Fereshte Ghahari Kermani
George Mason University, VA·Physics·Early-career
When electrons are confined to a flat sheet, cooled, and placed in a strong magnetic field, they stop behaving like independent particles and organize into collective states with properties no single electron has. In the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), the excitations that emerge act as if they carry a fraction of an electron's charge and obey unusual rules when swapped with one another.
- Fields
Physics
Materials Science
- Topics
fractional quantum Hall effect
topological order
non-Abelian statistics
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2029
What they work on
- Measure the thermodynamic entropy carried by the emergent quasiparticles of fractional quantum Hall states using thermopower — the voltage produced by a temperature gradient — and test whether entropy can distinguish Abelian from non-Abelian states.
- Fabricate clean graphene heterostructures with gate-tunable interfaces so that topologically distinct fractional quantum Hall phases coexist in a single device, and measure conductance across those interfaces to identify topological order.
- Resolve the internal structure of fractional quantum Hall edge channels — the one-dimensional conducting paths along a sample's boundary — using local probe measurements combined with electrical transport.
- Build training in quantum nanoscience and nanoelectronics through new courses, a seminar series and outreach aimed at students and underrepresented groups entering quantum materials research.
More about the research
Some of these states are predicted to be "non-Abelian," meaning the order in which you move their excitations around each other changes the system's state — a property that would make them unusually robust carriers of quantum information. This project measures physical quantities that reveal the hidden topological structure of such states.
Why it matters
Topological quantum computing schemes depend on states of matter whose excitations resist local disturbance, but the fundamental knowledge needed to identify and control such states is still missing. Measuring the entropy, edge structure and interface conductance of fractional quantum Hall states in graphene could supply that knowledge, and the entropy arguments involved connect to a long-standing question in cosmology about information and black holes. The project also trains students for a growing quantum technology workforce.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Dmitri Feldman
Brown University, RI·Physics
Classify the possible topological orders behind the fractional quantum spin Hall effect in twisted bilayer molybdenum telluride, where time-reversal symmetry is broken, and identify measurements that can show which order is present.
Davood Shahrjerdi
New York University, NY·Materials Science
Determine how polymer residues such as polyvinyl alcohol and paraffin interact with 2D materials like graphene and molybdenum disulfide, viewing the problem in terms of interface energy.
Leonid Butov
University of California-San Diego, CA·Physics
Study spin transport carried by indirect excitons, electron-hole pairs split across separate semiconductor layers, using optical measurements in layered heterostructures.
The school
George Mason University: 15 labs on PI Pages, $282M a year on research, 297 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.