The Moire the Merrier ▸

Quantum materials possess many exotic states of matter and exhibit macroscopically observable phenomena that are directly linked to fundamental quantum-mechanical effects such as entanglement. While intrinsically interesting and a challenge to our basic understanding of quantum mechanics they also have great potential for technological applications. Finding actual experimental realizations is another tough challenge. In my talk I will introduce moiré materials: these form when stacking two atomically thin materials on top of each other. Their unprecedented experimental tunability allows physicists to effectively engineer and observe a remarkable wealth of quantum phenomena, and raises novel theoretical questions.

About the speaker:
Urban Seifert has recently become a research group leader at the University of Cologne. Having studied physics and applied mathematics in Dortmund (Germany) and at the University of Cambridge (UK), he obtained his PhD from TU Dresden (Germany) in 2019. After a post-doctoral appointment at ENS Lyon (France), he was a postdoctoral scholar at KITP from 2021 until Spring 2024.

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Recorded as part of a Friends of KITP Chalk Talk.

Friends of KITP have the opportunity to spend an evening four to five times a year with some of the world’s most exciting theoretical physicists, sharing refreshments and conversation about big questions such as how the universe began, how stars and planets form, how the brain works, and where dark matter lurks!

Frequent Chalk Talks allow Friends of KITP to stay current on the latest breakthroughs in science through engaging and informal presentations by KITP’s leading visiting scientists. In keeping with the custom of the academic physics community, these presentations are informal and questions are encouraged during and after the talk.

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