We have entered a data-driven era of astrophysics and cosmology, providing a wealth of datasets within which to search for the answers to some of the most fundamental open questions in the physics of our Universe. One of these questions is the nature of dark matter (DM)—while there is phenomenal agreement between the theories of DM and the data…

A search is conducted for scalar top quarks decaying in the Full Run II dataset for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of 137.2\fbinv collected at a center of mass energy of √s = 14 TeV. The particular models being investigated involve pair production of scalar top quarks decaying either through an R…

Abstract Quantum spin liquids(QSL) have fascinated physicists for nearly half a century since Anderson first introduced this concept with his resonating-valence-bond(RVB) idea in 1973. Although many progresses had been made, more challenges emerge from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. On the theory side, dealing with quantum…

This dissertation focuses on the generation of certain special disordered systems, as well as general tools that have been developed to characterize their microstructures. Particular attention is devoted to disordered hyperuniform systems, which are ex- otic amorphous states of matter that lie between crystals and liquids. In the first part of…

This dissertation focuses on the generation of certain special disordered systems, as well as general tools that have been developed to characterize their microstructures. Particular attention is devoted to disordered hyperuniform systems, which are ex- otic amorphous states of matter that lie between crystals and liquids. In the first part of…

This thesis is devoted to studying quantum mechanical systems with gravity duals. It is interesting to study holographic correspondence for quantum mechanical systems since we have much more theoretical control over them compared to quantum field theories. At the same time, gravity duals to quantum mechanical systems are quite rich as they can…

In this thesis, we describe numerical spherical collapse solutions to a ``modified gravity'' theory, Einstein dilaton Gauss-Bonnet (EdGB) gravity. Of the class of all known modified gravity theories, EdGB gravity has attracted recent attention due to speculations that the theory may have a classically well-posed initial value formulation and…

Magnetic breakdown refers to the tunneling of electrons between distinct orbitals beyond a critical magnetic field. In the past, studies on magnetic breakdown have largely focused on the semiclassical regime, by detecting the interference difference frequencies (usually designated as β − α) in the Shubnikov-de Haas or de Haas-van Alphen…

his thesis explores topics in two-dimensional quantum gravity, focusing on the specific model of Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity and its relation to higher-dimensional black holes (BHs). Such a study is motivated by (i) the fact that JT gravity is a full-fledged theory of quantum gravity and (ii) because problematic features in…

Generic isolated interacting quantum systems are believed to be ergodic, i.e. any simple initial state evolves to a thermal state at late-times, forming a barrier to the protection of quantum information. A sufficient condition for the thermalization of initial states in an isolated quantum system is the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis …

Topology and correlation, fundamental ingredients that often dictate the ground states of quantum matter, leave distinct local electronic fingerprints that can be detected with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). In this dissertation, we first introduce a unique spin signature of Majorana zero mode (MZM) in atomic chains and present how we…

Abstract

Topological phases of matter have established a new paradigm in physics, bringing quantum phenomena to the macroscopic scale and hosting exotic emergent quasiparticles. In this thesis, I demonstrate with my collaborators the first Weyl semimetal, TaAs, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES),…