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METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260915T064526Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20140904T162212Z
DTSTART:20140912T160000Z
DTEND:20140912T170000Z
UID:event1251@bu.edu
URL:http://physics.bu.edu/internal/events/show/1251
SUMMARY:Spin Glasses: What's the Big Idea? (Is There One?) 
DESCRIPTION:Featuring Daniel Stein\, New York University\nHosted by: Raj Mo
	hanty\n\nPart of the Biophysics/Condensed Matter Seminar Series.\n\nbstract
	:  The aim of this talk is to introduce the subject of spin glasses\, and m
	ore generally the statistical mechanics of quenched disorder\, as a problem
	 of general interest to physicists and mathematicians from multiple discipl
	ines and backgrounds. Despite years of study\, the physics and mathematics 
	of quenched disorder remains poorly understood\, and represents a major gap
	 in our understanding of the condensed state of matter.  While there are ma
	ny active areas of investigation in this field\, I will narrow the focus of
	 this talk to our current level of understanding of the low-temperature equ
	ilibrium structure of realistic (i.e.\, finite-dimensional) spin glasses.\n
	\nI will begin with a brief review of the basic features of spin glasses an
	d what is known experimentally.   I will then turn to the problem of unders
	tanding the nature of the spin glass phase --- if it exists. The central qu
	estion to be addressed is the nature of broken symmetry in these systems. P
	arisi's replica symmetry breaking approach\, now mostly verified for mean f
	ield spin glasses\, attracted great excitement and interest as a novel and 
	exotic form of symmetry breaking. But does it hold also for real spin glass
	es in finite dimensions? This has been a subject of intense controversy\, a
	nd although the issues surrounding it have become more sharply defined in r
	ecent years\, it remains an open question.  I will explore this problem\, i
	ntroducing new mathematical constructs such as the metastate along the way.
	 The talk will conclude with an examination of how and in which respects th
	e statistical mechanics of disordered systems might differ from that\nof ho
	mogeneous systems.
LOCATION:SCI 352\, 590 Commonwealth Avenue\, 02215
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CLASS:PUBLIC
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