Max was awarded a poster prize sponsored by Nature Reviews Physics at the Quantum Dynamics of Disordered Interacting Systems conference in Trieste last June.

1. Can you briefly explain the results for which you got the award?

Topological phases of matter, unlike the familiar solid, liquid, and gas phases, are unconventional because they are inherently quantum mechanical. Their name refers to some `twist’ in the wavefunction that cannot be undone even if the system is deformed – much like how the hole in a torus (doughnut shape) can’t be removed continuously. In our work, we considered what happens to these topological wavefunctions when they are far from equilibrium and undergo some dynamics, for example if the environment suddenly changes. We found that whilst some topological phases stay topological after time evolution, others will ‘untwist’ as time goes on. We also proposed some ways in which this untwisting could be measured in experiments.

2. What do you hope will be the impact of your research?

As well as being interesting for fundamental physics, researchers are currently discussing how these topological phases can be used to engineer quantum computers, which is an ambitious but exciting prospect. Although our work is more on the theoretical side, I hope that it can aid future work on topological quantum computers, especially since non-equilibrium dynamics will be unavoidable if such a computer is actually operated.

3. What made you want to be a physicist in the first place?

I think what I most enjoyed about physics to start with was the idea that nature could be understood with a few neat mathematical ideas, even if I didn’t understand exactly what those ideas meant at the time. I find it extremely gratifying to see these elegant concepts show up not just in fundamental physics, but also in the study of real materials and (hopefully!) future technologies.

4. If you weren’t a physicist, what would you like to be (and why)?

At school I was always torn between studying science and music, and in the end physics won, but a career in the music industry would be really exciting. I think there’s a mathematical side to music that I find quite appealing, so maybe they’re not quite as different as they seem.

5. What’s your favourite (quasi-)particle?

Seeing as it mediates sound, I’d have to go for the phonon (see above).

6. If you could have an effect or equation named after you, what would it be?

Every time I visit home, my parents always ask me if I’ve discovered a new element `McGinley-um’ yet, so it would have to be that. Although I think `Maximili-um’ might sound better.