Members of ITFA Amsterdam

The ICAM consortium is pleased to welcome colleagues from three Netherlands institutions who recently joined as a consortium:  the University of Utrecht (UU), which includes its Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP) and the Debye Institute, Leiden University (LU), where the Instituut-Lorentz is the lead organization, and the University of Amsterdam (UvA), which includes its van der Waals-Zeeman Institute (WZI) and the Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam (ITFA).   Cristiane Morais Smith and Rembert Duine from Utrecht University, together with Kareljan Schoutens from the University of Amsterdam, represented the consortium at ICAM’s annual meeting in January.  Kareljan Schoutens will serve on the Science Steering Committee and Cristiane Morais Smith is a member of the Board of Governors and of the Executive Committee.

The first event in the Netherlands to receive partial support from the ICAM consortium will be the 2009 Amsterdam Summer Workshop on Low-D Quantum Condensed Matter, which will be held July 6-11, 2009 in Amsterdam.  It will be focused on low-dimensional condensed matter and statistical mechanics, aiming at bringing specialists together to explore recent advances and foster collaborations.  The workshop web site is http://www.science.uva.nl/research/cmpa/workshopindex.php?wsId=20.

The Netherlands consortium brings to the ICAM community a broad range of interests. Utrecht University has a strong tradition in theoretical physics, exemplified by award of the 1999 Nobel Prize to Gerard ‘t Hooft and Martinus Veltman in 1999. Current research in the Institute for Theoretical Physics covers a large variety of topics, ranging from hard and soft condensed matter to quantum gravity, cosmology, and string theory.  Although these subjects are very different in principle, the methods used to study them are similar:  renormalization group theory, quantum field theory, numerical methods, etc.

Five ICAM members, Utrecht

The condensed matter group led by Henk Stoof, Cristiane Morais Smith, and Rembert Duine studies quantum matter, including  ultracold atoms, quantum Hall matter, high-Tc superconductors, and spintronics.  Apart from their  intrinsic interest for achieving new states of matter such as imbalanced superconductivity,  cold atoms can be used  to simulate the behavior of well-known  models in condensed-matter physics such as the Heisenberg model  for antiferromagnets and Dirac fermions.  More details can be found on the institute website http://www1.phys.uu.nl/wwwitf.

The research program of the Debye Institute focuses on three themes: Catalysis, Colloid Science, and Nanophotonics.  The Soft Condensed Matter and Biophysics group is led by van Blaaderen and has strong connections with the theoretical group of Rene van Roij in the Institute for Theoretical Physics.  In the Nanophotonics group (http://web.science.uu.nl/nanophotonics) Jaap Dijkhuis and Peter van der Straten lead a group on Atom Optics and Ultrafast Dynamics that studies nano-acoustic soliton trains, nanowire lasing, shock waves, first- and second sound in Bose-Einstein condensates, and the realization of an atom laser.

At the University of Amsterdam, groups in the ITFA (http://www.science.uva.nl/research/itf/) led by Kareljan Schoutens, Aad Pruisken, and Jean-Sebastien Caux study low-D quantum matter (quantum Hall systems, quantum magnets, and low-D quantum gases), while Erik Verlindeleads a group that studies  string theory and quantum gravity.

The van der Waals-Zeeman Institute 
(http://www.science.uva.nl/research/wzi/index.php) has a long tradition of crystal growth study, using a combination of high-resolution probes of electronic states in both k-space (via ARPES) and real space (via STM/STS).  They also are able to do picometre-resolved dilatometry, transport measurements and μSR, all down to 20 mK as well as in high magnetic fields.

Three experimental research concentrations at WZI study emergent matter:  quantum electron matter, led by PI’s Mark Golden, Anne de Visser, and Jeroen Goedkoop, complex fluids, led by Daniel Bonn and Peter Schall, and quantum gases, led by Jook Walraven, Gora Schlynapnikov, and Klaas-Jan van Druten.  Many-body interactions and emergent behavior form a leitmotif for much of the research, including the new ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe and the pnictide high-T_c superconductors.

Physics at Leiden University has a long and rich history, still honored through its Ehrenfest colloquium series and Lorentz professorships.  Theoretical research at the Instituut- Lorentz includes theoretical biophysics (Helmut Schiessel), soft matter with an emphasis on granular systems (Wim van Saarloos), quantum transport/ mesoscopics (Carlo Beenakker), quantum matter and high-T_c superconductivity (Jeroen van den Brink, Jan Zaanen).  In the last area, which includes studies of multiferroics and quantum criticality, work at the Instituut-Lorentz overlaps with the work of Leiden high-energy physicists (Koenraad Schalm) and cosmologists (Anna  Achucarro), as exemplified by their common effort to apply the string-theoretical AdS/CFT correspondence to condensed-matter systems.

Leiden also has a strong experimental effort in biophysics.  This includes the work of Thomas Schmidt on membranes, John van Noort on chromatin, Thijs Aarstma on photosynthesis, and Michel Orrit on single-molecule optics and complex fluids.

Leiden’s low-temperature physics tradition is being carried forward by Dik Bouwmeester, who combines cryogenic techniques with laser cooling to bring nano-mechanical resonators into a quantum coherent regime.  Martin Van Hecke’s group pursues the experimental study of nonequilibrium systems like foams and granular matter.  Joost Frenken and Tjerk Oosterkamp work on developing scanning probe techniques for both high pressure and high temperature, as well as biological applications.  The condensed matter groups of Jan van Ruitenbeek and Jan Aarts focus on traditional single-molecule transport using break junctions and thin films of magnetic and superconducting materials, respectively.  Recently these groups managed to get a low-temperature/high-magnetic-field scanning tunneling spectroscopy setup on line with unique capabilities.  At present they are building a state-of-the-art LEEM/PEEM facility.

Further information about work being carried out at the University of Leiden can be found at http://www.physics.leidenuniv.nl/.

By Cristiane Morais-Smith, Kareljan Schoutens, Jan Zaanen, and Karie Friedman, ICAMNews, April 2009