Prospectus

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Topics in Theoretical Physics: Topological Order in Quantum Matter

Course
2024-2025

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

In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.

Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.

Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.

Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.

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 enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.

In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.

There are two enrolment periods per year:

  • Enrolment for the fall opens in July

  • Enrolment for the spring opens in December

See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.

Note:

  • It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.

  • Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.

  • Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.

Contact

Lecturer: Dr. V. Cheianov

Remarks

Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.