The three main directions of research will be unconventional superconductivity, quantum spin liquids, and altermagnetism.
A QSL is a state of matter in which the spins of unpaired electrons in a solid are quantum entangled, but do not show magnetic order in the zero-temperature limit. Because such a state may be important to the microscopic origin of high-Tcsuperconductivity and useful for quantum computation, experimental realization of QSL is a long-sought goal in modern condensed matter physics. Models supporting QSLs for 2D spin-1/2 Kagome, triangular, honeycomb, and 3D pyrochlore lattice systems indicate that all QSLs share the presence of deconfined spinons. Spinons are elementary excitations from the entangled ground state which carry spin S = ½ and thus, are fractionalized quasiparticles, fundamentally different from the S = 1 spin waves in conventional 3D ordered magnets. We will study different families of QSL materials, focusing on triangular lattice and pyrochlore lattice families of materials, aiming to understand how quantum coherence is established and affected by disorder.
Flat electronic bands when tuned near the Fermi level can contribute a large density of states. Such large phase space for degenerate electronic states can lead to electronic instabilities such as superconductivity. In bulk quantum materials, flat bands can be engineered from geometrically frustrated lattices where quantum destructive interference can quench the electronic kinetic energy. Exotic superconductivity can also arise from heavy fermion systems. We will explore unconventional superconductivity in such flat band systems arising from geometric frustration and/or strong electron correlations.
Altermagnetism is a recently developed recognition of a third class of magnetic orders in addition to ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, where time-reversal symmetry is broken yet the system exhibits zero net magnetization. Such systems exhibit alternating spin splitting in momentum space and a range of exotic transport properties. We will explore altermagnetic candidates and the manipulation of the magnetic and electric properties via the combination of magnetic field and strain, towards the potential of revealing novel altermagnetic phenomena.