Kinetic Energy Frustration: A New Paradigm for Correlated Metals
Cristian Batista
University of Tennessee
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
2:30 p.m.
In-person: QNC 1201
Abstract: Since Anderson's seminal proposal of a resonating valence bond (RVB) ground state in triangular Heisenberg magnets, geometric frustration has become a key paradigm in modern physics, driving the discovery of novel states of matter in quantum magnets. Its application to the exchange interactions governing the physics of Mott insulators has uncovered a wealth of emergent phenomena, which have been a central focus of this conference series. In a more recent seminal work, Jan Haerter and Sriram Shastry demonstrated that kinetic energy frustration gives rise to effective antiferromagnetic interactions in slightly doped triangular Mott insulators. I will argue that this result represents just the tip of an iceberg of emergent phenomena, encompassing polaron physics, unconventional pairing, and metallic RVB spin liquids exhibiting spin-charge separation—all driven by kinetic energy frustration. Moreover, we will explore how the metallic RVB liquid induced by this “counter-Nagaoka” effect emerges as an exact ground state in slightly doped Mott insulators on corner-sharing tetrahedral lattices.
View the full Fall Quantum Matters seminar schedule: Anton Burkov's website - Quantum Matter Seminars