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Mathematical Aspects of 2D Quantum Materials and Meta-materials
Strain-induced Landau levels and “stealthy” disorder in photonic crystals
Mikael Rechtsman, Penn State University
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Abstract: Photonic crystals -- transparent periodic dielectric structures -- have been called "semiconductors for light" in the sense that photons propagate through them much as electrons propagate through crystalline solids. In the first part of my talk, I will show how straining a photonic crystal can make photons behave as though they were electrons immersed in a magnetic field, leading to Landau levels for light. In the second part, I will employ photonic crystals to explore the scattering properties of highly spatially correlated, so-called "stealthy-hyperuniform," disorder.