Suchitra Sebastian

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Research Interests

My chief area of interest is Correlated Electron systems. Physics is the art of exploring the unknown, a quest to discover the mysterious working of the universe. Condensed matter systems often exhibit some of the most puzzling and exotic phenomenon in physics - for example magnetism, superconductivity and superfluidity arise from the co-operative behaviour of a thermodynamic ensemble of ${10}^{\mathrm{^23}}$ atoms in an atomic mass of matter. Given the large number of constituent particles in these systems, however - new behaviours are unlikely to be predicted using theoretical models, rather appearing as unexpected experimental discoveries. At low temperatures, the quantum nature of matter becomes apparent, making conditions particularly favourable for collective phenomenon - the experimental exploration of this region of phase space is therefore particularly appealing. The search for new physical phenomenon in the vicinity of an absolute zero temperature phase transition (quantum critical point) is my current area of interest. I explore phase space in novel materials using high magnetic fields and pressure techniques, and study their thermodynamic properties using primarily magnetisation measurements. Current experiments involve Mott insulating systems (spin-dimer materials such as BaCu${\mathrm{Si}}_2$$O_6$- Han Purple) described by bosonic statistics, and f-electron systems (antiferromagnetic metals such as Ce${\mathrm{In}}_3$) that involve fermionic degrees of freedom.

Career History

1995: BSc (Physics), Women’s Christian College, Madras University, India

1997: MBA, Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), India

1997-2000: Management Consultant, Tata Strategic Management Group, India

Summer 2000: Visiting Research Fellowship at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India

2002: MS (Applied Physics), Stanford University

2003 - 2006: Harvey Fellow (fellowship awarded by Mustard Seed Foundation)

April 2006: PhD (Applied Physics), Stanford University: ‘Bose-Einstein condensation in spin-dimer compounds’

May 2006: Trinity Junior Research Fellow (Physics), Quantum Matter Group, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, U.K

2007: Lee-Osheroff-Richardson prize (awarded by Oxford Instruments)

2007 - 2009: ICAM postdoctoral fellowship (awarded by Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter)

Selected Publications

“Fermi surface of CeIn3 above the Néel critical field”, Physical Review Letters (2007): N. Harrison, S. E. Sebastian, C. H. Mielke, A. Paris ,M. J. Gordon, C. A. Swenson, D. G. Rickel, M. D. Pacheco, P. F. Ruminer, J. B. Schillig, J. R. Sims, A. H. Lacerda, M. -T. Suzuki, H. Harima, T.Ebihara

“Dimensional reduction at a quantum critical point”, Nature 441, 617 (2006): S. E. Sebastian, N. Harrison, C. D. Batista, L. Balicas, M. Jaime, P. A. Sharma, N. Kawashima, I.R. Fisher

“Comment on Bose-Einstein Condensation of Magnons in ${\mathrm{Cs}}_2$Cu${\mathrm{Cl}}_4$”, Physical Review Letters 96, 189703 (2006): S. E. Sebastian, V. S. Zapf, N. Harrison, C. D. Batista, P. A. Sharma, M. Jaime, I. R. Fisher & A. Lacerda

“Scanning Hall probe imaging of Er${\mathrm{Ni}}_2{B}_2$C”, Physical Review B 73, 014514 (2006): H. Bluhm, S. E. Sebastian, J. W. Guikema, I. R. Fisher, and K. A. Moler

“Characteristic BEC scaling near Quantum Critical Point in BaCu${\mathrm{Si}}_2{O}_6$”, Physical Review B 72, 100404(R) (2005): S. E. Sebastian, P. A. Sharma, M. Jaime, N. Harrison, V. Correa, L. Balicas, N. Kawashima, C. D. Batista, I.R. Fisher

“High Field Behavior of the Spin Gap Compound ${\mathrm{Sr}}_2$Cu(B$O_3$${)}_2$”, Physical Review B 71, 212405 (2005): Suchitra E. Sebastian, D. Yin, P. Tanedo, G.A. Jorge, N. Harrison, M. Jaime, Y. Mozharivskvj, G. Miller, J. Krzystek, S. A. Zvyagin, I.R. Fisher

“Microwave conductivity and penetration depth in the heavy fermion superconductor CeCo${\mathrm{In}}_5$”, Physical Review Letters 88(4), 7005 (2002): R. J. Ormeno, A. Sibley, C. E. Gough, S. Sebastian, I.R. Fisher

 

 

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