Strongly Correlated Quantum Materials: Three Journeys with Sheng Ran

Classical understanding of materials is built on the picture of independent electrons, where interactions among electrons are largely ignored or treated only in an average way. Yet electron correlations are the driving force behind many exotic phenomena in quantum materials, including unconventional superconductivity and quantum spin liquids. In this talk, I will review our group’s efforts to explore such strongly correlated systems, focusing on three central questions: Can strong correlation effects be combined with band structure topology? Can we directly probe the fingerprints of strong correlation? And can we predict the behavior of strongly correlated materials from experimental data?

This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson Fund