Admission Requirements
No mandatory requirements; Quantum Theory is recommended.
Description
Topics in Theoretical Physics is a student seminar course. The course is built around a current physics research topic.
The topic for Spring 2024 is "Topological Order in Quantum Matter." In the course we will discuss subjects such as
extrinsic and intrinsic quantum topological order, experimental manifestations of a quantum topological order, the quantum Hall
and quantum spin Hall effects, Chern insulators, Weyl semimetals, p-wave superconductors, as well as non-Abelian
braiding statistics and potential applications in topologically protected quantum gates.
Course Objectives
The purpose of the course is to become familiar with research questions and methods in Modern Cosmology, and how they connect with different aspects of fundamental physics. The first objective is to learn how to distill the essentials from a set of advanced review and current research articles. The second objective is to present this material comprehensibly both in a lecture form as well as in a written summary.
Timetable
Physics Schedule
For detailed information go to Timetable in Brightspace
You will find the timetables for all courses and degree programmes of Leiden University in the tool MyTimetable (login). Any teaching activities that you have sucessfully registered for in MyStudyMap will automatically be displayed in MyTimeTable. Any timetables that you add manually, will be saved and automatically displayed the next time you sign in.
MyTimetable allows you to integrate your timetable with your calendar apps such as Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and other calendar apps on your smartphone. Any timetable changes will be automatically synced with your calendar. If you wish, you can also receive an email notification of the change. You can turn notifications on in ‘Settings’ (after login).
For more information, watch the video or go the the 'help-page' in MyTimetable. Please note: Joint Degree students Leiden/Delft have to merge their two different timetables into one. This video explains how to do this.
Mode of instruction
Lectures will provide background material and put the topic into a broader context. The topic is further developed in tutorials (instruction classes), where students will be asked to present their solutions to problems handed out in advance.
Zie Brightspace
Assessment method
During the course: active participation in the tutorials; at the end of the course, each student will give an oral presentation (with written handout) on a subject of their choice, and submit a report summarizing 3 publications chosen from a reading list.
The final grade will be based on all three course aspects: the presentation, the report, and engagement in the tutorials.
Reading list
The text book to accompany the course is "A Course in Cosmology From Theory to Practice" by Dragan Huterer (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for registering for each course component. This can be done via Mystudymap. You do this twice a year: once for the courses you want to take in semester 1 and once for the courses you want to take in semester 2.
Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from July onwards; registration for courses in the second semester is possible from December onwards. For more information, see this page
Please note that it is mandatory for all students to register for their exams. This can be done up to and including 10 calendar days prior to the exam or up to five calendar days in case of a retake exam (retake registration opens 30 days before the retake takes place). You cannot participate in the exam or retake without a valid registration in My Studymap.
Contact
Lecturer: Dr. V. Cheianov