When 16 january at 12h30

Where: sala de seminarios módulo 0 Facultad de Ciencias

Speaker: Dr. Gabriel Koliar (Rutgers University)

Title: Material Design and Strongly Correlated Electron Systems

Abstract:

Our understanding of simple  solids, is firmly grounded on the Fermi liquid concept  and  powerful computational techniques built around the density functional theory. These ideas form the basis of our “standard model” of solid state physics and   have  provided us  with  an  accurate description of  many materials of great technological significance.

Correlated electron systems are materials for which the   the standard model of solid state physics fails dramatically. The best known example being the  copper oxide high  temperature superconductors.  Correlated  electron materials continue to be discovered accidentally and  surprise us with their exceptional physical properties and their  potential for new  applications.  The most recent example is provided by the iron arsenide based high temperature superconductors.

From a theoretical perspective  describing strongly correlated electron systems  pose  one of the most difficult non-perturbative challenges in physics. In this colloquium I   will give an elementary introduction to  the field of strongly correlated electron materials and  Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT) a non perturbative method which provides a zeroth order picture of the strong correlation phenomena in close analogy with the Weiss mean field theory in statistical mechanics.  Applications  materials containing f and d electrons  will be presented to   show how the anomalous properties of correlated materials emerge from their atomic constituents.

I will conclude with an outlook of the challenges ahead and the perspectives for a rational material design.