At the microscopic level, matter can take strange forms and behave in ways often impossible to predict. Bizarre as they might seem, the extraordinary properties of quantum materials may represent the future of technology. In the last decade, the drive to unlock the potential of quantum matter has brought together researchers at the frontiers of materials science, physics and engineering. Spearheading these efforts is HKUST’s Professor Xi Dai, Dr William W M Mong Professor of Nanoscience, a leading expert in the theory of topological materials.

Topological materials are a newly identified state of quantum matter. With their unique electronic characteristics, they open the door to myriad real-world applications—from new magnetic storage media to better catalysts and even high-temperature superconductors. Professor Dai’s research on topological materials is instrumental in bridging the gap between theoretical physics and experimental sciences. He and his team take abstract theoretical ideas about topological matter and realise them in real-world materials—ultimately helping scientists to create a new “periodic table” of materials. For example, their prediction of the most important topological insulators to date, the Bi2Se3 family, leading to the discovery of a new class of topological material.

Such theoretical breakthroughs have stimulated a profusion of experimental activities and applications worldwide. Professor Dai’s pioneering framework for analyzing strongly correlated electron systems is now widely used to determine the electronic structures of transition metal oxides and rare earth compounds. His theoretical identification of a new family of topological materials, the Weyl semimetal TaAs family, was swiftly confirmed by both photo emission and transport experiments.

Thanks to these and innumerable other achievements, Professor Dai has received a series of prestigious awards from the scientific community, including the OCPA’s Achievements in Asia Award, the KC Chou Foundation’s Fundamental Physics Prize and, most recently, the James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials from the American Physical Society. In 2020, he was listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by the Web of Science Group.

These are just some of the highlights of Professor Dai’s illustrious research career to date. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1999 from the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), he undertook postdoctoral research at HKUST, Rutgers University and Boston College. He returned to CAS in 2007, rising swiftly through the ranks to become a Distinguished Professor in the Institute of Physics. In September 2017, this exceptional scholar re-joined HKUST as a professor in the Department of Physics, where he now holds the well-deserved post of Chair Professor.