Correlated Quantum Fluids (CQF)
Quantum fluids are those many-particle systems in whose behaviour the effects of both the quantum mechanics and quantum statistics are important, which occurs at cold temperatures. The most important two examples are superfluids, such as liquid Helium, and superconductors. This lecture course will begin with the phenomenon of Bose condensation in an ideal Bose gas with interactions; explore why this is not a true superfluid, and go on to look at the role of interactions. It then proceeds to explore what is different when the particles are charged, and finally look at the BCS theory of superconductivity where one begins with fermions rather than bosons.
Derek Lee is a Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London. He works on correlated quantum liquids, such as liquid helium and excitonic condensates, and also on topological states of matter.
Correlated Quantum Fluids tutorial
Departure
Electrons in Solids (ELS)
A quantitative understanding of bonding in condensed matter systems demands a solution of the many electron problem. This course will show how the many electron problem can be mapped onto single electron problems in an approximate way (Hartree and Hartree Fock approximations) and a formally exact way (density functional theory and the Kohn Sham equations). Further, some of the methodology used to solve the Kohn Sham equations in complex systems will be described. In the last part of the lectures, some examples will be analysed, and we will critically evaluate the strength and weaknesses of DFT and other ab-initio electronic structure methods.
Niels is a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Manchester. His research interests are in the theory of condensed matter and nuclear physics, combining computational and theoretical approaches, using many-body and ab initio techniques. He has a special interest in twistronics and higher-order topological materials. Outside physics, he works as associate Dean for Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
Electrons in Solids Tutorial
Free time
How to tie a (linear optical) field into a knot
Localisation, Ergodicity, and Quantum Measurements
Mesoscopic Physics (MES)
Mesoscopic physics is the name given to electronic behaviour in solid state nanostructures that are so small that their size is similar to relevant characteristic length scales. Examples of such length scales include the elastic mean free path (which governs the scale for ballistic transport), the phase coherence length (quantum interference effects), and the electronic wavelength (quantum confinement). The aim of this course is to describe key experimental transport phenomena including weak localisation, universal conductance fluctuations, Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, and conductance quantisation whilst giving an overview of theoretical methods such as the tight binding model, the Landauer-Büttiker formulism, scattering theory, and scaling theory.
Ed McCann works in the condensed matter theory group at Lancaster University. Recently, his research has been focussed on the properties of chiral electrons in graphene and graphene multilayers, looking at their transport and spectroscopic properties.