Emergent electromagnetism in Jammed granular solids

by Dr Subhro Bhattacharya (ICTS-Bangalore)

Thursday 31 Aug 2023, 13:30 → 15:30 Europe/Stockholm

Albano 3: 6228 - Mega (22 seats) (Albano Building 3)

zoom link : https://stockholmuniversity.zoom.us/j/622224375

 

 

Abstract : 

Emergence of low energy degrees of freedom is a recurrent theme in
condensed matter systems. In more familiar systems such as crystalline
solids the emergence of phonons as collective modes of vibration are
associated mainly with broken translational symmetry that governs the
physics at low temperatures. However, in a wide class of systems, local
energetic constraints may take the form of Gauss's law giving rise to an
emergent electromagnetism at low energies. In this talk, I shall show
that local conditions of mechanical equilibrium in granular solids have
the mathematical structure of a generalized Gauss's law for a rank-2 U(1) electromagnetism. The electrostatic limit of this tensor electromagnetism 

successfully captures the anisotropic "elasticity" of granular solids and provides  a new framework to understand a large class of such systems.