WISE Guest Professor Lecture: Professor Ganpati Ramanath & Professor Mikhail Katsnelson

We are pleased to welcome Professor Ganpati Ramanath, WISE Guest Professor at Uppsala University and Professor Mikhail Katsnelson, WISE Guest Professor at Uppsala University.

Professor Mikhail Katsnelson: From quantum many-body physics to materials and sustainability.

In condensed matter physics and materials science, the fundamental laws are known. We believe that the basic equations of quantum mechanics and electrodynamics are in principle sufficient to describe all physical and chemical properties in the world around us. However, their practical applications face enormous difficulties, due to essentially many-body characters of electronic subsystem in any material. Unavoidably, some approximations should be made in their theoretical description. In particular, we should map the many-body problems to an auxiliary single-body problem in an effective medium, via so called ‘density functionals’ and “Green’s function functionals’. Looking, at a superficial view, very abstract and formal, in some cases these concepts allow us to trace the whole way from fundamental laws of quantum physics to explanation and, more importantly, prediction of a very broad circle of properties of a very broad circle of materials. I will focus mostly on optical properties, from quantitative theory of colors in transition metal compounds to new types of electromagnetic waves in quasi-two-dimensional materials, and on magnetism where our approaches can be used, in combination with machine learning tools, for the search of novel magnetic materials with desirable properties. Even mechanical properties such as strength and plasticity, despite being much farther from basic quantum laws, can be analyzed from these positions. As an example, I will show theoretical results on properties of steel, including a qualitative explanation of pearlite formation.

Professor Ganpati Ramanath: Molecular design of inorganic nanomaterials and interfaces for sustainable energy and electronics.

I will present highlights from our prior works on nanomaterials discovery and engineering interfaces for sustainable energy and electronics, followed by glimpses of our ongoing work through WISE. I will briefly describe the use of molecularly-directed strategies nanostructuring and doping to disentangle unfavorably coupled properties and obtain multifold increases in high-figure-of-merit thermoelectric nanomaterials. I will then discuss our pioneering use of organic molecular nanolayers (MNLs) to tailor the stability and multiple properties of inorganic interfaces. Example property enhancements include unprecedented multifold improvements in fracture toughness, and thermal and electronic transport. I will conclude with glimpses from ongoing WISE-supported activities on accessing emergent optoacoustic phenomena in organic/inorganic multilayers via superposition of MNL effects, MNL-induced alteration nanofilm morphology for electronics device wiring, van der Waals epitaxy and flexible thermoelectric devices.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Please register to the event here.