Day 3 | June 17, 2021
The focus of day 3 is on computational and theoretical methods to
describe an exciting new class of materials: Dirac and Weyl topological
semimetals. In the past five years, the study of topology as it relates
to physical systems has exploded. Work in topological condensed matter
physics escalated in the early 2000s with the predictions of
topologically protected states of matter, and the subsequent
experimental discoveries of topological insulators in real two- and
three-dimensional material systems made it a rapidly growing topic.
Semimetals that host Weyl and Dirac fermionic excitations, condensed
matter analogues of high-energy excitations, as well as chiral crystals
which allow for new fermionic excitations that have no high energy
physics counterparts, are each an interesting system in their own right.
Many remarkable properties of these topological materials may be
described as being distinct consequences of the chiral anomaly, a
well-known phenomenon in relativistic quantum field theory. Interestingly,
Weyl nodes can be induced or moved energetically in a material by
driving with electromagnetic radiation; this presents a unique
opportunity in non-equilibrium control of topological materials.
Signatures of unconventional transport in these systems have also
ignited substantial debate in the community.
Topological materials discovery
Speaker: Claudia Felser, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Non-equilibrium behavior of topological materials
Speaker: Gil Refael, California Institute of Technology
Transport and dynamics in topological materials
Speaker: Ady Stern, Weizmann Institute for Science
Panel Discussion: Advances and breakthroughs needed in computational materials science to predict and understand topological materials away from equilibrium. Bonus: transport in topological materials.
Panelists: Claudia Felser, Ady Stern, Gil Refael and Maia Vergniory
Moderator: Prineha Narang
Ab initio approaches in topological materials science
Speaker: Arun Bansil, Northwestern University
Lightning Talks
Speaker: Lukas Muechler, Flatiron Institute
Closing Remarks