Ferrons and Magnons: friends or foes?

Ferromagnets/Ferroelectrics are materials in which magnetic/electric dipoles spontaneously align below an often high critical temperature. Applied magnetic/electric fields switch this order in devices such as MRAM/EPROM non-volatile memories. Magneto/electro-caloric cooling applications employ the entropy changes associated with the dipolar order. Both material classes are useful in electronics as inductors/capacitors.

“Magnonics” is a subfield of magnetism that studies spin waves, the excitations of the magnetic order that are quantized into “magnons”. A community that studies polarization waves or “ferrons” in ferroelectrics does not exist yet.
This interdisciplinary workshop brings together researchers actively interested in the excitations of the magnetic and ferroelectric orders, magnons and ferrons, respectively, motivated by recent seminal experimental results that both confirm and challenge existing theories of ferron excitations.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

Young Research Leaders Group Workshop: Transport and transfer of angular momentum: magnons, chiral phonons and beyond

The manipulation of angular momentum (AM) has been a cornerstone of the field of spintronics. Where initial developments were focussed on electrically driven spin currents, in recent years the field of spintronics has been broadened to include a wide family of quasiparticles: magnons, orbitals, photons, and phonons. This diversity provides a broad and promising platform for investigating the mechanisms of AM transport and exchange, as well as realizing functional devices. In this workshop, we aim to connect these different fields, to develop new insights in how to effectively transport and transfer angular momentum.

This workshop will bring together experimental and theoretical perspectives to examine recent advances in the manipulation and detection of angular momentum. Through presentations and open discussion, we will explore emerging approaches, identify key challenges, and outline potential directions for future research.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

Quantum materials and quantum information science

Quantum materials and quantum information science are rapidly growing frontiers of modern fundamental physics. In quantum materials, recent studies have uncovered a wide array of macroscopic quantum phases, including unconventional superconductivity, Wigner insulators, orbital magnetism and topological orders. These phases are manifestation of spontaneous quantum coherence and entanglement between many electrons in the solids. Meanwhile, quantum information science has witnessed remarkable breakthroughs in quantum computing and quantum sensing across various physical platforms. Despite their rapid progress, the two fields have largely developed independently, suggesting exciting opportunities for synergy. Can we use qubits as novel probes to measure long-range many-body quantum entanglement in solids? Can we harness the collective quantum coherence and entanglement of correlated phases to design new types of qubits or quantum sensors? By bringing together leading experts from both communities, this workshop aims to explore the interface between quantum materials and quantum information science, fostering transformative ideas to address some of the most pressing open questions in both fields.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.

Unconventional Superconductors and Magnets

Unconventional superconductors are materials that exhibit superconductivity beyond the framework of BCS or Migdal–Eliashberg theories, often characterized by novel broken symmetries in addition to the usual U(1) gauge symmetry breaking. A parallel development has recently emerged in magnetism with the discovery of altermagnets—materials with collinear but compensated magnetic order that defy classification as either conventional ferromagnets or antiferromagnets. Together, these phenomena highlight some of the most exciting frontiers in quantum materials research, offering both fundamental challenges and promising pathways toward future quantum technologies.

This workshop will bring together leading experimentalists and theorists to discuss the latest developments in unconventional superconductors and magnets across a broad range of materials platforms. Topics will span the synthesis and discovery of new superconducting and magnetic systems, strategies for designing, manipulating, and amplifying the desired orders, and the development of next-generation experimental probes and theoretical frameworks. By fostering open dialogue between communities, the workshop aims to identify unifying principles, sharpen key scientific questions and accelerate progress in understanding and controlling these remarkable states of matter.

For videos of the talks and further information, please visit the workshop home page.