Maria Hermanns. Foto: Markus Marcetic © Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien
Maria Hermanns. Foto: Markus Marcetic © Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien


A central insight in modern material science is that the abstract branch of mathematics called topology can be used to understand new and unexpected properties of exotic materials such as topological insulators, topological superconductors and topological metals.

“Exotic materials have very unusual properties. For example, there may be quasi-particles in such materials that have only a fraction of an electron charge, even though we know that electrons cannot be broken down into smaller pieces,” says Maria Hermanns.

This research area has developed incredibly quickly over the last ten years. Using topology as a tool, it was possible to predict which materials should host exotic phases of matter. These predictions were subsequently verified by many experiments.

“I hope we get a much better understanding of what types of topologically ordered material phases can occur in three-dimensional systems, and how we can identify them uniquely in experiments.”

The hope is that these new materials can be used in new generations of electronics and superconductors, and even in future quantum computers.

Maria Hermanns, who currently works at Gothenburg University, hopes to discover more unknown topologically ordered phases of matter in real three-dimensional materials and will study their properties. The impurities and defects that always occur, even in the purest materials, are of particular interest. Although the project is purely theoretical, experience shows that if a phase of matter is possible in theory, it will eventually also be realized experimentally. As Wallenberg Academy Fellow, Maria Hermanns will work at Stockholm University.

“The appropriation allows me to build my own group, and drive my research forward.”