Princeton University Donald R. Hamilton Lecture
The many uses of emergent perfection in large quantum systems
Abstract: An underappreciated aspect of quantum mechanics is that large, relatively imperfect systems can show behavior that is as precise and reproducible as anything in nature. The first example was the observation of superconductivity in 1911, which required almost fifty years and the invention of quantum theory for its theoretical explanation. A key goal of the second quantum revolution that is now in progress is to use this and other examples of quantum protection to build new computers and sensors. Another goal is to extend our ability to create new emergent particles that go beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. This talk explains how these two goals are now coupled: finding materials with new excitations lets us realize new kinds of protected responses, and quantum computers are starting to help us understand even more complex kinds of quantum matter.