Topics in Gauge Theories
Instructor: Dieter Van den Bleeken
Time: Thursday 1:30 - 3:00
Course Description:
Solitons, particle-like collective excitations, appear in a wide range of physical systems; from optics over solid state physics through QFT to quantum gravity. They are intrinsically associated with non-linearities and provide a stepping stone into regimes beyond standard perturbation theory. In this course we will provide some introduction to their physics, trying to balance a theoretical discussion of their most general features with a detailed analysis of some particular examples.