Tue February 20, 2018 4:00 pm
Higgs mode and universal dynamics near quantum criticality
Location:MIT 4 - 270
Dr. Daniel Podolsky,
Israel Institute of Technology
The Higgs mode is a ubiquitous collective excitation in condensed matter systems with broken continuous symmetry. It plays a role analogous to the Higgs boson in particle physics. Its detection is a valuable test of the underlying field theory. However, since the Higgs mode can decay into low energy Goldstone modes, its experimental visibility has been questioned. In this talk, I will show that the visibility of the Higgs mode depends on the symmetry of the measuring probe. I will also present an analysis of the evolution of the Higgs mode near quantum criticality and show that the Higgs mode survives as a universal resonance arbitrarily close to the quantum critical point. I will discuss the implications of these results for experiments, from lattice Bose condensates to the solid phase of 4-Helium. I will also present a proposal by which a coherently-driven Higgs mode can be used to amplify light.
