PODCAST
Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC)
by The Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics (ASC)
Every semester the Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics invites a distinguished theoretical physicist in order to present a short series of lectures with increasing level of specialization. Usually it includes a public talk for a general audience, a theory colloquium and a specialized seminar.
Episodes
-
Life on a Noisy Seascape: Extinction, Growth, and Diversity
Populations and communities rarely evolve in static environments; their fitness landscapes fluctuate across space and time, forming what may be called a noisy seascape. This talk examines how such variability modifies classical models of population dynamics and community stability. Beginning from...
-
Boundaries, inclusions and disorder in active matter
Active systems are driven out of equilibrium by exchanging energy and momentum with their environment. This endows them with anomalous mechanical properties which leads to rich phenomena when active fluids are in contact with boundaries, inclusions, or disordered potentials. Indeed, studies of…
more -
The Force of Nothing: Attraction and Repulsion in the Quantum Void
Quantum physics teaches us that even the emptiest vacuum is teeming with fluctuations of electromagnetic fields. When these fluctuations are confined between objects, they produce measurable forces: the Casimir effect describes an attraction between uncharged conductors arising solely from the...
-
Comments on the phase of the Euclidean gravity partition function on spheres
Euclidean gravity on a sphere (euclidean de-Sitter) gives rise to some phase factors. We discuss how these phase factors change when we include an observer. We also discuss situations involving products of spheres.
-
The meaning of spacetime: Black holes, wormholes and quantum entanglement
We start by describing the geometrical notions central to Einstein's theory of gravity. We then discuss current ideas for how spacetime geometry could emerge in a quantum theory of gravity. We will see that quantum entanglement plays a crucial role.
-
Quantum Spin Liquids and New Phases in M-Point twisted material platforms
I will show how a new set of twisted materials based on the M point rather than the K point can realize a series of exotic phases of matter, including quantum spin liquids and charge glasses. These materials, which have been exfoliated and twisted experimentally, will be at the forefront of new...
-
Nano-engineering from a Theoretical Physics Perspective
We will review the beginning of experimental and theoretical studies of moire systems and their evolution up to present. This type of systems represent a new way of “growing” materials, and has tremendous potential both for fundamental physics as well as for applications. Two dimensional periodic...
-
In Integers We Trust: The Periodic Table of Materials From Mendeleev to Topology
Materials science has always balanced on the twin pillars of observation and abstraction—from the alchemists’ crude recipes to today’s AI-driven materials design. In this talk, we begin by revisiting the pre-quantum era, when early chemists grappled with the nature of elements and compounds, and...
-
Eugene Demler: Photons for many body physics: a platform and probe
In this talk, I will discuss the applications of cavity electrodynamics for controlling many-body electron systems. The focus will be on achieving strong coupling between cavities and collective excitations of interacting electrons at Terahertz and IR frequencies. As a specific example I will...
-
Eugene Demler: New colors of light
It is commonly recognized that scientific discoveries result in new technologies. In this talk we will discuss the reverse: behind every conceptual breakthrough lies some technological advance. To illustrate this point, we will review how modern progress in optical technologies is revolutionizing...
-
Eugene Demler: Lighting up superconductivity
Recent experiments suggest the phenomenon of light induced superconductivity above Tc in two different materials: fullerene superconductor K3C60 and high Tc cuprate YBCO. I will discuss the distinct phenomena taking place in these systems. In K3C60, the unusual character of electron-phonon...
-
Hirosi Ooguri: Symmetry Resolution at High Energy
The density of states of a unitary quantum field theory is known to have a universal behavior at high energy. In two dimensions, this behavior is described by the Cardy formula. When the theory has symmetry, it is interesting to find out how the Hilbert space is decomposed into irreducible...
-
Hirosi Ooguri: Constraints on Quantum Gravity
Although predictions of quantum gravity are typically at extremely high energy, several non-trivial constraints on its low energy effective theory have been found over the last decade or so. I will start by explaining why the unification of general relativity and quantum mechanics has been...
-
Yaron Oz: Entanglement, Chaos and Quantum Computation
We consider information spreading measures in randomly initialized variational quantum circuits and introduce entanglement diagnostics for efficient computation. We study the correlation between quantum chaos diagnostics, the circuit expressibility and the optimization of the control parameters.
-
Yaron Oz: Unraveling Turbulence: Modern Viewpoints on an Unsolved Problem
Fluid turbulence is a major unsolved problem of physics exhibiting an emergent complex structure from simple rules. We will briefly review the problem and discuss three avenues towards its solution: field theory, holography and machine learning.
-
Yaron Oz: The Quantum Universe: Information, Communication and Computation
The amazing and mysterious laws of the quantum world will be outlined: superposition, entanglement and no cloning. Their impact on science and technology will be discussed, including quantum teleportation, secure quantum communication, quantum money, powerful quantum algorithms and quantum…
more -
Thibault Damour: Black Hole Binary Dynamics from Classical and Quantum Gravitational Scattering
Gravitational wave signals from coalescing binary black holes are detected, and analyzed, by using large banks of template waveforms. The construction of these templates makes an essential use of the analytical knowledge of the motion and radiation of gravitationally interacting binary systems. A...
-
Thibault Damour: Gravitational Waves and Binary Black Holes
The observation of gravitational wave signals by the two interferometers of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), and by the Virgo interferometer, has brought the first direct evidence for the existence of black holes, and has also been the first observation of...
-
Thibault Damour: 100 Years of General Relativity
In November 2015, Albert Einstein finalized a new theory of gravitation, General Relativity (GR), which describes gravitation as a deformation of the structure of space-time. It took many years of conceptual deepening and observational discoveries to fully grasp several of the most novel...
-
Theory Colloquium: Scaling Down the Laws of Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics provides a robust conceptual framework and set of laws that govern the exchange of energy and matter. Although these laws were originally articulated for macroscopic objects, nanoscale systems also exhibit “thermodynamic-like” behavior – for instance, biomolecular motors convert...
-
Statistical Physics Seminar: Quantum Impulse Control
The quantum adiabatic theorem governs the evolution of a wavefunction under a slowly time-varying Hamiltonian. I will consider the opposite limit of a Hamiltonian that is varied impulsively: a strong perturbation U(x,t) is applied over a time interval of infinitesimal duration e->0. When the...
-
Public Lecture: Adventures of an Idea – the Life and Travels of Maxwell’s Demon
In a letter written in 1867, James Clerk Maxwell described a hypothetical creature: a “neat-fingered being” capable of separating fast molecules from slow ones. Maxwell mused that such a creature would seem to violate the second law of thermodynamics, which had recently been enunciated by Rudolf...
-
Theory Colloquium: When a Symmetry Breaks
Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking is a very universal concept applicable for a wide range of subjects: crystal, superfluid, neutron stars, Higgs boson, magnets, and many others. Yet there is a variety in the spectrum of gapless excitations even when the symmetry breaking patterns are the same. We...
-
Public Lecture: Quantum Universe
Where do we come from? Science is making progress on this age-old question of humankind. The Universe was once much smaller than the size of an atom. Small things mattered in the small Universe, where quantum physics dominated the scene. To understand the way the Universe is today, we have to…
more -
Fields and Strings Seminar: What is dark matter?
I review what we know about dark matter right now and some hints about its nature. In particular, I discuss candidates away from the conventional WIMP (Weakly Interactive Massive Particle) paradigm.
-
Public Lecture: The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Quantum Physics in Mathematics
Mathematics has proven to be "unreasonably effective" in understanding nature. The fundamental laws of physics can be captured in beautiful formulae. Remarkably, ideas from quantum theory turn out to carry tremendous mathematical power as well, even though we have little daily experience dealing...
-
Theory Colloquium: Topological Gravity and Matrix Models
Random matrix models are ubiquitous in physics and have been studied from many perspectives. One important application is producing exactly solvable toy models of quantum gravity and string theory. These models relate to deep mathematical structures of the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. Recent...
-
Theory Colloquium: The Life and Death of Turbulence
Turbulence is the last great unsolved problem of classical physics. But there is no consensus on what it would mean to actually solve this problem. In this colloquium, I propose that turbulence is most fruitfully regarded as a problem in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, and will show that...
-
What can Theoretical Physics tell us about the Origin and Evolution of Early Life?
Life on Earth is wonderfully diverse, with a multitude of life forms, structures and evolutionary mechanisms. However, there are two aspects of life that are universal --- shared by all known organisms. These are the genetic code, which governs how DNA is converted into the proteins making up…
more -
Condensed Matter Theory Seminar: Electronic Squeezing of Pumped Phonons: Negative U and Transient Superconductivity
Advances in light sources and time resolved spectroscopy have made it possible to excite specific atomic vibrations in solids and to observe the resulting changes in electronic properties. I argue that in narrow-band systems the dominant symmetry-allowed coupling between electron density and…
more -
Theory Colloquium: Meeting Dirac’s Challenge: modern approaches to the Correlated Electron Problem
This talk will present an overview of recent progress towards a solution of one of the grand-challenges of modern science: understanding the properties of interacting electrons in molecules and solids. After an introduction to the physics I will argue our theoretical understanding of a basic…
more -
Public Lecture: Superconductivity
Superconductivity, the ability of certain materials to conduct electricity with no resistance whatsoever, has fascinated scientists since its discovery by Kammerlingh-Onnes in 1911. While much has been understood, the question of predicting which materials will become superconducting, and at what...
-
Fields and Strings Seminar: Duality in 2 + 1 Dimensions
A combination of ideas originating from Condensed Matter physics, Supersymmetric Field Theory, and AdS/CFT has led to a detailed web of conjectured dualities. These relate the long distance behavior of different short distance theories. These dualities clarify a large number of confusing and...
-
Theory Colloquium: Symmetries, Duality, and the Unity of Physics
Global symmetries and gauge symmetries have played a crucial role in physics. The idea of duality demonstrates that gauge symmetries can be emergent and might not be fundamental. During the past decades it became clear that the circle of ideas about emergent gauge symmetries and duality is…
more -
Public Lecture: The Frontiers of Fundamental Physics
In recent decades, physicists and astronomers have discovered two beautiful Standard Models, one for the quantum world of extremely short distances, and one for the universe as a whole. Both models have had spectacular success, but there are also strong arguments for new physics beyond these...
-
Fields and Strings Seminar: Holographic Quantum Codes
Two of the most amazing ideas in physics are the holographic principle and quantum error correction. The holographic principle asserts that all the information contained in a region of space is encoded on the boundary of the region, albeit in a highly scrambled form. Quantum error correction is…
more -
Theory Colloquium: Quantum Information and Spacetime
Aside from enabling revolutionary future technologies, quantum information science is providing powerful new tools for attacking deep problems in fundamental physical science. In particular, the recent convergence of quantum information and quantum gravity is sparking exciting progress on some…
more -
Public Lecture: Quantum Computing and the Entanglement Frontier
The quantum laws governing atoms and other tiny objects seem to defy common sense, and information encoded in quantum systems has weird properties that baffle our feeble human minds. John Preskill will explain why he loves quantum entanglement, the elusive feature making quantum information...
-
ASC Theory Colloquium: Physics and Geometry of Morphogenesis
One hundred years ago, D’Arcy Thompson – a nineteenth century polymath, working at the turn of the twentieth century – wrote a beautiful monograph, “On Growth and Form”, in which he pondered the geometry of living forms and how it emerges in the process of Morphogenesis. Thompson was ahead of his...
-
Public Lecture: On the Possibility of Evolutionary Forecasting
When we think about evolution, it is typically in the context of natural history, seeking an explanation for the amazing diversity of life. Yet evolution is not only the matter of the past, but an ongoing dynamical process linking the past with the future. Evolutionary dynamics is particularly...
-
Theory Colloquium: Towards Material Design Using Strongly Correlated Electron Materials
Our understanding of simple solids, is firmly grounded on the Fermi liquid concept and powerful computational techniques built around the density functional theory. These ideas form the basis of our “standard model” of solid state physics and have provided us with an accurate description of many...
-
Condensed Matter Theory Seminar: Shining Light on Transition Metal Oxides: Resilient Quasiparticles and the Unveiling of the Hidden Fermi Liquid
Strongly correlated metals exhibit anomalous transport properties which have puzzled condensed matter physicists for many years. They are characterized by large resistivities which exceed the Mott Ioffe Reggel limit and large thermoelectric responses, which cannot be explained in terms of…
more -
Public Lecture: The Quest for High Temperature Superconductivity
Superconductivity is a state of matter where electrons can flow without resistance and where magnetic fields are expelled. It was discovered serendipitously more than a hundred years ago. Today, superconductors are essential components of medical imaging devices as well as high energy particles...
-
Public Lecture: The Principle of Least Action, from the “Vis-viva” to Quantum Black Holes
The Principle of Least Action is both profound and practical. Since its first formulation by Maupertuis and Euler nearly three centuries ago, the Principle has been, and continues to be, a formidable battlehorse for penetrating unchartered territory in theoretical physics. The Principle, its...
-
Sommerfeld Theory Colloquium: Sloppy Models and How Science Works
“With four parameters I can fit an elephant; with five I can make it wag its tail.” Systems biology models of the cell have an enormous number of reactions between proteins, RNA, and DNA whose rates (parameters) are hard to measure. Models of climate change, ecosystems, and macroeconomics also…
more -
Biophysics Seminar: Statistical Physics in Biology: Twisting transitions for DNA, and Ising Models for cell Membranes
The theory of phase transitions splits between abrupt transitions (nucleation and growth, critical droplets) and continuous transitions (scaling and universality). I’ll discuss wonderful biophysics examples for each: Michelle Wang’s twisting single molecules of DNA, and with Sarah Veatch’s...
-
Public Lecture: Crackling Noise
A piece of paper or candy wrapper crackles when it is crumpled. A magnet crackles when you change its magnetization slowly. The earth crackles as the continents slowly drift apart, forming earthquakes. Crackling noise happens when a material, when put under a slowly increasing strain, slips…
more -
Public Lecture: Quantum Beauty
Does the world embody beautiful ideas? Pythagoras and Plato intuited that it should, Newton and Maxwell showed, in impressive examples, how it could. Modern physics demonstrates, in depth and detail, that it does. I will narrate, through notable examples, how the concept of beauty in physical law...
-
Solid State Theory Seminar: Dipole Excitations in 2D insulators. Quantum Levy flights
This talk is devoted to quantum propagation of dipole excitations in two dimensions in the presence of disorder. This problem differs from the conventional Anderson localization due to existence of long range hops. We found that the critical wave functions of the dipoles always exist which…
more -
Sommerfeld Theory Colloquium: Many- Body Anderson Localization
Localization of the eigenfunctions of quantum particles in a random potential was discovered by P.W. Anderson more than 50 years ago in connection with spin relaxation and charge transport in disordered solids. Later experimentally was realized localization of other quantum particles and…
more
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Every semester the Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics invites a distinguished theoretical physicist in order to present a short series of lectures with increasing level of specialization. Usually it includes a public talk for a general audience, a theory colloquium and a specialized seminar.
HOSTED BY
The Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics (ASC)
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC) have?
Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC) currently has 59 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC) about?
Every semester the Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics invites a distinguished theoretical physicist in order to present a short series of lectures with increasing level of specialization. Usually it includes a public talk for a general audience, a theory colloquium and a specialized...
How often does Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC) release new episodes?
Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC) has 59 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC)?
You can listen to Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC) on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC)?
Sommerfeld Lecture Series (ASC) is created and hosted by The Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics (ASC).
URL copied to clipboard!