Theories for Novel States of Matter Observed and Constructed in Condensed Matter and Cold Atom Systems

非技术总结该奖项支持在材料和由单个原子在超低温下排列的系统中出现的新物质状态理论的发展方面的研究和教育。这些系统中相互作用的粒子的量子力学行为产生了极其丰富的物理和概念谜团，继续要求科学家更好地甚至是革命性地理解这些谜团。最近，在各种凝聚态物质系统中取得了意想不到和令人兴奋的发现，例如由两个石墨烯薄片制成的设备，当两个石墨烯薄片以特定的方向彼此精确堆叠时，可以表现出超导电性。这些系统提供了前所未有的可调性，可能代表着量子多体物理研究的新时代的开始。冷原子实验技术的相关最新进展允许探索新的物理：在某些条件下，例如特定特征的激光照射，这些系统的行为就像它们存在于比我们通常的三维空间更高的维度空间中。这一PI旨在开发和应用新的理论概念和方法来研究量子力学和多体物理在这些平台上的相互作用，并为它们在各种现象中的表现发展理论。这项研究可能会导致对自然的新的基本理解，也可能导致利用这些严格的量子现象进行技术创新。该项目具有超越凝聚态物理的潜在科学影响，因为该研究与高能物理相关。国际和平研究所希望与相关领域的科学家进行广泛的互动和合作。该项目将为研究生和博士后研究人员提供培训和指导的机会，为他们提供基本的理论工具，这些工具不仅可以应用于学术界的物理研究，而且可以在广泛的工业环境中使用。技术总结该奖项支持对凝聚态和冷原子系统中非传统状态物质的研究和教育。这个项目的目标有三个：i)通过Pi小组最近发展的形式描述和理解最近发现的莫尔超晶格中的超导电性和弱关联绝缘体相，并在相关系统中设计更奇异的物质态；ii)构造和理解可以在合成维度的冷原子系统中实现的非传统物质态，如强相互作用拓扑态和对称保护拓扑态；Iii)使用精确可溶的Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev物理作为起点来描述和理解在高温超导体中实验观察到的非费米液体状态和相关现象。该项目具有超越凝聚态物理的潜在科学影响，因为该研究与高能物理相关。国际和平研究所希望与相关领域的科学家进行广泛的互动和合作。该项目将为研究生和博士后研究人员提供培训和指导的机会，为他们提供基本的理论工具，这些工具不仅可以应用于学术界的物理研究，而且可以在广泛的工业环境中使用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

NONTECHNICAL SUMMARYThis award supports research and education on developing theories for new states of matter that appear in materials and in systems comprised of arrangements of individual atoms at ultralow temperatures. The quantum mechanical behavior of interacting particles in these systems generates extremely rich physics and conceptual mysteries that continue to demand better and even revolutionary understanding from scientists. Recently, unexpected and exciting discoveries have been made in various condensed matter systems, such as devices made from two graphene sheets that can exhibit superconductivity when the two sheets are precisely stacked at a specific orientation with respect to one another. These systems offer unprecedented tunability and may represent the beginning of a new era of study in quantum many-body physics. Related recent progress in cold-atom experimental techniques allows the exploration of novel physics: under certain conditions, e.g. illumination by laser light of specific characteristics, these systems behave as if they exist in a higher-dimensional space than our usual three dimensions. This PI aims to develop and apply new theoretical concepts and methodologies to study the interplay of quantum mechanics and many-body physics in these platforms, and to develop theories for their manifestations in a variety of phenomena. The research could potentially lead to both new fundamental understanding of nature, and also to technological innovation from harnessing these strictly quantum phenomena. The project has potential scientific impact beyond condensed matter physics, as the research is relevant for high-energy physics. The PI expects to interact and collaborate broadly with scientists from related fields. The project will offer opportunities for training and mentoring graduate students and of postdoc researchers, providing them with essential theoretical tools that not only can be applied in physics research within academia but can also find uses in a wide range of industrial settings.TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis award supports research and education on unconventional states of matter in condensed-matter and cold-atom systems. The goal of this project is three-fold: i) to describe and understand the recently discovered superconductivity and the weakly correlated insulator phase in moire superlattices via a formalism developed by the PI's group recently, and to also engineer more exotic states of matter in related systems; ii) to construct and understand unconventional states of matter such as strongly interacting topological states and symmetry-protected topological states in high dimensions that can be realized in cold atom systems with synthetic dimensions; iii) to use the exactly soluble Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev physics as the starting point to describe and understand non-Fermi-liquid states and related phenomena that are experimentally observed in high-temperature superconductors.The project has potential scientific impact beyond condensed matter physics, as the research is relevant for high-energy physics. The PI expects to interact and collaborate broadly with scientists from related fields. The project will offer opportunities for training and mentoring graduate students and of postdoc researchers, providing them with essential theoretical tools that not only can be applied in physics research within academia but can also find uses in a wide range of industrial settings.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.