Project description
Improved models to study the behaviour of exotic metals
The Fermi-liquid model is good at predicting the properties of conventional metals at sufficiently low temperatures. However, there is a class of non-Fermi liquids or exotic metals that deviate from this model and demonstrate extraordinary properties. Prominent examples include certain heavy fermion compounds and high-temperature semiconductors. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the EXOMETALS project aims to construct advanced quantum impurity models that describe this type of metals. These models could describe the interactions between the particles’ local degrees of freedom (spin) and the surrounding conduction electrons. The project’s ultimate goal is to create new states of matter in bulk materials and explore how these exotic metals behave in quantum dot devices.
Objective
The standard theory of electrons in metals, Landaus Fermi liquid theory from 1956 has been very successful in predicting the low-temperature properties of many metals. Its greatest success was its ability to describe many heavy fermion metals, whose name comes from the huge apparent masses acquired by their conduction electrons. However increasingly many metals have been synthesized where Fermi-liquid predictions fail. They are called non-Fermi liquid (NFL) or exotic metals. Prominent examples are certain heavy fermion compounds and high-temperature superconductors. These materials are of interest because of the emergence of new properties that could be used in future technologies. In most cases NFL behaviors lack the understanding, as only a handful of solvable, microscopic models describe NFL phenomena. To make strides I will construct a novel class of NFL quantum impurity models. Quantum impurity models describe the interaction between local degrees of freedom, like a spin, and the surrounding conduction electrons. The simplest NFL quantum impurity model was considered to be the so-called two-channel Kondo model (2CKM). One of the new quantum impurity modelswhich I call the one-and-a-half-channel Kondo model and whose low-energy solution gives the topological Kondo effecthas less degrees of freedom and is, in this sense, simpler than the 2CKM, yet it also exhibits NFL behavior. Generally, this new family of NFL quantum impurity models includes all those overscreened Kondo-type models where the number of conduction electron species are not integer multiples of the number of impurity states. I will study the new quantum impurity models using Wilsons numerical renormalization group method (recognized by the 1982 Nobel Prize). My further aims are to experimentally realize the corresponding NFL behavior, i.e. create new states of matter in bulk materials, and also to theoretically explore alternative realizations of the novel NFL physics in quantum dot devices.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
EH8 9YL Edinburgh
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.