Exploring few- and many-body systems on the lattice: from dilute Fermi gases to quantum chromodynamics

Exploring few- and many-body systems on the lattice: from dilute Fermi gases to quantum chromodynamics
Michael Endres, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date and time: Tue, Feb 24, 2015 - 2:30pm
Location: LGRT 1033
Category: ACFI Seminar
Abstract:
The emergence of complex systems from simple origins is a common occurrence in nature. Hadrons and nuclei are one example, arising from the strong interactions of the standard model, with low-energy properties governed by only the QCD scale and light quark masses, to a first approximation. Ultra cold atoms tuned to a Feshbach resonance provide another example, and possess fascinating universal properties, which are determined entirely by the two-particle scattering length and density of the system. Although strongly interacting systems such as these are simple from the standpoint of their theoretical description, their few- and many-body properties (e.g., spectrum, binding energies, scattering parameters, equation of state) are immensely rich, and can only be accessed reliably through a nonperturbative treatment of study. Monte Carlo simulations, often performed on a space-time lattice, provide one of the few known avenues for achieving this aim. However, determining the properties of these systems numerically is often beset by significant obstacles in and of itself. In this talk, I will show how novel numerical approaches that I have developed have overcome a number of these challenges, and revealed fascinating aspects of nuclear physics from quantum chromodynamics and important features of cold atom systems from the simple underlying dynamics.

Seminar slides