Special Colloquium, May 6, 2004

New Phases in Disordered Quantum Systems

Nandini Trivedi

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Mumbai, India

Disorder, often thought to be a nuisance, can in fact be responsible for fundamental physics: precise quantization of the Hall resistance; zero resistance state in type II superconductors; and localized insulators. I will first review theory and experiment in Bose and Fermi systems showing the role of disorder in generating new phases and quantum phase transitions. I will then describe recent work where we show how interaction and disorder effects compete in two dimensional electronic systems to generate an unexpected metallic phase.

1:30 p.m., Smith Laboratory, Room 1094

Refreshments served in Smith 1094 at 1:00 p.m.