Theory Group Seminars
Hydrodynamics of quantum critical points
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Europe/Rome
248 (Building C, First Floor)
248
Building C, First Floor
Description
Joint INFN/SNS/UniPi Theory Group Seminar
Abstract: A phase transition at zero temperature may occur as the ground state of a many-body system is changed by tuning an external parameter. The boundary between the two phases is a quantum critical point, characterized by a scaling symmetry. Quantum critical behaviour appears in a variety of condensed matter systems such as graphene, cold atoms and strange metals and also in some strongly coupled gauge theories at finite density. At non-zero temperature it is expected that the system is described by hydrodynamics. I discuss how the symmetries at the critical point constrain the hydrodynamic description and what new effects may be present relative to theories with conformal invariance (relativistic or non-relativistic).