Condensed Matter/Materials & Biological Physics Seminar with Andrew Wray on Quasiparticles

The physical properties of quantum materials are often shaped by electronic quasiparticle states that emerge within them. These states resemble the fundamental particles of an alternate universe, with dimensionality, topology, interactions, and effective mass values that differ profoundly from electrons in free space. The new generation of spectroscopic technology is changing the game for our understanding of quasiparticles by making it possible to observe them microscopically and see how they evolve from region to region within a material. Wray will talk about the possibilities this opens up, and new perspectives it has enabled on quantum materials that feature strong electron-electron interactions (strong correlations) and exotic quantum topology. The talk will highlight new data science-based analysis techniques his group is developing, and explore the possibility of gaining a momentum-resolved view of new classes of topologically-defined quasiparticles such as Majorana boundary modes and 1D surface conduction channels.