Jorn Vanderbos - Drexel University

Wednesday 30 Apr 2025, 08:00 → 19:15 US/Eastern

IAMM

Professor Venderbos heads the Quantum Condensed Matter Theory group focused on the study of quantum materials, with an emphasis on topological materials and unconventional ordering phenomena. His research is aimed at understanding the fundamental properties of novel quantum materials, predicting and designing new materials for applications in quantum information science, and developing tools to describe the collective behavior of correlated electron systems. His research is motivated by the goal of using the central pillars of quantum physics as a resource for materials science and engineering. To this end, the Quantum Condensed Matter Theory group maintains close connections with experimental groups, both in solid state physics and materials science.

Professor Venderbos joined the Drexel faculty in 2019 and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Physics (CoAS) and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (CoE). Prior to joining Drexel he was a postdoctoral research associate, first at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was partially supported by a Rubicon Fellowship, and subsequently at the University of Pennsylvania.

https://drexel.edu/engineering/about/faculty-staff/V/venderbos-jorn/

08:30 → 09:00 Cristian Batista. Pick up at hotel

Travel to IAMM.

09:00 → 10:00 Cristian Batista

10:00 → 10:20 Talk Prep

10:20 → 11:20 Seminar: Topological magnetoelectric effects in two-dimensional magnets

The study of magnetoelectric effects in solids has drawn extraordinary interest not only from a fundamental perspective, but also from the standpoint of applications. Since efficient control of magnetism with electric probes is highly desirable, materials exhibiting a strong magnetoelectric response properties are at the forefront of quantum materials research. This talk will discuss the prediction of new types of linear magnetoelectric effects in special classes of two-dimensional inversion-breaking antiferromagnets, which manifest as electronic charge polarization induced by in-plane magnetic fields, or an orbital magnetization induced by a perpendicular electric displacement field. In particular the latter effect, i.e., the ability to control and switch magnetization by applying electric fields, suggests promising applications in the very active field of two-dimensional bilayer or few-layer materials.
A key finding this talk will emphasize is that the corresponding the magnetoelectric polarizabilities (i.e., the magnetoelectric response coefficients) include a piece which originates from quantum geometry. This topological contribution is reminiscent of the (quantized) magnetoelectric polarizability of three-dimensional topological insulators, in which case it encodes the strong Z2 topology. In the case of two-dimensional magnets, it can be traced back to the (quasi-)topological electromagnetic response of 2D Dirac semimetals, suggesting a generalization of topological magnetoelectric effects to two dimensions. A connection with materials will be made by calculating the magnetoelectric polarizability in minimal microscopic models motivated by experimentally available material families of current interest.

Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-SC0025632.

11:30 → 12:00 Research Meeting

Speaker: Steve Johnston (University of Tennessee)

12:00 → 13:30 Lunch

13:30 → 14:00 Meeting

14:00 → 14:30 Research Meeting

Speaker: Ruixing Zhang (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee Knoxville)

14:30 → 15:00 Research Meeting

Speaker: Prof. Adrian Del Maestro (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)

15:00 → 15:30 Angkun Wu

15:30 → 16:00 Research Meeting

16:00 → 16:30 Research Meeting

16:30 → 17:00 Research Meeting

Speaker: Yang Zhang

17:00 → 17:30 Research Meeting

17:45 → 19:15 Dinner

Yang, Steve