2023 EPS Europhysics Prize

Hinweis zur Verwendung von Bildmaterial: Die Verwendung des Bildmaterials zur Pressemitteilung ist bei Nennung der Quelle vergütungsfrei gestattet. Das Bildmaterial darf nur in Zusammenhang mit dem Inhalt dieser Pressemitteilung verwendet werden. Falls Sie das Bild in höherer Auflösung benötigen oder Rückfragen zur Weiterverwendung haben, wenden Sie sich bitte direkt an die Pressestelle, die es veröffentlicht hat.

Claudia Felser and Andrei Bernevig – discussing and working! | Copyright: Stuart Parkin | Download

Long citation

One of the hottest topics in condensed matter physics today is topology, and in particular materials whose properties are controlled by their topology. Bernevig and Felser are international leaders in this field and are responsible for the development of general design rules, that have led to the prediction of thousands of new topological compounds, and the experimental realization of many of these. These range from the Quantum Spin Hall effect (Bernevig), new Weyl semimetals (Bernevig, Felser), non-symmorphic insulators and semimetals supporting new Fermion excitations (Bernevig, Felser), as well as the discovery of a large number of new types of magnetic topological materials, including magnetic Weyl semimetals (Bernevig, Felser).

The path forward for many current applications, from quantum computing to catalysis, thermoelectrics, superconductors, and sensing, requires the discovery of novel quantum materials. New classes of quantum materials have been found in insulators and semimetals whose properties can be indexed by the mathematical concept of nontrivial topology. Topology in physics is an area in which universal design rules can be derived by group theoretical and mathematical considerations. Realizing these rules in material compounds with specific properties requires further chemical intuition. The materials discovered by Bernevig and Felser exhibit a wide range of phenomena, from topological or dangling bond surface states, giant responses to external stimuli and non-local transport, to new quasiparticles such as Weyl, Dirac and beyond.

The unique combined work of the nominees has led to the discovery that a large number of materials possess extraordinary properties related to the topology of their electron wavefunctions: some 30% of the ~200,000 known inorganic compounds (Nature 2017, and Nature 2019, Science 2022). This is astounding since many of these materials were in plain sight! The results signal that topology is a overarching concept that can classify compounds, in a similar manner that the Periodic Table classifies single elements.

This scientific duo has worked closely together: Bernevig and co-workers made theoretical predictions, Felser, Bernevig and co-workers designed potential materials using analytical methods and advanced density functional theoretical techniques; finally, Felser and co- The work of Felser and Bernevig has been previously recognized by a series of prestigious awards including the APS James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials, 2019.

Their outstanding scientific achievements are also reflected in the high number of citations of their publications (Scopus database): Bernevig, has more than 36,000 citations and Felser, more than 46,000 citations.

Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Claudia.Felser@cpfs.mpg.de