Research interests
Theoretical investigation of few- and many-body effects in nanostructures and low-dimensional systems. The main research lines are:
Correlated few-electron states in nanostructures
Recent highlights:
F. Rossella, A. Bertoni, D. Ercolani, M. Rontani, L. Sorba, F. Beltram, S. Roddaro, Nanoscale spin rectifiers controlled by the Stark effect, Nature Nanotech. 9, 997 (2014).
S. Pecker, F. Kuemmeth, A. Secchi, M. Rontani, D. C. Ralph, P. L. McEuen, S. Ilani, Observation and spectroscopy of a two-electron Wigner molecule in an ultraclean carbon nanotube, Nature Phys. 9, 576 (2013).
Many-body physics in carbon nanotubes
Recent highlights:
D. Varsano, S. Sorella, D. Sangalli, M. Barborini, S. Corni, E. Molinari, M. Rontani, Carbon nanotubes as excitonic insulators, Nature Commun. 8, 1461 (2017).
J. O. Island, M. Ostermann, L. Aspitarte, E. D. Minot, D. Varsano, E. Molinari, M. Rontani, G. A. Steele, Interaction-driven giant orbital magnetic moments in carbon nanotubes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 127704 (2018).
Excitonic insulator in long-range interacting systems
Recent highlights:
D. Varsano, M. Palummo, E. Molinari, M. Rontani, A monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide as a topological excitonic insulator, Nature Nanotech. 15, 367-372 (2020).
S.S. Ataei, D. Varsano, E. Molinari, M. Rontani, Evidence of ideal excitonic insulator in bulk MoS2 under pressure, PNAS 118, e2010110118 (2021).
Main international collaborations
L. J. Sham (Univ. California San Diego), theory of exciton condensates.
S. Tarucha (Univ. of Tokyo), single-electron tunneling spectroscopy in semiconductor quantum dots.
A. Pinczuk (Columbia Univ., NY) and V. Pellegrini (NEST, Pisa), inelastic light scattering in quantum dots.
R. Wiesendanger (Hamburg University), wave function imaging of semiconductor quantum dots via scanning tunnelling spectroscopy.
S. M. Reimann (Univ. of Lund, Sweden), few-body effects in ultra-cold atomic gases.
S. Ilani (Weizmann Institute, Israel), single-electron tunneling spectroscopy in carbon-nanotube quantum dots [Nat. Phys. 9, 576 (2013)].
E. D. Minot (Oregon State Univ.) and G. A. Steele [Kavli Institute of Science, Delft), carbon nanotube spectroscopy (Sci. Rep. 7, 8828 (2017)].
Biographical sketch
Education
1997-1999 PhD in Physics, University of Modena, Italy.
Appointments
- March 2003 - present: CNR-NANO Research Center S3, Modena, Italy. Research staff.
- December 1999 - February 2003: Department of Physics, University of Modena, Italy. INFM Postdoctoral Researcher.
- August 1998 - August 1999: Department of Physics, University of California Berkeley. Research activity, within the Italian PhD course, under the additional supervision of Prof. L. J. Sham (UCSD).
Other
- European Physical Society - Condensed Matter Division, Chair of Semiconductors and Insulators Section.
Selected publications
S.S. Ataei, D. Varsano, E. Molinari, M. Rontani, Evidence of ideal excitonic insulator in bulk MoS2 under pressure, PNAS 118, e2010110118 (2021).
D. Varsano, M. Palummo, E. Molinari, M. Rontani, A monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide as a topological excitonic insulator, Nature Nanotech. 15, 367-372 (2020).
J. O. Island, M. Ostermann, L. Aspitarte, E. D. Minot, D. Varsano, E. Molinari, M. Rontani, G. A. Steele, Interaction-driven giant orbital magnetic moments in carbon nanotubes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 127704 (2018).
D. Varsano, S. Sorella, D. Sangalli, M. Barborini, S. Corni, E. Molinari, M. Rontani, Carbon nanotubes as excitonic insulators, Nature Commun. 8, 1461 (2017).
F. Rossella, A. Bertoni, D. Ercolani, M. Rontani, L. Sorba, F. Beltram, S. Roddaro, Nanoscale spin rectifiers controlled by the Stark effect, Nature Nanotech. 9, 997 (2014).
S. Pecker, F. Kuemmeth, A. Secchi, M. Rontani, D. C. Ralph, P. L. McEuen, S. Ilani, Observation and spectroscopy of a two-electron Wigner molecule in an ultraclean carbon nanotube, Nature Phys. 9, 576 (2013).
D. Toroz, M. Rontani, S. Corni, Proposed alteration of images of molecular orbitals obtained using a scanning tunneling microscope as a probe of electron correlation, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 018305 (2013).
M. Rontani, Tunneling theory of two interacting atoms in a trap, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 115302 (2012).
M. Rontani, J. Armstrong, Y. Yu, S. Åberg, S. M. Reimann, Cold fermionic atoms in two-dimensional traps - Pairing versus Hund's rule, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 060401 (2009).
S. Kalliakos, M. Rontani, V. Pellegrini, C. P. Garcia, A. Pinczuk, G. Goldoni, E. Molinari, L. N. Pfeiffer, K. W. West, A molecular state of correlated electrons in a quantum dot, Nature Phys. 4, 467 (2008).
M. Rontani, Friedel sum rule for an interacting multiorbital quantum dot, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 076801 (2006).
M. Rontani, L. J. Sham, Coherent transport in a homojunction between an excitonic insulator and semimetal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 186404 (2005).