TITLE : Rod like proteins on membranes: patterns, shapes and flows

ABSTRACT :

Quantum spin liquids are systems of interacting spins that do not magnetically order even at absolute zero. However they are not necessarily ordinary paramagnets -- itv is here that we may see, even in table-top setups, highly unusual and unexpected phenomena. For example in an insulator consisting of localized spin-1/2 degrees of freedom, the lowest-lying excitations may be best described as free Majorana fermions! Excitations in some spin liquids in two dimensions could even be anyons -- particles that do not obey Bose or Fermi statistics upon interchange of labels. Apart from the fundamental interest, these systems also hold the promise of future applications, such as the realization of qubits for the purpose of quantum computing. The spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice Kitaev model provides a very appealing playground in this context. It exhibits fractionization of the localized spin-1/2 degrees of freedom into free Majorana fermions and vortex-like anyonic excitations, the latter of which is also relevant from the point of view of applications. Realization of Kitaev physics in material systems has proved quite challenging. I will present a picture of the current understanding and ongoing struggles, and my group's contributions in this context.

MEETING DETAILS :

Speaker: Prof. Vikram Tripathi

Venue: A1-NKN

Date and Time: June 2nd, 2022, 4:00 pm