Descrizione del progetto
La ricerca sulla termodinamica nei sistemi quantistici ingegnerizzati si scalda
I sistemi quantistici che ospitano stati elettronici correlati sono di eccezionale interesse fondamentale e tecnologico. Spesso danno origine a quasi-particelle esotiche come i fermioni di Majorana, la cui intrinseca robustezza topologica ne permetterebbe l’uso come qubit nell’informatica quantistica. Per comprendere gli stati elettronici esotici che si trovano nei materiali quantistici, il progetto Quantropy, finanziato dall’UE, elaborerà nuovi modi per misurare le loro proprietà termodinamiche, in particolare l’entropia. Sondare gli stati elettronici nei sistemi a bassa dimensionalità è notoriamente difficile, in parte a causa del numero esiguo di elettroni coinvolti. Lo sfruttamento completo delle misurazioni di entropia nella fisica mesoscopica consentirà un’ulteriore comprensione meccanicistica degli stati quantistici correlati nelle strutture ingegnerizzate.
Obiettivo
Quantum systems that have been engineered to host correlated electronic states are of outstanding fundamental and technological interest. Often ‘exotic’ new quasi-particles emerge, such as Majorana fermions, whose inherent topological robustness forms the basis of a promising approach to quantum computation. Another recent example are sheets of pencil-lead graphene which superconduct with a proper twist between layers.
Thermodynamic probes have been central for characterising new phases of matter in bulk materials. Low-dimensional systems offer greater opportunities for control, but probing their electronic states in a similar way is notoriously difficult, in part because of the small number of electrons involved.
The objective of this project is to overcome this challenge and to develop a unique conceptual and experimental foundation for exploring correlated quantum states in low-dimensional systems by measuring thermodynamic quantities, in particular entropy. Entropy is one of the most fundamental of physical properties, and in recent years has been recognized as a key to understanding systems as diverse as qubits and black holes. Fully exploiting entropy measurements in mesoscopic physics will open up a new window to a mechanistic understanding of correlated quantum states in engineered structures, with promise for ground-breaking novel device paradigms.
Members of the consortium have pioneered some of the few existing approaches to making thermodynamic measurements of low-dimensional systems. In combining our expertise, we will develop, test and explore a versatile suite of thermodynamic probes, and in particular i) demonstrate fractional entropy as an unequivocal observable for exotic states, including Majorana fermions; ii) develop thermodynamic measurement paradigms to probe correlated states in novel materials, in particular twisted bilayer graphene; and iii) achieve the first-time measurement of macroscopic entanglement entropy in solid-state systems.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesquantum physics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsfermions
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesthermodynamics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencescondensed matter physicsmesoscopic physics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyastrophysicsblack holes
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-SyG - Synergy grantIstituzione ospitante
8092 Zuerich
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