This award provides support for the Winter School and Workshop on Spin Physics and Topological Effects in Cold Atoms, Condensed Matter, and Beyond. The school/workshop will be held at the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy in College Station, Texas from December 12th to the 17th, 2011. The main ojective is to bring together both experts and younger researchers in the areas of condensed matter and cold atom physics, to focus on spin and topological effects in materials and cold atom systems. These have become important themes of modern research in both fields. The school/workshop will facilitate the exchange of ideas and cross collaborations.
In condensed matter the spin of electrons plays a crucial role in the understanding of diverse phenomena and phases. The study of how to manipulate and control spin has led to the notion of spintronics, a new paradigm in electronic device technology. The link of electron spin to the topology of the band-structure of materials, through spin-orbit coupling, has given rise to the discovery of new phases of matter and other phenomena such as spin Hall Effect and topological insulators.
Cold atoms, which can be trapped and manipulated, can serve as simulators of models for strongly interacting electrons in materials without disorder and other complicating effects that occur for electrons in materials. Cold atom systems have gone beyond recreating simple well controlled systems whose outcomes are expected and mimic large coherent atomic physics, to a new level in which new states of matter and emergent phenomena can be tested and fundamental questions of many body interacting systems can be addressed.
This award provides support to enable the attendance of young researchers such as students, post-docs and junior faculty without external funding. The PI will actively seek to recruit members of underrepresented groups to participate in the workshop.
The goal of this workshop/school is to bring together leading experts on spintronics and spin-related phenomena in conventional condensed-matter and on cold atoms to stimulate cross-fertilization of these fields.
Topics of the workshop/school include: spin and anomalous Hall effect; spin transfer, spin pumping, and current-driven domain wall motion; cold atoms as simulators for quantum magnetism; spin orbit coupling in cold-atom systems; spin-imbalance in cold Fermi gases; pseudospin physics in graphene and semiconductor bilayers; and topological insulators.
This international conference brought together multiple fields (condensed matter, cold atoms, and theoretical high energy) studying very recent fundamental questions in spin related physics which have dominated the main scientific journals (Science and Nature) over the past two years. The conference has created new bridges between these scientific communities at all levels with the aim of discovering new physics. In organizing this conference we have taken a new approach untried in the United States as far as we are aware. We have combined a short-term winter school prior to the workshop in order to acquaint the junior and senior researchers with the background and language of the other field and, in this way, make the workshop much more meaningful and more rewarding to all. Although this "just in time teaching" approach in workshops seems obvious to maximize the possibility of the different communities benefiting from this common interaction and to share their expertise to solve these fundamental problems, it had not been tried before and it offers a unique opportunity for future similar interdisciplinary workshops. 1- Suggested strategic principles for multidisciplinary workshops: We have followed the following general strategy for maximum impact in rapidly evolving fields: Hot topic of interdisciplinary interest: we have chosen a workshop and conference topic of developing fields which is the most relevant and active in merging novel concepts in very distinct fields. Priority was given topics that can bring two complementary communities together to create a very open atmosphere of cross-fertilization. Combining research lectures with research talks: in these fast evolving fields, a very attractive conference set-up is a combination of research lectures that can bring experts from other fields rapidly in line with recent developments, the latest understanding and a list of challenges, together with a regular workshop of experts. Diverse demographics: in combination with the lectures and talks, focus was also put in promoting a diverse demographic of the participants so as to include the current and the future experts in the field. With this in mind we proposed an international winter school and workshop entitled NewSpin2, a winter school and workshop on spin physics and topological effects in cold atoms, condensed matter, and beyond. This international gathering brought together multiple fields (condensed matter, cold atoms, and theoretical high energy). It covered in particular the very active topic of topological insulators and spintronics of which there has been over several dozens of articles in Science and Nature magazines alone over the past two years. 2-Scientific objective of the workshop: In condensed matter, the spin of electrons plays a crucial role in understanding many systems and their phases. Its manipulation and control has been the subject of spintronics, one of the most active research fields in the last two decades. In recent years the link of the spin to the topology of the band-structure of solids, through spin-orbit coupling, has also given rise to the discovery of new phases of matter and non-equilibrium phenomena such as spin Hall effect and topological insulators. These systems exhibit the physics of Dirac electrons making it relevant for high energy studies. In cold atom systems the hyperfine states, which can be trapped and manipulated by radio frequency pulses, have proven to play a crucial role in realizing the often-advertised usage of these systems as simulators of condensed-matter models in their cleaner and most pure forms. Cold atom systems have gone beyond recreating simple well controlled systems whose outcomes are expected and mimic large coherent atomic physics, to a new regime in which true emergent phenomena is being tested and fundamental questions of many body interacting systems can be addressed. These communities, particularly their young researchers, still remain largely decoupled and a large potential still unrealized due to lack of common language and direct understanding of each other’s challenges. The goal of this workshop and short winter school is to bring together leading experts on spintronics and spin-related phenomena in conventional condensed matter and on cold atoms, thereby stimulating cross-fertilization of these fields. Participants: We had 121 participants. They have come from Harvard, MIT, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, UC Irvine, New York University, Duke University, Georgia Tech, U. of Maryland, Rice University, Yale University, University of Texas, U. of Delaware, Ohio University, Iowa Univ., LSU, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Norway, France, Canada, and Latvia. Of these, 51 were faculty, 20 postdoctoral fellows, and 50 graduate students. Diversity: we also made sure we had a diverse representation of underrepresented groups in science. Of the participants, 15 were women, 9 were Hispanic, and 1 was black minority. 80 participants were from outside of Texas. Geographically we also had an enormous international diversity: 3 Japan, 1 Norway, 14 Netherlands, 2 Canada, 2 Italy, 2 France, 7 Germany, and 1 Latvia.
