Physics (Internal)

"Chiral Phases in Frustrated 2D Antiferromagnets and Fractional Chern Insulators"

This event is part of the Condensed Matter Theory Seminar Series.

The problem of topological phases of matter is one of the most fascinating open questions in theoretical physics. In this seminar I will discuss recent advances in the theory of topological phases in 2D systems. A key tool for these studies is a lattice version of Chern-Simons gauge theory. In particular its application to the problem of chiral phases in magnetization plateaus of spin 1/2 quantum antiferromagnets on the Kagome lattice and of fractional Chern insulators. The role of topology in the effective field theory and fractionalization of translation symmetries will be discussed.