Fermi-surface topology and emergence of novel electronic states in strongly correlated systems – Fermi-NESt

The project is dedicated to the study of the Fermi-surface topology and its interplay with quantum phase transitions in strongly correlated electronic systems. Complementary theoretical calculations will be performed invoking both first-principles-based electronic structure and Kondo-like model Hamiltonians. A rich diversity of Fermi-surface instabilities will result in various critical phenomena. In particular, we will investigate Lifshitz transitions and metal to Mott or Kondo insulator transitions which are conceivably associated with unconventional orders (magnetic, orbital, charge, spin-liquid, or hidden orders, Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state). High-quality crystals of f-electron compounds and organic materials will be studied under extreme conditions of very low temperature, high magnetic field and pressure, e.g., by specific-heat measurements, torque magnetometry and Raman spectroscopy. Fermi-surfaces will be studied by de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) and Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) quantum oscillations and high-resolution Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectrocopy (ARPES). One of our scientific ambitions is to provide a classification of Fermi-surface instabilities within a coherent experimental and theoretical analysis.