This U.S.-Bulgaria Cooperative Research award is for research on the Many Body Theory of Ferromagnetic Metals. The principal investigators are Kevin S. Bedell of Boston College, and, for the Bulgarian side, Drs. Naoum I. Karchev and Krastan B. Blagoev. The many body physics of electron correlations determine the magnetic properties of many materials of prime interest to science and technology. In this proposal, the researchers will study how renormalized electrons react with their own collective excitations determining the physical properties of the material. Specifically, they will study these interactions in metals in the neighborhood of the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition. The participants will benefit from combining and sharing their complementary but unique skills. Dr. Bedell has developed phenomenological techniques for the descriptions of metals; Drs. Karchev and Blagoev have expertise in the microscopic foundations of metals. This collaboration will support the development of a deeper understanding of weak ferromagnetism in metals. The amalgamation of theoretical tools will be applied to different models and will shed light on the physics of real materials. The researchers will focus on Ni3Al, MnSi, and ZrZn2.
This research in physics fulfills the program objectives of bringing together leading experts in the U.S. and Bulgaria to combine complementary efforts and capabilities in areas of strong mutual interest and competence on the basis of equality, reciprocity, and mutuality of benefit.
***
