ABSTRACT
The Hubbard model is a simple theoretical model of interacting quantum particles in a lattice. It is thought to capture the essential physics of high-temperature superconductors and other complex quantum many-body phenomena, but has proved difficult to solve accurately. Physical realizations of the Hubbard model therefore have a vital role to play in solving the strong-correlation puzzle. Moiré materials, metamaterials built on artificial “moiré atoms”, have emerged as a promising Hubbard model simulator. The ability to continuously control the Hubbard Hamiltonian in these materials has provided a unique opportunity to address some of the long-standing questions in condensed matter physics. For instance, can unconventional superconductivity and quantum spin liquids emerge from the Hubbard model? In this talk, I will discuss recent efforts to simulate Hubbard model physics in moiré semiconductors. Specific topics include the realization of Wigner-Mott insulating states, the Mott-Hubbard transition and the complex phase diagram of high-temperature superconductors.
BIOGRAPHY
Kin Fai Mak gained his B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from HKUST in 2005 and his Ph.D. in Physics from Columbia University in 2010. He remained as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia until 2012, when he joined the Kevli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science. In 2014, Kin Fai Mak became Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University, then returned to Cornell 2018 as Assistant Professor. There, he became Associate Professor in 2019 and Full Professor in 2022. He has been director at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter since mid-2024.
Prof. Mak's research is focused on correlated and topological phenomena in 2D materials. Well-known examples of this are superconductivity and magnetism. The 2D materials are created by detaching individual stable layers with atomic thickness from various crystals, which consist of layers with atomic thickness, and stacking them on top of each other. The resulting heterostructures exhibit remarkable physical properties that do not occur in the original crystals.
The honors of Kin Fai Mak include Fellowships of the Packard Foundation (2016) and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2017). In 2016 he received the OCPA Outstanding Young Researcher Award, in 2019 the Presidential Early Careers Awards for Scientists and Engineers and in 2021 the APS Fellowhip. In 2022 he was awarded a $1.25 million grant by the Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative.
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