Conformal Field Theory on the Fermi Surface

The Fermi surface may be usefully viewed as a collection of 1+1 dimensional chiral conformal field theories. This approach permits straightforward calculation of many anomalous ground state properties of the Fermi gas including entanglement entropy and number fluctuations. The 1+1 dimensional picture also generalizes to finite temperature and the presence of interactions. Finally, I argue that the low energy entanglement structure of Fermi liquid theory is universal, depending only on the geometry of the interacting Fermi surface.Comment: 4 pages + references, 2 figure

Oscillating terms in the Renyi entropy of Fermi liquids

In this work we compute subleading oscillating terms in the Renyi entropy of Fermi gases and Fermi liquids corresponding to $2k_F$-like oscillations. Our theoretical tools are the one dimensional formulation of Fermi liquid entanglement familiar from discussions of the logarithmic violation of the area law and quantum Monte Carlo calculations. The main result is a formula for the oscillating term for any region geometry and a spherical Fermi surface. We compare this term to numerical calculations of entanglement using the correlation function method and find excellent agreement. We also compare with quantum Monte Carlo data on interacting Fermi liquids where we also find excellent agreement up to moderate interaction strengths.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Non-Abelian statistics versus the Witten anomaly

This paper is motivated by prospects for non-Abelian statistics of deconfined particle-like objects in 3+1 dimensions, realized as solitons with localized Majorana zeromodes. To this end, we study the fermionic collective coordinates of magnetic monopoles in 3+1 dimensional spontaneously-broken SU(2) gauge theories with various spectra of fermions. We argue that a single Majorana zeromode of the monopole is not compatible with cancellation of the Witten SU(2) anomaly. We also compare this approach with other attempts to realize deconfined non-Abelian objects in 3+1 dimensions.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; v2: added refs, minor corrections, published versio

Correlated Topological Insulators and the Fractional Magnetoelectric Effect

Topological insulators are characterized by the presence of gapless surface modes protected by time-reversal symmetry. In three space dimensions the magnetoelectric response is described in terms of a bulk theta term for the electromagnetic field. Here we construct theoretical examples of such phases that cannot be smoothly connected to any band insulator. Such correlated topological insulators admit the possibility of fractional magnetoelectric response described by fractional theta/pi. We show that fractional theta/pi is only possible in a gapped time reversal invariant system of bosons or fermions if the system also has deconfined fractional excitations and associated degenerate ground states on topologically non-trivial spaces. We illustrate this result with a concrete example of a time reversal symmetric topological insulator of correlated bosons with theta = pi/4. Extensions to electronic fractional topological insulators are briefly described.Comment: 4 pages + ref

Apollo experience report guidance and control systems: Primary guidance, navigation, and control system development

The primary guidance, navigation, and control systems for both the lunar module and the command module are described. Development of the Apollo primary guidance systems is traced from adaptation of the Polaris Mark II system through evolution from Block I to Block II configurations; the discussion includes design concepts used, test and qualification programs performed, and major problems encountered. The major subsystems (inertial, computer, and optical) are covered. Separate sections on the inertial components (gyroscopes and accelerometers) are presented because these components represent a major contribution to the success of the primary guidance, navigation, and control system

Entanglement Renormalization and Holography

I show how recent progress in real space renormalization group methods can be used to define a generalized notion of holography inspired by holographic dualities in quantum gravity. The generalization is based upon organizing information in a quantum state in terms of scale and defining a higher dimensional geometry from this structure. While states with a finite correlation length typically give simple geometries, the state at a quantum critical point gives a discrete version of anti de Sitter space. Some finite temperature quantum states include black hole-like objects. The gross features of equal time correlation functions are also reproduced in this geometric framework. The relationship between this framework and better understood versions of holography is discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

The Gravity Dual of a Density Matrix

For a state in a quantum field theory on some spacetime, we can associate a density matrix to any subset of a given spacelike slice by tracing out the remaining degrees of freedom. In the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, if the original state has a dual bulk spacetime with a good classical description, it is natural to ask how much information about the bulk spacetime is carried by the density matrix for such a subset of field theory degrees of freedom. In this note, we provide several constraints on the largest region that can be fully reconstructed, and discuss specific proposals for the geometric construction of this dual region.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, 8 figures, v2: footnote and reference adde