GHN colloquium with Dr. Maia Vergniory (MPI CPfS)

Summary

The GHN Colloquium talk series features the female scientists of the Grete Hermann Network (GHN) - a newly founded international network of female researchers in condensed matter physics and neighboring research areas. Distinguished female researchers are invited to give a lecture on their research and current projects, as well as about their career paths, to inspire young female scientists in particular, and to exchange ideas. After the official talk there will be an internal GHN networking event.

On December 5, 2023, we are happy to welcome Dr. Maia Vergniory from the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids who will give an online scientific talk on Topology is everywhere.

Talk abstract

Quantum materials are a collection of atoms with interacting electrons and nuclei displaying emergent behaviour and topological properties—properties robust to local defects. The past two decades has witnessed an explosion in the field of topological materials: from weak interacting electrons to strongly correlated ones, topological materials represent one of the most exciting discoveries both at fundamental and application level. High performance electronics, quantum information or ultrafast spintronics are just a few of the possible technologies that can be developed based on these materials. In this talk I will discuss the route to go from pure mathematical prediction of topological properties, through high through-put materials search for experimental realization. I will discuss both topological insulators, in non magnetic and magnetic phases as well as topological (chiral) semimetals using the modern theory of topological band structure—Topological Quantum Chemistry — built upon symmetry-based considerations and complemented with chemical theories of bonding, ionization, and covalence. Consequently, it describes the universal global properties of all possible band structures and materials. Going beyond the single-particle perspective, I will introduce our formalism grounded in Green’s functions. This approach is designed to uncover topologically correlated phases in materials  exhibiting electronic entanglement, such as Mott phases. Additionally, I will discuss recent results centered on Green’s function zeros, which are aimed at diagnosing topology in correlated materials.

About Maia Vergniory

Maia G. Vergniory received her doctorate with “A cum lauea” from the University of the Basque Country in Spain in 2008 and joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US as postdoctoral fellow. After three years she moved to Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics for a second postdoc. She won L’Oreal award for Women in Science in 2017 and the Ikerbasque award in 2019, in 2023 she was elected fellow of the American Physical Society. Since 2021, she has been a W2 professor at the Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden.