Abstract
The integer quantum Hall states, the quantum spin Hall insulator, and the p-wave topological superconductor each have an important place in condensed matter physics due to their quantized symmetry-protected topological invariants. These systems have a unique ground state on any closed manifold in (2+1) dimensions and are examples of 'invertible' topological phases of fermions. Here I will describe a general theory describing the universal properties of invertible phases, and classifies them based on their symmetries. This approach is 'categorical': it does not depend on microscopic models. Our theories can be considered as the symmetry-enriched Kitaev's 16-fold way. Some new applications of the theory include an interacting version of the 'tenfold way' classification of topological insulators and superconductors, and also the prediction of an interesting invertible phase.
Biography
Yu-An Chen is a Postdoctoral Researcher and condensed matter theorist at the University of Maryland. He is interested in studying topological phases of matter and quantum information. His previous work focuses on bosonization, a mapping between fermionic and bosonic systems, which is useful for quantum simulation of fermions and the construction of fermionic topological phases. This approach utilizes tools in algebraic topology. He recently studies the bosonization shadow theories of fermionic invertible topological phases using G-crossed crossed braided tensor categories, and classify all chiral phases with symmetry in (2+1)D. Yu-An Chen's research style is the hybridization of math, condensed matter, and quantum information.
Anyone interested is welcome to attend.