Quantum Optics Meets Correlated Electronic States by Prof Mohammad Hafezi

Join us at this talk by Prof Mohammad Hafezi from the University of Maryland. This talk is organised as part of the IAS Frontiers Seminars: Quantum Horizons, jointly supported by the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) and School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS).

About the talk

Given tremendous progress in controlling individual photons and other excitations such as spin, excitonic, phononic in solid-state systems, it is intriguing to explore whether these quantum optical control techniques could pave a radically new way to prepare, detect and manipulate non-local and correlated electronic states. First, we discuss how optical probes can reveal various aspects of magnetism in 2D materials. In particular, we report the first observation of quantum anomalous Hall states in twisted bilayer WSe₂, made possible by optically measuring the average magnetization ⟨S⟩. Next, we explain how one can access higher-order observables such as ⟨S·S⟩ and ⟨S·(S×S)⟩ by measuring higher-order correlations of scattered photons. Such an approach could enable unambiguous detection of chiral spin liquids. Finally, inspired by progress in cold atom systems, we introduce a method to optically engineer magnetic Hamiltonians, such as a generalized Heisenberg model.

About the speaker

Mohammad Hafezi is a Minta Martin Professor with a joint appointment in the Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments at the University of Maryland and a fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute. He studied at Sharif University before completing his undergraduate degree in École Polytechnique. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 2009. His research interests include quantum optics, topological physics, condensed matter, and quantum information sciences. He is the recipient of several awards including the Sloan Fellowship, the Young Investigator Award of the US Naval Research Office, Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, and the Simons Foundation Investigator. 

This seminar is part of our series, the IAS Frontiers Seminars: Quantum Horizons. The exciting seminars in this series are:

📅 8 Sep – Prof Shuyun Zhou (Tsinghua University)
📅 6 Oct – Prof Paul Skrzypczyk (University of Bristol)
📅 3 Nov – Prof Mohammad Hafezi (University of Maryland)
📅 1 Dec – Prof Alberto Morpurgo (University of Geneva) - Upcoming

Find out more about these seminars here.