Fractional Charge in Time-Inversion Invariant Systems

by Roman Jackiw (MIT)

Wednesday 2 Jun 2010, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Stockholm

FA32

The essence of quantum mechanics is that dynamical entities, like energy or angular momentum, which can take arbitrary values within classical physics, become quantized within quantum physics. I shall describe an inverse phenomenon: Classical entities like particle number or charge possess an intrinsic integrality; but they can acquire fractional values upon quantization. I shall describe how this phenomenon is realized through zero modes of a Dirac equation, and how the effect manifests itself in condensed matter materials."