Sir Nevill Mott Lecture 2023: The Dark Energy of Quantum Materials

The 2023 Sir Nevill Mott lecture will be given by Professor Laura Greene and will be entitled The Dark Energy of Quantum Materials. Professor Laura Greene is the Marie Krafft Professor of Physics at Florida State University and Chief Scientist at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. She is recognised for her outstanding research on high-temperature superconductivity and is a world-leading expert in her field. Professor Laura Greene  is also a strong champion for diversity and has been very active in promoting equal rights for women and minorities throughout her career. In her lecture Professor Laura Greene will present her distinguished research topic and then talk about her career in Physics. 

The Dark Energy of Quantum Materials

Professor Laura H. Greene

National MagLab and Florida State University

The many correlated electron problems remain largely unsolved after decades; with one stunning success being BCS electron-phonon mediated conventional superconductivity. The Cooper pairing mechanisms of the dozens of families of unconventional superconductors, including the high-T_c cuprate, iron-based, and heavy fermion superconductors remain elusive and quite varied. But some of their fundamental characteristics are strikingly similar, including their ubiquitous phase diagram, with intriguing, correlated electron (non-Fermi liquid) phases that break the symmetry of their underlying lattice at temperatures well above T_c. These correlated phases remain among the greatest unsolved problems in physics; and I will present an analogy stressing that.  I will start with a little bit of my story and an overview of the US National MagLab, and finish with some of my own recent work identifying a possible new pairing mechanism in a heavy-fermion superconductor.