Quantum Cafe: Martin Mourigal

Title: Frustrated Quantum Magnetics and the Quest for Spin-Liquids

Abstract: Mott insulators are prototypical quantum materials. They often host magnetic phases and excitations of great fundamental interest. In spin-liquids, correlated yet fluctuating states of magnetic matter, exotic behavior can be stabilized by materials ingredients such as dimensionality, geometrical frustration, spin-orbit coupling, disorder or their combination. In this talk, I will describe how neutron scattering quantitatively probes magnetic correlations and dynamics in crystalline matter. I will present recent examples of triangular, kagome, and pyrochlore materials with unusual low-temperature properties and discuss how the combination of computer modeling and scattering can elucidate their microscopic collective behavior.