This is the first Summer School organized by The Dutch Institute for Emergent Phenomena. The concept of emergence is often taken to mean that unexpected and fascinating high-level behaviour is produced by combining elementary low-level ingredients that interact in complex ways to give a whole that is "more than the sum of the parts”. However, this is only one aspect of emergence, and actions such as changing the scale of observation and/or taking limits may also give rise to emergent phenomena, even in relatively simple systems. There are examples of emergence all around us, from the fundamental physics of interacting particles or quantum gravity, to societal issues in health and finance. Finding out what links these examples and how to understand the links is our challenge. This school will provide you with the tools and attitude to work on emergence in physics and start making the connections to emergence in other fields.

The school is intended for advanced master’s students, PhDs, postdocs, and beyond, and will be of interest to those studying the lowest as well as the highest energies, and the softest as well as the hardest materials. Each mini-course will consist of a fundamental and a more applied part.

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Following a general introduction, we cover the following four key topics, which play a connecting role throughout the general theme of emergence in physics: AdS/CFT correspondence (Jan de Boer and Sebastian de Haro), Hydrodynamics (Frank Redig), Renormalization (Elisabetta Pallante and Frank Saueressig), and Spontaneous symmetry breaking and new phases of matter (Alix McCollam and Klaas Landsman).

All lecturers are leading experts on emergence, recruited from a wide range of approaches to physics, including experimental physics, theoretical physics, mathematical physics, and the philosophy of physics. This diversity in approaches is basic to DIEP and to the school.

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Learning Outcomes

After this course you are able to:

1. Understand the concept of emergence in the context of physics

2. Understand four key techniques in the study of emergent phenomena, namely  the AdS/CFT Correspondence, Hydrodynamics, Renormalization and Effective Field Theories, and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking, including its applications to new phases of matter.

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The course is designed for

advanced master’s students, PhDs, postdocs, and professional physicists, mathematicians and philosophers interested in emergence. For master’s students (preferably between their first and second year) it would suggest topics for an M.Sc. thesis. For students looking for a PhD it will offer topics and a network. For those further advanced in their careers it may change their view of physics or even science.

 

Admission Requirements

Bachelor degree in physics or mathematics (with physics minor) plus first year master in either of these fields. Philosophers with comparable knowledge of physics and mathematics are also very welcome.