Gareth Conduit's home page

I am a research fellow of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. My main research themes are focused on strongly correlated phenomena and materials discovery. Further details can be found in a synopsis of my research, publications list, recent talks, and posters.

Ferromagnetism

An electron gas with contact repulsive interactions is a deceptively simple interacting system, yet it displays a remarkably rich range of phenomena. At mean-field level the electron gas was predicted by Stoner to undergo a mean-field transition into an itinerant ferromagnet. This phase has never been cleanly observed in the solid state, however we studied the first experimental exploration of its properties in an ultracold atomic gas. Moreover, quantum fluctations mean that a variety of other inhomogeneous magnetic states are energetically favorable, with our suggestion of a spin spiral state being first observed in CeFePO in 2012. My key publications are:

A repulsive atomic gas in a harmonic trap on the border of itinerant ferromagnetism (pdf © APS)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 200403 (2009)
Inhomogeneous phase formation on the border of itinerant ferromagnetism (pdf © APS)
Editors' Suggestion in Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 207201 (2009)
Spotlighted with accompanying Viewpoint commentary in Physics 2, 93 (2009)

Computational design of materials

We have proposed, implemented, and employed a novel computer code to discover four new alloy families. The alloys include a nickel-based alloy for turbine discs in jet engines, an alloy for lining the combustion chamber of a jet engine, and two molybdenum forging alloys. Each alloy has eight individual physical properties that are predicted to match or exceed commercially available alternatives. Some properties have subsequently been experimentally verified with the alloys now undergoing compliance testing by Rolls Royce plc. My key articles are:

A system for the characterisation and optimisation of alloys
Patent GB1302743.8 (2013)
Molybdenum alloys for high temperature applications I
Patent GB1307533.8 (2013)
Development of new high strength highly processable nickel based superalloys for turbine disc applications
Rolls-Royce Group plc invention submission NC12261 (2012)
Development of a new nickel based superalloy for a combustor liner and other high temperature applications
Rolls-Royce Group plc invention submission NC13006 (2013)
Molybdenum alloys for high temperature applications II
Rolls-Royce Group plc invention submission NC13024 (2013)