August 18, 2014 – August 23, 2014

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Location

Obergurgl, Austria

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Organizers
Silke Buehler-Paschen, Vienna University of Technology
Stefan Kirchner, Max Planck Institute; Rudolf Grimm, University of Innsbruck

Quantum Critical Matter ‒ from Atoms to Bulk Website

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Overview

The term Quantum Matter stresses the fact that the properties of our material world, all the way from the nanoscale to cosmology, and from artificer atoms to engineered materials, is shaped by quantum mechanical laws. It also indicates that the emergent properties of quantum matter often defy our classically dominated intuition. This becomes particularly evident when matter goes from one state to another through a quantum phase transition. Such quantum phase transitions have recently been observed in various different settings, from cold atoms to condensed matter – but this commonality has not been sufficiently exploited to advance the understanding of quantum matter. We want to bring together experts and students from the cold atoms, computational physics, nano-structured and bulk condensed matter communities in order to formulate common goals and identify new research opportunities. A one-day intense school aims at providing a minimal common basis and is particularly aimed at the students and young postdocs participating in the event. The proposed summit (school & workshop) seeks to invigorate and more closely integrate the quantum matter community to find new ways in which the two branches, condensed and atomic quantum matter can work together and identify areas in which they can reinforce one another to promote a renaissance in this field.