CAREER: Facets of gapless quantum matter: new phenomena, new tools, and new platforms

职业：无间隙量子物质的各个方面：新现象、新工具和新平台

• 批准号: 2339319
• 负责人: Zhen Bi
• 金额: $ 60.5万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-05-01 至 2029-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2339319&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Facets; gapless; quantum; matter

NONTECHNICAL SUMMARYThis CAREER award supports theoretical research and education focused on understanding the organization of interacting electrons in solid-state materials and the non-traditional ways in which their properties can change abruptly when specific conditions are adjusted. The traditional framework to understand electronic organizations and their transformations is based on the idea of symmetry, which in essence comes from intuition in classical physics. In recent years, it has been realized that the quantum mechanical nature of electrons allows for novel electronic states that differ by their so-called "topological" properties. For instance, some materials of the same symmetry that do not conduct electricity through their bulk can possess electronic states that allow them to conduct electricity on their surfaces, but with significantly different surface conducting properties. To comprehend the transitions between these fundamentally new electronic states, a fresh theoretical framework is essential, one that integrates the principles of quantum mechanics that dictate electron behavior. The aim of this project is to delve into the uncharted phenomena that can occur in these transformations, craft innovative theoretical tools to understand their properties, and design experimental setups to test these novel physics concepts. This research could lead to a general understanding of the diverse behavior of electrons in materials and potentially lay the groundwork for the material platforms for next-generation quantum devices.This award also supports educational activities which include mentoring graduate students and postdocs and developing new courses with emphasis on modern techniques in condensed matter theory. In addition to these educational activities, the PI will introduce a new outreach initiative named “Quantum Echoes: Uncovering Diverse Narratives in Physics”, a pioneering oral history project devoted to amplifying diverse voices in the physics community. The PI will organize students to conduct oral history interviews with underrepresented minority students and faculty members. The mission of the project is to provide a reservoir of encouragement, inspiration, and mentorship for young scientists, especially underrepresented students, and to humanize the realm of scientific discovery.TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis CAREER award supports theoretical research and education focused on the study of the diverse quantum critical phenomena and gapless phases inherent in quantum many-body systems. Understanding the quantum critical fluctuations in a gapless state provides a universal understanding of its nearby phases and their finite temperature properties. These universal predictions are not only mathematically elegant but also readily testable in experiments.The PI and his team will focus on the following directions: 1) Exploring novel phenomena for phase transitions diverging from Landau’s paradigm by systematically constructing models of topological phase transitions which demonstrate the so-called multi-path quantum criticality where the same phase transition can have multiple paths each described by a distinct universality class; 2) Developing innovative tools to characterize quantum phase transitions in strongly correlated systems and non-Fermi liquid states. The PI will develop generalized network models, encompassing more complex low energy fluctuations and symmetry constrains, to describe quantum phase transitions between crystalline topological phases with strong interactions as well as non-Fermi liquid states with spatial and internal symmetries; and 3) Designing experimental platforms that offer precision and control for an in-depth exploration of strongly correlated gapless systems. The PI will show that twisted trilayer transition metal dichalcogenides can be an ideal system to realize moiré Kagome metals within certain conditions. This award also supports educational activities which include mentoring graduate students and postdocs and developing new courses with emphasis on modern techniques in condensed matter theory. In addition to these educational activities, the PI will introduce a new outreach initiative named “Quantum Echoes: Uncovering Diverse Narratives in Physics”, a pioneering oral history project devoted to amplifying diverse voices in the physics community. The PI will organize students to conduct oral history interviews with underrepresented minority students and faculty members. The mission of the project is to provide a reservoir of encouragement, inspiration, and mentorship for young scientists, especially underrepresented students, and to humanize the realm of scientific discovery.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.

非技术性摘要这一职业奖支持理论研究和教育，重点是了解固态材料中互动电子设备的组织以及在调整特定条件时其性能突然改变的非传统方式。了解电子组织及其转型的传统框架是基于对称性的概念，而对称的观念本质上来自古典物理学的直觉。近年来，已经意识到，电子的量子机械性质允许通过所谓的“拓扑”特性不同的新型电子状态。例如，某些不通过其大体传导电力的对称性的材料可以假设电子状态使它们能够在表面上传导电力，却具有明显不同的表面导电性能。为了完成这些根本新的电子状态之间的过渡，一个新的理论框架是必不可少的，该框架整合了决定电子行为的量子力学原理。该项目的目的是深入研究这些转变中可能发生的未知现象，制作创新的理论工具以了解其特性，并设计实验设置以测试这些新颖的物理概念。这项研究可能会导致对电子在材料中的多元化行为的普遍了解，并有可能为下一代量子设备的材料平台奠定基础。该奖项还支持教育活动，包括心理研究生和博士后，并开发了新课程，并重点是凝结材料理论的现代技术。除这些教育活动外，PI还将引入一项名为“量子回声：揭开物理学中的多样化叙事”的新的外展计划，这是一个开创性的口述历史项目，致力于在物理社区扩大潜水员的声音。 PI将组织学生对代表性不足的少数民族学生和教职员工进行口述历史访谈。该项目的使命是为年轻的科学家（尤其是代表性不足的学生）提供鼓励，灵感和心态的储备，并为科学发现的领域人性化。技术摘要职业奖支持理论研究和教育，重点是研究多样性量子量子量子量子和无差异阶段在量子多体系中所固有的。了解无间隙状态下的量子临界波动提供了对其近相及其有限温度特性的普遍理解。这些普遍的预测不仅在数学上是优雅的，而且在实验中也很容易测试。PI和他的团队将重点介绍以下方向：1）探索与Landau通过系统地构建拓扑模型的相同型号的相同型号的新型现象，以证明所谓的多元量子量相位的相同相同的相同相同的相同相同的相同相同的相同的相同的相同的相同的多种态度; 2）开发创新的工具以表征强相关系统和非Fermi液态状态中的量子相变。 PI将开发广义的网络模型，包括更复杂的低能波动和象征主义组成部分，以描述具有强相互作用的晶体拓扑阶段之间的量子相变，以及具有空间和内部对称性的非Fermi液态； 3）设计实验平台，可为深度相关的无间隙系统提供精确和控制。 PI将表明，扭曲的三层过渡金属二核苷可以是在某些条件下实现MoiréKagome金属的理想系统。该奖项还支持教育活动，包括心理研究生和博士后，并开发新课程，重点是凝结物质理论中的现代技术。除这些教育活动外，PI还将引入一项名为“量子回声：揭开物理学中的多样化叙事”的新的外展计划，这是一个开创性的口述历史项目，致力于在物理社区扩大潜水员的声音。 PI将组织学生对代表性不足的少数民族学生和教职员工进行口述历史访谈。该项目的使命是为年轻的科学家（尤其是代表性不足的学生）提供鼓励，灵感和心态的储备，并为科学发现的领域人性化。该奖项反映了NSF的坚定使命，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来通过评估来通过评估来获得的支持。