1. Speaker: Gal Shkolnik
Title: Tuning the dynamics of measurement-induced phase transitions -- from ultraslow to ultrafast critical behavior
Abstract: Measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPTs) have recently attracted a great deal of interest in the study of out-of-equilibrium quantum dynamics. These phase transitions appear in monitored quantum circuits due to the competition between entangling unitary evolution and disentangling measurements. In this talk, I will demonstrate how MIPTs serve as a versatile platform for exploring a rich variety of non-equilibrium critical phenomena by manipulating the structure of measurements in space and time.
I will present two complementary approaches to engineering exotic dynamical behavior at MIPTs. First, I will show how spatial quasiperiodic modulations with unbounded fluctuations can destabilize the standard MIPT, creating a broad family of infinite-quasiperiodic critical points with activated dynamics (z\rightarrow\infty) controlled by the quasiperiodicity wandering exponent \beta. Then, I will demonstrate the other extreme of z\rightarrow 0, namely, exponentially fast dynamics in the system. This ultrafast dynamics can be achieved by harnessing temporally random measurement rates to measurement-induced quantum teleportation, which will rapidly propagate the information throughout the system.
Together, these results reveal that MIPTs can host critical dynamics spanning from ultraslow to ultrafast, with the measurement pattern serving as a powerful tuning parameter. This tunability, combined with the inherently non-equilibrium nature of monitored quantum circuits, establishes MIPTs as an ideal theoretical laboratory for discovering and characterizing novel out-of-equilibrium universality classes.
2. Speaker: Barak Rom
Title: Dynamics & Transients Around Supermassive Black Holes
Abstract: Most galaxies host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at their center, surrounded by a dense cluster of stars and stellar-mass black holes. In this talk, I will discuss how two-body scattering and gravitational wave emission shape the stellar distribution around SMBHs, giving rise to a range of transients, such as tidal disruption events, X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions, and gravitational wave sources. I will focus on extreme mass-ratio inspirals — mergers of stellar-mass black holes with SMBHs - examining their formation rate and estimating the number of events that will be detectable by LISA, the upcoming space-based gravitational wave observatory.
3. Speaker: Omri Shaltiel
Title: Weak Inertial Wave Turbulence in Rotating Flows.
Abstract: For over two decades, wave turbulence theory has predicted an anisotropic forward energy cascade in rotating turbulence. Yet its validity remained uncertain, due to the dominance of large-scale quasi-2D flows that obscure the weak wave interactions. In this talk, I will present experimental evidence for this spectrum by decomposing the velocity field into 2D and 3D components, allowing to isolate the inertial wave turbulence flow from the large-scale flow. This reveals a previously hidden forward cascade, confirming the long-standing theoretical prediction. The results demonstrate that rotating turbulence supports a dual cascade: an inverse cascade in the quasi 2D flow and a forward anisotropic wave cascade in the 3D flow.