The Physics Colloquium aims at bringing the students and faculty from all five Departmental Sections (condensed matter physics, astrophysics, nuclear and particle physics, environmental physics, and electronic physics) into contact with renowned researchers who present the newest scientific developments in physics.
Date: 10/2/2026
Speaker: Prof. Efthimios Kaxiras
Harvard University, USA
Τitle: Twistronics: the unconventional behavior of electrons in two-dimensional materials with a twist
Abstract : In the past few years, the field of twisted multilayer graphene and other two-dimensional layered materials, including families of insulators and semiconductors, has blossomed to the point of being referred with by a new term, “Twistronics”. New structures, including multi-layers of successively twisted single layers, mixed layers, and multilayers of multilayers, are being studied experimentally and revealing ever richer behavior.
We discuss theoretical investigations of some representative systems, starting with the iconic twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG) near the so-called magic angle. Our work is based on first-principles calculations including full relaxation of atomistic degrees of freedom, from which simpler effective Hamiltonian models can be derived to describe the emergent phenomena. We focus on the realistic representation of single-particle states and how those can be employed in studying many-body physics related to Mott insulator behavior, superconductivity and other manifestations of correlated electronic states.
Location: Department Conference Room (1st floor) at 14:00
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Link for atending the talk: https://uoa.webex.com/uoa/j.php?MTID=mc4e7af6cda5979bbb6683620bfc78ba7
Meeting number: 2788 231 3727
Password: hAD9TqCXi29
Abstract (with images) and speaker's short CV
