Rate My Professor Yuxin Zhao

Yuxin Zhao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Hong Kong, where he serves as an HKU-100 Scholar. He earned a B.S. in Physics from Peking University in 2010 and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Hong Kong in 2014. His professional career encompasses postdoctoral fellowships at the Department of Physics, University of Hong Kong (2014-2015), and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany (2015-2016); Research Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong (2016-2017); and Professor in the School of Physics at Nanjing University (2017-2023). He rejoined the University of Hong Kong as Associate Professor in 2023. He has supervised four Ph.D. students to completion and currently oversees eight Ph.D. candidates.

Professor Zhao's academic interests lie in the application of algebra and topology to condensed matter physics, particularly projective representations of space groups and their roles in topological insulators, semimetals, and quantum matter. He has pioneered theories on topological metals, projective crystal symmetries, and novel topological phenomena, including PT and CP invariant topological metals, Z2 topological metals, and second-order nodal-line semimetals. Key publications include "Unified Theory of PT and CP Invariant Topological Metals and Nodal Superconductors" (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2016), "Novel Z2 Topological Metals and Semimetals" (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2016), "PT Symmetric Real Dirac Fermions and Semimetals" (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2017), "Boundary criticality of Z-invariant topology and second-order nodal-line semimetals" (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2020, Editors’ Suggestion, featured in Physics), "Switching spinless and spinful topological phases with projective PT symmetry" (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2021), "Classification of time-reversal-invariant crystals with gauge structures" (Nat. Commun., 2023), and "Brillouin Klein bottle from artificial gauge fields" (Nat. Commun., 2022). These contributions have garnered recognition through Editors’ Suggestions and synopses in Physics, reflecting his substantial influence in the field. Major awards include the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (2010) and the 1000-Talent Program for Young Scientists (2016).