Topological Spin Textures in Magnets
| Date/Time: | Monday, 25 Sep 2017 from 4:10 pm to 5:00 pm |
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| Location: | Phys 0003 |
| Phone: | 515-294-5441 |
| Channel: | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Actions: | Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder |
Skyrmions are topological solitons that first arose in high-energy physics. In recent years, through a series of beautiful experimental developments, they have become of great relevance to various condensed matter systems, particularly chiral magnetic materials. In this colloquium, I will begin with a pedagogical introduction to skyrmions and explain how these topological spin textures arise in magnets with spin-orbit coupling and broken inversion symmetry. I will then describe the unusual properties of skyrmions and their potential for applications. I will conclude with some of our recent theoretical predictions on how the stability of skyrmion phases can be greatly enhanced by tuning material parameters and geometry.
Bio: Mohit Randeria, Professor of Physics at The Ohio State University, is a condensed matter theorist who has worked on a range of topics including strong correlations and superconductivity, magnetism in oxides, angle-resolved photoemission, and ultra-cold atomic gases. His education was at IIT Delhi, Caltech and Cornell, where he received his PhD. He was awarded the 2002 ICTP Prize for Condensed Matter Physics. For more information, please visit his website at http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~randeria/.