Srimoyee  Sen

Srimoyee Sen

Position
  • Assistant Professor
I am an assistant professor at the department of physics and astronomy at Iowa State University. I am quantum field theorist with broad research interests. I have worked on several aspects of strongly interacting gauge theories, large N QCD, effective field theories to name a few. I also spend a significant part of my time thinking about quantum phase transitions and topological phases of matter and their interrelations with the QCD phase diagram and lattice gauge theory.

My current research is focused on exploring two main questions. The first relates to working towards a non-perturbative definition of chiral gauge theories (CGT). Despite all the advances in quantum field theory, CGT like the standard model of particle physics cannot be regulated on the lattice which in turn prevents us from extracting any non-perturbative information out of the weak interaction sector. This problem has remained unsolved for the last forty years. My research is aimed towards constructing a non-perturbative/lattice definition of chiral gauge theories. In recent work with my collaborator I have a made a major breakthrough in this regard. See https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.141604

The second direction that I am focused on explores ties between periodically driven quantum systems known as Floquet insulators and discrete space-time lattice quantum field theories. We have demonstrated that in one spatial dimension a one to one mathematical correspondence can be found between certain Floquet systems with period T and discrete time static lattice theories with lattice spacing T. We are now exploring whether similar connections can be found in higher dimensions. We are attempting to answer the following question: can all discrete time theories be reinterpreted as continuous time theories with some appropriate periodic driving and vice versa?



Another research direction that I am pursuing involves understanding low temperature dense phases of matter that are likely to be realized in the cores of neutron stars. In this regard, my current research interest has primarily two complementing directions. One of them involves understanding quark-Hadron and Higgs-confinement phase transitions in QCD and QCD like theories. The other utilizes various effective field theory techniques ranging from chiral expansion, Fermi liquid theory and the virial expansion to understand phenomenological consequences of strong dynamics in dense environments made up of nucleons and or quarks.

Contact

Contact Info

Physics
2323 Osborn Dr
Ames
,
IA
50011-1026
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