About this site – Strong Correlations

My name is Jorge Quintanilla – welcome to my research blog. I am a Senior Lecturer in Condensed Matter Theory at the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kent, and a member of the Physics of Quantum Materials Research Group.

Perspective view of the LaNiC2 crystal structure — The non-centrosymmetric crystal structure of LaNiC2. When cooled below 2.7K, this material enters an unusual superconducting state that breaks time-reversal symmetry.

I am a theorist trying to understand strongly-correlated electron systems (SCES), that is, materials whose behaviour cannot be understood in terms of simple, independent-electron approximations. Usually this involves building up simple models that capture the essential features of the problem, leaving out unnecessary details, and then solving this model either on the computer or analytically, if practicable. My work in this area benefits from our ties with experimental groups worldwide that produce interesting data calling for an explanation. I work also closely with many experimental groups, and have specially strong links with the ISIS neutron and muon source, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Current themes spanned by my research include unconventional superconductors, topological transitions and excitations, quantum magnets, optical lattices, and quantum entanglement. Occassionally I also tackle problems within the broader are of complex systems but outside SCES research, e.g. the statistical physics of networks.

This site was originally the main website for my research group. More recently I have joined forces with a few other academics to form the Physics of Quantum Materials group. Follow that link for news about publications, events, vacancies, and so on and to find out who are the members of the group, who funds us, etc. A lot of the older posts on the site you are reading (before the creation of the PQM group) are of that nature. Nowadays I treat it more as my personal blog where I post mostly commentary and reflections related to Condensed Matter Physics.