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 Physics at Virginia

Bellave Shivaram

Ph.D., 1984, Northwestern
Associate Professor

Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

Research Interests

Professor Shivaram is a condensed matter experimentalist whose research spans a wide variety of key areas. His scientific career started with  work on the quantum fluid, liquid 3He, a strongly correlated Fermi system, focusing on its acoustic properties in the superfluid state. He has stayed with the theme of strongly correlated Fermi systems investigating their superconducting and magnetic properties at very low temperatures and high magnetic fields.  A significant portion of his work has focused on the thermodynamic, electromagnetic and acoustic properties of correlated electron systems based on rare earth and actinide elements, called the heavy electron metals. Here, his group was the first to map the complex three dimensional pressure-temperature-magnetic field phase diagram in an unconventional superconductor, UPt3.  In recent work he has employed magnetometry as well as sensitive ultrasound measurements to establish the universal properties of strongly correlated metamagnets. Through angle dependent studies he also established the co-existence of a metamagnet in UPt3 with other exotic magnetic phases at a triple point in magnetic fields close to 30 Tesla.  Exotic magnetic states, such as quantum spin liquids, have also been explored in recent non-linear susceptibilty experiments in a-RuCl3, a proximate Kitaev magnet and in a new kagome system which has shown a magnetization plateau at 1/9th the saturation magnetization. 

His experimental projects are carefully chosen, and almost always have contributed to major theoretical insights. 

Professor Shivaram also develops new experimental tools and has invented MEMS based methods for magnetometry of condensed matter and to monitor nanostructures in real time during growth.

He has also contributed to studies of hydrogen absorption at the molecular level in novel organo-metallic complexes which are made in his laboratory and which hold the world record for gravimetric absorption.

Selected Publications

Recent Publications:

1."Non-Analytic Magnetic Response and Intrinsic Ferromagnetic Clusters in a Dirac Spin Liquid Candidate", B.S. Shivaram, J. Prestigiacomo, A. Xu, Z. Zeng, Trevor D. Ford, I. Kimchi, S. Li, and Patrick A. Lee, arXiv:2401.10888 Link  Summary

2. "Machine Learning Assisted Characterization of Labyrinthine Pattern Transitions", K. Shimizu, V.Y. Okubo, R. Knight, Z. Wang, J. Burton, H.Y. Kim, G.W. Chern, and B.S.Shivaram, arXiv:2311.10558 Link

3. "Characterization of Magnetic Labyrinthine Structures through Junctions and Terminals Detection using Template Matching and CNN", Vinicius Yu Okubo, Kotaro Shimizu, B. S. Shivaram, Hae Yong Kim, arXiv:2401.16688 Link

4."Anomalous and anisotropic nonlinear susceptibility in the proximate Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3", Ludwig Holleis, Joseph C. Prestigiacomo, Zhijie Fan, Satoshi Nishimoto, Michael Osofsky, Gia-Wei Chern, Jeroen van den Brink & B. S. Shivaram,  Nature Physics Journal Quantum Materials, 6, Article number: 66, (2021). Open Access 

5."An Effective Spin Hamiltonian Approach to Heavy Electron Metamagnetism", P. Kumar, B. S. Shivaram and V. Celli, Philosophical Magazine, 100 (10), 1301-1323, (2020). Link

6."Machine learning guided design of single-molecule magnets for magnetocaloric applications",  L Holleis, B.S. Shivaram, P.V. Balachandran,  Applied Physics Letters ,114, 222404, (2019). Link  AIP Scilight

7. "Field Angle Tuned Metamagnetism and Lifschitz Transitions in UPt3", B.S. Shivaram, L. Holleis, V.W. Ulrich, J. Singleton, and M. Jaime,  Scientific Reports, 9, 8162, (2019). Open Access

8. "Nonlinear Pauli susceptibilities in Sr­3Ru2O7 and universal features of itinerant metamagnetism", B. S. Shivaram, Jing Luo, Gia-Wei Chern, Daniel Phelan, R. Fittipaldi and A. Vecchione, Physical Review, B, 97, 100403 (Rapid Communication) (2018). Link

9. "Linear and Nonlinear Magnetic Response of an f-electron based Single Molecule Magnet", B.S. Shivaram, Eric Colineau, J. Griveau, Pradeep Kumar,  V. Celli, J. Phys. Condens Matter., 29, 095805, (2017). Link

10. "High Field Ultrasound Measurements in UPt3 and the Single Energy Scale Model of Metamagnetism”, B.S. Shivaram, V.W. Ulrich, P. Kumar and V. Celli, Phys. Rev. B, 91, 115110, (2015). Link

11. "Metamagnetism and the Fifth Order Susceptibility in UPt3", B.S. Shivaram, Brian Dorsey, D.G. Hinks and Pradeep Kumar, Phys. Rev. B, 89, 161108 (Rapid Communication), (2014). Link

12. "Universality in the Nonlinear Magnetic Response of Strongly Correlated Metals", B.S. Shivaram, D.G. Hinks, M.B. Maple and P. Kumar, Phys. Rev., B 89, 241107(Rapid Communication), (2014). Link

Other Significant Publications:

1. "High Capacity Hydrogen Absorption in Transition Metal Ethylene Complexes Observed via Nanogravimetry”, A.B. Phillips and B.S. Shivaram, Physical Review Letters, 100, 105505, (2008). Link

2. "Tetracritical Points and the Superconducting Phases of UPt3: Uniaxial Pressure Effects", M. Boukhny, G.L. Bullock, B.S. Shivaram, D.G. Hinks, Physical Review Letters, 73, 1707, (1994). Link

3. "Lower and upper critical fields in the heavy electron superconductor UPt3", B.S. Shivaram, J.J. Gannon Jr, D.G. Hinks Physical Review Letters, 63, 1723, (1989). Link

4. "Anisotropy of Transverse Sound in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor UPt3", B.S.Shivaram, Y.H.Jeong, T.F. Rosenbaum, D.G. Hinks, Physical review letters, 56, 1078, (1986). Link

5. "Unusual Angular and Temperature Dependence of the Upper Critical Field in UPt3", B.S. Shivaram, T.F. Rosenbaum, D.G. Hinks, Physical Review Letters, 57, 1259, (1986). Link

News Items

Bellave Shivaram has been elected to be the Vice-Chair of the Forum on Outreach and Engaging the Public (FOEP) of the American Physical Society.  His one year term starts January 1, 2024. ......More >
In a paramagnet such as common salt or a piece of aluminum the number of electrons that align with an external magnetic field, H, increases linearly initially with field.  But as ......More >
Two separate teams lead by Condensed Matter physicists Bellave Shivaram and Gia-Wei Chern have won awards in the recent round of funding from the More >
Abstract: We present a data-driven approach to predict entropy changes (ΔS) in small magnetic fields in single-molecule magnets (SMMs) relevant to their ......More >
From UVaToday:(A University of Virginia-led team) discovered that the magnetic effect of apparently all metamagnets is that it is non-linear. When these metamagnets are placed in an initial ......More >

Honors

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow [1988]