Sal Pace

4th-year physics PhD student at MIT
Advisor: Xiao-Gang Wen

Email: sdpace4 (at) gmail (dot) com

I'm a theoretical physicist interested in non-perturbative aspects of quantum many-body systems, from quantum field theories to quantum lattice models and condensed matter systems. My research primarily focuses on characterizing and classifying exotic quantum phases and on investigating the rich relationship between quantum field theories and lattice models. I am currently exploring both of these using (generalized) symmetries and topology. This interdisciplinary approach bridges the frontiers of quantum field theory, condensed matter theory, mathematical physics, and quantum information and provides a powerful organizational principle for various emergent phenomena in quantum many-body systems.

You can see my CV, here, which includes a list of my papers and talks with links to slides and recordings.

You can also find all of my papers on Google Scholar, here.

• Generalizations of the bulk boundary correspondence within the SymTFT framework and applications to classifying gapped and gapless quantum phases.
• Symmetries of lattice fermion models and their connections to 't Hooft anomalies in fermionic quantum field theories.
• How interplays between crystalline and internal symmetries affect quantum criticality and thermodynamic limits through UV/IR mixing.

More broadly, I am interested in:

• All things topological phases of matter and topological quantum field theory.
• 't Hooft anomalies, Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorems, and their relations.
• Non-invertible symmetries in quantum lattice models.
• Family-anomalies and generalized Thouless pumps in parametrized quantum systems.
• Foliated field theories, tensor gauge theories, and their applications to elasticity and quantum melting.
• Quantum spin liquids and frustrated magnets.
• Applications of higher category and homotopy theory to physics.
• Applications of quantum information theory to quantum many-body systems.

When I am not dreaming about physics and math, you can find me at the closest source of coffee, at the climbing gym dangling from a rope, or in the mosh pit of your nearest punk show (you should check out my favorite paper arXiv:1302.1886!).