Princeton University Donald R. Hamilton Colloquium Series
Visualizing Strongly Interacting Quantum Phases of Matter from the Wigner Crystal to Topological Phases for Building Next Generation Qubits
Abstract: When electrons are forced to interact strongly with each other, some of the most exotic electronic phases and novel quasiparticles may emerge. A key approach to force electrons to strongly interact with one another is to confine them to energy bands with no momentum dispersion, i.e. flat bands. Flat bands can be realized in two-dimensional materials in a high magnetic field or in newly discovered moiré materials in which quantum interference can give rise to flat energy bands. The journey of exploring old and new flat bands has taken us from confirming some of the earliest predictions for correlated phases of matter, (first envisioned by Eugene Wigner in the 1930s, when he first arrived at Princeton) to new approaches to probe novel quantum phases that may host exotic quasiparticles that are neither boson or fermions. These quantum phases may play a key role in the future of quantum computing by providing an approach to build topological qubits.