Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics (2020): Towards a Theory of Strongly Correlated Materials

Strongly corrrelated electron materials, pose great conceptual and computational challenges because of its non perturbative nature. . Significant progress in this area was achieved by the introduction of Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT). In combination with electronic structure methods DMFT has given insights into materials which were not tractable by other approaches. We will review some basic ideas underlying this approach, such as the reduction of the full many body problem into the problem of an atom in embedded in a self consistent quantum mechanical medium. We will then provide some illustrative applications to compounds with elements from different regions of the periodic table, ranging from 3d's(*) to 5f's (**) . We will conclude with directions to overcome the limitations of current DFT +DMFT implementations (**) in the path towards a practical and controlled many body theory of strongly correlated materials.