Condensed Matter Theoretical Physics
Our group
maintains active theoretical research programs at the forefront of both
"hard" and "soft"
condensed
matter physics. The former strives to understand phenomena arising from
interplay of quantum mechanics and interactions among an extremely
large number of constituents. On the other hand, the latter studies states
of matter dominated by energies of the order of room temperature where
quantum aspects are generally unimportant. Nevertheless, condensation of
matter into complex yet organized collective states is a common theme
unifying the two subfields
Examples
"hard" theory are studies of
- high-temperature superconductors (Gor’kov,
Manousakis,
Vafek,
Yang)
- heavy Fermion systems (Gor’kov,
Dobrosavljevic,
Schlottmann)
- glassy and complex behavior of correlated systems (Dobrosavljevic)
- metal-insulator transitions (Dobrosavljevic)
- one-dimensional electron system (Schlottmann,
Yang)
- quantum computation (Bonesteel)
- quantum criticality (Bonesteel,
Dobrosavljevic,
Manousakis,
Schlottmann,
Vafek,
Yang)
- quantum Hall effects (Bonesteel,
Manousakis,
Vafek,
Yang)
- quantum liquids and solids (Manousakis)
- transition metal oxides (Dobrosavljevic,
Schlottmann)
Examples
of "soft" theory are
studies of
- equilibrium and nonequilibrium
computational statistical mechanics (Rikvold)
- Biological systems (Rikvold)
More
details are available at web pages of individual faculty.
Events and Activities:
Centers, Research
Groups & Facilities:
Our theory
group benefits from close involvement with these state-of-the-art
facilities, and takes full advantage of the unique opportunity to interact
with the World’s premier experimentalists. This close connection is
evidenced by a number of joint theory-experiment
publications.
Faculty:
Nicholas
Bonesteel
Vladimir
Dobrosavljevic
Lev
P. Gor’kov
Efstratios Manousakis
Per
Arne Rikvold
Pedro
U. J. Schlottmann
J.
Robert Schrieffer (Emeritus Professor)
Oskar
Vafek
Kun
Yang
|
|
Superconductivity is associated with
magnetic flux expulsion, which in turn causes magnetic levitation in the
above demonstration (see video). Professor emeritus J.
Robert Schrieffer was the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for developing the BCS theory
of superconductivity. |
