Abstract:
The concept of strongly correlated topological insulators is extremely attractive, not only because their surface states host massless helical carriers protected from backscattering, but because in 5f-electron systems these surface states can become more correlated, more renormalized, and more exotic than the bulk states themselves. This leads to surface electronic structures with no analog in conventional topological insulators. In 5f systems, Coulomb interactions, spin–orbit coupling, and hybridization occur on similar energy scales, placing these materials in a regime where competing interactions can readily drive new quantum phases. Moreover, many 5f compounds are close to the intermediate-valence regime, where enhanced hybridization and renormalization could promote topologically nontrivial electronic structures. These systems are therefore prime candidates for realizing heavy-fermion topological states, Kondo-insulating topological phases, and intermediate-valence-driven topologies relevant for next-generation quantum applications. In this talk, we will present recent advances in correlated topological materials, with a focus on emergent 5f-electron systems displaying topological behavior.

Bio:
Krzysztof Gofryk is a condensed matter physicist in the Nuclear Fuels and Materials Division at Idaho National Laboratory, where he leads the Center for Quantum Actinide Science and Technology (C-QAST). He received his Ph.D. in 2006 from the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany. Before joining INL, he held research positions at the Institute for Transuranium Elements in Karlsruhe, as well as at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Dr. Gofryk is a recipient of the DOE Early Career Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and INL’s Exceptional Achievement Award. His research focuses on emergent quantum phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems under extreme conditions of low temperature, pressure, and high magnetic fields. His work spans f-electron materials, heavy-fermion physics, quantum criticality, magnetism, and the interplay of strong electronic correlations, spin–orbit coupling, and topology in actinide compounds.