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The ideal textbook for a one-semester introductory course for graduate students or advanced undergraduatesThis book provides an essential introduction to the physics of quantum many-body systems, which are at the heart of atomic and nuclear physics, condensed matter, and particle physics. Unlike other textbooks on the subject, it covers topics across a broad range of physical fields—phenomena as well as theoretical tools—and does so in a simple and accessible way.Edward Shuryak begins with Feynman diagrams of the quantum and statistical mechanics of a particle; in these applications, the diagrams are easy to calculate and there are no divergencies. He discusses the renormalization group and illustrates its uses, and covers systems such as weakly and strongly coupled Bose and Fermi gases, electron gas, nuclear matter, and quark-gluon plasmas. Phenomena include Bose condensation and superfluidity. Shuryak also looks at Cooper pairing and superconductivity for electrons in metals, liquid ³He, nuclear matter, and quark-gluon plasma. A recurring topic throughout is topological matter, ranging from ensembles of quantized vortices in superfluids and superconductors to ensembles of colored (QCD) monopoles and instantons in the QCD vacuum.Proven in the classroom, Quantum Many-Body Physics in a Nutshell is the ideal textbook for a one-semester introductory course for graduate students or advanced undergraduates.Teaches students how quantum many-body systems work across many fields of physicsUses path integrals from the very beginningFeatures the easiest introduction to Feynman diagrams availableDraws on the most recent findings, including trapped Fermi and Bose atomic gasesGuides students from traditional systems, such as electron gas and nuclear matter, to more advanced ones, such as quark-gluon plasma and the QCD vacuum

This thesis describes key contributions to the fundamental understanding of materials structure and dynamics from a microscopic perspective. In particular, the thesis reports several advancements in time-domain methodologies using ultrafast pulses from X-ray free-electron lasers (FEL) to probe the interactions between electrons and phonons in photoexcited materials. Using femtosecond time-resolved X-ray diffraction, the author quantifies the coherent atomic motion trajectory upon sudden excitation of carriers in SnSe. This allows the reconstruction of the nonequilibrium lattice structure and identification of a novel lattice instability towards a higher-symmetry structure not found in equilibrium. This is followed by an investigation of the excited-state phonon dispersion in SnSe using time-resolved X-ray diffuse scattering which enables important insight into how photoexcitation alters the strength of specific bonds leading to the novel lattice instability observed in X-ray diffraction. Finally, by combining ultrafast X-ray diffraction and ARPES, the author performs quantitative measurements of electron-phonon coupling in Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3. The findings highlight the importance of time-resolved X-ray scattering techniques based on FELs, which reveals the details of interplay between electron orbitals, atomic bonds, and structural instabilities. The microscopic information of electron phonon interaction obtained from these methods can rationalize ways to control materials and to design their functional properties.

This thesis provides an in-depth investigation of effective non-Hermiticity and topology in many-mode, non-interacting, bosonic systems. It also establishes the extent to which one must move beyond the Hamiltonian, closed-system setting, in order to uncover signatures of genuine symmetry-protected topological (SPT) physics in'free'(mean-field) bosons. While SPT phases of free fermionic matter and their associated zero-energy boundary-localized modes have been thoroughly explored, similar physics in free bosonic systems still remains elusive. No fermionic counterpart exists for the distinctive dynamical behavior that arises from the effective non-Hermiticity, intrinsic even at equilibrium, to bosonic Hamiltonians. Therefore, a much needed paradigm shift is required to address major conceptual roadblocks in the search for SPT bosonic phases.The analysis within develops, in particular, the notion of topological metastability in quadratic bosonic systems subject to Markovian dissipation. The resulting dynamical paradigm was found to be characterized by both a sharp separation between transient and asymptotic dynamics and non-trivial topological invariants. It also features long-lived boundary-localized'Majorana boson'and'Dirac boson'modes, which realize tight bosonic analogues to the edge modes characteristic of fermionic SPT phases. This comprehensive look into non-interacting bosonic systems breaks important new ground for re-imagining quantum phenomena beyond equilibrium, with novel applications in quantum science.

A geometric figure has chirality, or handedness, if its mirror image cannot be brought to coincide with itself. The concept of chirality was instrumental in establishing the tetrahedral valences of the carbon atom, and has continued to play a key role in chemistry and molecular biology ever since.The fact that living organisms use only one of two mirror isomers of such molecules as amino acids and sugars, that is, the question of the origin of homochirality of the molecular basis of life, remains an unsolved problem of the same dignity as the origin of dark matter and dark energy.The increasing importance of chirality and topology in condensed matter physics and chemistry, and the production of new states of matter in heavy-ion collisions, have brought the concept of chirality into physics and cosmology in a tangible way while at the same time expanded the physics/chemistry interface. The book is the first to address all aspects of chirality in a single volume.

This book contains the Proceedings of the Ninth Meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry, held at Indiana University in Bloomington May 17-26, 2022. The Meeting focused on tests of these fundamental symmetries and on related theoretical issues, including scenarios for possible violations. Experimental topics covered at the meeting include astrophysical observations of neutrinos, photons, cosmic rays, pulsars, and gravitational waves; investigations at accelerators and storage rings involving neutral mesons, muons, quarks, and flavor-changing processes; gravity tests in the laboratory and in the solar system; spectroscopic studies of ions, atoms, molecules, and exotic atoms; measurements involving spin motion; comparative tests between matter and antimatter; lasers and masers; measurements involving neutrons; investigations with cavities, oscillators, and resonators; neutrino oscillations, propagation, and endpoint measurements.Theoretical and phenomenological topics discussed involved the identification of signatures for CPT and Lorentz violation in particle physics, electromagnetism, and gravity; mechanisms and toy models for spacetime-symmetry breakdown; studies in field theory, gravitation, and particle physics; and condensed-matter applications.

The last four decades have witnessed a renaissance of atomic physics thanks to the spectacular theoretical and experimental achievements in atom cooling and trapping. These advancements have made major contributions to achieving complete control over single quantum systems. Applications such as atom lasers, quantum computers, optical tweezers, atomic conveyor belts, and quantum simulators, among others, will be fundamental to future technologies. This book—whose author has been actively researching the field for about three decades—is the first to popularize cold atomic physics and aims to help a broad audience fully appreciate the mentioned advancements. It provides the basic prerequisite knowledge of the field, as well as its historical and scientific roots, and its most important applications. Its extensive glossary will help to acquaint readers with the terminology of the field. Taming Atoms is written for science students, science fans, educators, and science communicators. The rich bibliography will be useful for graduate students and researchers in the field.

This is a review volume covering a wide range of topics in this newly developed research field. The intended audience corresponds to graduate students, post-docs and colleagues working in the field of cold atomic gases. This is the first review volume dedicated to this active research frontier, and provides a comprehensive and pedagogical summary of recent progresses in the field.

The aim of this book is to present review articles describing the latest theoretical and experimental developments in the field of cold atoms and molecules. Our hope is that this series will promote research by both highlighting recent breakthroughs and by outlining some of the most promising research directions in the field.

The aim of this book is to present review articles describing the latest theoretical and experimental developments in the field of cold atoms and molecules. Our hope is that this series will promote research by both highlighting recent breakthroughs and by outlining some of the most promising research directions in the field.

This unique book highlights the state of the art of the booming field of atomic physics in the early 21st century. It contains the majority of the invited papers from an ongoing series of conferences, held every two years, devoted to forefront research and fundamental studies in basic atomic physics, broadly defined. This conference, held at the University of Connecticut in July 2008, is part of a series of conferences, which began in 1968 and had its historical origins in the molecular beam conferences of the I. I. Rabi group. It provides an archival and up-to-date summary of current research on atoms and simple molecules as well as their interactions with each other and with external fields, including degenerate Bose and Fermi quantum gases and interactions involving ultrafast lasers, strong field control of X-ray processes, and nanoscale and mesoscopic quantum systems. The work of three recent Nobel Laureates in atomic physics is included, beginning with a lecture by Eric Cornell on “When Is a Quantum Gas a Quantum Liquid?”. There are also papers by Laureates Steven Chu and Roy Glauber. The volume also contains the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize lecture by Cheng Chin on “Exploring Universality of Few-Body Physics Based on Ultracold Atoms Near Feshbach Resonances”.