Creating New Universes Inside of Quantum Materials

Abstract

Quantum physics is about how the world works on its tiniest scales, typically a few atoms or smaller. In the quantum realm, particles are waves and waves are particles. Things we take for granted about how the world works no longer seem to apply, and the line between what is and what is not gets blurred. With quantum materials, scientists are trying to take these strange quantum properties inside of materials and bring them to the forefront where we can use them and where we can control them. Inside of each new quantum material, it’s like a whole new universe, and new particles can emerge inside. Within the quantum materials known as spin ice, we can create the elusive magnetic monopole, a particle long theorized to exist, but not yet observed out in the wild. Inside of semiconductor sandwiches, we can even create particles that are otherwise impossible, like anyons, which have no counterpart in the natural universe. In this talk, Carlson will discuss these and other quantum materials, including one that we already use every day.