WORKSHOP: The Future of the Correlated Electron Problem Workshop

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Nontechnical abstract: After decades of intensive research, our predictive power in systems with correlated electrons is still very small. The problem of correlated electrons is recognized as painful, because our ability to model strongly correlated systems is needed to design new materials such as superconductors. This workshop is devoted to enabling structured discussion between the founders of the field (speakers) and early career researchers (participants). Brainstorming between the participants in order to identify what did not work so far is expected to lead to specific novel ideas, helpful in solving the problem of electron correlations. Technical abstract: The model of non-interacting electrons is well established throughout many areas of solid-state physics. However there are material systems whose properties emerge from strong interactions. Such strongly correlated systems host a tremendous variety of fascinating macroscopic phenomena including high-temperature superconductivity, metal-insulator transitions, fractionalized topological phases, and strange metal phases. Despite many years of intensive work, the essential physics of many of these systems is still not understood, and we do not have a unified perspective on strong electron correlations. This workshop will mix — in a unique format — early career researchers and a number of distinguished senior scientists with the aim of making progress on the correlated electron problem. On Day 1, six senior scientists with broad perspectives on the correlated electron physics will give a series of lectures to approximately 45 early career scientists. These senior scientists will present what they consider to be the important aspects of the correlated electron problem and what they consider to be possible ways forward. On the morning of Day 2, the senior people will depart. Then during the day of Day 2 the early career scientists will have a number of roundtable discussions, working groups, and brainstorming sessions on this physics and clarifying their thoughts on how to make progress. These thoughts will have been informed by the lectures of Day 1. On Day 3 the early career scientists will write up a report summarizing the outcome of the discussions. Report will be publicly available.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.