Alfredo Iorio (Charles University, Prague)

Chasing quantum gravity in Dirac materials

The work of our group at Charles University on reproducing scenarios of high energy theoretical physics (hep-th) on Dirac materials, like graphene, will be introduced. The main goal will be to show how versatile these systems are, and how far and wide into the hep-th territory we can venture with them.I shall review why these materials lend themselves to the emergence of special relativistic-like matter and space, and of the various geometric gauge fields of gravity theories. I shall then briefly mention some fresh results: from the time-loop to spot torsion, to the generalized uncertainty principles of quantum gravity stemming from and underlying (lattice) length; from a model of grain-boundaries and their relation to (A)dS and Poincaré spacetime algebras, to Unconventional Supersymmetry and the role of the two Dirac points.Then the focus will be on the emergence of curvature that gives raise to effects typical of quantum fields on a classical curved background. I shall show why the (2+1) dimensions and Weyl symmetry are crucial to identify the specific arrangements that realize a Unruh-Hawking kind of phenomenon. If time permits, other interesting scenarios, that include the BTZ black hole and de Sitter spacetime, will be discussed. Finally, I shall briefly comment on the ongoing efforts towards other related approaches and how all that could be used for experimental serches of quantum gravity.