Speaker: Dr. Joseph Samuel, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS)

Title: The Geometric Phase and the Spin-Statistics Theorem: spinning particles as ribbons

Abstract: The spin-statistics theorem has a long history and has been proved under various assumptions. However, the consensus is that we do not yet understand the spin-statistics connection in its most intuitive and elementary form. In this work, we fill this gap by giving an intuitive, topological proof based on the idea that the histories of spinning elementary particles can be modelled as ribbons. This idea is then shown to emerge from group theoretical and geometric considerations, based on Poincaré symmetry and co-adjoint orbits. The geometric phase plays a natural role in these considerations.