Speaker
Description
Quantum phase transitions (QPTs) are arguably one of the most intriguing phenomena that can occur when
the electronic ground state of strongly correlated metals are tuned by external parameters such as pressure,
magnetic field or chemical substitution. They define transitions between different states of matter that are
driven by quantum (as opposed to thermal) fluctuations. The strong quantum critical fluctuations that arise at
QPTs often lead to the emergence of macroscopically coherent phases that are at the center of the current
condensed matter research. Thus, microscopic studies of fluctuations across QPTs are central for novel
quantum phenomena, but the microscopic nature of the pertinent fluctuations is unclear in many strongly
correlated materials.
Neutron scattering is expected to continue playing a pivotal role in the research of quantum critical matter,
because the technique allows to directly probe the spatial(Q)- and energy(E)-resolved properties of the
quantum critical fluctuations. The spatial extend of the critical fluctuations, however, has often been
neglected in the past, but has shown to be crucial in materials hosting competing interactions. In this
presentation I will show how modern neutron spectrometers allow clarifying the contribution from different
fluctuating order parameters, and will show potential future paths for the research on quantum critical
phenomena in strongly correlated metals.
