ICAM - I2CAM Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter

Welcome to ICAM-I2CAM

The Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter (ICAM-I2CAM) is a distributed experiment-based multi-institutional partnership whose purpose is to identify major new research themes in complex adaptive matter—the search for an understanding of emergent behavior in hard, soft, and living matter. Its open and dynamic scientific programs include exploratory workshops, frontiers symposia, fellowships and travel awards. Through its branches in the US, Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East and Australia, it nucleates and conducts collaborative research and scientific training that links together scientists in different fields and different institutions, and draws from chemical, physical and biological viewpoints on its research themes.

Its outreach and educational programs seek to convey to a broad cross-disciplinary audience an appreciation of the scientific excitement and challenges in carrying out the search for an understanding of emergent behavior in matter. ICAM is in the process of expanding its Emergent Universe Alliance into an international educational network whose projects include a virtual science museum, emergentuniverse.org, and SuperNet, a network of scientists, high school teachers and students who work together to develop new educational modules that bring the frontiers of quantum matter into the classroom.

ICAM-I2CAM Announcements & News

Fe-Pnictide and Related Superconductors, Nov 16-17, 2008, Univ. of Maryland

Organizers: Rick Greene (UMD), Laura Greene (U. Illinois), Johnpierre Paglione (UMD)

The recent discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in the Fe-based pnictide materials has led to a dramatic increase of world-wide research on these novel superconducting materials. This workshop will bring together a number of the leading researchers working in this area to review the status of the field. The workshop will focus on experimental work with theoretical overview talks. The workshop will feature a series of invited talks with ample time for open discussion and a poster session. A total of 40-60 participants are anticipated.

For more information, go to the workshop web page.

July 30th, 2008 | Posted in Exploratory Workshop, ICAM, News and Announcements, Events

Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Insulators, UC Santa Barbara, Dec 2008

December 8-19, 2008

At the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) in Santa Barbara, California

Coordinators: Leon Balents, Charles Kane, Laurens Molenkamp, Shoucheng Zhang

Search for topologically non-trivial states of matter has become an important goal for condensed matter physics. Recently, a new class of topological insulators has been proposed. These topological insulators have a bulk insulating gap, but have topologically protected edge states due to time-reversal symmetry. In two dimensions, the edge states give rise to the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect, where states with opposite spins counter-propagate at a given edge in the absence of any external magnetic field. Some basic signatures of the QSH effect has been observed experimentally in HgTe quantum wells. In three dimensions, the surface states of topological insulators contain an odd number of Dirac points, which can be observed in photo-emission experiments.

The objective of this workshop is to bring theorists and experimentalists together to discuss exciting topics in this rapidly developing field, including the search for new materials which display the QSH effect, possibly at room temperature; direct physical measurements of the topological response functions; transport properties of the helical edge states; topological Mott insulators; many-body classification of topological insulators; critical properties of QSH phase transitions; transport properties of the 3D surface states; proximity effects between the QSH insulator to superconductors; and possible realization of QSH states in cold atom systems.

This workshop will primarily be organized around short talks leading to extended discussions, with only a few longer talks reserved for an overview or new, unpublished results. There will be ample time for thorough discussion, including some smaller, focus-group discussions. Strong preference will be given to applicants who can stay the full two weeks, although exceptions can be made for experimentalists.

July 30th, 2008 | Posted in Exploratory Workshop, ICAM, News and Announcements, Events