Talks

High-accuracy templates predicted by general relativity for the gravitational waves generated by inspiralling compact binaries (binary star systems composed of neutron stars and/or black holes) have been developed using a mixed multipolar and post-Newtonian (MPN) formalism. In this talk we shall review the foundations of this formalism and its main results, including the equations of motion and radiation from compact binaries up to 3.5PN order. We shall also present some recent work on the comparison between post-Newtonian approximations and black hole perturbations applied to compact binaries in the small mass ratio limit.

Many-body entanglement, the special quantum correlation that exists among a large number of quantum particles, underlies interesting topics in both condensed matter and quantum information theory. On the one hand, many-body entanglement is essential for the existence of topological order in condensed matter systems and understanding many-body entanglement provides a promising approach to understand in general what topological orders exist. On the other hand, many-body entanglement is responsible for the power of quantum computation and finding it in experimentally stable systems is the key to building large scale quantum computers. In this talk, I am going to discuss how our understanding of possible many-body entanglement patterns in real physical systems contributes to the development on both topics. In particular, I am going to show that based on simple many-body entanglement patterns, we are able to (1) completely classify topological orders in one-dimensional gapped systems, (2) systematically construct new topological phases in two and higher dimensional systems, and also (3) find an experimentally more stable scheme for measurement-based quantum computation. The perspective from many-body entanglement not only leads to new results in both condensed matter and quantum information theory, but also establishes tight connection between the two fields and gives rise to exciting new ideas.

In my talk I will discuss the static subsector of the black hole effective action in an arbitrary dimension. In particular, the derivation of the induced mass multipoles as a result of an external (static) gravitational field will be elucidated. In 4d these constants vanish, however in general they are non-vanishing in higher dimensions. Moreover, in certain cases they exhibit a (classical) renormalization group flow consistent with the divergences of the effective field theory.

Recent years have seen the paradigm of effective field theory (EFT) successfully applied to an increasing number of classical systems that range from the gravitational inspiral of compact binaries to hydrodynamics. Many of these systems exhibit dissipation in one form or another, such as radiation reaction or viscous fluid flow, that naturally results from the system being open. This "openness" can manifest as energy leaving the dynamical variables of interest via radiation or heat transfer, for example. As the EFT approach typically utilizes the action, and hence Hamilton's Principle of Extremal Action, it is crucial to determine how generally and consistently to accommodate dissipative effects in a variational principle. In this talk, I discuss why Hamilton's Principle fails to incorporate dissipation. I then provide a reformulation that has been used successfully to confirm well-established results as well as to provide new predictions regarding dissipative systems. I show specific examples drawn from EFT applications. Finally, I show how this reformulation of Hamilton's Principle turns out to correspond to the classical limit of quantum theories based on the so-called "in-in" or "closed-time-path" approaches.

I will discuss magnetic properties of superconductors, first in a model independent way and then by using holographic models. This approach has the advantage of highlighting the generic features of superconducting materials and, at the same time, the predictions of specific models. I will start with the Meissner effect and the vortices. Given the importance of the magnetic field dynamics in these phenomena, I will describe how to introduce a dynamical gauge field in holography. Then I will show that the holographic superconductor, like all known high-temperature superconductors, is Type II. Finally, I will discuss the case of hollow cylindrical superconductors threaded by an axial magnetic field. The physics of these systems is periodic with respect to the magnetic flux, with a period that depends on weather non-local quantum effects are suppressed or not. In the holographic model these effects are not suppressed when the radius of the cylinder is below the critical value at which the Hawking-Page phase transition takes place.

After the first landmark gravitational-wave (GW) detection, GW astronomy will turn to the study of detector data to identify the physical properties of GW sources. The science payoff of GW observations must therefore depend critically on the accurate knowledge of the shapes of waveforms as functions of the source parameters. Effective-field-theory techniques have advanced and continue to advance the state of the art for the modeling of inspiraling-binary dynamics. But how far do we have to push our calculations to satisfy the needs of observations? I review current attempts to answer this question for different detectors and sources, and for the delicate problem of matching post-Newtonian and numerical-relativity waveforms.

I will describe our recent work on a new topological phase of matter: topological Weyl semimetal. This phase arises in three-dimensional (3D) materials, which are close to a critical point between an ordinary and a topological insulator. Breaking time-reversal symmetry in such materials, for example by doping with sufficient amount of magnetic impurities, leads to the formation of a Weyl semimetal phase, with two (or more) 3D Dirac nodes, separated in momentum space. Such a topological Weyl semimetal possesses chiral edge states and a finite Hall conductivity, proportional to the momentum-space separation of the Dirac nodes, in the absence of any external magnetic field. Weyl semimetal demonstrates a qualitatively different type of topological protection: the protection is provided not by the bulk band gap, as in topological insulators, but by the separation of gapless 3D Dirac nodes in momentum space. I will describe a simple way to engineer such materials using superlattice heterostructures, made of thin films of topological insulators. References: arXiv:1110.1089; Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 127205 (2011); Phys. Rev. B 83, 245428 (2011)."