Quantum Materials - how quantum mechanics determine the property of materials

Abstract: Quantum mechanics is a theory that is suitable for describing particles on short length scales, such as the atom-to-atom distance in a solid. At these scales the rules of classical physics do not hold and one should adopt quantum mechanical principles, which are strange or non-intuitive. Quantum mechanics invokes the uncertainty principle which states that the position and velocity of a particle can not be known at the same time. In fact, the notion of a particle is replaced by a probability function. In that sense, particles at short scales behave somewhat like waves. Nevertheless, quantum mechanics is able to explain physical phenomena of systems of interacting particles. I will focus on many-particle systems which make up solid materials and some of their surprising properties like superconductivity.