Stephen Winter
Wake Forest University, NC·Physics·Early-career
In some materials, quantum mechanics shapes how the material behaves in ways people can see and use. Examples include superconductors, quantum magnets and topological insulators, which block electric current inside but conduct it on their surfaces.
- Fields
Physics
Materials Science
Chemistry
- Topics
quantum materials
condensed matter theory
effective Hamiltonians
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2029
What they work on
- Implement first-principles calculations of low-energy effective Hamiltonians, simplified models of real materials, using fermionic matrix product state methods that capture electron entanglement across large orbital spaces.
- Develop material-specific time-dependent effective Hamiltonians to model nonlinear optical responses such as second harmonic generation and four-wave mixing, in collaboration with experimental groups.
- Apply these methods to search for topological excitons and new quantum spin-orbital liquids, and to explain the nonlinear responses of hidden ordered phases in correlated materials.
- Train students, including high school summer interns from low-income backgrounds, and develop a university course in scientific outreach and public communication with local school partners.
More about the research
These quantum materials have unusual electronic, optical and magnetic properties that could be useful in technology. Their electrons are strongly entangled, however, which makes the materials very hard to simulate. The project aims to connect what experiments measure with what theory can explain.
Why it matters
Accurate, material-specific models of quantum materials could help experimentalists interpret nonlinear optical measurements and find materials with useful electronic, optical or magnetic properties, such as superconductors and topological insulators. Publicly shared codes would give other groups the tools to model complex materials. These tools could eventually inform future quantum and electronic technologies.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Lu Li
University of Michigan, MI·Physics
Use thermoelectric and thermal Hall measurements to determine the nature of the magnetic-field-driven insulator-to-metal transition and the origin of quantum oscillations in Kondo insulators.
Diana Qiu
Yale University, CT·Physics·Early-career
Develop ab initio software built on the GW plus Bethe–Salpeter equation approach that calculates how electrons in chiral hybrid perovskites absorb left- versus right-circularly polarized light (circular dichroism).
Vladyslav Kozii
Carnegie Mellon University, PA·Physics·Early-career
Develop and analyze theoretical pairing mechanisms for superconductors with very low electron density, determining when superconductivity can survive as carrier density approaches zero.
The school
Wake Forest University: 27 labs on PI Pages, $345M a year on research, 54 research doctorates a year.
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