Chemistry and physics happily wed

Abstract

A major advance in the quantum theory of solids allows materials to be identified whose electronic states have a non-trivial topology. Such materials could have many computing and electronics applications. See Article p.298 Chemists and physicists have traditionally fostered very different perspectives on energy band theory. Barry Bradlyn et al. have developed a new and complete theory to calculate electronic band structure with the unique feature that it can be used to determine for any material whether it is topologically trivial or not. The theory consists of several parts, joining up the conventional band structure approach, which considers electron properties in non-local, momentum space, with a local viewpoint of chemical bonding and interactions. The authors classify the band structures for all 230 symmetry groups and show how this can be used to search for previously undiscovered materials with interesting topological properties.