Aavishkar Patel (Flatiron Institute)
Strange Metals: Strongly Correlated Quantum Matter with Spatially Random Interactions

Non-Fermi liquid metallic phases are widespread in two-dimensional or quasi two-dimensional materials with strongly correlated electrons, displaying electrical resistances that famously vary linearly with temperature (T) at low temperatures, in stark contrast to the higher powers of temperature predicted by Fermi liquid theory. This robust phenomenon, as well as other experimental observations, suggest that electrons must undergo inelastic collisions that do not conserve momentum, i.e. spatial disorder affects the interactions between electrons. I will describe a body of theoretical work on the controlled computation of the transport properties of non-Fermi liquids, allowing for the careful consideration of the role of interactions, disorder, and disordered interactions, and culminating in a realistic and universal model for the ubiquitous T-linear resistivity. Ongoing work on the study of these models using computational methods will also be touched upon.