This book focuses on the topological fermion condensation quantum phase transition (FCQPT), a phenomenon that reveals the complex behavior of all strongly correlated Fermi systems, such as heavy fermion metals, quantum spin liquids, quasicrystals, and two-dimensional systems, considering these as a new state of matter. The book combines theoretical evaluations with arguments based on experimental grounds demonstrating that the entirety of very different strongly correlated Fermi systems demonstrates a universal behavior induced by FCQPT. In contrast to the conventional quantum phase transition, whose physics in the quantum critical region are dominated by thermal or quantum fluctuations and characterized by the absence of quasiparticles, the physics of a Fermi system near FCQPT are controlled by a system of quasiparticles resembling the Landau quasiparticles. The book discusses the modification of strongly correlated systems under the action of FCQPT, representing the "missing" instability, which paves the way for developing an entirely new approach to condensed matter theory; and presents this physics as a new method for studying many-body objects. Based on the authors' own theoretical investigations, as well as salient theoretical and experimental studies conducted by others, the book is well suited for both students and researchers in the field of condensed matter physics.
Miron Y. Amusia graduated from Leningrad State University. He is currently a Professor Emeritus of the Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel, and Principal Scientist at the Ioffe Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia. He holds Ph.D. and Doctor of Science degrees in Theoretical Physics. He has authored or co-authored 17 books and more than 530 refereed publications. He is an APS Fellow, recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Prize, the Frenkel and Konstantinov Prizes and, medals from the Ioffe Institute, Ioffe Prize of Russian Academy of Sciences, the Semenov medal of the Russian Engineering Academy, and the Kapitza Medal of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. He is also an Academician of the same academy, and was a foreign fellow of the Argonne National Laboratory from 1991 to 1992. His main scientific interests and achievements concern many-body theory of atoms, stability of electron gas, fermion condensation, and collisions of fullerenes and clusters. His best-knownfindings include the discovery of the collective nature of atomic photoionization, prediction of the collectivization of few-electron shells under the action of many-electron neighboring shells, suggesting a new mechanism of Bremsstrahlung and the prediction of giant endohedral resonances.
Vasily R. Shaginyan received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics in 1981 and his Doctor of Science degree in 1990 from Leningrad (Petersburg) Nuclear Physics Institute, and is currently a leading research fellow at this Institute. His fields of interest include theoretical nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, strongly correlated Fermi systems and HF compounds, quantum spin liquids, quasicrystals, high-Tc superconductors, and quasi-classical behavior of HF compounds. He is author and co-author of 160 papers, including seminal papers on the fermion condensation phase transition and flat bands, heavy fermion metals, quantum spin liquids, and quasicrystals.
