Measuring Quantum Geometrty

MIT physicists have directly measured the quantum geometry of electrons in solids for the first time, unlocking new insights into quantum materials. This breakthrough, achieved with ARPES, could advance quantum computing and materials science by revealing properties previously only theorized.

Work reveals new ways to understand and manipulate electrons in materials.

MIT physicists, in collaboration with colleagues, have measured the geometry—or shape—of electrons in solids at the quantum level for the first time. While scientists have long been able to measure the energies and velocities of electrons in crystalline materials, the quantum geometry of these systems has, until now, remained theoretical or, in some cases, completely elusive.

The work, recently published in Nature Physics, “opens new avenues for understanding and manipulating the quantum properties of materials,” says Riccardo Comin, MIT’s Class of 1947 Career Development Associate Professor of Physics and leader of the work.

“We’ve essentially developed a blueprint for obtaining some completely new information that couldn’t be obtained before,” says Comin, who is also affiliated with MIT’s Materials Research Laboratory and the Research Laboratory of Electronics. 

The work could be applied to “any kind of quantum material, not just the one we worked with,” says Mingu Kang, first author of the Nature Physics paper and a Kavli Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell’s Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics. Kang, MIT PhD 2023, conducted the work as a graduate student at MIT.   READ MORE...

Exploring Exotic States of Matter

Proximity is key for many quantum phenomena, as interactions between atoms are stronger when the particles are close. In many quantum simulators, scientists arrange atoms as close together as possible to explore exotic states of matter and build new quantum materials.


They typically do this by cooling the atoms to a standstill, then using laser light to position the particles as close as 500 nanometers apart—a limit that is set by the wavelength of light. Now, MIT physicists have developed a technique that allows them to arrange atoms in much closer proximity, down to a mere 50 nanometers. For context, a red blood cell is about 1,000 nanometers wide.


The physicists have demonstrated the new approach in experiments with dysprosium, which is the most magnetic atom in nature. They used the new approach to manipulate two layers of dysprosium atoms and positioned the layers precisely 50 nanometers apart. At this extreme proximity, the magnetic interactions were 1,000 times stronger than if the layers were separated by 500 nanometers.     READ MORE...