Research

(From left) Menghan Song, Ting-Tung Wang, and Min Long

Three HKU Physics PhD students—Min Long, Menghan Song, and Ting-Tung Wang—embarked on a scientific journey at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, last December. Below they share their experiences of exchanging knowledge and exploring the rich history and culture of Trieste and Venice.

Trieste: A City of Borders and History

Trieste is a port city that once served as the main sea gate of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today, the empire is gone and the city is Italian, but its unique identity persists. The architecture reflects its imperial past, with grand, sombre buildings from the Habsburg era facing the waterfront. The piazzas are wide and open to the sea breeze, and historic cafés invite you to enjoy coffee amid a blend of influences – more reminiscent of Vienna than Rome. The light is Adriatic, but the soul is mixed, reflecting a city of borders and changed maps.

Sculpture in Piazza Unità d'Italia

In December 2025, we came to visit the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). The Centre is a cluster of functional buildings situated on the edge of Trieste. Founded by the late Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam and Italian physicist Paolo Budinich, it is a hub for scientists from all over the world, especially those from developing countries. It is a tranquil place with plain corridors and a slow pace. Here we participated in a two-week Advanced School and Conference on Quantum Matter. The event intertwined pedagogical school lectures and conference style talks on Quantum Spin Liquids.  

At ICTP, we had enriching conversations with research scientists Marcello Dalmonte, Yin Ran, and Cenke Xu. Topics ranged from cutting-edge hybrid Monte Carlo simulations of fractional quantum Hall states—platforms for quantum computation—to the intricate techniques of entanglement microscopy that reveal the deep organising principles governing systems of many particles. A highlight was the exploration of the Chiral graviton—a phenomenon akin to ripples in the emergent internal geometry of the electronic universe—and its realisation in the fractional Chern insulator. These fruitful exchanges have already led to our recent preprint, Chiral Graviton Modes in Fermionic Fractional Chern Insulator (arXiv:2601.05196), and we anticipate further collaborations, including a forthcoming visit to HKU by an Italian scholar.

Participants at the Advanced School and Conference on Quantum Matter at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics. (Photo from https://indico.ictp.it/)

The ICTP campus

Many distinguished Chinese physicists, such as Xi Dai and Lu Yu, have worked at ICTP. They did important work and brought knowledge back to their homeland. ICTP has acted as a bridge, facilitating knowledge exchange without fanfare—just through dedicated work. In the cafeteria, a dozen languages mingle, unified by the language of physics. It is a truly inspiring place.

From Trieste to Venice: A Coastal Journey

From Trieste, we took a two-hour train ride along the coast to Venice.

Venice is unlike any other city. Stepping out of the station, you are greeted by the water of the Grand Canal. There are no cars, only boats. The city is built on millions of wood pilings driven into the mud of the Venetian Lagoon. Once a powerful maritime republic, its wealth is evident in landmarks like the Doge’s Palace and the Basilica, with gold accents and ornate ceilings. Yet, the true essence of Venice lies in its small details.

The Grand Canal

While in Venice we took a boat out to Murano, the island famed for glassmaking. Watching a master shape molten glass into a delicate horse in just minutes revealed the skill and artistry behind this ancient craft. Back in the city, the streets are canals. The sidewalks are narrow. We crossed small bridges and encountered shops filled with masks—some plain white, others gilded with long noses—remnants of the old Carnival, when people could hide behind masks and become someone else. Today, they are for tourists, but you can still feel the old mystery in them.

As the light faded, the crowds departed on their boats and the city quietened. The water can be heard lapping against the ancient stones. We found a small place to eat—simple fare of fish, pasta, and house wine.

The next day, on the return train along the coast, we reflected on the two cities. Trieste, solid and serious on its land, seems to contemplate the future of the universe. Venice, floating on its borrowed time, stands as a beautiful relic of the past. Both are real and both tell a true story. That, in itself, is enough.