We are excited to announce the Colloquium by Professor Xiao-Gang Wen from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
Title: From the origin of elementary particles to topological phases of matter
Abstract: What are light and the electron? Where do light and the electron come from? Why do light and the electron exist? An answer to the above questions comes from topological phases of matter -- long-range, entangled, many-body systems. I will give a brief introduction to this very active emergent direction.
Bio: Xiao-Gang Wen is a theoretical condensed matter physicist, recognized for his work on introducing the notion topological order (1989) and developing the theories of this new class of quantum states of matter. He is known particularly for his theoretical discovery of perfect conducting 1D chiral Luttinger liquids, Z2 spin liquid with emergent fermion, non-abelian fractional quantum Hall states, symmetry-protected topological order, and string-net unification of elementary particles and interactions. Since 2000, the study of topological states of matter slowly became a very active new field in condensed matter physics. Wen entered graduate school at Princeton University in 1982 and earned a PhD degree in the field of superstring theory under Prof. Witten. During his postdoctoral period (1987-1989) in ITP, Santa Barbara, he started to pursue research in condensed matter physics. After a two-year stay in IAS, Princeton, he joined the faculty of the Department of Physics, MIT, in 1991. He was a Distinguished Moore Scholar at Caltech (2006) and Newton Chair at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (2012 – 2014). He was awarded the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize by APS in 2017, the Dirac Medal by ICTP in 2018, and the Benjamin Lee Professorship of APCTP in 2022. He is a Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at MIT since 2004 and became a member of National Academy of Sciences in 2018.
The colloquium will be held online on
Friday, Oct 13, 9pm US Eastern
Friday, Oct 13, 6pm US Pacific
Saturday, Oct 14, 9am in China
To register, see here: Google Form or Wenjuanxing. Zoom link information will be sent to registrants a day before the talk. This online talk is open to all, but OCPA membership is encouraged. If you are not a member, please sign up for a new membership. A free one-year membership is offered through 12/31/2024.
Colloquium Flyer - October 2023
Professor Xiao-Gang Wen's talk was successfully held on October 13, 2023. Please click the link https://youtu.be/