Quantum dots and the Kondo effect

Nanotechnology studies explore the extreme properties of strongly interacting electronic systems through conductance measurements, and probe quantum phase transitions close to absolute zero temperature. See Letters p.233 & p.237 Two-channel Kondo physics goes critical Zero-temperature quantum phase transitions and their associated quantum critical points are believed to underpin the exotic finite-temperature behaviours of many strongly correlated electronic systems, such as heavy fermion materials and maybe even high-temperature superconductors. But identifying the microscopic origins of these transitions can be challenging and controversial. In two complementary papers, Zubair Iftikhar et al . and Andrew Keller et al . show how such behaviours can be engineered into nanoelectronic quantum dots, thereby permitting both exquisite experimental control of the quantum critical behaviour and its exact theoretical characterization.