Talks

PostDoc Seminar: “Grant Writing” (with biotech Grant Officers), Mon 26 June, 10-11 AM

Dear PKS PostDocs, for the next PostDoc meeting, we will have as guests Maria Begasse and Nambirajan Govindarajan (biotech Grants Office). The meeting will take place Monday 26 June, 10:15-11:00 AM, in Seminar Room 4 at MPI-PKS. All PKS PostDocs are welcome! Govind and Maria plan to give a short intro on grant writing, and then we have time for an interactive part. Possible topics are: ⁃ Where do I look for funding opportunities? ⁃ How do I know which funding source fits? ⁃ When should I apply? ⁃ What is important before writing a grant application? ⁃ What goes in the application, what doesn’t (Topic, Details, Partners, etc)? This should be especially interesting if you are thinking about your first independent position, or trying to acquire some additional funding. If you have specific questions you already want to put forward, also don't hesitate to email them beforehand: lhilbert@pks.mpg.de See you on Monday! Lennart

Dynamical quantum phase transitions in a quenched Haldane model and the connection to topology (informal seminar)

Understanding dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs), occurring in the subsequent temporal evolution of a quenched closed quantum system, is a topic of immense interest in recent studies of non-equilibrium quantum systems. The associated non-analyticties are manifested in the Loschmidt echo and can be connected to the the lines (or areas) of "Fisher zeros" in the complex time plane. Furthermore, DQPTs are associated with an emergent topological structure. With a brief review on the one-dimensional models, we shall illustrate the scenario in two-dimensions analyzing the dynamics of a quenched topological Haldane model on a hexagonal lattice. We shall illustrate (i) the non-trivial role played by the Haldane mass term (which determines the topology of the equilibrium Haldane model) and (ii) propose the topological index associated with the corresponding DQPTs.

El Nino as a Topological Insulator: A Surprising Connection Between Climate, and Quantum, Physics

Symmetries and topology play central roles in our understanding of physics. Topology explains the precise quantization of the Hall effect and the protection of surface states in topological insulators against scattering from disorder or bumps. However discrete symmetries and topology have so far played little role in thinking about the fluid dynamics of oceans and atmospheres. I show that, as a consequence of the rotation of the Earth that breaks time reversal symmetry, equatorially trapped Kelvin and Yanai waves emerge as topologically protected edge modes. Thus the oceans and atmosphere of Earth naturally share basic physics with topological insulators. As equatorially trapped Kelvin waves in the Pacific ocean are an important component of El Nino Southern Oscillation, these new results demonstrate that topology plays a surprising role in Earth’s climate system.

Colloquium tba.