About

Peter Abbamonte received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1999, where he conducted research with Eric Isaacs and Phil Platzman in the Materials Physics Department at Bell Laboratories. He furthered his research experience at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands on an International Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, working with George Sawatzky. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in biophysics at Cornell University in Sol Gruner's group, studying photosynthesis in rhodobacter sphaeroides. In 2003, he joined the scientific staff at Brookhaven National Laboratory and was recruited to the University of Illinois in 2005. Currently, he is the Fox Family Professor of Engineering in the Department of Physics and an affiliate of the Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. Professor Abbamonte is a pioneer in the development of resonant soft x-ray scattering, discovering the existence of a Wigner crystal in doped, quasi-1D spin ladders, and demonstrating that stripes in copper-oxide superconductors are charged. His work has led to the technique being used at every major synchrotron facility worldwide. He is also known for solving the phase problem for inelastic x-ray scattering, enabling real-time imaging of electron motion with attosecond resolution, which has been used to image exciton formation in insulators and measure the effective fine structure constant of graphene. Since 2011, his focus has been on developing a fully momentum-resolved, inelastic electron scattering instrument capable of studying the dynamic charge susceptibility with full momentum resolution, leading to significant discoveries such as the identification of a Bose condensate of excitons in TiSe2, widely covered as the 'discovery of excitonium.' He is also the founder of Inprentus, a company manufacturing high-resolution XUV diffraction gratings, which was established in 2012 and has received funding and investment to deliver diffraction gratings globally.

Research topics

• Condensed matter physics
• Physics
• Materials science
• Biochemistry
• Quantum mechanics
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• Reexamining the strange metal charge response with transmission inelastic electron scattering

  Open MIND · 2026-02-02

  preprintSenior author

  The strange metal remains one of the great unsolved problems for 21st century science. Since the early development of the marginal Fermi liquid phenomenology, it has been clear that progress requires detailed knowledge of the momentum- and frequency-dependent charge susceptibility, $χ(\mathbf{q},ω)$, particularly at large momenta. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), performed in either reflection or transmission geometry, provides the most direct probe of $χ(\mathbf{q},ω)$. However, measurements over the past four decades have yielded conflicting results, with some studies reporting a dispersing RPA-like plasmon and others observing a strongly overdamped, incoherent response. Here we report a transmission EELS study of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ (Bi-2212) that simultaneously achieves high energy resolution ($ΔE \approx 30$ meV) and high momentum resolution ($Δq \approx 0.01$ Å$^{-1}$). To address issues of reproducibility, measurements were repeated ten times on five different Bi-2212 flakes, benchmarked against aluminum, a well-characterized Fermi liquid, and quantitatively compared with prior studies spanning four decades. At momenta $q < 0.15$ Å$^{-1}$, we observe a highly damped plasmon whose linewidth is comparable to its energy. At larger momenta, $q > 0.15$ Å$^{-1}$, this excitation does not disperse but instead evolves into an incoherent continuum, with no evidence for the RPA-like dispersion reported in some earlier works. Comparison with recent RIXS measurements on Bi-based cuprates supports the view that Bi-2212 is an incoherent metal with strongly damped charge excitations.

  DOI

• Fundamental Tests of Quantum Geometric Bounds in Ionic and Covalent Insulators using Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

  ArXiv.org · 2026-01-27

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Quantum geometry underlies many fundamental properties of materials, but it has remained largely inaccessible to direct experiment. Here we demonstrate that inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) provides a direct, quantitative probe of quantum geometry and quantum information in solids. Studying two prototype insulators, covalently bonded diamond and ionically bonded LiF, we measure the density response and experimentally determine the quantum Fisher information, the associated Bures metric, and the electron localization length. These measurements enable a quantitative comparison of quantum geometry for two distinct bonding environments. We find that the dimensionless quantum weight, $aK(q)$, which quantifies the longitudinal localization of quantum information, is constrained by fundamental electrostatic bounds in both materials. Crucially, the quantum weight of diamond exceeds that of LiF, indicating that covalent bonds exhibit a higher degree of delocalization and higher density of quantum information than the ionic bonds. Our results establish a direct experimental relationship between quantum information, electron localization, and chemical bonding, and identify IXS as a powerful tool for measuring quantum geometry in materials.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Data for "Plasmon-driven exciton formation in a non-equilibrium Fermi liquid"

  Illinois Data Bank · 2026-01-01

  datasetOpen access

  This repository contains source data for key plots presented in the manuscript "Plasmon-driven exciton formation in a non-equilibrium Fermi liquid." Experimental data that was analyzed in Igor Pro 8 are presented as the .pxp files used to generate individual sub-plots. Electronic spectral function calculations are provided as .txt files, in which consecutive rows refer to the meshgrid x coordinate, y coordinate, spectral function (and, where relevant, axis-projected local angular momentum). We additionally include the Wannier model and DFT-obtained bulk band structure on which the Wannier model was based. Files are named as the number of the figure in the manuscript to which they correspond, with additional details included where necessary. <b>Details of file names:</b> 2a_DOS_Lxz_Ek_KGM_40layer_xnum_800kpt_tot.txt: Density of states, xz-axis projected local orbital angular momentum, for 800 points along the K-Gamma-M path, for a 40-layer model. 2c_composite_y.pxp: ARPES (angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy) spectra along the ky axis, including both a scan near the Fermi level and a scan at high kinetic energies. 2d_LCP_RCP_diff_Sect_20K.pxp: difference between ARPES constant energy cuts at T=20 K at E0 + 0.23 eV taken with left- and right-circularly polarized photons. The polarization-integrated intensity at the constant energy cut is also included. 2e_DOS_L45_E11pt79_m0pt25to0pt25_xnum_800kpt_tot.txt: Density of states, xz-projected local orbital angular momentum, and corresponding k-points in two dimensions from ab-initio electronic structure calculations for a constant-energy cut. 3a_[x]_[y]ps: ARPES cut under excitation at a fluence of x uJ/cm2, measured y ps after photoexcitation. Measurements were performed at 9 K. 3b_[x]: Energy distribution curves under excitation at a fluence x uJ/cm2 at selected delay times after photoexcitation. 4a_ImSigma_vs_temperature.pxp: Imaginary self energy (extracted from ARPES linewidths) at different energies above E0 for selected lattice temperatures. 4b_EELS_lowE.pxp: Electron energy loss spectrum over a low energy range 5b_diff_55m15.pxp: Difference between momentum-integrated Tr-ARPES traces at 55 uJ/cm2 and 15 uJ/cm2 photoexcitation. Time-dependent intensity at each energy level has been normalized to a maximum of 1 for each individual fluence prior to subtraction. 5d_invtau_at_EX_vs_fluence.pxp: decay rate at a specified energy EX for different excitation fluences, from single exponential fits. <b>NOTE: Analyses based on the Wannier model presented here should cite both the associated Article and this dataset. For all other files in the repository, citing the dataset alone is sufficient.</b>

  PublisherDOI

• Dynamic magneto-chiral instability in photoexcited tellurium

  Nature Physics · 2026-01-09 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Reexamining the strange metal charge response with transmission inelastic electron scattering

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-02-02

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The strange metal remains one of the great unsolved problems for 21st century science. Since the early development of the marginal Fermi liquid phenomenology, it has been clear that progress requires detailed knowledge of the momentum- and frequency-dependent charge susceptibility, $χ(\mathbf{q},ω)$, particularly at large momenta. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), performed in either reflection or transmission geometry, provides the most direct probe of $χ(\mathbf{q},ω)$. However, measurements over the past four decades have yielded conflicting results, with some studies reporting a dispersing RPA-like plasmon and others observing a strongly overdamped, incoherent response. Here we report a transmission EELS study of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ (Bi-2212) that simultaneously achieves high energy resolution ($ΔE \approx 30$ meV) and high momentum resolution ($Δq \approx 0.01$ Å$^{-1}$). To address issues of reproducibility, measurements were repeated ten times on five different Bi-2212 flakes, benchmarked against aluminum, a well-characterized Fermi liquid, and quantitatively compared with prior studies spanning four decades. At momenta $q < 0.15$ Å$^{-1}$, we observe a highly damped plasmon whose linewidth is comparable to its energy. At larger momenta, $q > 0.15$ Å$^{-1}$, this excitation does not disperse but instead evolves into an incoherent continuum, with no evidence for the RPA-like dispersion reported in some earlier works. Comparison with recent RIXS measurements on Bi-based cuprates supports the view that Bi-2212 is an incoherent metal with strongly damped charge excitations.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Plasmon-driven exciton formation in a non-equilibrium Fermi liquid

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-03-10

  preprintOpen access

  Collective modes in Fermi liquids are usually regarded as dissipation channels that relax electronic excitations through Landau damping. Whether such modes can instead mediate the formation of correlated electronic states under non-equilibrium conditions remains an open question. Here we show that, under optical photo-doping, a bulk plasmon can drive correlated inter-band transfer within a transient electronic continuum. Using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (Tr-ARPES) on EuCd$_2$As$_2$ supported by electronic structure calculations, we observe that at high excitation density, plasmons transfer energy from a weakly dispersing bulk band into unoccupied surface states. This bulk-to-surface redistribution stabilizes a long-lived, energy-localized spectral feature consistent with a Mahan exciton. Our results uncover a non-equilibrium regime of Fermi-liquid physics in which collective modes do not merely dissipate energy, but also stabilize correlated bound states.

  PublisherDOI

• Kondo driven suppression of charge density wave in Van der Waals material UTe$_3$

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-03-03

  articleOpen access

  Competing electronic instabilities lie at the heart of emergent phenomena in quantum materials. In low-dimensional metals, Fermi-surface nesting can drive charge density wave (CDW) formation through a Peierls-like mechanism, while in strongly correlated systems, Kondo hybridization reconstructs the electronic structure by entangling localized moments with itinerant electrons. How these two fundamentally different instabilities interact$-$whether they coexist, compete, or mutually exclude each other$-$remains an open question. Here, we present suppression of charge density wave via the Kondo interaction in van der Waals material UTe$_3$. The angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data reveals Fermi surface nesting under similar conditions as seen in RETe$_3$ compounds. Despite that, no CDW is found in UTe$_3$ after an extensive search. We demonstrate that strong hybridization between U 5$f$ electrons and Te $p$ states reconstructs the low-energy electronic structure, removes the instability, and preempts CDW formation. Our results reveal a rare example where Kondo hybridization preempts density wave formation, offering a new route to controlling ordering phenomena in correlated 2D materials.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Fundamental Tests of Quantum Geometric Bounds in Ionic and Covalent Insulators using Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

  Open MIND · 2026-01-27

  preprintSenior author

  Quantum geometry underlies many fundamental properties of materials, but it has remained largely inaccessible to direct experiment. Here we demonstrate that inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) provides a direct, quantitative probe of quantum geometry and quantum information in solids. Studying two prototype insulators, covalently bonded diamond and ionically bonded LiF, we measure the density response and experimentally determine the quantum Fisher information, the associated Bures metric, and the electron localization length. These measurements enable a quantitative comparison of quantum geometry for two distinct bonding environments. We find that the dimensionless quantum weight, $aK(q)$, which quantifies the longitudinal localization of quantum information, is constrained by fundamental electrostatic bounds in both materials. Crucially, the quantum weight of diamond exceeds that of LiF, indicating that covalent bonds exhibit a higher degree of delocalization and higher density of quantum information than the ionic bonds. Our results establish a direct experimental relationship between quantum information, electron localization, and chemical bonding, and identify IXS as a powerful tool for measuring quantum geometry in materials.

  DOI

• Plasmon-driven exciton formation in a non-equilibrium Fermi liquid

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-03-10

  articleOpen access

  Collective modes in Fermi liquids are usually regarded as dissipation channels that relax electronic excitations through Landau damping. Whether such modes can instead mediate the formation of correlated electronic states under non-equilibrium conditions remains an open question. Here we show that, under optical photo-doping, a bulk plasmon can drive correlated inter-band transfer within a transient electronic continuum. Using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (Tr-ARPES) on EuCd$_2$As$_2$ supported by electronic structure calculations, we observe that at high excitation density, plasmons transfer energy from a weakly dispersing bulk band into unoccupied surface states. This bulk-to-surface redistribution stabilizes a long-lived, energy-localized spectral feature consistent with a Mahan exciton. Our results uncover a non-equilibrium regime of Fermi-liquid physics in which collective modes do not merely dissipate energy, but also stabilize correlated bound states.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Kondo driven suppression of charge density wave in Van der Waals material UTe$_3$

  Open MIND · 2026-03-03

  preprint

  Competing electronic instabilities lie at the heart of emergent phenomena in quantum materials. In low-dimensional metals, Fermi-surface nesting can drive charge density wave (CDW) formation through a Peierls-like mechanism, while in strongly correlated systems, Kondo hybridization reconstructs the electronic structure by entangling localized moments with itinerant electrons. How these two fundamentally different instabilities interact$-$whether they coexist, compete, or mutually exclude each other$-$remains an open question. Here, we present suppression of charge density wave via the Kondo interaction in van der Waals material UTe$_3$. The angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data reveals Fermi surface nesting under similar conditions as seen in RETe$_3$ compounds. Despite that, no CDW is found in UTe$_3$ after an extensive search. We demonstrate that strong hybridization between U 5$f$ electrons and Te $p$ states reconstructs the low-energy electronic structure, removes the instability, and preempts CDW formation. Our results reveal a rare example where Kondo hybridization preempts density wave formation, offering a new route to controlling ordering phenomena in correlated 2D materials.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• Young Il Joe

  74 shared

• Andrivo Rusydi

  60 shared

• S. Smadici

  University of Louisville

  59 shared

• Ali Husain

  Vancouver General Hospital

  51 shared

• Matteo Mitrano

  Harvard University

  45 shared

• W. B. Doriese

  National Institute of Standards and Technology

  44 shared

• Anshul Kogar

  University of California, Los Angeles

  43 shared

• Daniel S. Swetz

  National Institute of Standards and Technology

  43 shared

Awards & honors

• Fox Family Professor in Engineering (2019-present)
• Inprentus founded in 2012 at EnterpriseWorks, University of…