Final Report Summary - TRAJECTORY (Coherent trajectories through symmetry breaking transitions)
Phase transitions are common in many diverse types of systems, and we are most familiar with them when they occur in liquids and solids. They are also thought to occur in cosmological events (such as the Big Bang) or in elementary particle collisions. The fundamentally different phenomena found in rapidly evolving phase transitions have only begun to be studied in relatively recent years. This AdG project addresses the character of the trajectory taken by a system as it traverses a phase transition in quantum condensed matter systems, particularly those in which electrons order in superconductors and related systems. An important element of his research was the development of a specific femtosecond laser spectroscopy techniques, that can probe the rapid evolution of events that occur close to the transition. The physical concepts, and the equations used to model such system trajectories are similar to the ones used to describe cosmological events or elementary particles, and may reveal new physics beyond the so-called “standard – Ginzburg-Landau model“.
The most important result of the project is to show that new physics emerges out of equilibrium: new states of matter, new ordering processes and new mechanisms on different levels, both microscopic and mesoscopic. We revealed for the first time the intricate detailed structure of new emergent long-range ordered states, that cannot be reached under slowly evolving conditions or in near-equilibrium.
Transition trajectories to new hidden emergent states of matter are also of interest for making new ultrafast, ultra-energy-efficient cryogenic memory devices for next generation superconducting flux-quantum (SFQ) and Josephson-based quantum computers.
The most important result of the project is to show that new physics emerges out of equilibrium: new states of matter, new ordering processes and new mechanisms on different levels, both microscopic and mesoscopic. We revealed for the first time the intricate detailed structure of new emergent long-range ordered states, that cannot be reached under slowly evolving conditions or in near-equilibrium.
Transition trajectories to new hidden emergent states of matter are also of interest for making new ultrafast, ultra-energy-efficient cryogenic memory devices for next generation superconducting flux-quantum (SFQ) and Josephson-based quantum computers.