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Project leader: L. Forró (EPFL)
Participating members: Ph. Aebi (UniFR), L. Degiorgi (ETHZ), Ø. Fischer (UniGE), L. Forró (EPFL), M. Grioni (EPFL), T. Giamarchi (UniGE), F. Mila (EPFL), H.-R. Ott (ETHZ), H. M. Rønnow (EPFL).

Summary

The leitmotif for this project is based on the fact that low-dimensional systems have features which are absent or less expressed in 3D materials, such as spin-charge separation or strong fluctuations. Using state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical methods available in our research pool, we wish to contribute to a better understanding of compounds with reduced dimensionality (1D and 2D). We will address especially the manifestation and consequences of spin-charge separation in 1D, the role of lowdimensional fluctuations, inter-chain and inter-plane couplings and the specifics of the strong electronelectron, electron-phonon and spin interactions, and last but not least the role of disorder. Materials which show superconducting, charge, orbital and magnetic ordering will be in the focus of our interest. Besides understanding their fundamental aspects, we wish to learn how one can tune a desired response of these systems with external parameters, such as electric field, pressure or magnetic field, having in mind possible applications. We suspect that this tuning is much easier to achieve for low-dimensional structures than for 3D materials.