  Strongly correlated materials are profoundly affected by the repulsive
electron-electron interaction. This stands in contrast to many commonly used
materials such as silicon and aluminum, whose properties are comparatively
unaffected by the Coulomb repulsion. Correlated materials often have remarkable
properties and transitions between distinct, competing phases with dramatically
different electronic and magnetic orders. These rich phenomena are fascinating
from the basic science perspective and offer possibilities for technological
applications. This article looks at these materials through the lens of
research performed at Rice University. Topics examined include: Quantum phase
transitions and quantum criticality in "heavy fermion" materials and the iron
pnictide high temperature superconductors; computational ab initio methods to
examine strongly correlated materials and their interface with analytical
theory techniques; layered dichalcogenides as example correlated materials with
rich phases (charge density waves, superconductivity, hard ferromagnetism) that
may be tuned by composition, pressure, and magnetic field; and nanostructure
methods applied to the correlated oxides VO2 and Fe3O4, where metal-insulator
transitions can be manipulated by doping at the nanoscale or driving the system
out of equilibrium. We conclude with a discussion of the exciting prospects for
this class of materials.
