We explore the tunneling behavior of a quantum particle on a finite graph in the presence of an asymptotically large potential with two or three potential wells. The behavior of the particle is primarily governed by the local spectral symmetry of the graph around the wells. In the case of two wells the behavior is stable in the sense that it can be predicted from a sufficiently large neighborhood of the wells. However in the case of three wells we are able to exhibit examples where the tunneling behavior can be changed significantly by perturbing the graph arbitrarily far from the wells.

We introduce a pictorial approach to quantum information, called holographic software. Our software captures both algebraic and topological aspects of quantum networks. It yields a bi-directional dictionary to translate between a topological approach and an algebraic approach. Using our software, we give a topological simulation for quantum networks. The string Fourier transform (SFT) is our basic tool to transform product states into states with maximal entanglement entropy. We obtain a pictorial interpretation of Fourier transformation, of measurements, and of local transformations, including the n-qudit Pauli matrices and their representation by Jordan-Wigner transformations. We use our software to discover interesting new protocols for multipartite communication. In summary, we build a bridge linking the theory of planar para algebras with quantum information.

In the past decade, tremendous efforts have been made towards understanding fermionic symmetry protected topological (FSPT) phases in interacting systems. Nevertheless, for systems with continuum symmetry, e.g., electronic insulators, it is still unclear how to construct an exactly solvable model with a finite dimensional Hilbert space in general. In this paper, we give a lattice model construction and classification for 2D interacting electronic insulators. Based on the physical picture of U(1)_f-charge decorations, we illustrate the key idea by considering the well known 2D interacting topological insulator. Then we generalize our construction to an arbitrary 2D interacting electronic insulator with symmetry Gf=U(1)_f ⋊_{ρ_1,ω_2} G, where U(1)_f is the charge conservation symmetry and ρ_1,ω_2 are additional data which fully characterize the group structure of G_f. Finally we study more examples, including the full interacting classification of 2D crystalline topological insulators.

The original motivation for solving of the Einstein equation is to understand space-time in the absence of matter; see the essay by Tod in this volume for an overview of the mathematics of general relativity. The equation governs the manner in which space-time is inuenced by the sole force of gravity. As is well known, singularities such as black holes can occur. The study of the vacuum Einstein equations is a difficult problem in nonlinear hyperbolic systems; see the essay by Christodoulou in this volume. Complete space-times with nontrivial gravitational radiation are not well understood.

We give a transparent algebraic formulation of our pictorial approach to the reflection positivity (RP), that we introduced in a previous paper. We apply this quantization to the 2+1 Levin–Wen model to obtain 1+1 anyonic/quantum spin chain theory on the boundary, possibly entangled in the bulk. The reflection positivity property has played a central role in both mathematics and physics, as well as providing a crucial link between the two subjects. In a previous paper we gave a new geometric approach to understanding reflection positivity in terms of pictures. Here we give a transparent algebraic formulation of our pictorial approach. We use insights from this translation to establish the reflection positivity property for the fashionable Levin–Wen models with respect both to vacuum and to bulk excitations. We believe these methods will be useful for understanding a variety of other problems.