Physics Colloquium: Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek

Physics Colloquium: Quanta of the Third Kind – Anyons by Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek.

Abstract: For many years physicists thought that quantum particles divide into two kingdoms, bosons and fermions. Starting in the 1980s we came to understand this distinction in a more basic way, tracing it to interactions that depend on the topology of multiparticle trajectories. The new understanding reveals that for particles that live in two dimensions there are many more possibilities: anyons. Anyons are known to arise in several states of matter, and can also be engineered. The surrounding circle of ideas has been a central part of recent work on quantum information processing.

As a spin-related add-on to this colloquium, Frank Wilczek and Tord Ekelöf will give short updates on the theoretical and experimental status of supersymmetry to close their 2013 bet on discovery of supersymmetric particles. The winner will get 100 Nobel chocolate medals!