Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

The ground state properties of many-body systems at a critical point between two different phases of matter are described by some of the most complicated quantum wavefunctions known to physicists, yet they have many quantitative features that are independent of the details of the system in which they are realized.  These "universal" properties can be studied using field theoretic methods, sophisticated numerical simulations and in experiments on solid-state materials cooled down close to the absolute zero of temperature.  I will highlight two exciting advances in our understanding of quantum critical phenomena in the magnetism of strongly correlated "Mott" insulators that have taken place by synergies between these three different approaches -- (1) the experimental realization of Ising quantum criticality in CoNb2O6 and (2) numerical simulations of model Hamiltonians of SU(N) anti-ferromagnets which host a new and unusual form of quantum criticality.