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Date:

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Time:

Thursday, 13. Nov. 2025

Video-Recording for any system with MP4-support

- Video.mp4 (ca. 388 Mb)

15:15 – 16:15

"Simulating Hubbard model physics in moiré semiconductors"

Speaker: Prof. Kin Fai Mak

(Cornell University)

Abstract:

The strong Coulomb interactions between many electrons in solids can induce

many fascinating phenomena, such as magnetism, high-temperature superconductivity,

and electron fractionalization. In 1963, physicists developed a model, known as

the Hubbard model, to describe such interactions in a highly simplified manner.

The deceptively simple model is, however, difficult to solve accurately even with

modern-day supercomputers. The physical realizations and thus simulations of

the Hubbard model therefore have a vital role to play in solving this important

problem. Moiré materials, metamaterials built on artificial “moiré atoms”, have

emerged as a promising Hubbard model simulator in recent years. In this talk,

I will discuss recent efforts on simulating the Hubbard model in moiré semiconductors,

with a particular focus on the problem of high-temperature superconductivity.

About the Speaker:

Kin Fai Mak obtained a PhD in physics from Columbia University in 2010 after

completing a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Hong Kong University of

Science and Technology in 2005. He is currently the Josephson Family Professor

in Cornell University and also, since 2014, a scientific member and director of

Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Germany.

He is the recipient of many awards and honors including PRISM -Prize of the

Institute of Structure of Matter, ISM-CNR - Senior category (2025), Gordon and

Betty Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigators Award (2022),

Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award (2021), and many more. His fields of

expertise include two-dimensional quantum materials and heterostructures,

Spectroscopy, Exciton physics, Strong correlation physics, Berry curvature effects

on optical and electrical phenomena, Magnetism, and Unconventional superconductivity.