This award supports theoretical research and education with the aim to advance understanding of the electronic properties of both traditional and exotic metals. The PI will focus on quantum mechanical effects that become increasingly important as the dimensions of electronic devices continue to shrink. The PIs will investigate electronic and magnetic properties, as well as quantum mechanical noise that has important consequences for the manipulation of quantum mechanical states to perform computation, and for quantum information science in general. The research involves in part the study of a new kind of material, Weyl metals, that are predicted to exist from the application of new ideas forged from the fusion of concepts from theoretical condensed matter physics and the branch of mathematics that describes the properties of objects that remain unchanged under deformation, twisting, and bending. The PIs will also investigate the possibility that the standard model for the electronic properties of metals naturally fails as the strength of interactions among electrons increases, leading to a new kind of quantum mechanical state of electrons. The PIs will also harness ideas from quantum information science to develop a way to measure the strength of the correlation in the motion of electrons in a material. Progress on these problems contributes to the knowledge base leading to the discovery of new materials and materials-related phenomena that may lead to future technological innovation. This research provides a training environment for Ph.D. students in an area that can spawn new technologies. The PIs aim to convey the excitement of modern condensed matter physics and materials science by working with a local education consortium to develop a science kit for K-12 classrooms.
This award supports theoretical research and education with an aim to explore electronic properties of metals at low temperatures, making use of field-theoretic methods. The PIs will focus on low-temperature phases where broken symmetries lead to strong fluctuations, and on phase transitions between such phases. A unifying physical aspect of the entire project is the concept of soft or gapless modes, and the fluctuations and long-ranged correlations that result from them. Using this concept, the PIs will investigate the properties of a new class of materials known as Weyl metals, which are theoretically predicted to occur due to accidental band crossing and would represent a realization of relativistic fermions in materials. They will also investigate more broadly mechanisms for the breakdown of the Fermi-liquid concept; in particular, the PIs will search for instabilities of the Fermi liquid that are caused by strong fluctuations. A third project deals with measures of the correlation strength in electronic systems, and in particular with relations between the entanglement entropy and more directly measurable physical properties or phenomena. The PIs will continue to mentor students and postdoctoral researchers and will develop educational materials that aim to convey the excitement of quantum materials and matter to high school students.
