Theory of Quantum Matter Unit (Nic Shannon)
Theory of Quantum MatterThis is particularly true if you put a large number of quantum particles in the same place - for example Helium atoms condensed into a liquid, electrons deep inside metal oxides, or cold atoms in an optical trap.
In all of these cases, the assembled particles write their own, local, laws of physics, through the way in which they interact with one another. The consequences are dramatic, and include the superfluidity of liquid Helium, the magnetism and superconductivity of electrons in oxides, and quantum coherent Bose condensates found in cold atoms.
The Theory of Quantum Matter group uses a wide range of numerical and analytic techniques to explore these phenomena. Our goal is to develop new theoretical approaches to quantum matter, and to guide the discovery of new quantum phases. To this end, we work closely with experimental physicists, and chemists developing new quantum materials.
Much of our recent research has focused on frustrated magnets - systems torn between one choice and another. The way in which these materials resolve their difficulties has proved a constant source of beautiful, and unexpected, new ideas.
Other interests represented in the group include the statistical mechanics of loops and membranes, spin-tronics, and systems where frustration and itinerant electrons combine.
You can read more about this work in our Annual Reports, as well as in the papers listed on our Publications page.
Selected Recent Publications"Experimental signatures of emergent quantum electrodynamics in a quantum spin ice" "Competing spin liquids and hidden spin-nematic order in spin ice with frustrated transverse exchange" "Spin Ice Thin Film: Surface Ordering, Emergent Square Ice, and Strain Effects" "Theory of multiple-phase competition in pyrochlore magnets with anisotropic exchange, with application to Yb2Ti2O7, Er2Ti2O7 and Er2Sn2O7" "From pinch points to pinch lines: a new spin liquid on the pyrochlore lattice" "Classical and quantum theories of proton disorder in hexagonal water ice" "Quantum solitons with emergent interactions in a model of cold atoms on the triangular lattice" "A Kagome Map of Spin Liquids from XXZ to Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Ferromagnet" |
Highly Cited Paper