Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

Thursday, November 16, 2000, 2 p.m.
Plant Sciences Building, Room 1130

 Electronic Structure of Strongly Correlated Electron Materials: A Dynamical Mean Field Perspective

Gabriel Kotliar

(Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University)

Abstract:  Strongly correlated electron materials  are interesting for scientific and technological reasons.  These systems  display unusual phenomena, ranging from high-temperature superconductivity to a variety of  metal to insulator transitions.  The theory of the electronic structure of these materials pose a unique challenge, since it has to treat the localized (particle-like) and the itinerant (wave-like)  aspects of the electron on equal footing.  Over the last few years, a new   technique, the Dynamical Mean Field method  has been developed.  It  allows us to reconcile the itinerant and the localized character of  the electron in a correlated solid, a central theme of the physics of correlated electrons.  The dynamical mean field technique has given new insights into the electronic structure of correlated solids, as well as allowing quantitative calculations of material properties.

In this talk we will give a pedagogical introduction to the central problems  in the area of correlated electron physics and to  the ideas of the dynamical mean field method.  We  we will  use it to give a simple picture of how the electron evolves from itinerant to localized, i.e. the Mott transition, that takes place in various transition metal oxides.  We will conclude, with some outstanding open problems and future directions.

Host: Sankar Das Sarma


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