Aperiodic Order in Physics
A talk in the Kolloquium Mathematische Physik series by
Felix Flicker from Cardiff University
| Abstract: | Typically in physics we make one of two simplifying
assumptions: periodicity or randomness. Periodicity underlies diverse
fields from lattice QCD to crystals, while randomness appears in
models of fluids, chaotic dynamics, and localisation phenomena. However, beyond these two extremes lies a third type of order: aperiodic. Well known examples include quasicrystals, discovered in 1982. Lacking periodicity, they nevertheless feature sharp diffraction patterns indicative of long-range order. Their physical properties are impossible for crystals in fewer than six dimensions. Aperiodic order has subsequently come to play an important role across physics, governing exotic and topological states of matter, dynamical systems such as 'time quasicrystals', and even the AdS/CFT correspondence in string theory. I will give a survey of these appearances, and will argue that aperiodic order is just as powerful a simplifying factor as periodicity and randomness. |