Mathematical Physics In-Person Seminar
Upcoming Events
- Oct 15 2026
Yi-Zhi Huang - Mathematical construction and study of conformal-field-theoretic tensor categories
- Information
- Thursday, October 15, 2026 - Thursday, October 15, 2026
- 12:10 PM - 1:10 PM
- Hill 705
Yi-Zhi Huang – Rutgers University
Date/Time/Location
Thursday, October 15 , 2026, 12:10 pm; Hill Center 705
Mathematical construction and study of conformal-field-theoretic tensor categoriesTensor categories now play an important role in the study of the representation theory of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras and other algebras related to two-dimensional conformal field theories. They have also been viewed as a type of generalized symmetries in physics (symmetry topological field
theories) and are used to describe and study fractional quantum Hall systems, anyons, and other phenomena in condensed matter physics. Recently there are a lot of progresses in the general construction and study of tensor categories arising from the mathematical approaches to conformal field theories, especially in the representation theory of vertex operator algebras. I will discuss some of these main progresses and will also discuss the connection with the probability construction of the Liouville conformal field theory.
- Oct 22 2026
Jed Pixley - A “critical” take on the magic-angle in twisted bilayer graphene
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- Thursday, October 22, 2026 - Thursday, October 22, 2026
- 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
- Hill 313
Jed Pixley – Rutgers University
Date/Time/Location
Thursday, October 22, 2026, 2:00 pm; Hill Center 313PLEASE NOTE SPECIAL TIME AND LOCATION OF THIS SEMINAR
A “critical” take on the magic-angle in twisted bilayer grapheneTwisted bilayer graphene near the magic-angle has attracted a considerable amount of attention following the discovery of correlated insulating phases and superconductivity. Usually incommensurate effects are assumed to be weak or ignored entirely. We demonstrate that at the magic-angle, the system undergoes a single-particle, incommensurate transition where the wavefunctions delocalize in momentum space, concomitant with the onset of a finite density of states at the Dirac node energy, which has an observable effect on the screening of local vacancies. To make these effects pronounced enough to observe in experiment requires aligning twisted bilayer graphene with the hexagonal Boron Nitride sample, which we show both theoretically and experimentally reveals multifractal eigenstates.