Ghimire Group

The current focus of our group is the synthesis and magnetotransport study of correlated topological materials.

Over the past few decades, the forefront of hard condensed matter physics has undergone a quiet revolution, ushering in the age of topological quantum materials. The physics of topological materials is typically well described by band theory in systems of non-interacting fermions. In contrast, several of the most fascinating effects in condensed matter physics exist entirely due to electron-electron interactions. Some of the examples are unconventional superconductivity, heavy fermions, the Kondo effect, and the Mott transition. Therefore, there is currently a great deal of interest to know what the effect of interactions in these topological materials might be.

Advancement of the physics of strongly correlated materials have mostly been prompted through the discovery of new materials. Being a material synthesis group, we see an opportunity here to discover new phenomena in the correlated topological materials by synthesizing them and measuring their physical properties. We are interested in the fundamental understanding of the following open questions.

1. Does the topological band structure survive in presence of electron-electron interactions?
2. Can the electron-electron interactions turn a topologically trivial ground state into a non-trivial one?
3. What exotic states of matter emerge when the non-trivial band topology competes with strong electron-electron correlations?

Answers to these questions not only advance our understanding of the physics of correlated topological materials but also lay a foundation for future technologies based on the effect of such interactions such as smaller and faster electronic devices, quantum computers, etc.