Related papers: Is 1T-TaS$_2$ a 40 year old quantum spin liquid?
The interplay of electronic correlations, spin-orbit coupling and topology holds promise for the realization of exotic states of quantum matter. Models of strongly interacting electrons on honeycomb lattices have revealed rich phase…
We propose to engineer time-reversal-invariant topological insulators in two-dimensional (2D) crystals of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). We note that, at low doping, semiconducting TMDCs under shear strain will develop…
In this paper, based on the formulation of an O(3) non-linear sigma model, we study the two-dimensional Pi-flux Hubbard model at half-filling. A quantum non-magnetic insulator is explored near the metal-insulator transition that may be a…
The Widom line identifies the locus in the phase diagram where a supercritical gas crosses over from gas-like to a more liquid-like behavior. A similar transition exists in correlated electron liquids, where the interplay of Coulomb…
Controlling and understanding electron correlations in quantum matter is one of the most challenging tasks in materials engineering. In the past years a plethora of new puzzling correlated states have been found by carefully stacking and…
Layered van der Waals (vdW) materials are emerging as one of the most versatile directions in the field of quantum condensed matter physics. They allow an unprecedented control of electronic properties via stacking of different types of…
At sufficiently low temperatures, condensed-matter systems tend to develop order. An exception are quantum spin-liquids, where fluctuations prevent a transition to an ordered state down to the lowest temperatures. While such states are…
The spin ice materials, including Ho2Ti2O7 and Dy2Ti2O7, are rare earth pyrochlore magnets which, at low temperatures, enter a constrained paramagnetic state with an emergent gauge freedom. Remarkably, the spin ices provide one of very few…
Mott state in 1T-TaS2 is predicted to host quantum spin liquids (QSL). However, its insulating mechanism is controversial due to complications from interlayer coupling. Here, we study the Mott state in monolayer 1T-NbSe2, an electronic…
When a Mott metal-insulator transition is inhibited by a small amount of disorder in the layered dichalcogenide 1T-TaS$_2$, an inhomogeneous superconducting state arises below T=2.1 K, and coexists with a nearly-commensurate…
We study \textit{ab initio} a pyrochlore compound, CsW$_{2}$O$_{6}$, which exhibits a yet unexplained metal-insulator transition. We find that (1) the reported low-$T$ structure is likely inaccurate and the correct structure has a twice…
We show that the off-diagonal exchange anisotropy drives Mott insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling to a classical spin liquid regime, characterized by an infinite number of ground states and Ising variables living on closed or open…
Static electrical and magnetic properties of single crystal BaVS_3 were measured over the structural (T_S=240K), metal-insulator (T_MI=69K), and suspected orbital ordering (T_X=30K) transitions. The resistivity is almost isotropic both in…
Quantum spin liquids (QSLs), in which spins are highly entangled, have been considered a groundwork for generating exotic superconductivity.Despite numerous efforts, superconductivity emerging from QSLs has been unrealized in actual…
The unusual structure and symmetry of low-energy states in twisted transition metal dichalcogenides leads to large in-plane spin-exchange interactions between spin-valley locked holes. We demonstrate that this exchange interaction can…
Two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators (TIs) hold promise for applications in spintronics based on the fact that the propagation direction of edge electrons of a 2D TI is robustly linked to their spin origination. Here, with the use of…
In the quest for materials hosting Kitaev spin liquids, much of the efforts have been focused on the fourth- and fifth-row transition metal compounds, which are spin-orbit coupling assisted Mott insulators. Here, we study the structural and…
We have measured and analyzed the dielectric constant of the dimer Mott insulator $\kappa-$(BEDT-TTF)$_2$Cu$_2$(CN)$_3$, which is known as a playground for a spin-liquid state. Most unexpectedly, this particular organic salt has nontrivial…
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a class of widely studied 2D layered materials which exist in various polymorphs. The 1T' phase of MoTe2 is of prime importance as it has been reported to show quantum spin hall (QSH) behavior…
These introductory lecture notes describe recent results on novel Mott insulating phases which are "descendents" of superconductors - obtained by "quantum disordering". After a brief overview of quantum magnetism, attention is focussed on…