Professor
Kun Yang
Department of Physics
Florida State University
Novel Quantum Criticality and Emergent Particles in Trapped
Cold Atom
Systems
Trapped cold atoms systems have emerged as a new frontier of research
in condensed
matter physics. In particular, physics associated with strong
interaction/correlation
in such systems is of strong current interest. In this talk I will describe
several examples in which quantum phase transitions and emergent
particles
with exotic properties arise in such systems, which do not have counter
parts
in traditional electronic condensed matter systems. These include: (i) a
transition
from an integer quantum Hall phase to a fractional quantum Hall phase
where
the critical theory is that of a massless relativistic semion; (ii) new
universality
class of superfluid-insulator transition in Bose-Fermi mixtures, and high-
Tc
p-wave fermion pairing mediated by quantum critical fluctuations; and (iii)
the possibility of realizing supersymmetry in Bose-Fermi mixtures, and
detecting
a Goldstone fermion called Goldstino in such systems.