Quantum Many-body Physics

Explore the interface of condensed matter physics, quantum information theory and high-energy physics, a highly active area of current research, through the lens of quantum many-body physics. Study correlation structures and their role in determining the physical properties of these systems. Understand the special role of ground states and their entanglement properties, such as entanglement area laws and how correlations decay over distance. Learn how to sidestep the complexity of many-body systems and efficiently describe their properties using approximation tools, such as tensor networks and several renormalization methods that have become standard workhorses in the modern literature. Review standard phase transitions and find out how symmetries lead to a novel notion of symmetry protected phases and topological phase transitions. Time permitting, discover how to compute entanglement entropies in the presence of gauge symmetries and in quantum field theory. Practice these findings in exercises and journal club presentations and explain them in a final oral exam.