What in the world is topological quantum matter? - Fan Zhang

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016 for discovering that even microscopic matter at the smallest scale can exhibit macroscopic properties and phases that are topological. But … what does that mean? Fan Zhang helps decode some seriously tricky science.

Lesson by Fan Zhang, directed by Anton Trofimov.

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[MarioFanGamer]

For anyone asking, why a cup has got one hole: A topological hole is defined as a hole where something can pass through the object. Indentation (i.e. the cup), on the other hand, don't count as holes, as objects can go inside but not pass through the object without creating new holes.

[AdrianSpencerElizalde]

I have no idea what the narrator is talking about. He’s my favourite though; his voice really suits TedEd videos.

[Pinguinsose]

Hey everyone! PhD student of theoretical topological physics here: This video was a really good introduction to topology, good job!
For me an interesting aspect of the topological insulators are, that the surface channels have linear dispersion, which leads to really fast moving electrons on the surface of the material. I believe, that topological materials, like Weyl semimetals or topological insulators will be the future particle accelerators, but much much smaller (around 70nm thick) :) ... Btw, all of these effects come from something called Berry phase, which says, that an electron can make a full circle in any parameter space (for example real space or magnetic field) and have different phases everytime it comes back to the start... It took me a long time to be able to calculate (or even understand) this :)

[supercanadian]

I'm just watching for the animations at this point

[cup_check_official]

There will be only 2 types of people in the comment section
1. Who will be discussing quantum matter








2. Who have no idea wtf is going on

[cecasiahaan]

In the eyes of a topologist, a pretzel is a fidget spinner

[DavidChristiadarmaSetiawan]

I read "quantum", I press watch.

[ily]

Btw the cat is a reference Schrödinger's cat which was a thought experiment by Schrödinger,
and the 42 on the quantum computer is a reference to Hitchhiker's guide to the universe(a fictional story) where inside the story 42 is the ans to the worlds most difficult question.

^for those who dont understand those

[shubhamshinde]

Ted-ed + quantum mechanics= science at its best!

[wearealreadydeadfam]

Every time a documentary explains topology they just talk about how a mug is the same as donut. I’m starting to think that topology is just hole counting. :P

[rijuchaudhuri]

You may have helped me a lot by making this video! Thank you so much for putting such a complicated idea into a simple and effective one! You're the best!

[MarvLthe]

Did anyone get the Easter Egg at 3:56 when the quantum computer outputs 42 ? It's a reference to the novel "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglus Adams. In the novel, a supercomputer was asked to find the meaning of life and universe. After a million years of processing, the computer answered "42". Google uses the same Easter egg if you search "answer to life, the universe and everything" without the quotes.

[is]

Me:"Nothing is harder than topology and quantum mechanics"
Them: *THIS VIDEO*

[davidb]

This video is the answer to all those who watched that "How to turn a sphere inside out" video and questioned the usefulness of topology. Sometimes theory comes decades before practical application.

[danieltdp]

Beautiful video. Both content and presentation. Congrats!

[everardoolide]

This was probably one of the best/most manage explanations I've heard about on this topic. Thank you for sharing!

[TheDefB]

1:49 schrödinger cat,
3:55 Computer says answer = 42,

Any other "Easter eggs" i missed?

[knees]

So... No one is gonna say anything about the quantum computer saying the answer is "42" ?

[tanujkumar]

Great video for someone new to topological insulators! Thanks!

[BlueSquad]

Thanks so much ted ed for this video i learn so much i love you channel