The Search for Low Dimensional Quantum Matter
Abstract: As the spatial dimension is lowered, locally stabilizing interactions between atoms are reduced, leading to the emergence of quantum fluctuating phases of matter without classical analogues. In this colloquium I will discuss theoretical progress and experimental proposals for the realization of a two-dimensional quantum liquid. Bosonic atoms deposited on an atomically thin substrate represent an arena for such exotic quantum many-body physics with highly tunable interaction potentials. I will show that simple mechanical deformations of the substrate can unlock a plethora of two-dimensional solid and superfluid states, and discuss protocols for how these could be realized in the laboratory through lattice expansion.
Bio: Adrian Del Maestro is Professor and Head of the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with an additional appointment in the Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He leads an interdisciplinary research group focused on AI for quantum materials at the Center for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, an NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. His work applies high-performance computing and artificial intelligence to understand how collective and cooperative states of matter can be harnessed for future quantum technologies.
Del Maestro earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 2008, where he studied quantum phase transitions in superconductors. He then held postdoctoral appointments at the University of British Columbia and the Institute for Quantum Matter, a joint initiative between Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University. Before joining Tennessee in 2020, he was Professor of Physics with a joint appointment in Materials Science at the University of Vermont and served as Director of the Vermont Advanced Computing Core.
3:00 PM in PAS 201 / Zoom https://arizona.zoom.us/j/86395646910
Refreshments in PAS 236, 2:30PM
