Topology in atomic Flatland |
TYPE | Colloquium |
Speaker: | Jean Dalibard |
Affiliation: | College de France |
Organizer: | Eric Akkermans |
Parent Event: | Exploring Flatland with cold atoms |
Date: | 15.01.2018 |
Time: | 14:30 - 15:30 |
Location: | Lidow Rosen Auditorium (323) |
Video: | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=... |
Abstract: | The physics of many-body systems strongly depends on their dimensionality. For example, in a two-dimensional world, most standard phase transitions towards an ordered state of matter would not occur because of the increased role of fluctuations. However, non-conventional "topological" transitions can still take place, as understood initially by Kosterlitz and Thouless who were awarded the 2016 Physics Nobel prize for their work.
During the last decade, a novel environment has been developed for the study of low-dimensional physics. It consists of cold atomic gases confined in tailor-made light traps, forming thus a thin layer of material particles. In this talk I will present some key aspects of these quantum 2D gases, such as their transition to a superfluid state. I will also address other topology-related effects in these systems, in relation with the creation of artificial gauge fields and quantum-Hall type phenomena. |