Title: ”Symmetry as a Shadow of Topological Order”

  

Prof. Xiao-Gang Wen

Department of Physics, School of Science, MIT

 

 

TIME: October 19 (Wed.) 17:00

Room: 205

 

ABSTRACT:

Symmetry is a cornerstone in modern physics. As a result, group theory became an important mathematical tool in theoretical physics. In last 40 years, the notion of symmetry was generalized, and the concepts of anomalous symmetry, higher symmetry, and algebraic symmetry were introduced. We find that those concepts can be unified, if we view symmetry as topological order in one higher dimension. As a result, generalized symmetry is not described by group theory, but by braided fusion category theory. This new holographic point of view of symmetry may becomes a key for a systematic and classifying understanding of gapless phases of matter via the emergent symmetry in those gapless phases. This is similar to topologocal order as a systematic and classifying understanding of gapped liquid phases of matter.

 

BRIEF CV:

Xiao-Gang Wen was born in Beijing, China, Nov. 26, 1961. As a Chinese-American physicist, he received a BS in physics from University of Science and Technology of China in 1982 and a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 1987. He studied superstring theory under theoretical physicist Edward Witten at Princeton University, and later switched his research field to condensed matter physics while working with theoretical physicists Robert Schrieffer, Frank Wilczek, Anthony Zee in Institute for Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara (1987-1989). He became a five-year member of IAS at Princeton in 1989 and joint MIT in 1991. He introduced the notion of topological order and quantum order to describe a new class of matter states. This opens up a new research direction in condensed matter physics. He also proposed a special class of topological order called ‘non-Abelian quantum Hall states’. They contain emergent particles with non-Abelian statistics which generalizes the well-known Bose and Fermi statistics.

 

EDUCATION:

• B.S. in Physics, Univ. of Sci. & Tech. of China, Jun. 1982
• M.A. in Physics, Princeton University, Oct. 1983
• Ph.D in Physics, Princeton University, Oct. 1987

 

HONORS & AWARDS:

• Dirac Medal of the ICTP, 2018
• Member of National Academy of Sciences, 2018
• APS Buckley prize, 2017
• Newton Chair, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics 2012 - 2016
• Distinguished Moore Scholar, Caltech, 2006
• Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics, MIT, 2004 - present
• Fellow of American Physical Society, 2002
• Overseas Chinese Physics Association outstanding young researcher award, 1994
• A.P. Sloan fellow, 1992

 

BOOK:

• Quantum Field Theory of Many-body Systems - from the Origin of Sound to an Origin of Light and Electrons
  published by Oxford University Press, 2004
  Chinese translation published by High Education Press, 2005

• Quantum Information Meets Quantum Matter - from quantum entanglement to topological phase in many-body systems
  published by Cambridge University Press, 2019

This talk is hosted jointly by the Korean Physical Society and Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (APCTP).

 

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Title: ”Innovations for Making the Display with Better User Experience”

  

Changhee Lee

Executive Vice President, Samsung Display Co., Ltd.

 

 

TIME: October 20 (Thu.) 12:00

Room: 205

 

ABSTRACT:

A big change is taking place in the display industry. As metaverse, gaming, and video streaming become more popular, demands for display products with seamlessly fast, high-resolution, and better visual experience are on the rise. OLED technology is replacing LCD, which has been a dominant technology until recently, in high-end products such as smartphones, note PCs, TVs, and automotive displays. And we are looking ahead for the next big thing such as quantum dot (QD) and micro-LED displays. In addition, innovative developments are taking place in display form factors such as foldable phones and rollable TVs. Furthermore, high-speed 5G communication and the advent of the IoT era are providing new opportunities for the display industry. I will explain recent progress, technical challenges, and future prospects of the display technology.

 

BRIEF CV:

Changhee Lee is an Executive Vice President of Samsung Display Co. (SDC) where he works as a Head of Display Research Center. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Seoul National University (SNU) in 1987 and 1989, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree in physics in 1994 from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He worked as a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in SNU (2004~2018) and an associate professor of Physics in Inha Univ (1997~2004). He is a Fellow of the Society of Information Display and a member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and National Academy of Engineering of Korea. He received IEC1906 Award (2007), Doyeon Creative Research Award (2012), SID Special Recognition Award (2014), Merck Award (2014), "The Scientist of the Month" Award (July 2015) and Order of Science and Technology Merit from Korean government (2017).

 

EDUCATION:

• 1983–1987   B.S. Physics, Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul, Korea
• 1987–1989   M.Sc. Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
• 1989–1994   Ph.D. Physics, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• 1994. 12 – 1997. 2   Senior Scientist, LG Chem Research Park, Daejon, Korea
• 1997. 3 – 2004. 1    Assistant/Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Inha Univ., Korea
• 2004. 2 – 2018. 8   Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, SNU, Korea
• 2012. 8 – 2013. 8   Visiting Professor, Stanford University, USA
• 2013. 9 – 2015. 8   Vice Dean of Research, College of Engineering, , SNU, Korea
• 2016. 1 – 2018. 1    Director, Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center, SNU, Korea
• 2018. 9 – present  EVP, Head of Display Research Center, Samsung Display Co., Ltd., Korea

 

HONORS & AWARDS:

• Fellow, Society for Information Display (2016).
• Member, Korean Academy of Science and Technology (2016).
• Member, National Academy of Engineering of Korea (2018)
• Order of Science and Technology Merit, Korean Government (2017)
• "The Scientist of the Month" Award, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Korea (2015).
• Merck Award, Korea Information Display Society (2014)
• Doyeon Creative Research Award, Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center, SNU (2012).
• IEC1906 Award, International Electrotechnical Commission (2007)

 

 

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Title: ”Exploring the Smallest Things with the Largest Microscopes”

  

Prof. Young-Kee Kim

Department of Physics, University of Chicago

 

 

TIME: October 21 (Fri.) 12:00

Room: 205

 

ABSTRACT:

Although the concept of the ultimate building blocks of matter has been modified in several essential respects in the last century, Democritus’s idea of atoms remains at the foundation of modern science. Subatomic-particle research has made enormous progress by looking inside matter at deeper and deeper levels, as if we were peeling the layers of an onion in the hopes of finding more basic rules for the structure of nature. Powerful accelerators and detectors have led to the discovery of ever-smaller entities that make up what were once thought to be indivisible particles. Moreover, the very small has been shown to be intimately connected to the largest scales imaginable – cosmology and the beginnings of the universe. Despite these successes, this current theory has within it the seeds of its own demise and is predicted to break down when probed at even smaller scales. By using our increased understanding and more powerful accelerators, we continue to peel away at the more hidden layers of truth with the hope of discovering a more elegant and complete theory. But as is the case with the onion, we must wonder whether there will ever emerge an ultimate layer where the peeling must stop.

 

BRIEF CV:

Young-Kee Kim is the Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of Physics and Senior Advisor to the Provost for Global Scientific Initiatives at the University of Chicago. Prior to Chicago, Young-Kee was Professor of Physics at University of California, Berkeley. She earned her BS and MS in Physics from Korea University, in 1984 and 1986, respectively, and her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Rochester in 1990. She conducted her postdoctoral research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Young-Kee is an experimental particle physicist, and devotes much of her research to understanding the origin of mass for fundamental particles using particle colliders. She was co-spokesperson of Tevatron’s CDF experiment (2004 – 2006) and Deputy Director of Fermilab (2006 – 2013). She is currently President of the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association and is elected to be President of the American Physical Society in 2024.

Young-Kee is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an overseas member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, and a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Sloan Foundation. She received the Ho-Am Prize in 2005.

 

EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

• B.S., Physics, Korea University, South Korea, Feb. 1984
• M.S., Physics, Korea University, South Korea, Feb. 1986
• Ph.D., Physics, University of Rochester, USA, Sep. 1990
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oct. 1990 – Jun. 1996

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• 2017.1-present     Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor, The University of Chicago (1/2017 – present)
• 2011.1-2016.12     Louis Block Professor, The University of Chicago
• 2003.1-present   Professor of Physics, The University of Chicago

• 2002.7-2002.12   Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
• 2000.7-2002.6     Associate Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
• 1996.7-2000.6     Assistant Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley

• 2016.9-present   Chair, the Department of Physics, The University of Chicago
• 2020.7-present   Senior Advisor to the Provost for Global Scientific Initiatives, The University of Chicago
• 2006.7-2013.6     Deputy Director, Fermi Accelerator National Laboratory

 

HONORS & AWARDS:

• Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017)
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011)
• Fellow, American Physical Society (2004)
• Fellow, Alfred P. Sloan (1997)
• Ho-Am Prize (2005)
• Korea University Alumni Award (2012)
• Rochester Distinguished Scholar Medal (2010)
• Leadership Award, Women in Science, Chicago Council of Science and Technology (2012)
• Science Service Medal, South Korean Government (2008)
• Scientist of the Year Award, Korean American Scientists and Engineers Association and Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (2019)
• High Energy and Particle Physics Prize of the European Physical Society, awarded to the CDF and D0 collaborations (2019)
• Member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2022)