Adventures in Theory

Quantum Crystals, Quantum Choreography, and Quantum Computing

Matthew P. A. Fisher

Microsoft & University of California Santa Barbara

Monday Apr 21,  4:30pm,  Room 2237 French Family Science Center

Abstract:  Seething within each of nature's crystals is an exotic quantum world of electrons dancing and twirling about one another.  Each crystal has its own unique choreography, as varied as the crystals themselves.  In some crystals the electron dancing patterns are structured and orderly.  Within others the electrons are seemingly entangled in a fluctuating web of dizzying quantum motion.  In this talk I will describe the ongoing efforts to discern the quantum choreography that underlies even the most intricate of nature's electron dances, and to perhaps ultimately harness such understanding to design a futuristic topological quantum computer.