Colloquium: Rahul Nandkishore, U of Colorado, Boulder

Abstract: When can isolated many body quantum systems fail to go to equilibrium under their own dynamics, and how robust can this `ergodicity breaking’ be? This question has been a central theme of research in quantum dynamics and statistical mechanics over the past decade, and I will share with you some highlights, focusing on three key developments: many body localization, dynamics with multipolar symmetries, and dynamics with constraints. I will present the rich and exotic phenomena that arise in these three regimes, and how they may be realized experimentally. I will then discuss some key open directions for the field.