Title: Using Symmetry and Duality to explore the world of quantum phases of matter

Speaker: Arkya Chatterjee, MIT

Abstract: Classifying and characterizing quantum phases of matter is one of the frontiers of theoretical many body physics. While studying non-interacting systems can provide us a lot of insight, many interesting systems lie in the regime of strong interactions, out of reach of perturbative techniques. In order to make progress, one needs non-perturbative tools; symmetry and duality serve as two of the most useful such tools. The way symmetries are realized in a quantum state can serve as its characteristic label, as for example in Landau's symmetry-breaking theory of phases of matter. On the other hand, dualities tell us which apparently different states describe the same physics, from the point of view of a low energy ("infra-red") observer. In this talk, I will discuss examples to illustrate this. In particular, I will present a duality that relates a "beyond-Landau" phase transition to a more conventional one.