Abstract.
How a metal--an electrical conductor--transitions continuously into an electrical insulator with increasing strength of electronic interactions is an old puzzle in condensed matter physics. Recent experiments in moiré heterostructures studying such metal-insulator transitions at a fixed electronic filling have already revealed several fascinating connections to unconventional quantum criticality beyond the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. Inspired by these and related experiments, I will present some recent theoretical developments in describing new classes of continuous quantum phase transitions between metals with generic electronic Fermi surfaces and interaction-induced insulators. The role of disorder and translational symmetry breaking will be discussed.
(The slides will be available here)