As we all know, space is three dimensional. Many aspects of physics, including the fundamental properties of matter, depend strongly on the dimensionality of space. For instance, 2D materials like graphene, in which the atoms are confined to a two dimensional plane, have properties very different from standard 3D materials. Now, researchers have created a synthetic material that behaves as though it has four dimensions (4D), higher than the number of dimensions in the space around us.

Scientists and engineers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) and the University of Leeds in the UK have created the first electrically-driven ‘topological’ laser — a device that can route light waves around corners and cope with defects introduced in the manufacture of the device.