Events in Physics
Thursday, January 19, 2017
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PS1.28
Quantum many-body systems are challenging to study because of their exponentially large Hilbert spaces, but at the same time they represent an arena for exciting new physics which results from interactions between particles. For theoretical purposes, it is convenient to know if such systems can be expressed in a "simple" ways in terms of some nearly-free quasiparticles, or more generally if one can construct a large set of operators that approximately commute with the system’s Hamiltonian. In this talk I will discuss two ways of approaching these questions using the "entanglement spectrum". In the first part, I will show that strongly disordered systems in the many-body localized phase have a universal power-law structure in their entanglement spectra. This is a consequence of their local integrability, and distinguishes such states from typical ground states of gapped systems. In the second part, I will introduce a notion of “interaction distance” and show that the entanglement spectrum can be used to quantify “how far” an interacting ground state is from a free (Gaussian) state. I will discuss some examples of quantum spin chains and outline a few future directions. |
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The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Energy Systems Catapult invite proposals for their collaborative scoping studies in energy systems. Funding enables the commissioning of new work, encourages interdisciplinary approaches, develops common methodologies and supports multidirectional knowledge sharing in the area of energy systems. Studies must engage with one of the following areas: •whole systems energy modelling, policy development and investment strategy; •future of energy system transition analysis; •developing methods and approaches to compare and contrast whole system modelling approaches from leading stakeholders within the energy community; •developing methods and approaches to evaluate the impact of different regulatory frameworks, markets and institutions on delivering future energy system transitions; •developing new energy transactions and business models; •developing research methods to evaluate the implications of bringing together energy system transformation models with waste, air quality, legacy housing stock, new build and transport issues to decarbonise at a city scale. The principal investigator must be resident in the UK and an academic employee at the lecturer or equivalent level at an eligible organisation, which may be a HEI, a research institute funded by a research council or an independent research organisation. Interdisciplinary collaboration and consortia building is strongly encouraged. Partnerships and engagement activities with organisations outside academia is preferred. A total of eight grants, worth up to £60,000 at 80 per cent full economic cost each, are available over a maximum period of nine months. The total budget is £500,000. Funding may cover researcher time, travel, workshops and other engagement activities. |
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NB applicants must have already received ERC frontier resarch funding. The European Commission Horizon 2020: ERC invites proposals for its ERC-2017-PoC call for proof of concept grants. These aim to maximise the value of ERC-funded research by funding further work to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from ERC funded projects, and bring them to a pre-demonstration stage where potential commercialisation or societal opportunities have been identified. Innovations may be commercialised through licences to a new or existing company, or through a venture-funded start-up, and may also feed into ventures aimed at addressing social and environmental goals, including by social entrepreneurs and the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors. Applications can be made in any field of research, with an emphasis on the frontiers of science, scholarship and engineering. Principal investigators who have already received an ERC frontier research grant may apply. Applicants may be of any nationality who intend to carry out the funded activities in any EU member state or associated country, where they are engaged with a host institution for the duration of the project. Host institutions may be any type of legal entity, including international European interest organisations. Grants are worth up to €150,000 each over 18 months, but should normally be completed within 12 months. The total budget for this call is €20 million, to be shared equally between the three evaluation rounds. |