In condensed matter physics, analysis of symmetries is a fundamental theoretical technique used to classify phases of matter, constrain effective Hamiltonians, and predict emergent phenomena independent of microscopic details. By identifying spatial (lattice, point-group, translational), internal (spin, gauge), and spacetime (time-reversal) symmetries and how they are represented on fields or quasiparticles, one can determine allowed terms in Ginzburg–Landau functionals, low-energy effective field theories, and band structures. Symmetry considerations underlie methods such as group-theoretical classification of order parameters, symmetry-based selection rules, topological band theory, and the systematic construction of symmetry-protected and symmetry-enriched phases in crystalline and strongly correlated systems.
Metal-to-insulator transition—a process that turns materials from a conductor to an insulator—has been a crucial process behind microelectronic switches, nonvolatile memory, and neuromorphic computing materials. In many cases, ...
Condensed Matter
Jan 11, 2024
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Nature keeps a few secrets. While plenty of structures with low symmetry are found in nature, scientists have been confined to high-symmetry designs when synthesizing colloidal crystals, a valuable type of nanomaterial used ...
Nanomaterials
Jan 13, 2022
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Although twisted sheets of double bilayer graphene have been studied extensively the past few years, there are still pieces missing in the puzzle that is its phase diagram—the different undisturbed, ground states of the system. ...
Nanophysics
Jan 6, 2022
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