Free parafermions: a challenge for non-Hermitian physics. This project aims to calculate and understand the physical properties of free parafermions. Parafermions have attracted interest in topological schemes for quantum computation because they are computationally more powerful than Majorana fermions. The core of this project is a fundamental model of free parafermions, which has been shown to exhibit unexplained puzzling properties. The project outcomes include an in-depth understanding of th ....Free parafermions: a challenge for non-Hermitian physics. This project aims to calculate and understand the physical properties of free parafermions. Parafermions have attracted interest in topological schemes for quantum computation because they are computationally more powerful than Majorana fermions. The core of this project is a fundamental model of free parafermions, which has been shown to exhibit unexplained puzzling properties. The project outcomes include an in-depth understanding of this model by taking the non-Hermitian features into account, establishing a connection with open quantum systems. Non-Hermitian systems are also of increasing relevance in physics, especially in quantum optics. The project also aims to contribute to training researchers in the mathematical sciences.
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New approaches and applications of integrable quantum field theory. This project aims to develop new mathematical approaches to the theory of integrable systems to obtain exact solutions of various non-linear models of two-dimensional quantum field theory. The project is based on an unexpected correspondence between classical and quantum systems which provides a powerful method for describing physically interesting models of integrable quantum field theory. Expected outcomes include exact soluti ....New approaches and applications of integrable quantum field theory. This project aims to develop new mathematical approaches to the theory of integrable systems to obtain exact solutions of various non-linear models of two-dimensional quantum field theory. The project is based on an unexpected correspondence between classical and quantum systems which provides a powerful method for describing physically interesting models of integrable quantum field theory. Expected outcomes include exact solutions to non-linear sigma-models which have important applications in many areas, including condensed matter physics, string and field theories and Riemannian geometry. The project expects to provide significant benefit to the advancement of knowledge in physics and mathematics.Read moreRead less
Topological insulators and free fermions: from Hermitian to non-Hermitian. This project aims to develop and fully understand a class of mathematical models describing fundamental interacting systems of particles of central importance in the physics of topological insulators. This will include the extension of exact solutions to more complicated models and the development and application of topological data analysis for detecting topological phase transitions in these and more general materials. ....Topological insulators and free fermions: from Hermitian to non-Hermitian. This project aims to develop and fully understand a class of mathematical models describing fundamental interacting systems of particles of central importance in the physics of topological insulators. This will include the extension of exact solutions to more complicated models and the development and application of topological data analysis for detecting topological phase transitions in these and more general materials. The project will also apply diagrammatic methods to address a long-standing challenge in solving a particular model. The project aims to contribute to training researchers in an area of the mathematical sciences of benefit to the future development of new concepts for next-generation electronic devices and smart materials.Read moreRead less
The Elephant in the Study: Working Latin Literature for the Enslaved. Roman histories, speeches, and plays are conventionally regarded as the works of individual elite male authors such as Cicero, Vergil, and Livy. This project aims to transform our understanding of Roman literature by showing that it was actually written in collaboration with enslaved workers, generating new insights into the creative processes that shaped the Classical literary canon. Expected outcomes include a new approach f ....The Elephant in the Study: Working Latin Literature for the Enslaved. Roman histories, speeches, and plays are conventionally regarded as the works of individual elite male authors such as Cicero, Vergil, and Livy. This project aims to transform our understanding of Roman literature by showing that it was actually written in collaboration with enslaved workers, generating new insights into the creative processes that shaped the Classical literary canon. Expected outcomes include a new approach for understanding how authors work and the discovery of untold stories about the enslaved population of Rome. This should lead to significant benefits for communities, including improved education outcomes and better-informed public debate. Read moreRead less
Protest and Terror: Political Violence in Western Europe after 1968. This project aims to explore how the protest era of the 1960s in Western Europe transformed into a decade of political violence and terror in the 1970s. By undertaking an unprecedented transnational analysis of the history of political violence in France, Italy and West Germany after 1968, the project intends to generate a new understanding of the origins of home-grown terrorism in Europe and the precariousness of democratic st ....Protest and Terror: Political Violence in Western Europe after 1968. This project aims to explore how the protest era of the 1960s in Western Europe transformed into a decade of political violence and terror in the 1970s. By undertaking an unprecedented transnational analysis of the history of political violence in France, Italy and West Germany after 1968, the project intends to generate a new understanding of the origins of home-grown terrorism in Europe and the precariousness of democratic stability. The project aims to place the rise and fall of political terror in a new perspective, via an analysis of a wide variety of forms of violence by individuals, political groups, social movements and states, with significant benefits to understanding similar challenges in the contemporary world.Read moreRead less
Reaching new frontiers of quantum fields and gravity through deformations. This project aims to reach new frontiers in quantum field and gravity theories. These underpin systems ranging from semi-conductors to particle collisions and the quantum behavior of black holes. An obstacle is that these theories are notoriously hard to solve. This project proposes to tackle this longstanding problem by using new deformations, symmetries and dualities that have attracted widespread attention. Expected ou ....Reaching new frontiers of quantum fields and gravity through deformations. This project aims to reach new frontiers in quantum field and gravity theories. These underpin systems ranging from semi-conductors to particle collisions and the quantum behavior of black holes. An obstacle is that these theories are notoriously hard to solve. This project proposes to tackle this longstanding problem by using new deformations, symmetries and dualities that have attracted widespread attention. Expected outcomes will include innovative techniques that will greatly enhance and interconnect our knowledge of field theories and quantum gravity, together with new discoveries in quantum-corrected geometries. A new network of domestic and international experts will largely benefit the fields of theoretical and mathematical physics.Read moreRead less
Unravelling the neutron lifetime puzzle with lattice quantum chromodynamics. This project will perform supercomputer simulations to confront one of the outstanding puzzles of nuclear and particle physics, the neutron lifetime. New knowledge will be generated through the development of novel theoretical and numerical techniques to increase the precision of the leading theoretical inputs required to predict the neutron lifetime. The outcomes will provide crucial theoretical guidance into understan ....Unravelling the neutron lifetime puzzle with lattice quantum chromodynamics. This project will perform supercomputer simulations to confront one of the outstanding puzzles of nuclear and particle physics, the neutron lifetime. New knowledge will be generated through the development of novel theoretical and numerical techniques to increase the precision of the leading theoretical inputs required to predict the neutron lifetime. The outcomes will provide crucial theoretical guidance into understanding the neutron; helping to guide the next-generation neutron experiments, from particle physics to applications in advanced materials science. The results will have immediate benefit by resolving the neutron lifetime puzzle, while enabling Australian scientists to take a leadership role in this area of fundamental science.Read moreRead less
Crises of Leadership in the Eastern Roman Empire (250-1000 CE). Armed conflict, the upheaval of social systems, and environmental crises cause citizens to question their leaders during periods of social change. They also increase religious extremism, including speculations about the imminent end of the world. The period 250-1000 CE reveals many examples of how such crises served leaders who knew how to profit from instability to expand their powers, and how they damaged the reputations of those ....Crises of Leadership in the Eastern Roman Empire (250-1000 CE). Armed conflict, the upheaval of social systems, and environmental crises cause citizens to question their leaders during periods of social change. They also increase religious extremism, including speculations about the imminent end of the world. The period 250-1000 CE reveals many examples of how such crises served leaders who knew how to profit from instability to expand their powers, and how they damaged the reputations of those who did not. Understanding how past leaders of the Roman world addressed these crises in practical and rhetorical ways may provide helpful and timely models of what works (and what does not) for contemporary community and political leaders, even in democratic political societies such as Australia.Read moreRead less
The Last Soviet Famine, 1946/47: Drought and food crises in war's aftermath. This project aims to increase our understanding of the relationship between drought and famine by analysing the most recent, though least understood famine in Soviet and Modern European History. This famine followed a massive drought in the summer of 1946 across the western Soviet Union and led to the deaths of at least one million people. This research is timely given the growing threats to food security, markets and t ....The Last Soviet Famine, 1946/47: Drought and food crises in war's aftermath. This project aims to increase our understanding of the relationship between drought and famine by analysing the most recent, though least understood famine in Soviet and Modern European History. This famine followed a massive drought in the summer of 1946 across the western Soviet Union and led to the deaths of at least one million people. This research is timely given the growing threats to food security, markets and trade posed by the increasing incidence of severe and enduring drought in Australia and globally. The expected outcome of this research is to produce new historical knowledge with contemporary application to better inform policy approaches with the expected benefit of reducing the threat of food crises emerging from drought.Read moreRead less