Disorder in Condensed Matter and Black Holes

One of the most important open questions in condensed matter theory is the effect of disorder on interacting, and in particular, strongly interacting, quantum matter. Does the Anderson transition persist or not in the presence of interactions, even in the absence of quasi-particle excitations? If it persists, are its critical exponents renormalized? Do completely new disordered fixed points appear in the presence of strong interactions, and what are their properties? These questions are not only of theoretical interest but also crucial to the understanding of real-world systems such as high-temperature superconductors, the fractional quantum Hall effect, and disorder effects in the recently synthesized Weyl and Dirac semimetals.

In recent years, the holographic AdS/CFT correspondence has emerged as a remarkable new approach to old, persistent questions in condensed matter physics where strong interactions play a role. Initial attempts incorporating random disorder into holographic models, provide evidence that there indeed exist new disorder-induced infrared fixed points at strong coupling; that disorder in holographic models can enhance superconductivity; that disordered charged fixed points have reduced conductivity.

In this workshop we aim to bring the new point of view of AdS/CFT and more traditional theoretical condensed matter approaches together with the specific focus disorder effects in strongly coupled systems. Our immediate goal is to achieve an active cross-communication between condensed matter theorists specializing in disorder effects and pioneering string theorists, and in this way find answers to some of the long-standing persistent questions.