Examples of group research
Most of our work in condensed matter theory can be grouped into four areas: topological phases, unconventional transport, correlated atomic and electronic phases, and applications of quantum information to condensed matter physics.
The arXiv.org preprint server is the best way to get an idea of our research, but here are some introductory talks that may be helpful (more will be added soon).
Topological phases: Talk from CIFAR meeting, Vancouver, 5/30/09.
The Physics 250 course materials may also be of interest, but the referencing in these is very incomplete.
Unconventional transport: Thermal transport and spin transport in solids have been much less studied theoretically than charge transport, but both offer interesting phenomena and potential applications.
Our work includes (with S. Mukerjee) a theory of thermal and thermoelectric transport in strongly correlated materials in the “atomic limit”, which we believe explains some recent experiments by Cava, Ong, et al., and theories of molecular and nanowire thermal transport. We have also worked recently on multiferroic materials and on spin transport phenomena including spin drag and the spin Hall effect.
Correlated atomic and electronic physics: Ultracold atoms can give insight into several important aspects of correlation physics that are present in electronic systems but difficult to probe directly; quantum coherent dynamics are one example that we have studied recently. Ultracold atoms also show phases that, similar to 3He, combine superfluid and magnetic ordering.
We continue to work on the many remarkable correlated phases in electronic materials, with a focus in recent years on frustrated magnetism and Kondo physics.
Talk on ultracold atoms in 2D from Cambridge.
Quantum information in condensed matter physics: (To be completed)