Talks

Massive neutral fermions can be realized in Nature as Majorana particles. Are neutrinos Majorana particles? Our most accepted theoretical prejudice can be verified by searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay. I will overview the current knowledge of the neutrino mass spectrum and discuss theoretical scenarios where cosmological data can contribute to resolve this challenging question. Some cosmological observables sensitive to neutrino masses are outlined.

In relativistic quantum information (RQI) we study quantum information in relativistic systems to obtain more insights to both quantum and gravitational physics on the one hand, and to find new ideas for quantum information processing on the other. One of the  popular models in RQI is the Unruh-DeWitt (UD) detector theory, in which localized objects, called detectors, are coupled to and moving in relativistc quantum fields. In this mini-course I will discuss the UD detector theory in detail, mainly on the nonperturbative methods and their applications to RQI.

By explicit construction, I will show that one can in a simple way introduce and measure gravitational holonomies and Wilson loops in lattice formulations of nonperturbative quantum gravity based on (Causal) Dynamical Triangulations.

Inspired by quantum information approaches to thermodynamics, we introduce a general framework for resource theories, from the perspective of subjective agents. First we formalize a way to think of subjective knowledge through what we call specification spaces, where states of knowledge (or specifications) are represented by sets whose elements are the possible states of reality admitted by an observer. We explore how to conciliate different views of reality via embeddings between specification spaces. Then we introduce resource theories on specification spaces, which are constructed from a set of allowed operations, imposing a pre-order structure in the specification space. We see how to relate, combine and create different resource theories. The local structure of a specification space (which in quantum theory is given by tensoring different Hilbert spaces) is not assumed a priori. Instead, we derive it operationally from commutativity relations in the set of transformations. Further applications are discussed.

Entropy comes up all over physics and mathematics in many different guises. However, as one tries to understand its conceptual meaning, entropy often evades the question by shifting into a different shape. Here, I will try to capture the beast by surrounding it from all sides. Assistance by the audience will increase the chance of success.

We analyse a class of 1D lattice models, known as M_k models, which are characterised by an order-k clustering of spin-less fermions and by N=2 lattice supersymmetry. We show a fundamental connection to Z_k parafermions and identify a class of (bulk or edge) defects, which are in one-to-one correspondence with so-called spin fields in the parafermion CFT. In the gapped regime, injecting such defects leads to ground state degeneracies that are protected by the supersymmetry. The defects, which are closely analogous to quasi-holes over the fermonic Read-Rezayi quantum Hall states, display characteristic fusion rules, which are of Ising type for k=2 and of Fibonacci type for k=3.