Scientific Calendar Event



Starts 15 Apr 2016 14:30
Ends 15 Apr 2016 15:30
Central European Time
SISSA, room 128
I consider a simple non-equilibrium problem, where a critical one-dimensional system is prepared in a state with two different  densities on the left and on the right, and let evolve with a Hamiltonian that conserves the number of particles. A typical example  would be a fermionic system prepared with different left/right chemical  potentials. The aim is to make analytical predictions regarding the behavior of correlations as well as the entanglement spreading after such a quench.
I will discuss attempts at understanding such problems using field theory. A possible strategy is to study the behavior of the system in imaginary time, the real time dynamics being recovered by performing the Wick rotation. I will show  that all degrees of freedom outside a certain region may freeze in imaginary time, contrary to naive expectations. This is analogous to the celebrated "arctic circle" phenomenon found in the study of two-dimensional classical dimer or vertex models.
I will also show that the fluctuating region is described by a massless field theory with a position-dependent metric, a field theory in curved space.