Publications
Distinct tribological endotypes of pathological human synovial fluid reveal characteristic biomarkers and variation in efficacy of viscosupplementation at reducing local strains in articular cartilage
Objective: Viscosupplementation has been used for decades to treat mild to moderate osteoarthritis, yet it is unknown if the lubricating function of different pathological synovial fluids (SF) vary, or if they respond differentially to viscosupplementation.
How expectations of confirmation influence students' experimentation decisions in introductory labs
Many instructional physics labs are shifting to teach experimentation skills, rather than to demonstrate or confirm canonical physics phenomena. Our previous work found that many students engage in questionable research practices in attempts to confirm the canonical physics phenomena, even when confirmation is explicitly not the goal of the lab.
Ready student one: Exploring the predictors of student learning in virtual reality
Immersive virtual reality (VR) has enormous potential for education, but classroom resources are limited. Thus, it is important to identify whether and when VR provides sufficient advantages over other modes of learning to justify its deployment. In a between-subjects experiment, we compared three methods of teaching Moon phases (a hands-on activity, VR, and a desktop simulation) and measured student improvement on existing learning and attitudinal measures.
Simulation of Hubbard model physics in WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices
The Hubbard model, formulated by physicist John Hubbard in the 1960s1, is a simple theoretical model of interacting quantum particles in a lattice. The model is thought to capture the essential physics of high-temperature superconductors, magnetic insulators and other complex quantum many-body ground states2,3. Although the Hubbard model provides a greatly simplified representation of most real materials, it is nevertheless difficult to solve accurately except in the one-dimensional case2,3.
Origin of Strong Two-Magnon Scattering in Heavy-Metal/Ferromagnet/Oxide Heterostructures
We experimentally investigate the origin of two-magnon scattering (TMS) in heavy-metal (HM)/ferromagnet (FM)/oxide heterostructures (FM = Co, Ni81Fe19, or Fe60Co20B20) by varying the materials located above and below the FM layer. We show that strong TMS in HM/FM/oxide systems arises primarily at the HM/FM interface and increases with the strength of the interfacial spin-orbit coupling and magnetic roughness at this interface. TMS at the FM/oxide interface is relatively weak, even in systems where spin-orbit coupling at this interface generates strong interfacial magnetic anisotropy.
Dynamics of Bose-Einstein recondensation in higher bands
Motivated by recent experiments, we explore the kinetics of Bose-Einstein condensation in the upper band of a double-well optical lattice. These experiments engineer a nonequilibrium situation in which the highest energy state in the band is macroscopically occupied. The system subsequently relaxes and the condensate moves to the lowest energy state.
Intrinsic superconducting instabilities of a solvable model for an incoherent metal
We construct a family of translationally invariant lattice models with a large number (N) of orbitals at every site coupled together via single-electron tunneling. By tuning the relative strength of the electronic bandwidth and on-site interactions, which have a modified Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev form, we demonstrate a number of unusual features at strong coupling and in the large-N limit.
Quantum aspects of hydrodynamic transport from weak electron-impurity scattering
Recent experimental observations of apparently hydrodynamic electronic transport have generated much excitement. However, the understanding of the observed nonlocal transport (whirlpool) effects and parabolic (Poiseuille-like) current profiles has largely been motivated by a phenomenological analogy to classical fluids. This is due to difficulty in incorporating strong correlations in quantum mechanical calculation of transport, which has been the primary angle for interpreting the apparently hydrodynamic transport.
Two-dimensional magnetic monopole gas in an oxide heterostructure
Magnetic monopoles have been proposed as emergent quasiparticles in pyrochlore spin ice compounds. However, unlike semiconductors and two-dimensional electron gases where the charge degree of freedom can be actively controlled by chemical doping, interface modulation, and electrostatic gating, there is as of yet no analogue of these effects for emergent magnetic monopoles. To date, all experimental investigations have been limited to large ensembles comprised of equal numbers of monopoles and antimonopoles in bulk crystals.
Ab Initio Mismatched Interface Theory of Graphene on α-RuCl3: Doping and Magnetism
Recent developments in twisted and lattice-mismatched bilayers have revealed a rich phase space of van der Waals systems and generated excitement. Among these systems are heterobilayers, which can offer new opportunities to control van der Waals systems with strong in plane correlations such as spin-orbit-assisted Mott insulator α-RuCl3. Nevertheless, a theoretical ab initio framework for mismatched heterobilayers without even approximate periodicity is sorely lacking.