CAREER: Engineering topological phases of matter in solid state systems

该职业奖支持探索固态系统中物质拓扑相的新途径的理论研究。拓扑态之所以有趣，是因为它们蕴含着奇异的物理，以及它们在量子计算等方面的技术前景。PI将在这个新兴领域追求三个领域：1)研究在固态器件中设计非阿贝尔拓扑相的现实新方法，这最终可能成为无消相干量子计算机的支柱。2)设计在通常为传统金属或绝缘体的系统中产生拓扑绝缘体相的方法。3)探索具有强自旋轨道耦合的受挫磁体中的新量子相。特别是，将研究完全由于自旋-轨道耦合而存在的定性的新的自旋-液体相，重点是可能的实验实现。教育和外展活动的目的是同时促进多样性和改善高中、本科生和研究生的科学教育。通过与高中物理教师和许多社会经济地位较低的学生合作，PI将致力于改革课程，纳入具有科学和社会重要性的现代主题，例如量子计算、全球变暖和能源独立。特别是，PI将把涌现的概念引入高中课堂，用鸟群等熟悉的想法来传达凝聚态中工作的组织原则。教师可以在未来的课堂上独立运营的低成本、可持续发展的实验室也将被落实到课程中。本科生和研究生课程将同样现代化，本科生将成为国际和平研究所研究小组不可或缺的组成部分。还将为加州大学欧文分校的学生和博士后设立一个新的非正式凝聚态研讨会，以帮助培训具有广泛背景和非凡沟通技能的新一代研究人员。非技术总结这个职业奖项支持探索奇异物质新相的理论研究，并在实验室中寻找实现这些新相的实用方法。任何固体的内部都有大量的电子，按照量子力学定律的安排，这些电子可以以真正壮观的方式自我组织起来。这种组织构成了大量现象的基础--金属、半导体、磁体和超导体都是值得注意的例子。在足够低的温度下，超导体具有这样的特性，即电流可以在没有阻力的情况下流动。了解固体中电子的集体行为不仅揭示了大自然的深刻基本性质，而且在某些情况下可以带来变革性的技术。在系统中，电子表现出一种非常微妙的组织类型，称为“拓扑有序”，这是当前凝聚态物理学的一个主要焦点。具有这种“拓扑相”的材料因其奇特的特性和技术前景而广受追捧。特别是，这些材料可能是建造新一代计算机的关键，这些计算机使用量子力学在某些任务上大幅超越当今最快的计算机。到目前为止，在自然界中几乎没有确定的拓扑相。PI的研究将寻求通过在实验上可行的方法来研究在设备中设计拓扑相的方法，这些设备的组成都是众所周知的。在绝缘体、超导体和磁体中产生拓扑秩序的新途径都将被研究。这项研究可能会导致新出现的粒子的令人兴奋的发现，并有助于最终合成“量子计算机”。教育和外展活动的目的是同时促进多样性和改善高中、本科生和研究生的科学教育。通过与高中物理教师和许多社会经济地位较低的学生合作，PI将致力于改革课程，纳入具有科学和社会重要性的现代主题，例如量子计算、全球变暖和能源独立。特别是，PI将把涌现的概念引入高中课堂，用鸟群等熟悉的想法来传达凝聚态中工作的组织原则。教师可以在未来的课堂上独立运营的低成本、可持续发展的实验室也将被落实到课程中。本科生和研究生课程将同样现代化，本科生将成为国际和平研究所研究小组不可或缺的组成部分。还将为加州大学欧文分校的学生和博士后设立一个新的非正式凝聚态研讨会，以帮助培训具有广泛背景和非凡沟通技能的新一代研究人员。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY This CAREER award supports theoretical research that explores new routes to topological phases of matter in solid-state systems. Topological states are interesting due to the exotic physics they harbor and their technological promise for quantum computation, among other applications. The PI will pursue three areas in this burgeoning field: 1) Investigating realistic new methods for engineering non-Abelian topological phases in solid-state devices, which may eventually serve as the backbone of a decoherence-free quantum computer. 2) Devising approaches for generating topological insulator phases in systems that would ordinarily be conventional metals or insulators. 3) Exploring novel quantum phases in frustrated magnets exhibiting strong spin-orbit coupling. In particular, qualitatively new spin-liquid phases that exist solely due to spin-orbit coupling will be studied, with emphasis on possible experimental realizations. Education and outreach activities are aimed to simultaneously promote diversity and improve science education at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. By partnering with physics teachers from high schools with many students of low-socioeconomic status, the PI will work to revamp the curriculum by incorporating modern topics of scientific and societal importance, examples include quantum computing, global warming, and energy independence. In particular, the PI will introduce the concept of emergence into high-school classrooms, using familiar ideas such as bird flocking to convey the organizational principles at work in condensed matter. Low-cost, sustainable labs that teachers can independently run in future classes will also be implemented into the courses. Undergraduate and graduate curricula will be similarly modernized, and undergraduates will form an integral component of the PI's research group. A new informal condensed matter seminar for UC Irvine's students and post-docs will also be instituted to help train a new generation of researchers with broad backgrounds and exceptional communication skills. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY This CAREER award supports theoretical research that explores exotic new phases of matter and searches for practical ways of realizing them in the laboratory. Inside of any solid lies a colossal number of electrons which, choreographed by the laws of quantum mechanics, can organize themselves in truly spectacular ways. This organization underlies a wealth of phenomena - metals, semiconductors, magnets, and superconductors being noteworthy examples. At sufficiently low temperature, superconductors have the property that electricity can flow them without resistance. Understanding the collective behavior of electrons in a solid not only reveals profound fundamental properties of nature, but in some cases can lead to transformative technologies. Systems in which electrons exhibit a very subtle type of organization known as "topological order" are a current major focus of condensed matter physics. Materials exhibiting such "topological phases" are widely coveted for their exotic properties and technological promise. In particular, these materials may hold the key to building a new generation of computers that employ quantum mechanics to drastically outperform today's fastest computers for certain tasks. So far few topological phases have been identified in nature. The PI's research will seek to circumvent this problem by investigating experimentally feasible ways of engineering topological phases in devices whose constituents are all well-understood. New routes to generating topological order in insulators, superconductors, and magnets will all be studied. This research may lead to the exciting discovery of new emergent particles and facilitate the eventual synthesis of a "quantum computer". Education and outreach activities are aimed to simultaneously promote diversity and improve science education at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. By partnering with physics teachers from high schools with many students of low-socioeconomic status, the PI will work to revamp the curriculum by incorporating modern topics of scientific and societal importance, examples include quantum computing, global warming, and energy independence. In particular, the PI will introduce the concept of emergence into high-school classrooms, using familiar ideas such as bird flocking to convey the organizational principles at work in condensed matter. Low-cost, sustainable labs that teachers can independently run in future classes will also be implemented into the courses. Undergraduate and graduate curricula will be similarly modernized, and undergraduates will form an integral component of the PI's research group. A new informal condensed matter seminar for UC Irvine's students and post-docs will also be instituted to help train a new generation of researchers with broad backgrounds and exceptional communication skills.