Research highlight – Rademaker Group

Angular momentum of vortex-core Majorana zero modes

Giulia Venditti — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 13:53:12 +0000

We recently published a paper reporting that vortex-core Majorana zero modes (MZMs) can carry a nontrivial angular momentum. We study a modified Fu-Kane model, with a d+id superconducting order parameter on top of a strong topological insulator. We found non-trivial spin and angular-momentum textures, resulting in the emergence of four “flavors” of Majorana zero modes (MZMs). We classify the MZMs…

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SNSF Professorship!

loukrademaker — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 20:17:03 +0000

I received an SNSF Starting Grant for the project « Quantum Matter with a Twist – The Interplay of Correlations and Topology in Moiré Materials ». This means I will be an SNSF Professor at the Department of Quantum Matter Physics starting in 2023. Needless to say, I’m very excited about this opportunity! Moreover, this means I have the opportunity to hire two PhD students and one postdoc.

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Kagome Chiral Spin Liquid in Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Moiré Bilayers

loukrademaker — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 20:03:54 +0000

At n=3/4 filling of the moiré flat band, transition metal dichalcogenide moiré bilayers will develop kagome charge order. We derived an effective spin model for the resulting localized spins and study its phase diagram using density matrix renormalization group simulations. Using realistic model parameters relevant for WSe2/WS2, we showed that this material can realize the exotic chiral spin…

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Observation of flat Γ moiré bands in twisted bilayer WSe2

loukrademaker — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 10:58:08 +0000

I provided the theory for a wonderful ARPES experiment that revealed the presence of flat bands in twisted bilayer WSe2. To our surprise, we only saw the flat bands around Γ and not at K — where they were to be expected based on all other (transport, exciton, STM) experiments. So some new mysteries to solve! Now available on the arXiv: Title: Observation of flat Γ moiré bands in twisted…

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Doping a Wigner-Mott insulator: Electron slush in transition-metal dichalcogenide moiré heterobilayers

loukrademaker — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 15:18:12 +0000

Authors: Yuting Tan, Pak Ki Henry Tsang, Vladimir Dobrosavljević, Louk RademakerAbstract: The moiré pattern induced by lattice mismatch in transition-metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers causes the formation of flat bands, where interactions dominate the kinetic energy. At fractional fillings of the flat valence band, the long-range electron interactions then induce Wigner-Mott crystals. In this Letter we investigate … Continued

How to recognize the universal aspects of Mott criticality?

loukrademaker — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 07:47:22 +0000

In our latest paper we compare several examples of two-dimensional electronic systems displaying interaction-driven metal-insulator transitions of the Mott type, including dilute two-dimension electron gases (2DEG) in semiconductors, Mott organic materials, as well as the recently discovered transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) moiré bilayers. The amazing thing is: remarkably similar behavior is found in all these systems, … Continued

Spin-Orbit Coupling in Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Heterobilayer Flat Bands

loukrademaker — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 15:42:43 +0000

To my surprise I found out that the flat bands of TMD heterobilayers automatically have a spin-orbit coupling that makes them realizations of the Kane-Mele model. This is different from the original Wu-MacDonald model where they say its a triangular lattice Hubbard model. Now on the arXiv! Spin-Orbit Coupling in Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Heterobilayer Flat Bands Louk Rademaker…

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Scaling Theory of Few-Body Delocalization

loukrademaker — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 13:24:30 +0000

I’m quite proud of my latest single-author paper, in which I explore a new direction in the field of disordered interacting systems. I dub it: “Few-Body Delocalization“, and I investigate the question: given that single-particle states are all localized in d ≤ 2 dimen- sions, how can many-particle states become delocalized? In the end, using scaling theory and some numerics I show that there…

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Gate-tunable imbalanced Kane-Mele model in encapsulated bilayer jacutingaite

loukrademaker — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 09:34:14 +0000

My recent density functional theory-based work on bilayer jacutingaite (Pt2HgSe3) is published in the journal Physical Review Materials! Title: Gate-tunable imbalanced Kane-Mele model in encapsulated bilayer jacutingaiteReference: Louk Rademaker and Marco Gibertini, Phys. Rev. Materials 5, 044201 (2021)Abstract: We study free, capped, and encapsulated bilayer jacutingaite (Pt2HgSe3) from first principles. While the freestanding bilayer is … Continued

Wavefunction collapse cover art for pss(b)

loukrademaker — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 09:23:54 +0000

Our work on wavefunction collapse (An experimental proposal to study spontaneous collapse of the wave function using two travelling wave parametric amplifiers, see here on arXiv) has made it to the cover of the latest issue of Physica Status Solidi (b), with some nice cover art made by the first author Tom van der Reep. See the full pss(b) issue here.

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