ND Energy Faculty Luncheon Seminars are held monthly with interested faculty to facilitate cross-disciplinary research collaborations and to enable development of proposal ideas for upcoming funding opportunities. All interested faculty from diverse fields are invited to attend.

The discussion topic for this luncheon will be centered around a presentation by Prof. Yi-Ting Hsu, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, on "Material Searches and Designs of Topological Superconductors."

This 35-40 minute talk will be followed by discussion with Prof. Hsu focused on (1) cross-disciplinary basic research needs, (2) potential avenues for external and internal collaborations, (3) funding sources to target, and if everyone is agreeable, (4) 'follow-up actions' that we can track. With all the faculty engaging in the discussion part of this luncheon after the talk, we expect to have a very stimulating and inspiring exchange of ideas.

For more information on the ND Energy Faculty Luncheon Seminars, contact Subhash L. Shinde at sshinde@nd.edu.

Abstract

Quantum phases of matter known as superconductors can transmit electrical current with zero resistance. While many metals in everyday life are known to become superconductors at ultra-low temperatures, a special kind of superconductors called ‘topological superconductors’ (Tsc) have attracted widespread attention in the past two decades for being predicted as promising platforms for fault-tolerant quantum computation. A key challenge in the field, however, has been the rareness of material realization of Tsc. 

In this talk, Prof. Hsu will discuss guiding principles for material designs of Tsc candidates as well as strategies for thorough searches in material databases, using approaches ranging from topology analyses, model building, to machine learning. She will also discuss explicit examples of predicted candidates in the family of transition metal dichalcogenides.

Biography

Prof. Hsu's research interests lie in theoretical studies of emergent phenomena in quantum many-body systems driven by intertwined symmetries, topology, and interactions. Her focus is to understand and characterize new phases of matter emerging from such systems, as well as to search for their realizations.   

Particular topics that Prof. Hsu is currently excited about (but not limited to): (1) topological phases protected by crystalline symmetries, (2) unconventional superconductivity, (3) correlated phases in van der Waals materials (including moire systems), (4) dynamical phases in isolated quantum systems, and (5) machine-learning application to condensed matter problems.