Lectures: "A set of quasi-easy lectures on quantum materials" - Prof. Fulvio Parmigiani

Event typology: 
home
Seminars
Event taking place on
Event starting on: 
03/14/2024 - 17:30
Event until: 
04/04/2024 - 19:30
Event publish date
Published on: 
03/08/2024
Campus: 
Trieste
"A set of quasi-easy lectures on quantum materials"
Prof. Fulvio Parmigiani
University of Trieste and University of Cologne
 
Thursday 14/03, 17:30-19:30, Room A
Thursday 21/03, 17:30-19:30, Room A
Wednesday 27/03, 17:30-19:30, Room A
Thursday 4/04, 17:30-19:30, Room B

The condensed matter physics of the present days and its future scenarios has its roots in issues that emerged in the years between the two world wars of the last century when a long file of unsolved mysteries. The main problems involved magnetism, transport properties and superconductivity.
If we are looking for a definition of quantum materials in a condensation of a few words or adjectives probably we can limit ourselves to all materials whose macroscopic properties cannot be derive in the frame of semi-classical particles and low-level quantum-mechanics. These are materials that present strong electronic correlations or an electronic order, i.e. magnetic or superconducting orders, or materials whose electronic properties have topological constrains or band structure anomalies like Dirac-electron systems (graphene and topological insulators) or systems whose collective properties are governed by quantum behavior. The fingerprints that qualify a quantum material, are some material properties with no counterpart in the classical or semi-classical physical world, such as the quantum entanglement, quantum fluctuations, boundary states that dependent on the topology of the electronic states etc.  In these last two decades the study and research of quantum materials has proved to be a subject that not only revolutionized the very idea of condensed matter physics.  Nowadays we can envision a scenario beyond traditional quantum materials such as unconventional superconductors, heavy fermions, and multiferroics, where these properties can arise along with mathematical and quantum mechanical fundamental behavior such as topology and entangled quantum states. This landscape comprises, topological quantum matter, low-dimensional materials, van der Waals heterostructures, Majorana fermions materials etc..
In this set of Lectures, we aim to introduce the students to this fascinating and largely unexplored world having in mind that all what is possible to do is not more than a snapshot of the history, concepts, theory models and experiments at the origin of the most recent developments in the field of quantum materials. Although, the topic is very challenging both conceptually and formally theoretically every effort will be made to illustrate the physics of quantum materials especially from the phenomenological point of view.
The intent is to open a door to this universe that in so many ways represents an important part of future physics.  It would already be an achievement if the student would find himself at the end of these lectures with a wealth of questions and curiosities that are worth investigating if not exploring.  
The roadmap for the lectures is the following:
 

Lecture 1:
In this lecture we briefly review the past seventy years of development in many-body physics by focalizing the main conceptual and intellectual aspects. Experimental discoveries of remarkable new phenomena, such as superconductivity, superfluidity, anomalous metals, ferromagnetism order and dynamics and the quantized Hall effect will be reviewed following the thread of their historical evolution. Indeed, the history of the field is marked by the most wonderful and unexpected shifts in perspective and understanding that have involved close linkages between experiment, new mathematics and new concepts.

Lecture 2:
In this lecture we will give an overview of the transport properties in materials where the electrical properties are of some materials as determined by many-body effects and other degrees of freedom. We will briefly present the case of Fermi gas, Fermi liquid, Luttinger liquid, strange metals, heavy fermion systems and Kondo systems. In this lecture we will also present the behavior of the mobile electrical charges when an external magnetic or electric field are applied, leading to hall and quantum Hall effect and fractional quantum hall effect and Landau levels.

Lecture 3:
In this lecture we will review the mechanisms that lead to a superconducting state governed by the electron-phonon interactions and those where the conventional theory of the superconductivity fails and known as unconventional superconductors.  The main phenomenology, the main experiments and theories will be reviewed while a comparison with other superfluid phenomena will be presented.

Lecture 4:
The basic notion of magnetic phenomena, magnetic order and magnetic materials will be reviewed in order to introduce the quantum oscillatory effects in magnetic materials, such as magnons, skyrmions and magnetic vortex.
The second part of this lecture will be dedicated to topological insulators a newly discovered state of quantum matter. The basic phenomenology behind the physics that governs the electric properties of these materials will be presented along. Interestingly these materials feature a bulk gap and an odd number of relativistic Dirac fermions on their surfaces. While their bulk is insulating, the surfaces can conduct electric current with a well-defined spin texture.

Venue: 

Room A and room B (building F)

Promoter: 

Prof. Fulvio Parmigiani (UniTS)

Contacts: 
Giovanni Tartaglia (UniTS)
Last update: 03-13-2024 - 08:27
Share/Save