Abstract: Understanding the complex quantum dynamics of isolated spins in solid state structures is important for practical applications in quantum information science as well as basic understanding of many-body quantum systems. Semiclassical methods often provide a good qualitative understanding of spin dynamics for many of these systems in the limit of weak-coupling. However, understanding the strong-coupling dynamics, where non-secular corrections and entanglement between system and environment play a role, is still a theoretically challenging problem. I will review some experimentally relevant systems (hole and electron spins in quantum dots, spins at defect centers) where such strong-coupling dynamics can be understood using a systematic and controlled theoretical description, and which can be observed experimentally using current methods.

About the Speaker: Bill Coish received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from University of Basel in 2006. After graduation, he conducted his postdoctoral research in University of Basel (2006-2007) and University of Waterloo (2007-2010). Currently, he is an Assistant Professor at McGill University. He studies the quantum properties of nanoscale condensed matter systems and how to use these systems for quantum information processing.