Condensed Matter

Throughout the history of quantum field theory there has been a rich cross-pollination between high energy and condensed matter physics. From the theory of renormalization to the consequences of spontaneous symmetry breaking this interaction has been an incredibly fruitful one. In the last decade there has been a strong resurgence of interest in condensed matter systems in the high energy theoretical physics community. Taking advantage of developments in conformal field theories the conformal bootstrap gauge/gravity and other type of dualities as well as effective field theory techniques high energy theorists with all kinds of specialist backgrounds are thinking about the diverse behavior exhibited in low energy physical systems. Recent developments also employed quantum field theory ideas to improve our understanding of condensed and quantum matter systems as for example Femi liquids strange metals or the behavior of topological defects in ultra cold atom gases. For certain questions such approaches present relevant advantages with respect to more traditional techniques. Moreover in recent years the interplay between high energy and condensed matter physics found new fuel in the search for light dark matter. Indeed theoretical analyses have recently shifted the attention towards model for sub-GeV dark matter. The condensed matter community has played a crucial role in the design of possible new materials and detectors that could allow the observation of such particles. The aim of this workshop is to bring together like-minded high energy theorists with appropriate condensed matter theorists and experimentalists to tackle some of the most interesting problems in modern physics. The format has been designed to allow for plenty of time for open discussion and interaction between the participants. This will reinvigorate existing collaborations as well as create new fruitful ones.

The Kitaev quantum double models are a family of topologically ordered spin models originally proposed to exploit the novel condensed matter phenomenology of topological phases for fault-tolerant quantum computation. Their physics is inherited from topological quantum field theories, while their underlying mathematical structure is based on a class of Hopf algebras. This structure is also seen across diverse fields of physics, and so allows connections to be made between the Kitaev models and topics as varied as quantum gauge theory and modified strong complementarity. This workshop will explore this shared mathematical structure and in so doing develop the connections between the fields of mathematical physics, quantum gravity, quantum information, condensed matter and quantum foundations.

This tenth annual one-day symposium aims to provide an opportunity for condensed matter researchers in Southwest Ontario to gather and discuss informally their most recent research.  The general format of the meeting consists of 2 guest speakers and 5-7 contributed talks.  The names of the contributing speakers and title of their talks will be announced later.  Registration begins at 9:30 am.  The meeting is expected to start around 9:45 am and end between 5-5:30 pm.  A lunch will be provided by the Black Hole Bistro.

There will be two keynote speaker for the symposium; Professor Andrew Mackenzie from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids,Dresden and Professor Anders Sandvik from Boston University.  Their talk titles will be announced at a later date.

Registration for this event will open shortly.