Binghamton University
Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy
PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM
SMART ENERGY TAE
“Exploring exotic quantum phases with tensor network states”
Ling Wang
California Institute of Technology
Abstract:
Strongly correlated quantum many-body systems exhibit fascinating phenomena such as the high-Tc
superconductivity in cuprates, spin liquids in frustrated antiferromagnets and the fractional quantum Hall
effects in 2D electron gas. The physics driven these exotic phenomena are strong electron-electron correlations.
The simulation of them is one of the challenges of condensed matter physics. In this talk, I will introduce tensor
network states (TNSs) as the variational ansatze for simulating strongly correlated quantum many-body
systems.
Tensor network states method has many advantages in study strongly correlated quantum many-body systems.
First of all it has a solid theoretical justification developed using quantum information theory. Secondly, it is
general enough to embrace both symmetry breaking phases and topologically ordered phases. Especially when
describing a topologically ordered state, one can access the full ground state subspace[1], the boundary-bulk
correspondence[1], and even the excitation spectra of the bulk[2] in the TNSs framework. For this reason, TNSs
method is more than a numerical method, it becomes a convenient analytical tool to understand and classify
exotic phenomena of strongly interacting quantum many-body physics.
[1] L. Wang, D. Poilblanc, Z.-C. Gu, X.-G. Wen and F. Verstraete, Phys. Rev. Let. 111, 037202 (2013).
[2] L. Wang, A. Essin, M. Hermele and O. Motrunich, arXiv:1409.7013.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Science Library Room 212
PRESENTATION BEGINS AT 11:00 AM
ALL ARE WELCOME – COFFEE AND REFRESHMENTS AT 10:45 AM