Department of Physics and Physical
Oceanography Colloquium
Computational Challenges of Quantum
Mechanics
Shailesh Chandrasekharan
Department of Physics
Duke University
A major triumph of physics of the past century was the discovery that
nature obeys the laws of quantum mechanics. Today we can observe the
workings of quantum mechanics in a variety of natural phenomena
ranging from particle physics to materials physics. However, laws of
quantum mechanics also lead to computational challenges that have
hindered us from answering important questions in fields of nuclear
and condensed matter physics. These challenges seem to suggest the
presence of a fundamental computational limitation to a quantitative
understanding of nature. In my talk I will outline some ideas that have
emerged over the past decade to address/overcome these computational
difficulties and explain why this relatively young field of research may
hold exciting opportunities for the future.
Friday, November 6, 2015
1:00 PM
DeLoach Hall, Room 212
Refreshments will be served at 12:50 PM