Scope of the conference

We announce "the International Conference on Topological Quantum Phenomena (TQP2014)" from December 16 to 20, 2014, held in Kyoto, Japan. The aim of the conference is to bring together scientists investigating topological quantum phenomena in condensed matter physics and to pursue universal concepts and phenomena relevant to topological quantum phenomena.

Topology is a concept and method to classify objects by their shapes under continuous deformation. We are interested in "topological quantum phenomena", where the object subject to continuous deformation is the quantum mechanical wave functions. Until recently, well known examples of quantum phenomena characterized by topology are the quantization of vortices in superconductors and superfluids, the Aharonov-Bohm effect of interference of electron wave functions, the quantum Hall effect, and the fractional quantum Hall effect.

Stimulated by the recent discovery of topological insulators, a variety of quantum phenomena for which underlying topology plays fundamental roles are recognized as constituents of an important major frontier in modern condensed matter physics. Now the research of topological materials is rapidly expanding; even only within a recent few years, phenomena such as signatures of Majorana edge modes in semiconductor nanowires and topological crystalline insulators/superconductors have been uncovered. This conference provides opportunities for pursuing and deepening the physics of topological quantum phenomena over a vast variety of material systems in the interdisciplinary atmosphere.

The topics covered in TQP2014 are as follows: