...(a)cfa.harvard.edu wrote:
Dear Friends,
On FRIDAY, November 1, there will be an ITAMP topical lunch discussion.
Tea Room (P-226) @ CfA (60 Garden Street)
Time: 1:00-2:30 pm
As always pizza will be served.
*NOTE UNUSUAL TIME AND DAY*
Speaker: Norman Yao
Title: Many-body localization with dipoles
Abstract: Statistical mechanics is the framework that connects
thermodynamics to the microscopic world. It hinges on the assumption of
equilibration; when equilibration fails, so does much of our understanding.
In isolated quantum systems, this breakdown is captured by the phenomenon
known as many-body localization. Many-body localized phases violate Ohm's
law and Fourier's law as they conduct neither charge nor heat; they can
exhibit symmetry breaking and/or topological orders in dimensions normally
forbidden by Mermin-Wagner arguments; they hold potential as strongly
interacting quantum computers due to the slow decay of local coherence.
In this talk, I will briefly introduce the basic phenomena of many-body
localization and review its theoretical status. To date, none of these
phenomena has been observed in an experimental system, in part because of
the isolation required to avoid thermalization. I will consider several
dipolar systems which we believe to be ideal platforms for the realization
of MBL phases and for investigating the associated delocalization phase
transition. The presence of strong interactions in these systems underlies
their potential for exploring physics beyond that of single particle
Anderson localization. However, the power law of the dipolar interaction
immediately raises the question: can localization in real space persist in
the presence of such long-range interactions? I will review and extend
several arguments producing criteria for localization in the presence of
power laws and present small-scale numerics regarding the MBL transition in
several of the proposed dipolar systems.
Joint work with: C. R. Laumann, S. Gopalakrishnan, M. Knap, M. Mueller, E.
A. Demler, M. D. Lukin
Looking forward to seeing you there,
Tony Lee