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Final PhD Oral Exam, Public Seminar - Emily Zhang

Dynamical Signatures of Exotic Phases in Frustrated Honeycomb Magnets

Magnets, how do they work? We have a robust understanding of conventional magnetic orders using the framework of Landau’s theory of symmetry breaking. Yet, adding a degree of complexity known as frustration – systems with competing interactions that cannot be simultaneously satisfied – opens the door to entirely new realms of behaviour. Combined with a high degree of quantum entanglement, frustration gives rise to the quantum spin liquid (QSL) – a phase that evades magnetic ordering down to zero temperature. In my PhD, I investigated various dynamical responses of frustrated magnets with the motivation of detecting QSLs in experiments. Using numerical simulations, I clarified the responses stemming from magnetically ordered versus QSL states in heat transport, inelastic neutron scattering, and nonlinear optical spectroscopy measurements. Join me on my frustrating PhD journey (the magnetic kind) to learn more!

Host: Yong-Baek Kim
Event series  Graduate Research Seminars