Emergent phenomena in quantum materials

Synopsis

From a reductionist's point of view, the problem of understanding electrons in solids is not terribly interesting - the fundamental particles and forces have been known for over 100 years and the behaviour is described by the Schrödinger equation.  However, this way of thinking is too restrictive. In particular, the problem is far too complex to solve exactly on even the largest computers.  This opens the door to a class of systems called quantum materials, where surprising, new and unpredictable behaviour emerges from complexity.  We will review some of the exciting discoveries that have been made (and continue to be made) in quantum materials, and discuss some of the elegant techniques physicists use to gain insight into these systems.