Speaker:
Thomas Scaffidi
Institution:
University of Toronto
Date:
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Time:
11:00 am
Location:
ISEB 1200 [Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building]
Abstract:
Hydrodynamics is a universal description of fluids which emerges at length and time scales much larger than those that govern microscopic, atom-level processes. Recently, a number of strongly correlated solid-state systems have been found which exhibit universal transport properties which cannot be explained by a single particle picture, and for which a non-perturbative approach like hydrodynamics is warranted. The opportunity provided by these systems is twofold: it enables the study of novel regimes of transport with unique properties, and it also generates exotic types of hydrodynamic theories which would not occur otherwise "in vacuum". Focusing on viscous electron flows, I will present a number of recently discovered phenomena which arise at the intersection of fluid mechanics and of the quantum theory of solids. More broadly, I will discuss the fundamental question of how irreversible hydrodynamic theories can emerge from reversible quantum mechanics, and how this process has connections to many-body quantum chaos.
Hydrodynamics is a universal description of fluids which emerges at length and time scales much larger than those that govern microscopic, atom-level processes. Recently, a number of strongly correlated solid-state systems have been found which exhibit universal transport properties which cannot be explained by a single particle picture, and for which a non-perturbative approach like hydrodynamics is warranted. The opportunity provided by these systems is twofold: it enables the study of novel regimes of transport with unique properties, and it also generates exotic types of hydrodynamic theories which would not occur otherwise "in vacuum". Focusing on viscous electron flows, I will present a number of recently discovered phenomena which arise at the intersection of fluid mechanics and of the quantum theory of solids. More broadly, I will discuss the fundamental question of how irreversible hydrodynamic theories can emerge from reversible quantum mechanics, and how this process has connections to many-body quantum chaos.
Host:
Javier Sanchez-Yamagishi