Introduction to Strongly Correlated Electrons in New Materials

The discovery of new natural and artificial materials has revolutionized condensed matter physics and our views on the role of correlations between electrons. Novel properties such as high-temperature superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistance discovered in these materials have overturned our conventional representations of condensed matter physics and pushed us to reconsider many well-established concepts. For example, we must treat the Coulomb interaction between electrons far beyond perturbation theory; we must recall long-forgotten ideas of electronic phase separation introduced originally by Nagaev in the 1960s; we must reconsider the role of electron--phonon and electron--magnon interactions, orbital degrees of freedom, the Rashba effect and many other aspects of condensed matter physics that are becoming increasingly important.