Title: Ultracold Atoms: How Quantum Field Theory Invaded Atomic Physics
Speaker: Eric Braaten, Ohio State University
Abstract: The development of the technology for trapping atoms and cooling them to ultralow temperatures gave birth to a new subfield of atomic physics.
It also led to the introduction of new theoretical methods into atomic physics,
in particular quantum field theory (QFT). I will describe the QFT's relevant
to ultracold atoms. A unique aspect of ultracold atoms is that their
interactions can be tuned experimentally and made arbitrarily large (or small).
When the interaction strength is infinitely large, the interactions do not
provide any length scale and are described by a nonrelativistic conformal QFT.
I will describe a new concept, the contact, and a new condensed matter system,
the unitary Bose gas, that have emerged from studies of ultracold atoms.
Host: John Ketterson
Keywords: Physics, Astronomy, colloquium