Date/Time
Date(s) - 07/01/2015
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Title: Quantum Catastrophes

Speaker: Dr. Duncan O’Dell

Institute: McMaster University

Location: ABB 102

Description:

In physics a catastrophe is singularity or divergence in some quantity. They have been extensively studied in optics where they are known as caustics and occur all around us as natural focusing, e.g. as the bright lines on the bottom of swimming pools, as rainbows, or rogue waves at sea. They are the places where the geometric theory fails and wave theory must be used to get a finite answer. Surprisingly, for a given dimension there are only a limited number of catastrophes that can occur and these universality classes are described by catastrophe theory. I will give an introduction to this subject and finish up with my own research on the next generation of these objects which are known as quantum catastrophes. These are places where classical wave theory breaks down and quantum field theory must be used for a proper description.