Open lecture: Relativistic Physics, Geometry and Topology in New Chiral Materials

These lectures will survey research triggered by recent discovery of chiral materials such as Dirac and Weyl semimetals, which have defined a new paradigm in nanoscience. The unique properties of these materials, including high carrier mobility and unusual band structures that support chiral transport, enable new directions for device engineering and have the potential to radically transform the performance of electronic devices. Remarkably, the displayed quantum phenomena persist at room temperature, changing the rules for signal processing and opening the way for quantum electronics. The prominence of quantum effects and their new paradigmatic role manifest in new mechanisms of carrier transport as well as in new striking collective phenomena that have no analogs in the conventional materials. In these lectures, our first goal will be to discuss the concepts of particle theory and condensed matter theory relevant for these systems. Our second goal will be to provide a gentle introduction to methods of quantized fields and their applications in many-body physics. We shall try to emphasize the physical and visualizable aspects of the subject. While the lectures are intended for students with a wide range of interests, many examples will be drawn from condensed matter physics and particle physics. 

Dmitri Kharzeev will be presenting:

1) "Chirality, magnetic field and chiral anomaly: an introduction"

2) "Chiral magnetic effect and anomaly-induced transport in Dirac and Weyl semimetals"

3) "Chirality and light: photonics and optoelectronics based on chiral materials"

 Leonid Levitov will be presenting:

1) "Berry phase, topological bands and valley hall effect in graphene"

2) "Special relativity, Lorentz boosts and Quantum electrodynamics in Dirac materials"

3) "Atomic collapse in graphene"

Map and directions:  http://ium.mccme.ru/english/mccme-e...