Tuning the Chern number in the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond

The Chern number, an invariant quantity that characterizes topological phases in physical systems, was recently tuned in a controlled fashion by researchers from Tokyo Tech. They achieved this feat in an electronic-nuclear spin system, namely the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, observing Chern numbers from zero to three. This work opens doors to exploring exotic topology and its applications in topological quantum information.