Description:

The realization of graphene has provided a tabletop platform to explore the physics of two-dimensional massless Dirac fermions with well-defined chiralities. In analog to dynamical mass generation in elementary particles, spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in graphene is expected to induce a finite mass for Dirac fermions but realizing such phenomenon in graphene has been proven difficult/impossible. In this talk, I will discuss the realization of artificial graphene with tunable band structures and electron-electron interactions in moiré semiconductors built on transition metal dichalcogenides. I will demonstrate chiral symmetry breaking by the Haldane and Kane-Mele mechanism and the emergence of quantum spin Hall insulators; I will also demonstrate spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and dynamical mass generation induced by the strong electron-electron interactions in these materials, paving the path for studying the relativistic Mott criticality in future experiments. 

Kin Fai Mak, Professor, Cornell University

Host: Venkat Chandrasekhar