Speaker
Dr
Sid Morampudi
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Description
Emergent gauge theories are ubiquitous in modern condensed matter physics under various forms such as quantum spin liquids. I will provide an introduction to how they arise, and the novel dynamics possible in them due to key differences in energy scales compared to the usual gauge theories of high energy physics.
In the second part of the lecture, using a simple Ising model as a prototype, I will discuss some tell-tale signatures of how we can know if we are in a false vacuum universe even if the actual decay to the true vacuum takes an absurdly long time. This will illustrate some observable signatures of the dynamics of virtual particles popping in and out of existence.
