Sung-Sik Lee

Sung-Sik Lee profile picture
McMaster University
Research Associate Faculty
Areas of research:
Quantum Fields and Strings
Quantum Matter
(519) 569-7600 x6572
If you are interested in pursuing a MSc degree, please apply to the Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) masters program. If you are interested in working with me as a PhD student, please send me an email at [email protected], If you are interested in working with me as a PhD student, please submit an application directly to my department at the McMaster University and indicate that you would like to be supervised by me. Perimeter Institute is committed to diversity within its community and I welcome applications from underrepresented groups.
Condensed matter systems consist of many particles that are the order of 10 to the 23rd power. At the microscopic level, the well-established rules of quantum mechanics govern the dynamics of individual particles. However, it is very challenging to predict the behaviors of a whole system, starting from the microscopic theory. For the past 30 years, it has become clear that collective behaviors are governed by organizing principles that are not manifest from microscopic rules of dynamics. The main goal of my research is to identify new dynamical principles that are behind novel emergent phenomena in critical states of quantum matter such as non-Fermi liquids. I am also interested in the interdisciplinary research areas between condensed matter physics, string theory, and gravitational theory. Recently I have developed the quantum renormalization group in which coupling constants in quantum field theories are promoted to dynamical variables. The quantum renormalization group provides a microscopic connection between general D-dimensional quantum field theories and (D+1)-dimensional quantum theories of gravity as conjectured by the AdS/CFT correspondence. I am trying to use it to better understand quantum field theories, quantum gravity, and the holographic principle.
  • Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, 2018-present
  • Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, 2012-2018
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, 2007-2012
  • Post doctoral researcher, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara, 2006-2007
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004-2006
  • Post doctoral researcher, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 2002-2004
  • Discovery Grant, "Non-perturbative studies of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems", Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2018-2013
  • Early Researcher Award, Ministry of Research and Innovation, Province of Ontario, 2010
  • Kukreja, S., Besharat, A., & Lee, S. -S. (2024). Projective fixed points for non-Fermi liquids: A case study of the Ising-nematic quantum critical metal. Physical Review B, 110(15), 155142. doi:10.1103/physrevb.110.155142
  • Lee, S. -S. (2024). A theory of time based on wavefunction collapse. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2408.11905
  • Borissov, A., Calvera, V., & Lee, S. -S. (2024). Dynamical kinetic energy quenching in the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metals. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2408.07158
  • Ma, H., & Lee, S. -S. (2024). Fermi liquids beyond the forward-scattering limit: The role of nonforward scattering for scale invariance and instabilities. Physical Review B, 109(4), 045143. doi:10.1103/physrevb.109.045143
  • Borges, F., & Lee, S. -S. (2023). Emergence of curved momentum-spacetime and its effect on cyclotron motion in the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal. Physical Review B, 108(24), 245112. doi:10.1103/physrevb.108.245112
  • Song, H., Ma, H., Kallin, C., & Lee, S. -S. (2023). Anomalous quasiparticle lifetime in geometric quantum critical metals. arxiv:2310.07539v1
  • Ma, H., & Lee, S. -S. (n.d.). Exact effective action for the O(N) vector model in the large N limit. SciPost Physics, 15(3), 111. doi:10.21468/scipostphys.15.3.111
  • Lee, S. -S. (2023). Massless graviton in a model of quantum gravity with emergent spacetime. Physical Review D, 108(2), 024054. doi:10.1103/physrevd.108.024054
  • Borges, F., Borissov, A., Singh, A., Schlief, A., & Lee, S. -S. (2023). Field-theoretic functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and its application to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal in two dimensions. Annals of Physics, 450, 169221. doi:10.1016/j.aop.2023.169221
  • Borges, F., Borissov, A., Singh, A., Schlief, A., & Lee, S. -S. (2022). Field-theoretic functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and its application to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal in two dimensions. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2208.00730
  • Ye, W., Lee, S. -S., & Zou, L. (2022). Ultraviolet-Infrared Mixing in Marginal Fermi Liquids. Physical Review Letters, 128(10), 106402. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.128.106402
  • Lee, J. M., Geng, C., Park, J. W., Oshikawa, M., Lee, S. -S., Yeom, H. W., & Cho, G. Y. (n.d.). Flat Bands, Topology, and Superconductivity of “Magic” Honeycomb Network in TaS2. Unknown Journal, 1927. doi:10.11316/jpsgaiyo.75.1.0_1927
  • Ma, H., & Lee, S. -S. (n.d.). Constraints on beta functions in field theories. SciPost Physics, 12(2), 046. doi:10.21468/scipostphys.12.2.046
  • Ma, H., & Lee, S. -S. (n.d.). Constraints on beta functions in field theories. SciPost Physics, 12(2). doi:10.21468/scipostphys.12.2.046
  • Lee, S. -S. (2021). Clock-dependent spacetime. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2021(4), 204. doi:10.1007/jhep04(2021)204
  • Non-Fermi liquid theories, National Center for Theoretical Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan, 2024/08/07
  • Space of non-Fermi liquids, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States; KITP, 2024/05/23, Video URL
  • Low-energy effective theory for non-Fermi liquids, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada, 2024/05/01
  • Emergence of curved momentum-spacetime in quantum critical metals, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada, 2024/02/28
  • UV/IR mixing in non-Fermi liquids, Conference on non-Fermi Liquids : Recent developments and future prospects, University of Chicago, Kadanoff Center for theoretical Physics, Chicago, United States, 2023/10/28, Video URL
  • Emergent gravity from quantum matter, Canadian Association of Physicists, Ottawa, Canada, 2023/06/20
  • Functional renormalization group formalism for Fermi and non-Fermi liquids, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany, 2023/05/17, Video URL
  • Functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and its application to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 2023/05/10
  • Functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and its application to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2023/03/13
  • Functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and its application to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States, 2023/01/30
  • Functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal, Quantum Matter Workshop, 2022/11/15, PIRSA:22110069
  • Functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and its application to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States, 2022/10/03, Video URL
  • Functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and its application to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal, Conformal field theory and quantum many-body physics, Centre de Recherche de Mathematiques, Montreal, 2022/08/25
  • Emergent phenomena in quantum matter, Journeys into theoretical physics, ICTP, Sao Paulo, 2022/08/01
  • Functional renormalization group formalism for non-Fermi liquids and its application to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical metal, Recent developments in strongly correlated quantum matter, NORDITA, 2022/06/01
  • Quantum gravity from quantum matter, Quantum Gravity, 2022/02/03, PIRSA:22020047