During his PhD studies, Peter Græns Larsen investigated some properties of quantum many-body scars which are non-thermal states in otherwise thermal quantum systems. These scar states are of interest because they are protected from thermalization unlike almost all states of typical quantum many-body systems. Peter Græns Larsen studied some of the fundamental properties of scar states in comparison with thermal states and the respective system’s ground states. Additionally, he has shown a phase transition which takes place in such a scar state as well as proposing an experimental protocol to detect single scar states.

Both the phase transition and the experimental protocol shown in this research has not previously been considered in literature. These studies thus help to further our understanding of the capabilities of scar states and how to observe them in experiments.

The PhD study was completed at Department of physics and astronomy, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Monday, 20 January 2024 at 10:00
Place: Building 1525, room 626, Lecture Theatre “Det skæve rum”, Department of physics and astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 120, 8000 Aarhus C
Title of PhD thesis: Properties and Applications of Quantum Many-Body scars
Contact information: Peter Græns Larsen, e-mail: pealr@phys.au.dk, tel.: +45 22260172
Members of the assessment committee:
Associate Professor Matteo Rizzi, Institut fuer Theoretishe Physik, Universitaet zu Köln, Germany
Professor Mari Carmen Bañuls, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Germany
Associate Professor Brian Julsgaard (chair), Department of physics and astronomy and Interdisciplinary Nanoscience, Center, Aarhus university, Denmark
Main supervisor:
Associate Professor Anne E. B. Nielsen, Department of physics and astronomy, Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defense is public.
The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Natural Sciences/GSNS, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, 8000 Aarhus C