QFC2017 - Quantum gases, fundamental interactions and cosmology

25 Oct 2017, 08:00 → 27 Oct 2017, 20:00 Europe/Rome

Aula Gerace

Andrea Ferrara (Scuola Normale Superiore), Guglielmo Maria Tino (FI), Maria Luisa Chiofalo (Department of Physics, University of Pisa), Massimo D'Elia (PI)

* Logo design by Ethel Bustamante www.esthelbustamante.net

 

The 1^st Quantum gases, fundamental interactions and cosmology Conference (QFC 2017) will be held in Pisa from 25 to 27 October 2017.
Aim of the conference is to bring together scientists in both experimental and theoretical physics from the fields of ultracold quantum gases, fundamental interactions, and cosmology, with the aim of sharing and brainstorming on challenging open common problems, which can be zoomed in and out via a cross-disciplinary approach.
The mutual frontiers among these three apparently separated disciplines have been recently blossoming with new innovative, cutting edge research. We intend to use this momentum and opportunities to establish strong collaborations among participants and leading groups to open new pathways leading to breakthrough results .... view more....

Intersecting Topics

1. Dark Matter
2. General Relativity
3. Black Holes
4. Standard and Quantum numerical approaches

 
More Specific Topics

1. Dark matter and axion cosmology
2. General relativity tests and precision measurements
3. Approaches to Quantum Gravity
4. Black holes and Hawking radiation
5. Symmetry tests: matter/antimatter and CP
6. QCD, Quarks and Hadrons
7. Efimov states: from ultra cold atoms to nuclear matter
8. Quantum simulators for Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories
9. Magnetic monopoles
10. Majorana fermions
11. Topological phases

Sponsorised by
 

Logo Marilu_Chiofalo1f_-_Logo_6rev.jpg

Programma SCHEDULE_V6.pdf

Slides doppio_sogno.pdf

Sponsors sponsor.pdf

Wednesday, 25 October

08:30 → 09:00 Welcome

09:00 → 12:35 Keynote Speeches - I

Convener: Maria Luisa Chiofalo (PI)

09:05 The three-body problem, exotic materials, quantum computing and baryogenesis. What happens when Atomic physics escapes!

Speaker: Erik Cornell

Slides KeyNoteEricCornell.pdf

09:45 Perspectives in particle physics

Speaker: Guido Emilio Tonelli (PI)

Slides GUIDO_QFC_PISA_2017.pdf

10:25 Inflation

Speaker: Sabino Matarrese (PD)

Slides Matarrese_Pisa.pdf

11:05 Coffee break

11:35 GENERAL DISCUSSION

12:35 → 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 → 17:45 Talks on specific topics

Convener: Angela Dora Vittoria Di Virgilio (PI)

14:25 Super Massive Black Holes in the early Universe

Black holes are extreme singularities of the space-time that play a fundamental role in Astrophysics and Cosmology. In particular, black holes of the order of millions to billions solar masses (Super Massive Black Holes) are present in the cores of local galaxies as well as in the most distant Universe, shining as luminous quasars. Since the beginning of the new millennium, more than 100 of these luminous quasars have been discovered at z~6 through several surveys, and followed-up with multi-wavelength observations. High redshift quasars represent ideal laboratories for studying the growth of SMBHs at the early epochs, the properties of their host galaxies and the joint formation and evolution of these massive systems. I will review the properties of the highest redshift quasars known so far, especially focussing on some of the most recent results obtained in (sub-)millimetre bands. I will discuss key observational challenges and open issues in theoretical models and highlight possible new strategies to improve our understanding of the galaxy black hole formation and evolution in the early Universe.

Speaker: Dr Simona Gallerani (Scuola Normale Superiore)

Slides Gallerani_pisa.pdf

14:50 Gravity tests with antimatter: the AEgIS experiment

The Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) has been experimentally tested to high precision with differential gravity measurements using probes made of various “ordinary” matter. While in the WEP framework, antimatter should fall in the same way as matter, there is no direct evidence of this fact. A.E.g.I.S (Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy), aims to test the WEP on antimatter. The experiment, which is located at the CERN Antriproton Decelerator, consists of a positron accumulator, an antiproton trap and a Stark accelerator in a solenoidal magnetic field to form and accelerate a pulsed beam of antihydrogen atoms towards a free-fall detector. The method for efficient production of antihydrogen atoms at low-temperatures, as necessary for precision gravity measurements, is based on a charge exchange reaction between excited (Rydberg) positronium and cold trapped antiprotons. The antihydrogen beam passes through a moiré deflectometer to measure the vertical displacement due to the gravitational force. A position and time sensitive hybrid detector registers the annihilation points of the antihydrogen atoms and their time-of-flight. A.E.g.I.S may provide additional scientific outcomes including accurate CPT tests with high-resolution spectroscopy on antihydrogen, and study of positronium physics. I will describe the experimental scheme and present the status of the experiment, including the most recent results on the way to the production of cold antihydrogen.

Speaker: Fiodor Sorrentino (INFN-Genova on behalf of the AEgIS collaboration)

Slides Sorrentino_QFC2017_AEgIS_v1.pdf

15:15 The octet of pseudoscalar mesons in term of SU(N) Gauge Invariant Lagrangian

By breaking the initial SU(N) symmetry, we derive the Lagrangian[1] governing the dynamics of the massive scalar particles, which can be treated as the octet of the pseudoscalar mesons. The contribution of both the quark-gluon interaction and self-interaction gluon field into the masses of the octet particles is considered. Provided that the hadronization of the confinement matter into the pion triplet only occurs, the QCD coupling constant is evaluated in this case in the developed model. 1.A.V.Koshelkin, Phys.Rev.D, v.92 , 045017 (2015)

Speaker: Prof. Andrew Koshelkin (National Research Nuclear University)

Slides Andrew_Koshelkin.pdf

15:35 Coffee break

16:05 From QCD to cosmology: theta dependence, axions and dark matter

In this talk I will discuss the connections between some nonperturbative features of the QCD vacuum and a possible dark matter candidate, the axion. While these relations are known since early '80s, only recently it was possible to start investigating these matters in a systematic way by using Lattice QCD simulations. I will discuss why these studies are particularly challenging from the numerical point of view and I will review the present status of this research field.

Speaker: Dr Claudio Bonati (Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita' di Pisa)

Slides slides_bonati.pdf

16:30 Detection of axion dark matter in solid state materials: exploiting the axion-electron coupling

The properties of the QCD axion are described by several models that can be grouped into the KSVZ and DFSZ classes, depending on zero of full axion coupling to leptons, respectively. The axion-electron coupling, explicitly predicted by DFSZ models, has been considered to envisage the two types of haloscopes described in this talk. Due to their complementarity to conventional axion DM experiments, the present schemes may prove crucial to determine the fractional amount of axions as DM constituent. For detection purposes, axion DM can be viewed as a background, oscillating microwave field with frequency and amplitude fixed by the axion mass and coupling respectively. This equivalent magnetic field would produce spin flips in a magnetized sample (QUAX proposal) or excite the upper Zeeman level of rare earth atoms in suitable crystalline matrices (AXIOMA project). We discuss experimental parameters required in both approaches to achieve cosmologically relevant sensitivity.

Speaker: Caterina Braggio (PD)

Slides braggio_QFC2017.pdf

16:55 Spectral methods in Causal Dynamical Triangulations

Causal Dynamical Triangulations is one of the present promising numerical approaches to the problem of Quantum Gravity. Motivated by the current lack of observables encoding geometric features at all scales, I will present a new set of observables based upon the analysis of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the Laplace-Beltrami operator of triangulations, and discuss the main results obtained with this method.

Speaker: Clemente Giuseppe (University of Pisa and INFN)

Slides talk_GC_spectral_methods_in_CDT.pdf

17:20 The generalized LTB solutions in modeling the cosmological black holes

In spite of the numerous attempts to close the discussion about the influence of cosmological expansion on local gravitationally bounded systems, this question arises in literature again and again and remains still far from its final resolution. Here one of the main problems is the problem of obtaining a physically adequate model of strongly gravitating object immersed in non-static cosmological background. Such objects are usually called ‘cosmological’ black holes and are of great interest in wide set of cosmological and astrophysical areas. In this work the set of new exact solutions of the Einstein equations is derived for the flat space that generalizes the known Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi solution for the case of nonzero pressure. The solutions obtained are pretending to describe the black hole immersed in nonstatic cosmological background and give a possibility to investigate the hot problems concerning the effects of the cosmological expansion in gravitationally bounded systems, the structure formation in the early universe, black hole thermodynamics and other related problems. It is shown that each of the solutions obtained contains either the Reissner-Nordstrom or the Schwarzschild black hole in the central region of the space. It is demonstrated that the approach of the mass function use in solving of the Einstein equations allows clear physical interpretation of the resulting solutions, that is of much benefit to any their concrete application.

Speaker: Ms Pavlina Jaluvkova (JINR Dubna, Russia)

Slides jaluvkova_Pisa.pdf

19:00 → 21:30 Social Dinner@Cantina Jazz

Special food & wine + Jazz Music

21:30 → 22:00 AFTER DINNER SPEECH "GW: Toward the New Astronomy"

Speaker: Prof. Federico Ferrini (Eurpean Gravitational Observatory)

Thursday, 26 October

09:00 → 12:30 Keynote Speeches - II

Convener: Prof. Andrea Ferrara (Scuola Normale Superiore)

09:00 Precision Measurements in Fundamental Physics

Speaker: Dr Holger Mueller (UC Berkeley)

Slides Mueller-2017.pdf

09:40 Flavor Physics: Overview and Perspectives

Speaker: Guido Martinelli (ROMA1)

Slides Martinelli-Pisa2017s.pdf

10:20 Dark Matter

Speaker: Prof. Gianfranco Bertone Bertone

Slides BertonePISA_QGC.pdf

11:00 COFFEE BREAK

11:30 GENERAL DISCUSSION

12:30 → 14:30 Lunch

14:30 → 17:55 Talks on Specific Topics - II

Convener: Massimo D'Elia (PI)

14:30 Study of time -reversal violation in the two-nucleon system

In this contribution, we present a theoretical study of time-reversal violation (TRV) in the two-nucleon system. The interest of this study is motivated by the fact that the nuclear TRV interaction is induced by flavour-diagonal CP violating terms present in the Standard Model (SM), in particular the theta-term, or by physics beyond the SM~[1]. Therefore, studying TRV-related observables as the electric dipole moment (EDM) of nuclei or asymmetries in the transmission of polarized neutrons in a polarized medium can allow to obtain information about these CP violating terms. In particular, there are plans to measure the EDM of the deuteron and other light-nuclei in dedicated storage rings [2]. The various sources of CP violation at fundamental level induce in principle an infinite set of CP-violating terms in the effective low-energy pion-nucleon Lagrangian, that, however, can be ordered by a power counting scheme. Using this counting scheme (chiral perturbation theory), we have derived, for the first time, the complete next-to-next-to-leading order TRV nucleon-nucleon interaction. This interaction is then used to calculate the EDM and other TRV observables of the two nucleon systems. The sensitivity of such observables to the various coupling constants will be discussed. [1] J. Bsaisou et al., Annals of Physics 359, 317 (2015) [2] Y.K. Semertzidis, arXiv:1110.3378

Speaker: Michele Viviani (PI)

Slides viviani_qfc2017.pdf

14:55 Analogue Hawking radiation in a "flow of light"

Propagation of coherent light in a Kerr nonlinear medium can be mapped onto a flow of an equivalent fluid. Such an effective fluid possesses many features which allow us to treat it as a special type of quantum liquid. Here we use this mapping to model the conditions in the vicinity of a black hole horizon. To be more specific, a black hole horizon is modeled by means of a Laguerre-Gauss beam. We describe weak fluctuations of the phase and amplitude of the electric field by wave equations in curved space, with a metric that is similar to the Schwartzschild metric at zero vorticity and to the Kerr metric at a finite vorticity. We find the positions of event horizons and ergoregion boundaries, We also calculate the conditions for the onset of superradiance, which are simultaneously the conditions for a resonance in the analogue Hawking radiation. The resonance strongly enhances the otherwise exponentially weak Hawking radiation at certain frequencies, and makes its experimental observation feasible.

Speaker: Prof. Victor Fleurov (School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University)

Slides Pisa-2017=26-Fle.pdf

15:20 GINGER

GINGER (Gyroscopes IN General Relativity) is a proposal aiming at measuring the Lense-Thirring effect with an experiment based on Earth. It is based on an array of ring lasers, which are the most sensitive inertial sensors to measure the rotation rate of the Earth. GINGERINO is a ring laser prototype installed inside the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso. We describe the preliminary actions, the measurements already under way with GINGERINO and we present the full road map to GINGER.

Speaker: Angela Dora Vittoria Di Virgilio (PI)

Slides QFC2017_GINGER.pdf

15:45 Coffee break

16:15 Efimov spectrum for N bosons

When the two-body scattering length $a$ of two identical bosons diverges the three-boson spectrum shows the Efimov effect. In this limit, the unitary limit, an infinite set of bound states, $E_3^n$, appears approaching zero in a geometrical progression. In other words, the $L=0$ sector of three identical bosons presents a discrete scaling invariance (DSI). As the absolute value of $a$ takes finite values, the highest bound states disappear into the atom- dimer continuum ($a>0$) or in the three-atom continuum ($a<0$). In recent years the spectrum of the three-boson system has been extensively studied in the $(1/a,\kappa)$ plane, with $\kappa^2=mE/\hbar^2$ [1]. When one boson is added to the system, the four-body system at the unitary limit presents two bound states, one deep ($E_4^0$) and one shallow ($E_4^1$) with the following ratios, $E_4^0/E_3^0\approx 4.6$ and $E_4^1/E_3^0\approx 1.001$, having an universal character [2]. This particular form of the spectrum has been recently studied up to six bosons [3]. In the present work I will show the spectrum of $A$ bosons for increasing number of particles using a Leading Order description in terms of a two-body gaussian potential plus a three-body potential devised to describe the dimer and trimer binding energies. The capability of this model to describe the saturation properties, as N goes to infinite, is analysed making a direct link between the low energy scale and the short-range correlations. We will show that the energy per particle, $E_N/N$, can be obtained with reasonable accuracy at leading order extending the universal behaviour observed in few-boson systems close to the unitary limit to the many-body system [4]. [1] E. Braaten and H.W. Hammer, Phys. Rep. {\bf 428}, 259 (2006) [2] A. Deltuva, R. Lazauskas and L. Platter, Few-Body Syst. {\bf 51}, 235 (2011) [3] M. Gattobigio, A. Kievsky and M. Viviani, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 86}, 042513 (2012) [4] A. Kievsky, A. Polls, B. Julia' Diaz and N. Timofeyuk, Phys. Rev. A (rapid communication), in press

Speaker: Dr Alejandro Kievsky (INFN)

Slides kievsky_QFC.pdf

16:40 An Effective Field Theory for Black Hole perturbations: testing extensions to GR with gravitational waves

The recent observation of gravitational waves from merging black holes (BH) opens up the possibility of exploring the theory of gravity at an unprecedented level. It is therefore important to understand if and which modifications of General Relativity (GR) could be observed. I will show how the most convenient approach to address this question is to resort to a maximally model-independent, effective field theory (EFT)-based treatment. I will describe how an EFT for perturbations around spherically symmetric backgrounds, like black holes, can be constructed, such that the details of the microphysics are efficiently and systematically encoded in a limited set of parameters. These parameters control for example how the frequencies of BH quasi normal modes deviate from GR and therefore they can be tested observing the ringdown phase after the BH merger.

Speaker: Enrico Trincherini (SNS)

Slides QFC2017_Trincherini.pdf

17:05 Quantized vortices in two-dimensional ultracold Fermi gases

In two-dimensional superfluids quantized vortices play a key role in determining finite-temperature properties, as the superfluid phase and the normal state are separated by a vortex unbinding transition, the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Very recent experiments with two-dimensional superfluid fermions [1] motivate the present work: we present theoretical results [2] based on Gaussian fluctuations [3] and the renormalization group showing that the universal jump of the superfluid density and the critical temperature crucially depend on the interaction strength. Our predictions provide a strong benchmark for forthcoming investigations. [1] V. Makhalov et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 045301 (2014); M.G. Ries et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 230401 (2015); I. Boettcher et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 045303 (2016). [2] G. Bighin and L. Salasnich, Sci. Rep. 7, 45702 (2017). [3] L. Salasnich, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 130402 (2017).

Speaker: Prof. Luca Salasnich (University of Padova)

Slides salas-talk-pisa17.pdf

17:30 AX-Gadget, a N-Body hydrodynamical code for axion cosmology simulations

I am going to present a new module of the parallel N-Body code P-GADGET3, called AX-Gadget, that is able to perform cosmological hydrodynamical simulations with light bosonic non-thermal dark matter, often referred as Fuzzy dark matter (FDM). The dynamics of the FDM features a highly non-linear quantum potential (QP) suppressing the growth of structures at small scales. Previous attempts of FDM simulations either evolved suppressed initial conditions, completely neglecting the dynamical effects of QP throughout cosmic evolution, or resorted to numerically challenging full-wave solvers. AX-Gadget provides an interesting alternative, following the FDM evolution without impairing the overall performances. This is done by computing the QP acceleration through the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) routines, with improved schemes to ensure precise and stable second derivatives. As an extension of P-GADGET3 code, it inherits all the additional physics modules implemented up to date, opening a wide range of possibilities to constrain FDM models and explore cosmic degeneracies. Toy model and cosmological tests will be presented and discussed, together with ongoing applications as Lyman-Alpha Forest constrain of FDM mass. Simulations will be compared with analytical predictions and results of other codes, validating the QP as a crucial player at small scales.

Speaker: Matteo Nori (BO)

Slides Nori-QFC_Presentation_171025.pdf

21:00 → 22:30 CONCERTO OF THE PISA UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRA

Music from Mozart to Schostakovich

Friday, 27 October

09:00 → 12:30 Keynote Speeches

Convener: Guglielmo Maria Tino (FI)

09:00 The Exciting Adventure of Condensed-Matter and Optical Analogs of Gravitational System

Speaker: Iacopo Carusotto

Slides Carusotto_pisa17.pdf

09:40 Large-scale Structure

Speaker: Volker Bromm

Slides QFC17_VB_2.pdf

10:20 The Chiral Magnetic Effect: from Quark-Gluon Plasma to Dirac Semimetals

11:00 Coffee break

11:30 GENERAL DISCUSSION

12:30 → 14:00 Lunch

14:00 → 15:00 Walking on top of the ancient Pisa Walls: a top viiew of the historical town

15:00 → 17:35 Talks on Specific Talks - III

Convener: Dario Grasso (PI)

15:00 Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo first results

The second observing run of Advanced LIGO started on November 2016; on August 1st, 2017, Advanced Virgo joined the two LIGO detectors and the network of three interferometers took data up to August 25th. In this talk I will present the first scientific results of Advanced LIGO and Virgo and give an overview of the associated electromagnetic follow-up campaign.

Speaker: Dr Barbara Patricelli (PI)

Slides Barbara-QFC2017.pdf

15:25 Gravitational tests using simultaneous atom interferometers

Atom interferometry provides extremely sensitive quantum sensors especially for the measurement of inertial forces. In particular, atom gravimeters and gradiometers find vast applications in metrology measurements and in experimental tests of gravitational physics. We will report on a novel test of the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) using neutral atoms in coherent superposition of internal energy states. A Bragg atom interferometer in a gravity gradiometer configuration compares the free fall of rubidium atoms prepared in two hyperfine states and in their coherent superposition. The use of the superposition state allows testing genuine quantum aspects of EEP with no classical analogue, which have remained completely unexplored so far. Finally, applications of atom interferometry towards future precision measurements of the Newtonian gravitational constant G will be discussed.

Speaker: Gabriele Rosi (FI)

Slides QFC2017_Rosi.pdf

15:50 COFFEE BREAK

16:20 Chiral edge modes and crystalline phases in atomic synthetic ladders

Cold atomic gases endowed with a synthetic dimension are emerging as an ideal platform to address the interplay between interactions and static gauge fields. A fundamental question is whether these setups can give access to pristine two-dimensional phenomena, such as the fractional quantum Hall effect, and how. We show that unambiguous signatures of Laughlin-like states can be observed and characterized in synthetic ladders, thus being related to an unconventional fractional quantum Hall effect in the thin-torus limit. In particular we demonstrate the existence of a hierarchy of fractional insulating and conducting states, showing that the gapped states are characterized by density and magnetic order, whereas the gapless phases can support helical modes. Our analysis provides a guideline towards the observability and understanding of strongly correlated states of matter in synthetic ladders.

Speaker: Davide Rossini (P)

Slides Rossini_QFC2017.pdf

16:45 General Boundary Formulation of Quantum Theory

The General Boundary Formulation (GBF) of Quantum Theory is a new axiomatic formulation of quantum theory combining the mathematical framework of Topological Quantum Field Theory with a probabilistic interpretation that generalises the Born rule. The versatility of the GBF allows to study the dynamics of quantum fields in far more general settings than those usually considered in standard QFT which appears as a special case within the GBF. The problem of quantising the gravitational field represents the main motivation for the development of the GBF. In the talk we will discuss the relevance of the GBF for the problem of quantum gravity and give an overview of the main ingredients of this new formulation as well as results so far obtained and open research lines of the GBF.

Speaker: Dr Daniele Colosi (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)

Slides Colosi-QFC17.pdf

17:10 Universal Non-Analytic Fermi Liquid Behavior of an SU(N) Fermi Gas

We theoretically study the non-analytic equation of state of a cold SU(N) Fermi gas. It has been known that Landau's Fermi liquid theory yields non-analytic corrections to density and spin susceptibility, but a good comparison between theory and experiment has been lacking due to, among other reasons, difficulties in quantifying quasi-particle interactions. Cold quantum gas is ideal for investigating this long-standing problem, for it offers direct experimental access to the equation of state, and the emergent SU(N) symmetry can potentially boost the non-analytic behavior. Our theoretical effort maps out the equation of state, and reveal non-analytic crossover behavior stemming from the interplay of temperature and effective magnetic field.

Speaker: Dr Pye Ton How (Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica)

Slides PT_How_QFC2017.pdf

18:30 → 20:00 ESCHER EXHIBITION