Spin manipulation in cold atoms and condensed matter (Newspin, Utrecht 2010)

The spin of electrons plays a crucial role in understanding condensed-matter systems and their magnetically-ordered phases. Furthermore, in certain systems, such as graphene or bilayer semiconductors, extra degrees of freedom called pseudospins play a similar role as the intrinsic electron spin. Manipulation of spins and magnetism has been a motivating goal in a great deal of condensed-matter research. Examples are spin transfer, i.e., the manipulation of ferromagnetic order with spin-polarized currents, the spin Hall effect, the control of magnetism by ultrafast laser pulses, and magneto-electric effects.

The hyperfine states of cold atoms play an important role in cold-atom systems and can be manipulated by radiofrequency pulses. In addition to the intrinsic interest in these systems, cold-atom systems are often advertized as simulators for electronic condensed-matter systems. The reason is the large amount of tunability of almost all the system parameters, such as potential, disorder and interactions. The most important example in this respect is mimicking the famous Hubbard model to explore its relevance for high-temperature superconductivity and antiferromagnetism.

The goal of this short conference is to bring together leading experts on spintronics and spin-related phenomena in conventional condensed-matter systems, and on cold atoms, thereby stimulating cross-fertilization of these fields.

Topics:
- spin Hall effect
- spin transfer, spin pumping, spin motive forces, and current-driven domain wall motion
- controlling spins by light
- cold atoms as simulators for quantum magnetism
- spin orbit coupling in cold-atom systems
- spin-imbalance in cold Fermi gases
- pseudospin physics in graphene and semiconductor bilayers