Condensed Matter Theory

The theorist’s toolbox has always included a pencil and paper, but over the past few decades computer programs have become increasingly important supplements to traditional methods of calculation. Our efforts have been primarily addressed to computationally intensive numerical studies of simple models relevant to physical systems in which disorder and/or quantum fluctuations play a central role. Such systems have included some of the most exciting recent developments in condensed matter physics: superconducting fullerides (compounds containing “buckyballs”), quantum antiferromagnets (most notably in the context of high temperature superconductivity), and the quantum Hall effect. The relevant models are often simple to formulate, but to solve them in any sense is a challenge.

My present interests are mostly in the areas of semiconductor nanostructures and magnetic flux patterns in “old-fashioned” (low temperature) superconductors.

Selected Publications

• M P Gelfand and R M Bradley, “Highly ordered nanoscale patterns produced by masked ion bombardment of a moving solid surface,” Phys. Rev. B 86, 121406(R)(5) (2012).
• D P Shepherd, K J Whitcomb, K K Milligan, P M Goodwin, M P Gelfand, and A Van Orden, “Fluorescence Intermittency and Energy Transfer in Small Clusters of Semiconductor Quantum Dots,” J. Phys. Chem. C 114, 14831(7) (2010).
• M C Sweeney and M P Gelfand, “Simple vortex states in films of type-I Ginzburg-Landau superconductor,” Phys. Rev. B 82, 214508(13) (2010).
• D G Steffen and M P Gelfand, “Longitudinal and Hall conductances in model alkali fullerides A₃C₆₀,” Phys. Rev. B 69, 115109(9) (2004).
• D J Priour, M P Gelfand, and S L Sondhi, “Disorder from disorder in a strongly frustrated transverse-field Ising chain,” Phys. Rev. B 64, 134424(7) (2001).
• M P Gelfand and R R P Singh, “High Order Convergent Expansions for Quantum Many Particle Systems,” Adv. in Phys. 49, 93 (2000).
• Z-P Shi, R R P Singh, M P Gelfand, and Z Wang, “Phase Transitions in the Symmetric Kondo Lattice Model in Two and Three Dimensions,” Phys. Rev. B 51, 15630 (1995).