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Caltech

IQIM Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Seminar

Friday, June 7, 2019
12:00pm to 1:00pm
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East Bridge 114
Operator Algebras in Quantum Theory: A Practical Perspective
Oleg Kabernik, Graduate Student, Raussendorf Group, University of British Columbia,

Abstract: Operators, the main mathematical objects in quantum theory, are rarely recognized as elements of an operator algebra. Operators that represent symmetries, on the other hand, are elements of a group that is one of the most consequential ideas in modern physics. In this talk I will introduce operator algebras as a practical alternative to symmetries and review their common irreducible representations (irrep) structure. Motivated by a variety of physical applications, I will show a convenient way of visualizing the irrep structure of an operator algebra and a practical, not necessarily numeric, algorithm that constructs it. I will end with a concrete example of a calculation that can be performed using operator algebra irrep decomposition.

For more information, please contact Marcia Brown by phone at 626-395-4013 or by email at [email protected].