Thouless Institute
for Quantum Matter
Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle
20
th
century solidstatephysicsmade present information
technologies possible. Quantum matter research is now
poised to enable 21
st
century technologies, such as
quantuminformationprocessing.
NamedinhonorofProfessorEmeritusDavidThouless,recipientofthe2016NobelPrizeforPhysics,theTIQMwill
assembleworld-leadingexperimentalandtheoreticalscientistsdedicatedtoexploringthefundamentalpropertiesof
quantummatter.Ourshareddesireistosparkaquantumtechnologyrevolution.
New theoretical ideas concerning topology, symmetry
andmany-bodyinteractionsplayakeyrole.Progressin
quantum matter research rests on tight integration
betweentheoryandexperiment.
Excitonsinatwo-
dimensionalmagnet
Experimentondouble-
degeneratequantumfluids
Topological protection
Topology in Quantum Matter
The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded with one half to David J. Thouless,
and the other half to F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz.
TheChernnumberislikethe
numberofholesinasolidobject–
itcanonlybeaninteger.
The quantum Hall effect
InthequantumHalleffect,theconductanceis
topologicallyprotected:thenumberofedgechannels
isdictatedbytheChernnumbers.
Topological matter
Manyothertopologicalstatesofquantummatterhavesincebeen
discovered.Topologicalinsulatorshavetopologicallyprotected
surfacestatesthatcouldcarrycurrentorspinwithoutresistance.
Ina 2D topological insulator
thereareprotected1Dedge
modes,ratherlikeina
quantumHallconductorbut
withnomagneticfield.
QuantumHalleffectingraphene
(2010NobelPrize)
Theedgemodesarespin-
polarized,leadingtothe
quantum spin Hall effect.
Quantuminformationprocessingisplaguedby
“dephasing”noise.Topologicalpropertiescanbe
immunetonoise,offeringaroutetofault-tolerant
quantumcomputation.
Qubitsbasedon“Majoranastates”couldbe
topologicallyprotectedagainstdephasing.
TheNobellaureates’studiesoftwo-dimensional(2D)andone-dimensional(1D)
matterrevealedtheimportanceoftopologyinphysics,withfar-reaching
consequencesinthepresentday,forexampleinquantumcomputing.
AnanowireMajorana
device
(NielsBohrInstitute)
fromScienceNews
Novoselov&Geim2005
Kane&Mele,2007
Electrondensity(10
12
cm
-2
)
What is the TIQM?
TheTIQMwillbeacommunityoftheoreticaland
experimentalphysicistsengagedinquantum
matterresearchhousedintheDepartmentof
PhysicsatUW.Itwillhaveextensiveconnections
acrosslocalandglobalscientificcommunitiesand
beaffiliatedwithvisionarytechnologyfirmsinthe
PacificNorthwest.
WiththesuccessofBellLabsinmind,theTIQMwill
bedesignedtoprovideacollaborative
environmentthatpromoteseasyinteractionsand
free-flowingcollaborationsbetweentheoristsand
experimentalists,andtoencouragethefreedomof
inquiryneededforbreakthroughdiscoveries.With
afocusonprofoundquestionsinappliedphysics
andanexceptionalconcentrationofexpertise
spanningcurrentquantummatterscience,itwill
opennewdirectionsandpromoteinnovation.
TheTIQMwillbeaspecialintellectualresourcefor
thelocalSTEMcommunities,enhancingUW’srole
asaglobalscientifichubinthePacificNorthwest,
andinspiringtheregion’sstudentsanditspublic.
TIQMfacultywillworkextensivelywithstudents,
postdoctoralfellows,andcollaboratorsworldwide.
Keycomponentswillbeanamedpostdoctoral
researchfellowshipprogramsimilartothe
PappalardoFellowsatMITorMillerFellowsat
Berkeley;namedgraduatestudentfellowships;and
avisitorsprogram.
Why here and now?
TheUniversityofWashingtonispresentlyenlarging
itsworld-leadingquantummatterphysicsefforton
theexperimentalside.WiththeNobelPrizejust
awardedfortheoreticalwork,andtheinformation
technologyexplosioninthePugetSoundarea,now
isthetimetoact.
How will it be started?
ThemaintasksinbuildingtheTIQMwillbeto
expandthetheoreticalquantummatteractivity
andtolaunchtheaboveprograms.
Acombinationofuniversity,industrial,foundation,
andindividualsupportissought.Anendowmentof
$1MissufficienttolaunchtheInstitute,and$2M
createsavisitorprogramandpubliclectureseries.
$1.5Mcreatesanewjuniorfacultyposition.$10M
establishesthepostdoctoralfellowshipprogramin
perpetuity.$10Msupportsaprestigiousendowed
chairwithanaccompanyingresearchgroup.
2D Quantum Materials
2D valley semiconductors
2D heterostructures
ProposedMajorana
qubitina2D
heterostructure
2Dtopologicalinsulator
2D
magnet
2D
superconductor
2D
magnet
2D topological insulators
2D magnets
UWPhysicsleadsinkeyareasof2Dquantummaterials,whichlike
graphenecanexistasstable,atomicallythinsheets.
1layer
2layers
-1T
+1T
0
antiferromagnet
ferromagnet
Magneticfield
Kerrangle
2D superconductors
“Prof. Thouless’ work is a perfect example of why curiosity-
driven basic science is so vital. Not only did his discoveries open
up entirely new fields of research, but they also have had
implications for the electronic devices that power our world
today and those that may do so in the future—everything from
advanced superconductors to quantum computers to other
applications we can hardly imagine. That’s why research that
seeks to answer questions about the fundamental nature of our
world, our universe and ourselves is as important as research
with applications that are immediately known.”
Ana Mari Cauce
President, University of Washington – October 2016
For more information please contact David Cobden, cobden@uw.edu
David J. Thouless
Current quantum matter researchers
Experiment:BorisBlinov,Jiun-HawChu,DavidCobden,Kai-MeiFu,ArkaMajumdar,SubhadeepGupta,XiaodongXu
Theory:AntonAndreev,LukaszFidkowski(joinsin2017),MarceldenNijs,BorisSpivak,DavidThouless(emeritus)
Affiliates:MattHastings,MatthiasTroyer(MicrosoftResearch);ArkadyLevanyuk
Thouless Institute for Quantum Matter
DepartmentofPhysics,UniversityofWashington,Seattle