Physics of Strong Disorder and Correlation

该奖项支持强相关电子系统物理方面的理论工作。众所周知，材料科学中的许多重要现象都源于固体中电子之间的强烈排斥。这些包括所有的磁性，金属绝缘体的转变，以及最近的超导性。最近一个特别令人兴奋的发展是发现了长期寻找的量子自旋液体的候选材料。在这些系统中，电子通过相关定位，但由于量子涨落，它们的自旋在最低温度下不会形成有序状态。过去的理论工作已经预测在低温下可能会出现许多新的现象，例如在这些材料中表现得像金属的比热和导热性，这些材料是电荷绝缘体。这些预测最近在实验中得到了证实。我们的计划是在过去成功的基础上，对这一新奇现象有更深入的了解。将发展旨在详细解释实验观察结果并预测新结果的理论。对量子自旋液体的理解可能会为理解高温超导体铺平道路，特别是在掺杂不足的区域，在那里，量子自旋液体的形成可能是在那里观察到的许多异常性质背后的驱动力。高温超导体的理论研究将以量子自旋液体的研究获得的新见解为武装。这些长期存在的问题的进展代表了一种新的范式，并将对凝聚态物理和材料科学产生重大影响。该奖项支持凝聚态物理的理论研究和教育。理论工作从新材料的实验发现中获得灵感，旨在解释和预测新现象。这种新现象经常出现在电子相互作用强烈的材料中，这项工作将集中在这个丰富的领域。过去的例子包括获得诺贝尔奖的发现，如分数量子霍尔效应和高温超导性。这个研究领域特别适合培养研究生和博士后，因为要取得进展，既需要数学的复杂性，又需要对真实材料的理解。

TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis award supports theoretical work on the physics of strongly correlated electronic systems. It is known that many important phenomena in materials science originate from the strong repulsion between electrons in solids. These include all of magnetism, metal-insulator transitions and, more recently, superconductivity. A particularly exciting recent development is the discovery of materials which are candidates for the long sought quantum spin liquid. In these systems the electrons are localized by correlation but their spins do not form an ordered state down to the lowest temperature due to quantum fluctuations. Past theoretical work has predicted that many novel phenomena may emerge at low temperatures, such as specific heat and thermal conductivity which behave like metals in these materials which are charge insulators. These predictions have recently been observed experimentally. The plan is to build on the past success to achieve a deeper understanding of this novel phenomenon. Theory will be developed which aims to explain in detail the experimental observations and to predict new ones. It is possible that an understanding of the quantum spin liquid will pave the way towards an understanding of the high temperature superconductors, especially in the under doped region, where the formation of quantum spin liquids may be the driving force behind the many anomalous properties observed there. Theoretical work on the high temperature superconductors will be pursued armed with new insights gained from the studies of quantum spin liquids. Progress on these long standing problems represent a new paradigm and will have strong impact on condensed matter physics and materials science.NONTECHNICAL SUMMARYThis award supports theoretical research and education in condensed matter physics. The theoretical work takes it inspiration from experimental discovery in new materials and aims to explain and predict novel phenomena. Such novel phenomena often arise in materials where electrons are strongly interacting with each other, and this work will focus on this rich arena. Past examples include Nobel winning discoveries such as the fractional quantum Hall effect and high temperature superconductivity. This research area is particularly well suited for the training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows because both mathematical sophistication and an understanding of real materials are required to make progress.