The remarkable properties of electrons moving through crystalline lattices continue to surprise us. Recently, electrons in artificial moiré lattices have emerged as an extraordinary new platform. The simplest such moiré material consists of a pair of graphene sheets twisted relative to one another. At a “magic” angle of about 1 degree, a variety of phenomena, including strong-coupling superconductivity, and the quantum Hall effect are observed. In this talk, I will review this rapidly moving field and describe our theoretical ideas that invoke the geometry of quantum states and topological textures like skyrmions. Finally, I will explain how these insights indicate a promising new family of moiré materials, which is currently under active experimental study.
Host: R. Shankar (r.shankar@yale.edu)