Alessandro Tarantola – PhD student at ETH
Have you ever wondered where “generalized eigenstates” live, if not in the Hilbert space? Do you often feel uncomfortable exchanging sums and integrals? Are you uneasy if you think something is ill-defined? If so, mathematical physics might be just right for you!
This talk will be meant to familiarize you with the typical problems faced in this branch of physics, while at the same time helping you answer the million-dollar question: “Am I a mathematical physicist?”.
We will warm-up with a couple simple exercises. We will then delve into the depths of topological phases of matter, topological indices and the subtleties surrounding their definition. Some of my work on the subject will be reviewed and commented on.
In closing, if time allows, I will give my two cents on the hotly debated topic of foundations of quantum mechanics.
Recording
https://video.ethz.ch/events/2024/theory/6c3ef50c-293d-41bc-b2c6-1e463bd0a69c.html