This award supports theoretical research and education on the properties of novel electronic states of matter that are driven out of the steady state of equilibrium. Recent advances in fabrication of materials and materials systems at the nanoscale, in materials science, and in experimental techniques have made it possible to investigate novel electronic systems and quantum mechanical phenomena with an unprecedented level of accuracy and control. When electrons are tightly spatially confined, their wave-like nature results in interference effects governed by quantum mechanics, and the interaction between the particles leads to a formation of novel strongly correlated states of electrons. These systems offer new conceptual scientific challenges and may be useful for a wide spectrum of future electronic technological applications. In close collaboration with experimental groups, the PI aims to investigate transport properties, for example how these systems conduct electricity, with an emphasis to discover new transport phenomena. Systems relevant to this investigation include Luttinger liquids, which are relevant to quantum wires which have a nanometer scale diameter and a micrometer scale length leading to an almost perfect one-dimensional environment for electrons. Electrons in semiconductor structures called quantum wells can be manipulated to form two-dimensional liquids, and if interactions are sufficiently strong the electrons may crystallize. The other relevant systems include recently discovered topological insulators, which are insulators in the bulk but almost perfect ideal conductors at the surface or edge of the sample. Superconductors are an important focus of the project. They display vanishing resistivity to conducting electricity below a certain critical temperature. The PI aims to investigate iron-based compounds where superconducting properties may coexist with magnetic properties with a delicate interplay between each other. The main emphasis of this project is on revealing how these systems conduct electricity and heat, how robust are their properties under external stimuli, and studying their fundamental limits of their potential practical applications. The research will have a broad impact on the scientific community, postsecondary science students, and public audiences. These audiences will be reached, respectively, through conferences and journal publications, formal university courses, and an extensive public science engagement program. A strong emphasis is placed on outreach activities involving the interscholastic science olympiad, and attracting students from socioeconomically disadvantaged and underrepresented groups to consider careers in science.
This award supports theoretical research and education on nonequilibrium and transport properties of several confined low-dimensional materials and materials systems where low dimensionality plays a role. The primary aim of this project is to develop a stochastic kinetic and hydrodynamic theory of meso and nanoscale strongly correlated systems. The technical analytical methods are based on Keldysh field theory built into the framework of the nonlinear sigma model and bosonization technique. These theoretical approaches will be applied to various systems. The goals of this project include: (1) Out of equilibrium nonlinear, spiral and helical Luttinger liquids. The PI aims to study quantum quench relaxation and thermalization in generic nonintegrable one-dimensional liquids, reveal emergent physics phenomena beyond the Luttinger liquid paradigm, investigate transport at the edges of quantum spin Hall insulators, and investigate proximity effect phenomena between superconductors and wires with spin-orbit interaction. (2)Kinetics of strongly correlated two-dimensional systems. This research direction covers new aspects of hydrodynamic Coulomb drag, spin-mediated mechanisms of magnetodrag as well as novel mechanisms of photoresistance of two-dimensional electron systems in a quantizing magnetic field. (3)Unconventional and topological nonequilibrium superconductivity. The PI plans to investigate fluctuations and quantum criticality in the iron-pnictide superconductors, search for novel collective modes in the coexistence phase and to describe dynamics initiated by optical excitation. The PI will also develop thermomagnetic transport theory of Pauli limited ultra-thin superconducting films and study transport phenomena occurring at the surface states of topological insulators and superconductors. A postdoctoral researcher and graduate students working on this project will receive extensive training by studying modern aspects of condensed matter physics, developing new conceptual approaches to nonequilibrium systems and conducting original research. The technical and theoretical methods that will be developed as a part of this project are relevant to a much wider class of problems in the quantum physics of many-body systems. The results of the proposed work will be widely disseminated in publications, seminars, colloquia and conference presentations. Educational aspects will be integrated through the development of courses directly related to the proposed research and through research-related seminars, coaching and supervising interscholastic science olympiads, and meetings that target high-school teachers.
