Physics Seminar of the School of Physical Sciences
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Topological Order in Quantum Matter
(Harvard University, Cambridge)
Abstract: The powerful new idea of topological order has significantly advanced our understanding of the phases of quantum many-particle systems. Topological order characterizes multi-particle quantum entanglement in the ground state, and leads to gauge fields (abelian or non-abelian) in the description of the excitations. I will give examples of topological order in models of the high temperature superconductors, and connect them to recent observations and numerical computations on the `pseudogap' phase.