Nonequilibrium Complex Matter Studied on Elementary Time Scales

This research conference provides a forum for discussion of optically induced non-equilibrium dynamics and photoinduced phase transitions in cooperative condensed-matter systems. The main focus of the conference is on time-dependent properties of fundamental and quasi-particle excitations, induced solid-solid and solid-liquid phase transitions, electronic and magnetic switching phenomena, and ultrafast processes in nanoscale systems. The range of material systems to be considered is intentionally broad and diverse, but common features are shared in their underlying dynamics.

Ultrafast spectroscopy techniques provide the means to investigate these phenomena at the intrinsic timescales of their electronic and atomic motions, offering a unique view of the properties of cooperative systems of condensed matter. It is now possible to generate and detect femtosecond pulses across the THz, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, enabling advanced time-resolved spectroscopic investigations. Ultrafast electron diffraction and photoelectron emission provide complementary dynamical information to electromagnetic probes. The system following ultrafast excitation may be near equilibrium and undergoing relaxation described well in terms of coupling among its initial degrees of freedom, or may be far from equilibrium in metastable or unstable states with fundamentally different physical properties.

Typical topics include: Ultrafast quasi-particle dynamics in superconductors, colossal magneto-resistance materials, low-dimensional charge and spin density wave compounds, insulators, Kondo systems and heavy fermion compounds; time-domain studies of structural, electronic, and magnetic degrees of freedom and their corresponding excitations and interactions; optically induced magnetic, ferroelectric and multiferroic, metal-insulator, and solid-liquid phase transitions; ultrafast magnetic and electronic switching phenomena; correlation effects in excitonic systems; ultrafast few-particle and collective effects in solid-state nanosystems; ultrafast dynamics in novel quantum materials such as graphene or topological insulators; optical control over near and far-from-equilibrium dynamics.