ICAM – I2CAM Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter

Overview

ICAM-I2CAM scientists presently work in the following areas:

Quantum Matter:

ICAM-I2CAM scientists seek to identify the organizing principles responsible for the remarkable range of quantum phases observed in strongly correlated electron systems, such as the heavy electron materials and the “high T_c” cuprate superconductors, and to discover new ones. In the example shown to the right, measurements using scanning tunneling microscopy of the energy gap function of the underdoped cuprate superconductors from the Seamus Davis lab at Cornell reveal novel and intrinsic electronic disorder at the nanometer scale in underlying well ordered crystals.

Biological Matter:

ICAM-I2CAM scientists work together to understand the organizing principles underlying the diverse phenomena of biological matter. For example, groups in San Diego, Davis, Cambridge, Chicago, and Lausanne study the self-assembly of proteins into the “amyloid” structures that are hypothesized to provide the remarkable tensile strength of spider silk and to play a key role in bringing about diseases like Alzheimer’s, Mad Cow, Type II Diabetes, and Parkinson’s. The examples shown to the right give the schematics of amyloid fibrillogenesis and images of fibrils from the Hilal Lashuel Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne.

Soft Matter:

ICAM-I2CAM researchers also actively explore the organizing principles of soft matter systems, such as liquid crystals, colloidal suspensions, and polymer blends. These intriguing fragile forms of matter easily respond to mechanical stresses, electric and magnetic fields, temperature variations, and light, assuring a richness of physics phenomena and a wealth of technological applications. The examples below to the right the Ivan Smalyukh lab at University of Colorado at Boulder show how focused infrared laser beams may be used for touchless optical trapping and the manipulation of liquid crystal defects.

Design of New Materials:

ICAM-I2CAM scientists seek to apply their understanding of the organizing principles responsible for various low temperature ordered states found in correlated matter to the design of new materials that exhibit desired emergent properties.

Additional details about the accomplishments and scope of the ICAM science and research effort may be found on the following links:

ICAM Publications lists the publications and preprints that acknowledge discussions at ICAM/I2CAM workshops or direct ICAM/I2CAM support.
ICAM Collaborations are ICAM/NSF-supported research collaborations in which researchers at different institutions share graduate students and postdoctoral researchers
ICAM Research Networks arise out a desire by participants in its exploratory workshops to accelerate the research progress that integration and collaboration make possible. Seed support from ICAM makes possible the establishment and initial operation of research networks that link ICAM researchers in US and overseas branches.
ICAM Research Updates describe, in non-technical terms, significant research results arising out of ICAM workshops and collaborations.
ICAM Workshops and Symposia contains links to previous ICAM exploratory workshops and frontier symposia

ICAM-I2CAM