Fractons, as a new type of exotic quasiparticle, have attracted immense attention due to their unique properties. Here, we construct a connection between fractons and polarons. We derive microscopic situations in which polarons and their two-body bound states, known as bipolarons, map exactly on to fractons and their two-body counterparts, dipoles. Highlighted as Editor's Suggestion.
Frustrated fractons: Fractons, a new type of quasiparticles, have attracted attention due to their unusual mobility constraints. But, where can we find fractons in the lab? We show that frustration of the background due to hole motion in hole-doped antiferromagnets produces fractonic quasiparticles.
Rydberg Fermi polaron? We show that an atom excited to a Rydberg state in an atomic Fermi gas realizes an exotic state, dubbed Rydberg Fermi superpolaron, in which the Rydberg atom encircles the background atoms in the space between its nucleus and it Rydberg electron, and the Pauli principle manifests as a rotional blockade to excitations. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rydberg_polaron for more information about Rydberg polarons.
I actively engage in the study of quantum mechanics of large ensembles of particles in condensed systems, collectively refered to as quantum matter. This includes quantum materials composed of atomic, molecular or organic constituents, chemical systems such as molecules, and cold atomic or molecular gases. I use first-principle modeling of experiments as a starting point, which often requires _ab initio_ methods to characterize the system's electronic structure. This is combined with many-body approaches to study emergent quantum states. My goal is to discover new emergent quantum behavior in fundamental models of correlated systems and in technologically promising platforms.
Bipolarons shed off extra weight: Normally two polarons form a bipolaron by increasing their net potential energy. As a result, the two polarons tend to remain spatially close to each other, and the bipolaron becomes heavy. Here, we show that polarons can bind by increasing their kinetic energy, leading to light bipolarons and a possible new mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity.
Quantum mechanics freezes a hot plasma: We show that Rydberg molecules in a quenched molecular plasma interfere to form a stable long-lived localized state. Randomness in the Rydberg plasma acts decisively to freeze the dynamics of Rydberg excitations in a process suggestive of many-body localization, explaining recent experimental observations.