Particle Physics and Condensed Matter: The Saga Continues

TL;DR

This paper discusses how concepts from quantum field theory and topology have led to new discoveries in condensed matter physics, highlighting recent results on topological insulators and superconductors.

Contribution

It provides a broad, unifying overview of the conceptual and historical context behind recent advances in topological phases of matter.

Findings

Emergence of new topological phases in condensed matter

Application of quantum field theory to condensed matter phenomena

Historical perspective on the development of topological insulators

Abstract

Ideas from quantum field theory and topology have proved remarkably fertile in suggesting new phenomena in the quantum physics of condensed matter. Here I'll supply some broad, unifying context, both conceptual and historical, for the abundance of results reported at the Nobel Symposium on "New Forms of Matter, Topological Insulators and Superconductors". Since they distill some most basic ideas in their simplest forms, these concluding remarks might also serve, for non-specialists, as an introduction.