Steven White, University of California - Irvine
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Some of the most fundamental problems in physics relate to the exponential complexity of quantum mechanical many particle systems. This exponential complexity is what allows quantum computers to exist, but most theoretical progress in understanding physical systems has come in cases where the exponential complexity does not show itself, such as systems with classical behavior, or where one can consider only a few particles at a time. The high temperature superconductors have resisted theoretical solution because more of this complexity is involved, and the usual tools do not work. Nevertheless, we have made substantial recent progress in numerical simulations for high temperature superconductivity that can deal with much more of the complexity and are giving us important insights into these systems. I will give an overview of this fundamental problem and how one can hope to deal with it, and then focus on recent simulations of the Hubbard model, the starting point for understanding the high temperature superconductors.
Refreshments served from 2:45PM-3:00PM in PAS 218. Thank you!