The Proceedings volume of the 8th International Symposium on Quantum Theory and Symmetries 5—9 August 2013, El Colegio Nacional, Mexico City [Edited by: R. Bijker, G. Krötzch, O. Rosas-Ortiz, and K.B. Wolf] are available with Open Access at the IOP site http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/512/1 (Ctrl + Click to open in new page) The bibliographic reference is: (title above +) Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Volume 512, 2014 - IOPscience Individual papers can be downloaded in .pdf from the site. The Foreword to the volume: 8th International Symposium on Quantum Theory and Symmetries (QTS8) IOP Publishing Journal of Physics: Conference Series 512 (2014) 011001 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/512/1/011001 Foreword to the Proceedings of the VIII International Symposium on Quantum Theory and Symmetries El Colegio Nacional, Mexico City, 5–9 August 2013 The Quantum Theory and Symmetries (QTS) international symposia are periodic biannual meetings of the mathematical physics community with special interest in the methods of group theory in their many incarnations, particularly in the symmetries that arise in quantum systems. The QTSs alternate with the International Colloquia on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics since 1999, when Professor Heinz- Dietrich Doebner organized the first one in Goslar, Germany. Subsequent symposia were held in Kraków, Poland (2001), Cincinnati, USA (2003), Varna, Bulgaria (2005), Valladolid, Spain (2007), Lexington, USA (2009), and Praha, Czech Republic (2011); the eighth QTS was awarded to Mexico (2013), and the next one (2015) will take place in Yerevan, Armenia. The members of the International Conference Board of the QTS Symposia are: Laurence Boyle University of Kent, UK Vladimir Dobrev Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Man’ko Lebedev Institute and University of Naples Mariano del Olmo Universidad de Valladolid George S Pogosyan Universities of Yerevan and Guadalajara Alfred Shapere University of Kentucky Peter Suranyi University of Cincinnati Syed Twareque Ali Concordia University, Montréal Heinz-Dietrich Doebner (Chairman) Universität Clausthal Periodic meetings of researchers in the widening domains of symmetry methods help to keep their various mathematical dialects and physical application fields in contact and synergy. The scientific community also appreciates venues that provide a window to the cultures of the world. It is indeed a privilege that few professions have. For those of us aware of the course of 21st century civilization, this is a source of worldly knowledge and inspiration. While many previous meetings in Mexico have taken place in attractive tourist locations, we decided to accept the invitation of El Colegio Nacional to hold QTS8 in the heart of the Mexico City megalopolis, sheltered in their excellently refurbished late-17th century installations originally built as a convent and novitiate. Walking to and from the daily sessions, the participants were immersed in the restless multitude of visitors, merchants and shoppers that pursue their trades in the central quarter of ancient Tenochtitlan, which for most of its history has been the largest conurbation of America. An evening at the Palacio de Bellas Artes for a performance of the Ballet Folklórico left a lasting impression on our history and art. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1 8th International Symposium on Quantum Theory and Symmetries (QTS8) IOP Publishing Journal of Physics: Conference Series 512 (2014) 011001 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/512/1/011001 The members of the Local Organizing Committee were: Roelof Bijker Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM Octavio Castaños Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM Rocío Jáuregui Instituto de Física, UNAM Renato Lemus Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM Óscar Rosas-Ortiz Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, IPN Kurt Bernardo Wolf Chair, Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, UNAM-Cuernavaca Octavio Novaro Coordinator, Instituto de Física, UNAM, and El Colegio Nacional The International Advisory Committee that supervised the QTS8 program was: Cestmirˇ Burdik (Czech Technical University) Alejandro Frank (Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM) Jean Pierre Gazeau (Université de Paris VII) Alberto Guijosa (Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM) Julio César Gutiérrez Vega (Tecnológico de Monterrey) Francesco Iachello (Yale University) Piet van Isacker (GANIL, France) Tobias Kramer (Universität Regensburg) Juan Maldacena (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) Bogdan Mielnik (CINVESTAV, Instituto Politécnico Nacional) Willard Miller Jr (University of Minnesota) Miriam Mondragón (Instituto de Física, UNAM) Wolfgang Schleich (Universität Ulm) Thomas H Seligman (Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, UNAM) Luis F Urrutia (Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM) Pavel Winternitz (Université de Montréal) The topics addressed at the parallel sessions of QTS8 were Quantum gravity and string theory, Quantum optics and field theory, Symmetries in many-body systems, Super-integrability and exact solvability, Mathematical physics and symmetries, and Foundations of quantum mechanics. The Plenary Speakers of QTS8 were: Mark J Ablowitz University of Colorado, Boulder CO, USA Alan Aspuru-Guzik Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA Natig M Atakishiyev Instituto de Matemáticas, UNAM, Cuernavaca, México Niklas Beisert Institut für Theoretische Physik, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland Giulio Casati Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Como, Italy Ernst M Rasel Institute of Quantum Optics, G W Leibnitz Universität, Germany Rajiah Simon The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India Alexander Turbiner Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, México Alfred U’Ren Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, México Luc Vinet Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada Both the VIII International Symposium on Quantum Theory and Symmetries, and the previous two weeks of the XLIII Latin American School of Physics, were hosted as part of the activities of El Colegio Nacional in 2013, coordinated by Member Professor Octavio Novaro Peñalosa. This institution provided 2 8th International Symposium on Quantum Theory and Symmetries (QTS8) IOP Publishing Journal of Physics: Conference Series 512 (2014) 011001 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/512/1/011001 the conference halls of its venue in Mexico City, as well as the support staff for projection facilities, coffee breaks and lunches during the week. Support for administration was provided by the Sociedad Mexicana de Física AC and by the Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, UNAM. The Symposium gathered 98 participants, including 50 researchers, 9 postdoctoral associates, 23 graduate students and 16 student auditors. There were 10 plenary presentations, 50 contributed talks and 20 posters. The symposium was well attended by Mexican participants, several of them students who were also present in the Latin American School of Physics. We express our thanks to the Sponsor institutions of QTS8: El Colegio Nacional Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, through: Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico Instituto de Ciencias Físicas Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares Instituto de Física International Association for Mathematical Physics (IAMP) International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Academia Mexicana de Ciencias AC – FUMEC The QTS8 website was designed by Ulises Amaya and Alejandro Ricardo Urzúa at ICF-UNAM. We thank their indispensable help in advertising the symposium. All papers published in this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing. This Proceedings volume contains 36 reviewed papers, organized by topics and in alphabetical order. The Editorial Committee: Roelof Bijker (Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM) Guillermo Krötzsch (Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, UNAM) Óscar Rosas-Ortiz (Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, IPN) Kurt Bernardo Wolf (Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, UNAM) 3.