While the campus of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) remains quiet, education and scientific research continue unabated. The Blackboard teaching platform has connected students, teachers, and faculty members across the globe.
With that in mind, February 28 saw the first lecture in a new series by the Shenzhen Institute of Quantum Science and Engineering (SIQSE) and the School of Physics at Peking University (PKU). Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Physics Professor Wen Xiaogang gave a class titled “Introduction to Topology and Entanglement in Quantum Multibody Systems: Symmetry Breaking and Transcendence in Quantum Systems.”
Students from top universities across mainland China and the Greater Bay Area have signed up for this lecture series, with over twenty thousand people viewing Professor Wen’s lecture.
Professor Wen was elected to the National Academy of Science (2018) in recognition of “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.” He is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at MIT, and the co-winner of the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize (2017) “for theories of topological order and its consequences in a broad range of physical systems.” In December 2017, he gave the 145th lecture in the SUSTech Lecture Series
In the lecture, Wen Xiaogang introduced the symmetry breaking in the quantum multibody system. He introduced the concepts of quasi-particles, topological excitation and fractionation in the symmetry breaking with the 1D transverse field Ising model as an example, and patiently answered interesting questions from participating students.
The SIQSE-PKU Lecture Series has invited top quantum theorists as lecturers. It is aimed at those who are interested in condensed matter physics research as either a general or professional elective for undergraduates and juniors. The lecture series introduces the cutting-edge of quantum theory and experimental research, touching on topics such as quantum entanglement, the Landau paradigm, the Quantum Hall Effect, DMRG, and other areas that are at the forefront of the field. There will be a total of sixteen, 90-minute lectures that cover the sixteen-week semester.
SUSTech Class of 2022 undergraduate Yue Gen said that they wanted to conduct research in this field in the future. Class of 2021 undergraduate Ren Mingde added that the course had filled in some unknown areas of knowledge and that the Q&A session was extremely helpful. The questions proposed by the lecturers for the next class inspired them to think more broadly ahead of next week’s lecture.
