Topological nanowires: from fundamentals to application

Quantum technology will be based on a complete understanding of the properties of quantum matter. Quantum matter also provides a unique setting for exploring the fundamental structure of our universe.

The collective behavior of the many bodies of quantum matter can realize emergent exotic particles not otherwise found in nature.

This is especially true in topological quantum matter: Massless chiral Weyl fermions in Weyl semimetals, Dirac fermions at the surface of topological insulators, and Majorana fermions in topological superconductors. Structuring of the material provides control over the effective spacetime in which these particles move.

In nanowires, the interplay of geometric confinement and quantum phases leads to new physics that can be utilized in multitude of ways.

This project will theoretically, with a combination of analytical calculations and state-of-the-art computer simulations, study the properties of topological quantum matter, covering the full range of what is possible with these materials, from fundamental physics with deep connections with high energy quantum field theories and extensions of general relativity, to topological quantum computing with a close collaboration with current experiments.

This is organized in 4 subprojects based on the material and its structure.

The major resource required for this theoretical project is human, consisting of 3 postdocs and a PhD student, with one postdoc every year closely collaborating with the student.