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 National Science
Foundation Award #0449521 |
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CAREER: Disorder and Symmetries in Condensed Matter Systems |
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| Investigator(s): |
Victor Gurarie (PI)
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| Sponsor: |
University of Colorado at Boulder, CO 80309 3034926221
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| Start Date/Expiration Date |
2005-08-15 to 2007-07-31 (amended 2005-08-09) |
| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$160,000 |
| Abstract: NON-TECHNICAL EXPLANATION:
This CAREER award supports theoretical research and education in the field of condensed matter physics. One exciting development in condensed matter physics is the realization that randomly scattered impurities, always present in materials, can result in systematic reproducible behavior, sometimes producing new physical phenomena which would not have existed without disorder. Developments in the theory of disorder led to successes in mesoscopic physics, and it also contributed to our understanding of the quantum Hall effect, second order phase transitions, and other phenomena.
In the research component, the PI will focus on the aspects of the theory of disorder that are universal. In particular, the PI aims to elucidate the universal aspects of low-energy bosonic excitations in a disordered environment. Some of the most important problems in this field include the "boson peak", the excess of phonons in disordered solids and glasses, and the heat transport of magnons in random magnets. The PI plans to study phonons in random elastic media as a model of disordered solids and investigate the peak in their density of states at wavelength of the order of typical disorder correlation length. The PI plans to study disorder in nanoscale superconducting grains. At issue here is how a diffusive disordered system responds to the introduction of a small number of strong scatterers. The PI will study the second order phase transition in the presence of disorder using the exact methods of conformal field theory.
It appears to be experimentally possible to create many-body condensed matter states in cold atomic gases. Unlike those in typical condensed matter systems, the interactions between the atoms can be tuned externally, and this allows to custom manufacture atomic systems with various interesting properties. It may be possible to create quantum Hall-like topological states in these atomic systems. Such states have been proposed as possible building blocks of quantum computers. The topological states in atomic condensates are expected to be far more robust than their quantum Hall counterparts, making them more suitable for practical applications. The PI will investigate different ways of creating a tunable non-Abelian quantum Hall-like state in the fermionic atomic condensates.
In the education component, the PI will devise and teach a new set of courses designed to bring many-body physics to all interested graduate students and bright undergraduate physics majors. The aim is to teach modern theoretical physics in a logically consistent way, avoiding representing it as just a collection of different unrelated phenomena. In particular, the PI aims to devise a set of projects for undergraduate students taking the class "Introduction to Solid State Physics," to help students to study the material actively, as opposed to passively. The PI also plans to work with minority students through a strategic collaboration and to participate in outreach activities.
NON-TECHNICAL EXPLANATION:
This CAREER award supports theoretical research and education in the field of condensed matter physics. An exciting development in condensed matter physics is the realization that randomly scattered impurities, always present in materials, can result in systematic reproducible behavior, sometimes producing new physical phenomena which would not have existed without disorder. Developments in the theory of disorder led to successes in mesoscopic physics, and have also contributed to our understanding of the quantum Hall effect, second order phase transitions, and other phenomena.
In the research component, the PI focuses on the aspects of the theory of disorder that are universal, that is, independent of the microscopic details of disorder in real materials and are likely to be found in many different physical systems. The PI aims to investigate a variety of topics from lattice vibrations in disordered materials and disorder in nanoscale superconducting grains to the theory of phase transition in disordered systems.
It appears to be experimentally possible to create states in systems of very cold atoms trapped by laser light that resemble the states of electrons in various interesting materials. The interactions between the atoms can be more easily tuned than the interactions between electrons opening the possibility to custom manufacture atomic systems with various interesting properties. It may be possible to create states in these atomic systems that have been proposed as possible building blocks of quantum computers. The PI will investigate different ways of creating cold-atom states that are of fundamental scientific interest and may have impact on the emerging field of quantum information science.
In the education component, the PI will devise and teach a new set of courses designed to bring many-body physics to all interested graduate students and bright undergraduate physics majors. The aim is to teach modern theoretical physics in a logically consistent way, avoiding representing it as just a collection of different unrelated phenomena. In particular, the PI aims to devise a set of projects for undergraduate students taking the class "Introduction to Solid State Physics," to help students to study the material actively, as opposed to passively. The PI also plans to work with minority students through a strategic collaboration and to participate in outreach activities. |
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| NSF Org: |
DMR - Division of Materials Research |
| Award Number: |
0449521 |
| Award Instrument: |
Continuing grant |
| Program Manager: |
Daryl W. Hess
DMR Division of Materials Research
MPS Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences
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| NSF Program(s): |
CONDENSED MATTER & MAT THEORY |
| Field Application(s): |
Materials Research |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
FACULTY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, 1045
MATH SCI PRIORITY AREA: INTERDISCIPLINAR, 7303
NANO NON-SOLIC SCI & ENG AWD, 7237
PECASE- eligible, 1187
QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE, 7203
SINGLE DIVISION/UNIVERSITY, 9161 |
| Program Element Code(s): |
1765 |
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