Workshop on Quantum Field Theory aspects of Condensed Matter Physics

6 Sept 2011, 08:00 → 9 Sept 2011, 20:00 Europe/Rome

Aula Bruno Touschek (INFN - Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati)

AIM The interplay between Quantum Field Theory and Condensed Matter physics is at the basis of the developments of fundamental concepts and methods like the notion of spontaneous symmetry breaking or the Renormalization Group. Recently, this bridge has been renewed by the discovery of Graphene, a two dimensional crystal of carbon atoms that has been recently experimentally realized. This material has highly unusual electronic properties due to the fact that its charge carriers behave as massless two-dimensional interacting Dirac particles. Therefore Graphene provides an ideal laboratory to study Quantum Field Theory (QFT) models at low energies and to possibly observe phenomena like spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, mass generation or electron fractionalization. Understanding such effects is a challenging problem for theoretical physicists, and requires a dialogue between communities of condensed matter, particle, lattice QFT, string and mathematical physicists. The meeting will be focused on very theoretical aspects of Quantum Field Theory in Condensed Matter physics, with a focus on graphene, and more in general on topological insulators, quantum critical points and related subjects. The idea is to revise the situation and point to open problems of common interest to a larger set of theoretical physicists.

Tuesday, 6 September

1 Electron-electron interactions in graphene