Spins and Knots: The Rise of Topology in F-Orbital Materials

非技术总结该奖项支持理论研究和教育活动，旨在实现对强大的电子-电子相互作用如何产生新的物质状态的基本理解，例如拓扑绝缘体和拓扑超导体。拓扑绝缘体是不导电的绝缘材料，但被覆盖在表面、边缘和界面上的金属状态所包围。同样，拓扑超导体被认为在整体上与普通超导体相似，因为它们导电时没有损耗，但它们的表面和边缘被包裹在具有不寻常性质的电子的全新量子状态中。这些奇异的表面和边缘状态不仅本身就很有趣，而且还可以被潜在地操纵，用于从高速量子计算到超灵敏磁性设备的各种应用。这个项目的目的是在一类材料中识别具有拓扑性质的新材料，在这种材料家族中，强烈的电子-电子相互作用会产生质量可以是裸电子质量数百倍的重载流子。该项目旨在制定将帮助实验者设计新材料的基本原则，并将与几个实验小组密切合作进行。主动学习方法将是该项目教育部分的试金石。PI将围绕同龄人讨论重新设计一门现有的大一新生课程--《震撼宇宙的七个想法》，以提高学生的理解、参与度和表现。PI还将通过关注当前物理学的发展来创建本课程的续集，即“塑造未来的七个想法”。为这两门课程开发的互动活动将在网上提供。为了吸引更多的物理专业学生和研究生对凝聚态物理感兴趣，PI将为学生准备引人入胜的研究计划。这些计划将帮助学生掌握手头问题背后更深层次的概念问题，获得前沿研究的第一手经验，并发展他们解决问题的技能。技术总结该奖项支持理论研究和教育活动，旨在实现对强大的电子-电子相互作用如何产生新的物质状态的基本理解，例如拓扑绝缘体和拓扑超流体。主要目的是研究新发现的拓扑近藤绝缘体中的新型电子相，发现拓扑超导体的候选材料，并通过研究拓扑超流体的非平衡动力学来促进其最终的技术应用。这个项目的主要部分将集中在含有f电子轨道的元素的材料上。磁自由度和电子自由度之间的耦合在强自旋轨道相互作用和强电子关联的背景下工作，在这些材料中起着决定性的作用，并提供了对f电子拓扑绝缘体和超导体性质的独特见解。该项目旨在制定基本原则，帮助实验者设计新材料，并将与几个实验小组密切合作进行。主动学习方法将成为该项目教育部分的试金石。PI将围绕同龄人讨论重新设计一门现有的大一新生课程--《震撼宇宙的七个想法》，以提高学生的理解、参与度和表现。PI还将通过关注当前物理学的发展来创建本课程的续集，即“塑造未来的七个想法”。为这两门课程开发的互动活动将在网上提供。为了吸引更多的物理专业学生和研究生对凝聚态物理感兴趣，PI将为学生准备引人入胜的研究计划。这些计划将帮助学生掌握手头问题背后更深层次的概念问题，获得前沿研究的第一手经验，并发展他们解决问题的技能。

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis award supports theoretical research and educational activities aimed at achieving a fundamental understanding of how strong electron-electron interactions can bring about novel states of matter, such as topological insulators and topological superconductors. Topological insulators are insulating materials that do not conduct electricity in the bulk but are surrounded by metallic states that cover the surfaces, edges, and interfaces. Similarly, topological superconductors are thought to be like ordinary superconductors in the bulk in that they conduct electricity without loss, but their surfaces and edges are enveloped in a fundamentally new quantum state of electrons with unusual properties. These exotic surface and edge states are not only fundamentally interesting in their own right, but they can also be potentially manipulated for a variety of applications ranging from high-speed quantum computing to ultra-sensitive magnetic devices. This project aims to identify new materials with topological properties in a family of materials where the strong electron-electron interactions give rise to heavy carriers whose masses can be several hundred times the mass of a bare electron. This project aims at formulating the basic principles which will help experimentalists design novel materials and will be performed in close collaboration with several experimental groups. Active learning approach will be the touchstone of the educational component of the project. The PI will redesign an existing freshman course, "Seven Ideas That Shook the Universe", around peer discussions to improve student understanding, involvement and performance. The PI will also create a continuation of this course, "Seven Ideas That Are Shaping the Future", by focusing on current developments in physics. The interactive activities developed for both courses will be made available online. In order to attract more physics majors and graduate students to condensed matter physics, the PI will prepare engaging research plans for students. The plans will help the students grasp deeper conceptual issues underlying the problem at hand, get first-hand experience in cutting-edge research, and develop their problem-solving skills. TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis award supports theoretical research and educational activities aimed at achieving a fundamental understanding of how strong electron-electron interactions can bring about novel states of matter, such as topological insulators and topological superfluids. The main objectives are to study novel electronic phases in newly discovered topological Kondo insulators, to discover candidates for topological superconductors, and to promote their eventual technological application by examining non-equilibrium dynamics of topological superfluids. The main part of this project will focus on materials which contain elements with f-electronic orbitals. The coupling between magnetic and electronic degrees of freedom, which operates in the background of strong spin-orbit interaction and strong electronic correlations, plays a defining role in these materials and provides a unique insight into the properties of f-electron topological insulators and superconductors. This project aims at formulating the basic principles which will help experimentalists design novel materials and will be performed in close collaboration with several experimental groups.Active learning approach will be the touchstone of the educational component of the project. The PI will redesign an existing freshman course, "Seven Ideas That Shook the Universe", around peer discussions to improve student understanding, involvement and performance. The PI will also create a continuation of this course, "Seven Ideas That Are Shaping the Future", by focusing on current developments in physics. The interactive activities developed for both courses will be made available online. In order to attract more physics majors and graduate students to condensed matter physics, the PI will prepare engaging research plans for students. The plans will help the students grasp deeper conceptual issues underlying the problem at hand, get first-hand experience in cutting-edge research, and develop their problem-solving skills.