Background
Wen, Xiao-Gang was born on November 26, 1961 in Beijing. Son of Shi-Fu and Wan-Qin (Xue) Wen. came to the United States, 1982.
(For most of the last century, condensed matter physics ha...)
For most of the last century, condensed matter physics has been dominated by band theory and Landau's symmetry breaking theory. In the last twenty years, however, there has been the emergence of a new paradigm associated with fractionalization, topological order, emergent gauge bosons and fermions, and string condensation. These new physical concepts are so fundamental that they may even influence our understanding of the origin of light and electrons in the universe. This book is a pedagogical and systematic introduction to the new concepts and quantum field theoretical methods in condensed matter physics. It discusses many basic notions in theoretical physics, which underlie physical phenomena in nature, including a notion that unifies light and electrons. Topics covered are dissipative quantum systems, boson condensation, symmetry breaking and gapless excitations, phase transitions, Fermi liquids, spin density wave states, Fermi and fractional statistics, quantum Hall effects, topological/quantum order, spin liquid and string condensation. Methods discussed include the path integral, Green's functions, mean-field theory, effective theory, renormalization group, bosonization in one- and higher dimensions, non-linear sigma-model, quantum gauge theory, dualities, slave-boson theory, and exactly soluble models beyond one-dimension. This book is aimed at bringing students to the frontiers of research in condensed matter physics.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019922725X/?tag=2022091-20
Wen, Xiao-Gang was born on November 26, 1961 in Beijing. Son of Shi-Fu and Wan-Qin (Xue) Wen. came to the United States, 1982.
Bachelor of Science in Physics, University of Science and Technology, Hefei, China, 1982. Master of Arts in Physics, Princeton University, New Jersey, 1983. Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, Princeton University, New Jersey, 1987.
Member Institute Theoretical Physics University California, Santa Barbara, 1987-1989. Member Institute Advanced Study, Princeton, 1989—1991. Assistant professor department physics.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1991-1995, associate professor, 1995—2000, professor, since 2000, Cecil and Ida Green professor physics, since 2004. Changjiang professor Tsinghua University Center Advanced Study, China, since 2000.
(For most of the last century, condensed matter physics ha...)
Fellow: American Physical Society.
Married Xiao-Li Li, June 4, 1984. Children: David Yi-Bo, Kevin Ruo-Song.