Publications
Superconductivity, pseudogap, and phase separation in topological flat bands
Superconductivity is a macroscopic quantum phenomenon that requires electron pairs to delocalize over large distances. A long-standing question is whether superconductivity can exist even if the electrons' kinetic energy is completely quenched, as is the case in a flat band. This is fundamentally a nonperturbative problem, since the interaction energy scale is the only relevant energy scale, and hence it requires going beyond the traditional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity, which is perturbative by nature.
Deconfined metal-insulator transitions in quantum Hall bilayers
We propose that quantum Hall bilayers in the presence of a periodic potential at the scale of the magnetic length can host examples of a deconfined metal-insulator transition (DMIT), where a Fermi-liquid (FL) metal with a generic electronic Fermi surface evolves into a gapped insulator (or an insulator with Goldstone modes) through a continuous quantum phase transition. The transition can be accessed by tuning a single parameter, and its universal critical properties can be understood using a controlled framework.
Slow scrambling and hidden integrability in a random rotor model
We analyze the out-of-time-order correlation functions of a solvable model of a large number N of M-component quantum rotors coupled by Gaussian-distributed random, infinite-range exchange interactions. We focus on the growth of commutators of operators at a temperature T above the zero temperature quantum critical point separating the spin-glass and paramagnetic phases. In the large N,M limit, the squared commutators of the rotor fields do not display any exponential growth of commutators, in spite of the absence of any sharp quasiparticlelike excitations in the disorder-averaged theory.
Deconfined metallic quantum criticality: A U(2) gauge-theoretic approach
We discuss a new class of quantum phase transitions - deconfined Mott transition (DMT) - that describe a continuous transition between a Fermi liquid metal with a generic electronic Fermi surface and an electrical insulator without Fermi surfaces of emergent neutral excitations. We construct a unified U(2) gauge theory to describe a variety of metallic and insulating phases, which include Fermi liquids, fractionalized Fermi liquids (FL∗), conventional insulators, and quantum spin liquids, as well as the quantum phase transitions between them.
The unreasonable effectiveness of Eliashberg theory for pairing of non-Fermi liquids
The paradigmatic Migdal–Eliashberg theory of the electron–phonon problem is central to the understanding of superconductivity in conventional metals. This powerful framework is justified by the smallness of the Debye frequency relative to the Fermi energy, and allows an enormous simplification of the full many-body problem. However, superconductivity is found also in many families of strongly-correlated materials, in which there is no a priori justification for the applicability of Eliashberg theory.
Intrinsic superconducting instabilities of a solvable model for an incoherent metal
We construct a family of translationally invariant lattice models with a large number (N) of orbitals at every site coupled together via single-electron tunneling. By tuning the relative strength of the electronic bandwidth and on-site interactions, which have a modified Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev form, we demonstrate a number of unusual features at strong coupling and in the large-N limit.
Strange Metal in Magic-Angle Graphene with near Planckian Dissipation
Recent experiments on magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene have discovered correlated insulating behavior and superconductivity at a fractional filling of an isolated narrow band. Here we show that magic-angle bilayer graphene exhibits another hallmark of strongly correlated systems - a broad regime of T-linear resistivity above a small density-dependent crossover temperature - for a range of fillings near the correlated insulator.
Density Wave Probes Cuprate Quantum Phase Transition
In cuprates, the strong correlations in proximity to the antiferromagnetic Mott insulating state give rise to an array of unconventional phenomena beyond high-temperature superconductivity. Developing a complete description of the ground-state evolution is crucial to decoding the complex phase diagram. Here we use the structure of broken translational symmetry, namely, d-form factor charge modulations in (Bi,Pb)2(Sr,La)2CuO6+δ as a probe of the ground-state reorganization that occurs at the transition from truncated Fermi arcs to a large Fermi surface.
Ultrafast manipulation of mirror domain walls in a charge density wave
Topological defects, potential information carriers, were written into and erased from a solid with femtosecond light pulses. , Domain walls (DWs) are singularities in an ordered medium that often host exotic phenomena such as charge ordering, insulator-metal transition, or superconductivity. The ability to locally write and erase DWs is highly desirable, as it allows one to design material functionality by patterning DWs in specific configurations.
Translationally Invariant Non-Fermi-Liquid Metals with Critical Fermi Surfaces: Solvable Models
We construct examples of translationally invariant solvable models of strongly correlated metals, composed of lattices of Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev dots with identical local interactions. These models display crossovers as a function of temperature into regimes with local quantum criticality and marginal-Fermi-liquid behavior. In the marginal-Fermi-liquid regime, the dc resistivity increases linearly with temperature over a broad range of temperatures. By generalizing the form of interactions, we also construct examples of non-Fermi liquids with critical Fermi surfaces.