Fractional Charge in Time-Inversion Invariant Systems
by
Roman Jackiw(MIT)
→
Europe/Stockholm
FA32
FA32
Description
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."