Pressure controlled transition into a self-induced topological superconducting surface state

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Zhiyong

2014-02-07

Ab-initio calculations show a pressure induced trivial-nontrivial-trivial topological phase transition in the normal state of 1T-TiSe2. The pressure range in which the nontrivial phase emerges overlaps with that of the superconducting ground state. Thus, topological superconductivity can be induced in protected surface states by the proximity effect of superconducting bulk states. This kind of self-induced topological surface superconductivity is promising for a realization of Majorana fermions due to the absence of lattice and chemical potential mismatches. For appropriate electron doping, the formation of the topological superconducting surface state in 1T-TiSe 2 becomes accessible to experiments as it can be controlled by pressure.

Raman spectra of MgB2 at high pressure and topological electronic transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meletov, K.P.; Kulakov, M.P.; Kolesnikov, N.N.; Arvanitidis, J.; Kourouklis, G.A.

2002-01-01

Raman spectra of the MgB 2 ceramic samples were measured as a function of pressure up to 32 GPa at room temperature. The spectrum at normal conditions contains a very broad peak at ∼ 590 cm -1 related to the E 2g phonon mode. The frequency of this mode exhibits a strong linear dependence in the pressure region from 5 to 18 GPa, whereas beyond this region the slope of the pressure-induced frequency shift is reduced by about a factor of two. The pressure dependence of the phonon mode up to ∼ 5 GPa exhibits a change in the slope as well as a hysteresis effect in the frequency vs. pressure behavior. These singularities in the E 2g mode behavior under pressure support the suggestion that MgB 2 may undergo a pressure-induced topological electronic transition [ru

Valley polarized quantum Hall effect and topological insulator phase transitions in silicene

KAUST Repository

Tahir, M.

2013-01-25

The electronic properties of silicene are distinct from both the conventional two dimensional electron gas and the famous graphene due to strong spin orbit interaction and the buckled structure. Silicene has the potential to overcome limitations encountered for graphene, in particular the zero band gap and weak spin orbit interaction. We demonstrate a valley polarized quantum Hall effect and topological insulator phase transitions. We use the Kubo formalism to discuss the Hall conductivity and address the longitudinal conductivity for elastic impurity scattering in the first Born approximation. We show that the combination of an electric field with intrinsic spin orbit interaction leads to quantum phase transitions at the charge neutrality point, providing a tool to experimentally tune the topological state. Silicene constitutes a model system for exploring the spin and valley physics not accessible in graphene due to the small spin orbit interaction.

Topological phase transitions of (BixSb1-x)2Se3 alloys by density functional theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdalla, L B; Padilha José, E; Schmidt, T M; Miwa, R H; Fazzio, A

2015-07-01

We have performed an ab initio total energy investigation of the topological phase transition, and the electronic properties of topologically protected surface states of (BixSb1-x)2Se3 alloys. In order to provide an accurate alloy concentration for the phase transition, we have considered the special quasirandom structures to describe the alloy system. The trivial → topological transition concentration was obtained by (i) the calculation of the band gap closing as a function of Bi concentration (x), and (ii) the calculation of the Z2 topological invariant number. We show that there is a topological phase transition, for x around 0.4, verified for both procedures (i) and (ii). We also show that in the concentration range 0.4 x < 0.7, the alloy does not present any other band at the Fermi level besides the Dirac cone, where the Dirac point is far from the bulk states. This indicates that a possible suppression of the scattering process due to bulk states will occur.

Realization of a topological phase transition in a gyroscopic lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Noah P.; Nash, Lisa M.; Irvine, William T. M.

2018-03-01

Topological metamaterials exhibit unusual behaviors at their boundaries, such as unidirectional chiral waves, that are protected by a topological feature of their band structures. The ability to tune such a material through a topological phase transition in real time could enable the use of protected waves for information storage and readout. Here we dynamically tune through a topological phase transition by breaking inversion symmetry in a metamaterial composed of interacting gyroscopes. Through the transition, we track the divergence of the edge modes' localization length and the change in Chern number characterizing the topology of the material's band structure. This Rapid Communication provides a new axis with which to tune the response of mechanical topological metamaterials.

Disorder-induced transitions in resonantly driven Floquet topological insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Titum, Paraj; Lindner, Netanel H.; Refael, Gil

2017-08-01

We investigate the effects of disorder in Floquet topological insulators (FTIs) occurring in semiconductor quantum wells. Such FTIs are induced by resonantly driving a transition between the valence and conduction bands. We show that when disorder is added, the topological nature of such FTIs persists as long as there is a mobility gap at the resonant quasienergy. For strong enough disorder, this gap closes and all the states become localized as the system undergoes a transition to a trivial insulator. Interestingly, the effects of disorder are not necessarily adverse: we show that in the same quantum well, disorder can also induce a transition from a trivial to a topological system, thereby establishing a Floquet topological Anderson insulator (FTAI). We identify the conditions on the driving field necessary for observing such a transition.

Signatures of topological phase transitions in mesoscopic superconducting rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pientka, Falko; Romito, Alessandro; Duckheim, Mathias; Oppen, Felix von; Oreg, Yuval

2013-01-01

We investigate Josephson currents in mesoscopic rings with a weak link which are in or near a topological superconducting phase. As a paradigmatic example, we consider the Kitaev model of a spinless p-wave superconductor in one dimension, emphasizing how this model emerges from more realistic settings based on semiconductor nanowires. We show that the flux periodicity of the Josephson current provides signatures of the topological phase transition and the emergence of Majorana fermions (MF) situated on both sides of the weak link even when fermion parity is not a good quantum number. In large rings, the MF hybridize only across the weak link. In this case, the Josephson current is h/e periodic in the flux threading the loop when fermion parity is a good quantum number but reverts to the more conventional h/2e periodicity in the presence of fermion-parity changing relaxation processes. In mesoscopic rings, the MF also hybridize through their overlap in the interior of the superconducting ring. We find that in the topological superconducting phase, this gives rise to an h/e-periodic contribution even when fermion parity is not conserved and that this contribution exhibits a peak near the topological phase transition. This signature of the topological phase transition is robust to the effects of disorder. As a byproduct, we find that close to the topological phase transition, disorder drives the system deeper into the topological phase. This is in stark contrast to the known behavior far from the phase transition, where disorder tends to suppress the topological phase. (paper)

Casimir amplitudes in topological quantum phase transitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffith, M A; Continentino, M A

2018-01-01

Topological phase transitions constitute a new class of quantum critical phenomena. They cannot be described within the usual framework of the Landau theory since, in general, the different phases cannot be distinguished by an order parameter, neither can they be related to different symmetries. In most cases, however, one can identify a diverging length at these topological transitions. This allows us to describe them using a scaling approach and to introduce a set of critical exponents that characterize their universality class. Here we consider some relevant models of quantum topological transitions associated with well-defined critical exponents that are related by a quantum hyperscaling relation. We extend to these models a finite-size scaling approach based on techniques for calculating the Casimir force in electromagnetism. This procedure allows us to obtain universal Casimir amplitudes at their quantum critical points. Our results verify the validity of finite-size scaling in these systems and confirm the values of the critical exponents obtained previously.

Strain-induced topological magnon phase transitions: applications to kagome-lattice ferromagnets

Science.gov (United States)

Owerre, S. A.

2018-06-01

A common feature of topological insulators is that they are characterized by topologically invariant quantity such as the Chern number and the index. This quantity distinguishes a nontrivial topological system from a trivial one. A topological phase transition may occur when there are two topologically distinct phases, and it is usually defined by a gap closing point where the topologically invariant quantity is ill-defined. In this paper, we show that the magnon bands in the strained (distorted) kagome-lattice ferromagnets realize an example of a topological magnon phase transition in the realistic parameter regime of the system. When spin–orbit coupling (SOC) is neglected (i.e. no Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction), we show that all three magnon branches are dispersive with no flat band, and there exists a critical point where tilted Dirac and semi-Dirac point coexist in the magnon spectra. The critical point separates two gapless magnon phases as opposed to the usual phase transition. Upon the inclusion of SOC, we realize a topological magnon phase transition point at the critical strain , where D and J denote the perturbative SOC and the Heisenberg spin exchange interaction respectively. It separates two distinct topological magnon phases with different Chern numbers for and for . The associated anomalous thermal Hall conductivity develops an abrupt change at , due to the divergence of the Berry curvature in momentum space. The proposed topological magnon phase transition is experimentally feasible by applying external perturbations such as uniaxial strain or pressure.

Unconventional transformation of spin Dirac phase across a topological quantum phase transition

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Su-Yang; Neupane, Madhab; Belopolski, Ilya; Liu, Chang; Alidoust, Nasser; Bian, Guang; Jia, Shuang; Landolt, Gabriel; Slomski, Batosz; Dil, J. Hugo; Shibayev, Pavel P.; Basak, Susmita; Chang, Tay-Rong; Jeng, Horng-Tay; Cava, Robert J.; Lin, Hsin; Bansil, Arun; Hasan, M. Zahid

2015-01-01

The topology of a topological material can be encoded in its surface states. These surface states can only be removed by a bulk topological quantum phase transition into a trivial phase. Here we use photoemission spectroscopy to image the formation of protected surface states in a topological insulator as we chemically tune the system through a topological transition. Surprisingly, we discover an exotic spin-momentum locked, gapped surface state in the trivial phase that shares many important properties with the actual topological surface state in anticipation of the change of topology. Using a spin-resolved measurement, we show that apart from a surface bandgap these states develop spin textures similar to the topological surface states well before the transition. Our results offer a general paradigm for understanding how surface states in topological phases arise from a quantum phase transition and are suggestive for the future realization of Weyl arcs, condensed matter supersymmetry and other fascinating phenomena in the vicinity of a quantum criticality. PMID:25882717

Effects of Structural and Electronic Disorder in Topological Insulator Sb2Te3 Thin Films

Science.gov (United States)

Korzhovska, Inna

Topological quantum matter is a unique and potentially transformative protectorate against disorder-induced backscattering. The ultimate disorder limits to the topological state, however, are still not known - understanding these limits is critical to potential applications in the fields of spintronics and information processing. In topological insulators spin-orbit interaction and time-reversal-symmetry invariance guarantees - at least up to a certain disorder strength - that charge transport through 2D gapless Dirac surface states is robust against backscattering by non-magnetic disorder. Strong disorder may destroy topological protection and gap out Dirac surface states, although recent theories predict that under severe electronic disorder a quantized topological conductance might yet reemerge. Very strong electronic disorder, however, is not trivial to install and quantify, and topological matter under such conditions thus far has not been experimentally tested. This thesis addresses the behavior of three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) films in a wide range of structural and electronic disorder. We establish strong positional disorder in thin (20-50 nm) Sb2Te 3 films, free of extrinsic magnetic dopants. Sb 2Te3 is a known 2nd generation topological insulator in the low-disorder crystalline state. It is also a known phase-change material that undergoes insulator-to-metal transition with the concurrent orders of magnitude resistive drop, where a huge range of disorder could be controllably explored. In this work we show that even in the absence of magnetic dopants, disorder may induce spin correlations detrimental to the topological state. Chapter 1 contains a brief introduction to the topological matter and describes the role played by disorder. This is followed by theory considerations and a survey of prior experimental work. Next we describe the motivation for our experiments and explain the choice of the material. Chapter 2 describes deposition

Topological transitions at finite temperatures: A real-time numerical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grigoriev, D.Yu.; Rubakov, V.A.; Shaposhnikov, M.E.

1989-01-01

We study topological transitions at finite temperatures within the (1+1)-dimensional abelian Higgs model by a numerical simulation in real time. Basic ideas of the real-time approach are presented and some peculiarities of the Metropolis technique are discussed. It is argued that the processes leading to topological transitions are of classical origin; the transitions can be observed by solving the classical field equations in real time. We show that the topological transitions actually pass via the sphaleron configuration. The transition rate as a function of temperature is found to be in good agreement with the analytical predictions. No extra suppression of the rate is observed. The conditions of applicability of our approach are discussed. The temperature interval where the low-temperature broken phase persists is estimated. (orig.)

Quantum spin Hall effect and topological phase transition in InN x Bi y Sb1-x-y /InSb quantum wells

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zhigang; Bose, Sumanta; Fan, Weijun; Zhang, Dao Hua; Zhang, Yan Yang; Shen Li, Shu

2017-07-01

Quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect, a fundamentally new quantum state of matter and topological phase transitions are characteristics of a kind of electronic material, popularly referred to as topological insulators (TIs). TIs are similar to ordinary insulator in terms of their bulk bandgap, but have gapless conducting edge-states that are topologically protected. These edge-states are facilitated by the time-reversal symmetry and they are robust against nonmagnetic impurity scattering. Recently, the quest for new materials exhibiting non-trivial topological state of matter has been of great research interest, as TIs find applications in new electronics and spintronics and quantum-computing devices. Here, we propose and demonstrate as a proof-of-concept that QSH effect and topological phase transitions can be realized in {{InN}}x{{Bi}}y{{Sb}}1-x-y/InSb semiconductor quantum wells (QWs). The simultaneous incorporation of nitrogen and bismuth in InSb is instrumental in lowering the bandgap, while inducing opposite kinds of strain to attain a near-lattice-matching conducive for lattice growth. Phase diagram for bandgap shows that as we increase the QW thickness, at a critical thickness, the electronic bandstructure switches from a normal to an inverted type. We confirm that such transition are topological phase transitions between a traditional insulator and a TI exhibiting QSH effect—by demonstrating the topologically protected edge-states using the bandstructure, edge-localized distribution of the wavefunctions and edge-state spin-momentum locking phenomenon, presence of non-zero conductance in spite of the Fermi energy lying in the bandgap window, crossover points of Landau levels in the zero-mode indicating topological band inversion in the absence of any magnetic field and presence of large Rashba spin-splitting, which is essential for spin-manipulation in TIs.

Effects of electron transitions on the susceptibility of Cd3Mg

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sereda, Yu.P.

1988-01-01

The monotone susceptibility component has been examined at 4.2-420 K for Cd 1-x Mg x ordering single crystals for 0.18 < x < 0.33. The temperature and concentration curves for the susceptibility components show features related to structural and electronic topological transitions. The susceptibility anomalies at the electron-transition points are correlated with the boundaries to the existence of the allotropic forms

Nonlocal optical response in topological phase transitions in the graphene family

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez-Lopez, Pablo; Kort-Kamp, Wilton J. M.; Dalvit, Diego A. R.; Woods, Lilia M.

2018-01-01

We investigate the electromagnetic response of staggered two-dimensional materials of the graphene family, including silicene, germanene, and stanene, as they are driven through various topological phase transitions using external fields. Utilizing Kubo formalism, we compute their optical conductivity tensor taking into account the frequency and wave vector of the electromagnetic excitations, and study its behavior over the full electronic phase diagram of the materials. In particular, we find that the resonant behavior of the nonlocal Hall conductivity is strongly affected by the various topological phases present in these materials. We also consider the plasmon excitations in the graphene family and find that nonlocality in the optical response can affect the plasmon dispersion spectra of the various phases. We find a regime of wave vectors for which the plasmon relations for phases with trivial topology are essentially indistinguishable, while those for phases with nontrivial topology are distinct and are redshifted as the corresponding Chern number increases. The expressions for the conductivity components are valid for the entire graphene family and can be readily used by others.

Triply degenerate nodal points and topological phase transitions in NaCu3Te2

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Yunyouyou; Li, Gang

2017-12-01

Quasiparticle excitations of free electrons in condensed-matter physics, characterized by the dimensionality of the band crossing, can find their elementary-particle analogs in high-energy physics, such as Majorana, Weyl, and Dirac fermions, while crystalline symmetry allows more quasiparticle excitations and exotic fermions to emerge. Using symmetry analysis and ab initio calculations, we propose that the three-dimensional honeycomb crystal NaCu3Te2 hosts triply degenerate nodal points (TDNPs) residing at the Fermi level. Furthermore, in this system we find a tunable phase transition between a trivial insulator, a TDNP phase, and a weak topological insulator (TI), triggered by a symmetry-allowed perturbation and the spin-orbital coupling (SOC). Such a topological nontrivial ternary compound not only serves as a perfect candidate for studying three-component fermions, but also provides an excellent playground for understanding the topological phase transitions between TDNPs, TIs, and trivial insulators, which distinguishes this system from other TDNP candidates.

Disorder-induced topological transitions in multichannel Majorana wires

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pekerten, B.; Teker, A.; Bozat, Ö.; Wimmer, M.T.; Adagideli, I

2017-01-01

In this work, we investigate the effect of disorder on the topological properties of multichannel superconductor nanowires. While the standard expectation is that the spectral gap is closed and opened at transitions that change the topological index of the wire, we show that the closing and

Quantum SDW liquid state originating from 2D electronic topological transition as a source for anomalies in the high-Tc cuprates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onufrieva, F.; Pfeuty, P.

1999-01-01

A new microscopic scenario for high T c cuprates based on the existence of an electronic topological transition (ETT) in a strongly correlated 2D electron system has been developed recently. We first briefly sketch the principal results concerning the behaviour of a 2D fermion system on a square lattice close to an ETT and the main consequences for a strongly correlated system: d-wave superconductivity and SDW (CDW) quantum liquid state above T SC . We then illustrate how this theory can explain several crucial experimental facts (observed by NMR, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), tunneling spectroscopy, inelastic neutron scattering) which reveal anomalous behavior in the SC state and in the metallic state above T s c. (orig.)

Long-range Coulomb interaction effects on the topological phase transitions between semimetals and insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Han, SangEun; Moon, Eun-Gook

2018-06-01

Topological states may be protected by a lattice symmetry in a class of topological semimetals. In three spatial dimensions, the Berry flux around gapless excitations in momentum space concretely defines a chirality, so a protecting symmetry may be referred to as a chiral symmetry. Prime examples include a Dirac semimetal (DSM) in a distorted spinel, BiZnSiO4, protected by a mirror symmetry, and a DSM in Na3Bi , protected by a rotational symmetry. In these states, topology and chiral symmetry are intrinsically tied. In this Rapid Communication, the characteristic interplay between a chiral symmetry order parameter and an instantaneous long-range Coulomb interaction is investigated with the standard renormalization group method. We show that a topological transition associated with chiral symmetry is stable under the presence of a Coulomb interaction and the electron velocity always becomes faster than the one of a chiral symmetry order parameter. Thus, the transition must not be relativistic, which implies that supersymmetry is intrinsically forbidden by the long-range Coulomb interaction. Asymptotically exact universal ratios of physical quantities such as the energy gap ratio are obtained, and connections with experiments and recent theoretical proposals are also discussed.

Dynamical Detection of Topological Phase Transitions in Short-Lived Atomic Systems

OpenAIRE

Setiawan, F.; Sengupta, K.; Spielman, I. B.; Sau, Jay D.

2015-01-01

We demonstrate that dynamical probes provide direct means of detecting the topological phase transition (TPT) between conventional and topological phases, which would otherwise be difficult to access because of loss or heating processes. We propose to avoid such heating by rapidly quenching in and out of the short-lived topological phase across the transition that supports gapless excitations. Following the quench, the distribution of excitations in the final conventional phase carries signat...

arXiv Gauge Topological Nature of the Superconductor-Insulator Transition

CERN Document Server

Diamantini, M.C.; Lukyanchuk, I.; Vinokur, V.M.

It has long been believed that, at absolute zero, electrons can form only one quantum coherent state, a superconductor. Yet, several two dimensional superconducting systems were found to harbor the superinsulating state with infinite resistance, a mirror image of superconductivity, and a metallic state often referred to as Bose metal, characterized by finite longitudinal and vanishing Hall resistances. The nature of these novel and mysterious quantum coherent states is the subject of intense study.Here, we propose a topological gauge description of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) that enables us to identify the underlying mechanism of superinsulation as Polyakov's linear confinement of Cooper pairs via instantons. We find a criterion defining conditions for either a direct SIT or for the SIT via the intermediate Bose metal and demonstrate that this Bose metal phase is a Mott topological insulator in which the Cooper pair-vortex liquid is frozen by Aharonov-Bohm interactions.

The Topological Analysis of Urban Transit System as a Small-World Network

OpenAIRE

Zhaosheng Yang; Huxing Zhou; Peng Gao; Hong Chen; Nan Zhang

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a topological analysis of urban transit system based on a functional representation network constructed from the urban transit system in Beijing. The representation gives a functional view on nodes named a transit line. Statistical measures are computed and introduced in complex network analysis. It shows that the urban transit system forms small-world networks and exhibits properties different from random networks and regular networks. Furthermore, the topological propert...

Trivial topological phase of CaAgP and the topological nodal-line transition in CaAg (P1 -xA sx)

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, N.; Qian, Y. T.; Wu, Q. S.; Autès, G.; Matt, C. E.; Lv, B. Q.; Yao, M. Y.; Strocov, V. N.; Pomjakushina, E.; Conder, K.; Plumb, N. C.; Radovic, M.; Yazyev, O. V.; Qian, T.; Ding, H.; Mesot, J.; Shi, M.

2018-04-01

By performing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations, we address the topological phase of CaAgP and investigate the topological phase transition in CaAg (P1 -xA sx) . We reveal that in CaAgP, the bulk band gap and surface states with a large bandwidth are topologically trivial, in agreement with hybrid density functional theory calculations. The calculations also indicate that application of "negative" hydrostatic pressure can transform trivial semiconducting CaAgP into an ideal topological nodal-line semimetal phase. The topological transition can be realized by partial isovalent P/As substitution at x =0.38 .

Effect of Topology Structures on Synchronization Transition in Coupled Neuron Cells System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang Li-Si; Zhang Ji-Qian; Xu Gui-Xia; Liu Le-Zhu; Huang Shou-Fang

2013-01-01

In this paper, by the help of evolutionary algorithm and using Hindmarsh—Rose (HR) neuron model, we investigate the effect of topology structures on synchronization transition between different states in coupled neuron cells system. First, we build different coupling structure with N cells, and found the effect of synchronized transition contact not only closely with the topology of the system, but also with whether there exist the ring structures in the system. In particular, both the size and the number of rings have greater effects on such transition behavior. Secondly, we introduce synchronization error to qualitative analyze the effect of the topology structure. Furthermore, by fitting the simulation results, we find that with the increment of the neurons number, there always exist the optimization structures which have the minimum number of connecting edges in the coupling systems. Above results show that the topology structures have a very crucial role on synchronization transition in coupled neuron system. Biological system may gradually acquire such efficient topology structures through the long-term evolution, thus the systems' information process may be optimized by this scheme. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Topological quantum phase transitions and edge states in spin-orbital coupled Fermi gases.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Tao; Gao, Yi; Wang, Z D

2014-06-11

We study superconducting states in the presence of spin-orbital coupling and Zeeman field. It is found that a phase transition from a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state to the topological superconducting state occurs upon increasing the spin-orbital coupling. The nature of this topological phase transition and its critical property are investigated numerically. Physical properties of the topological superconducting phase are also explored. Moreover, the local density of states is calculated, through which the topological feature may be tested experimentally.

Quantum phase transitions of a disordered antiferromagnetic topological insulator

Science.gov (United States)

Baireuther, P.; Edge, J. M.; Fulga, I. C.; Beenakker, C. W. J.; Tworzydło, J.

2014-01-01

We study the effect of electrostatic disorder on the conductivity of a three-dimensional antiferromagnetic insulator (a stack of quantum anomalous Hall layers with staggered magnetization). The phase diagram contains regions where the increase of disorder first causes the appearance of surface conduction (via a topological phase transition), followed by the appearance of bulk conduction (via a metal-insulator transition). The conducting surface states are stabilized by an effective time-reversal symmetry that is broken locally by the disorder but restored on long length scales. A simple self-consistent Born approximation reliably locates the boundaries of this so-called "statistical" topological phase.

Weakly interacting topological insulators: Quantum criticality and the renormalization group approach

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei

2018-03-01

For D -dimensional weakly interacting topological insulators in certain symmetry classes, the topological invariant can be calculated from a D - or (D +1 ) -dimensional integration over a certain curvature function that is expressed in terms of single-particle Green's functions. Based on the divergence of curvature function at the topological phase transition, we demonstrate how a renormalization group approach circumvents these integrations and reduces the necessary calculation to that for the Green's function alone, rendering a numerically efficient tool to identify topological phase transitions in a large parameter space. The method further unveils a number of statistical aspects related to the quantum criticality in weakly interacting topological insulators, including correlation function, critical exponents, and scaling laws, that can be used to characterize the topological phase transitions driven by either interacting or noninteracting parameters. We use 1D class BDI and 2D class A Dirac models with electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions to demonstrate these principles and find that interactions may change the critical exponents of the topological insulators.

Inflation and Topological Phase Transition Driven by Exotic Smoothness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torsten Asselmeyer-Maluga

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We will discuss a model which describes the cause of inflation by a topological transition. The guiding principle is the choice of an exotic smoothness structure for the space-time. Here we consider a space-time with topology S3×ℝ. In case of an exotic S3×ℝ, there is a change in the spatial topology from a 3-sphere to a homology 3-sphere which can carry a hyperbolic structure. From the physical point of view, we will discuss the path integral for the Einstein-Hilbert action with respect to a decomposition of the space-time. The inclusion of the boundary terms produces fermionic contributions to the partition function. The expectation value of an area (with respect to some surface shows an exponential increase; that is, we obtain inflationary behavior. We will calculate the amount of this increase to be a topological invariant. Then we will describe this transition by an effective model, the Starobinski or R2 model which is consistent with the current measurement of the Planck satellite. The spectral index and other observables are also calculated.

Dynamical Detection of Topological Phase Transitions in Short-Lived Atomic Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Setiawan, F.; Sengupta, K.; Spielman, I. B.; Sau, Jay D.

2015-11-01

We demonstrate that dynamical probes provide direct means of detecting the topological phase transition (TPT) between conventional and topological phases, which would otherwise be difficult to access because of loss or heating processes. We propose to avoid such heating by rapidly quenching in and out of the short-lived topological phase across the transition that supports gapless excitations. Following the quench, the distribution of excitations in the final conventional phase carries signatures of the TPT. We apply this strategy to study the TPT into a Majorana-carrying topological phase predicted in one-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled Fermi gases with attractive interactions. The resulting spin-resolved momentum distribution, computed by self-consistently solving the time-dependent Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, exhibits Kibble-Zurek scaling and Stückelberg oscillations characteristic of the TPT. We discuss parameter regimes where the TPT is experimentally accessible.

Fermi points and topological quantum phase transitions in a multi-band superconductor.

Science.gov (United States)

Puel, T O; Sacramento, P D; Continentino, M A

2015-10-28

The importance of models with an exact solution for the study of materials with non-trivial topological properties has been extensively demonstrated. The Kitaev model plays a guiding role in the search for Majorana modes in condensed matter systems. Also, the sp-chain with an anti-symmetric mixing among the s and p bands is a paradigmatic example of a topological insulator with well understood properties. Interestingly, these models share the same universality class for their topological quantum phase transitions. In this work we study a two-band model of spinless fermions with attractive inter-band interactions. We obtain its zero temperature phase diagram, which presents a rich variety of phases including a Weyl superconductor and a topological insulator. The transition from the topological to the trivial superconducting phase has critical exponents different from those of Kitaev's model.

Phase transition for black holes with scalar hair and topological black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myung, Yun Soo

2008-01-01

We study phase transitions between black holes with scalar hair and topological black holes in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes. As the ground state solutions, we introduce the non-rotating BTZ black hole in three dimensions and topological black hole with hyperbolic horizon in four dimensions. For the temperature matching only, we show that the phase transition between black hole with scalar hair (Martinez-Troncoso-Zanelli black hole) and topological black hole is second-order by using differences between two free energies. However, we do not identify what order of the phase transition between scalar and non-rotating BTZ black holes occurs in three dimensions, although there exists a possible decay of scalar black hole to non-rotating BTZ black hole

Inverse participation ratio and localization in topological insulator phase transitions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calixto, M; Romera, E

2015-01-01

Fluctuations of Hamiltonian eigenfunctions, measured by the inverse participation ratio (IPR), turn out to characterize topological-band insulator transitions occurring in 2D Dirac materials like silicene, which is isostructural with graphene but with a strong spin–orbit interaction. Using monotonic properties of the IPR, as a function of a perpendicular electric field (which provides a tunable band gap), we define topological-like quantum numbers that take different values in the topological-insulator and band-insulator phases. (paper)

Topological phase transition in the quench dynamics of a one-dimensional Fermi gas

OpenAIRE

Wang, Pei; Yi, Wei; Xianlong, Gao

2014-01-01

We study the quench dynamics of a one-dimensional ultracold Fermi gas in an optical lattice potential with synthetic spin-orbit coupling. At equilibrium, the ground state of the system can undergo a topological phase transition and become a topological superfluid with Majorana edge states. As the interaction is quenched near the topological phase boundary, we identify an interesting dynamical phase transition of the quenched state in the long-time limit, characterized by an abrupt change of t...

Tunable Electronic and Topological Properties of Germanene by Functional Group Modification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ceng-Ceng Ren

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Electronic and topological properties of two-dimensional germanene modified by functional group X (X = H, F, OH, CH3 at full coverage are studied with first-principles calculation. Without considering the effect of spin-orbit coupling (SOC, all functionalized configurations become semiconductors, removing the Dirac cone at K point in pristine germanene. We also find that their band gaps can be especially well tuned by an external strain. When the SOC is switched on, GeX (X = H, CH3 is a normal insulator and strain leads to a phase transition to a topological insulator (TI phase. However, GeX (X = F, OH becomes a TI with a large gap of 0.19 eV for X = F and 0.24 eV for X = OH, even without external strains. More interestingly, when all these functionalized monolayers form a bilayer structure, semiconductor-metal states are observed. All these results suggest a possible route of modulating the electronic properties of germanene and promote applications in nanoelectronics.

Unconventional Topological Phase Transition in Two-Dimensional Systems with Space-Time Inversion Symmetry

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Junyeong; Yang, Bohm-Jung

2017-04-01

We study a topological phase transition between a normal insulator and a quantum spin Hall insulator in two-dimensional (2D) systems with time-reversal and twofold rotation symmetries. Contrary to the case of ordinary time-reversal invariant systems, where a direct transition between two insulators is generally predicted, we find that the topological phase transition in systems with an additional twofold rotation symmetry is mediated by an emergent stable 2D Weyl semimetal phase between two insulators. Here the central role is played by the so-called space-time inversion symmetry, the combination of time-reversal and twofold rotation symmetries, which guarantees the quantization of the Berry phase around a 2D Weyl point even in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling. Pair creation and pair annihilation of Weyl points accompanying partner exchange between different pairs induces a jump of a 2D Z2 topological invariant leading to a topological phase transition. According to our theory, the topological phase transition in HgTe /CdTe quantum well structure is mediated by a stable 2D Weyl semimetal phase because the quantum well, lacking inversion symmetry intrinsically, has twofold rotation about the growth direction. Namely, the HgTe /CdTe quantum well can show 2D Weyl semimetallic behavior within a small but finite interval in the thickness of HgTe layers between a normal insulator and a quantum spin Hall insulator. We also propose that few-layer black phosphorus under perpendicular electric field is another candidate system to observe the unconventional topological phase transition mechanism accompanied by the emerging 2D Weyl semimetal phase protected by space-time inversion symmetry.

Critical current anomaly at the topological quantum phase transition in a Majorana Josephson junction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Hong [School of Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (China); Liang, Qi-Feng [Department of Physics, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing 312000 (China); Yao, Dao-Xin, E-mail: yaodaox@mail.sysu.edu.cn [School of Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (China); Wang, Zhi, E-mail: physicswangzhi@gmail.com [School of Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (China)

2017-06-28

Majorana bound states in topological Josephson junctions induce a 4π period current-phase relation. Direct detection of the 4π periodicity is complicated by the quasiparticle poisoning. We reveal that Majorana bound states are also signaled by the anomalous enhancement on the critical current of the junction. We show the landscape of the critical current for a nanowire Josephson junction under a varying Zeeman field, and reveal a sharp step feature at the topological quantum phase transition point, which comes from the anomalous enhancement of the critical current at the topological regime. In multi-band wires, the anomalous enhancement disappears for an even number of bands, where the Majorana bound states fuse into Andreev bound states. This anomalous critical current enhancement directly signals the existence of the Majorana bound states, and also provides a valid signature for the topological quantum phase transition. - Highlights: • We introduce the critical current step as a signal for the topological quantum phase transition. • We study the quantum phase transition in the topological nanowire under a rotating Zeeman field. • We show that the critical current anomaly gradually disappears for systems with more sub-bands.

Saddle-like topological surface states on the T T'X family of compounds (T , T' = Transition metal, X =Si , Ge)

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Bahadur; Zhou, Xiaoting; Lin, Hsin; Bansil, Arun

2018-02-01

Topological nodal-line semimetals are exotic conductors that host symmetry-protected conducting nodal lines in their bulk electronic spectrum and nontrivial drumhead states on the surface. Based on first-principles calculations and an effective model analysis, we identify the presence of topological nodal-line semimetal states in the low crystalline symmetric T T'X family of compounds (T ,T' = transition metal, X = Si or Ge) in the absence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Taking ZrPtGe as an exemplar system, we show that owing to small lattice symmetry this material harbors a single nodal line on the ky=0 plane with large energy dispersion and unique drumhead surface state with a saddlelike energy dispersion. When the SOC is included, the nodal line gaps out and the system transitions to a strong topological insulator state with Z2=(1 ;000 ) . The topological surface state evolves from the drumhead surface state via the sharing of its saddlelike energy dispersion within the bulk energy gap. These features differ remarkably from those of the currently known topological surface states in topological insulators such as Bi2Se3 with Dirac-cone-like energy dispersions.

Topological phase transitions and quantum Hall effect in the graphene family

Science.gov (United States)

Ledwith, P.; Kort-Kamp, W. J. M.; Dalvit, D. A. R.

2018-04-01

Monolayer staggered materials of the graphene family present intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and can be driven through several topological phase transitions using external circularly polarized lasers and static electric or magnetic fields. We show how topological features arising from photoinduced phase transitions and the magnetic-field-induced quantum Hall effect coexist in these materials and simultaneously impact their Hall conductivity through their corresponding charge Chern numbers. We also show that the spectral response of the longitudinal conductivity contains signatures of the various phase-transition boundaries, that the transverse conductivity encodes information about the topology of the band structure, and that both present resonant peaks which can be unequivocally associated with one of the four inequivalent Dirac cones present in these materials. This complex optoelectronic response can be probed with straightforward Faraday rotation experiments, allowing the study of the crossroads between quantum Hall physics, spintronics, and valleytronics.

Interaction effects and quantum phase transitions in topological insulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varney, Christopher N.; Sun Kai; Galitski, Victor; Rigol, Marcos

2010-01-01

We study strong correlation effects in topological insulators via the Lanczos algorithm, which we utilize to calculate the exact many-particle ground-state wave function and its topological properties. We analyze the simple, noninteracting Haldane model on a honeycomb lattice with known topological properties and demonstrate that these properties are already evident in small clusters. Next, we consider interacting fermions by introducing repulsive nearest-neighbor interactions. A first-order quantum phase transition was discovered at finite interaction strength between the topological band insulator and a topologically trivial Mott insulating phase by use of the fidelity metric and the charge-density-wave structure factor. We construct the phase diagram at T=0 as a function of the interaction strength and the complex phase for the next-nearest-neighbor hoppings. Finally, we consider the Haldane model with interacting hard-core bosons, where no evidence for a topological phase is observed. An important general conclusion of our work is that despite the intrinsic nonlocality of topological phases their key topological properties manifest themselves already in small systems and therefore can be studied numerically via exact diagonalization and observed experimentally, e.g., with trapped ions and cold atoms in optical lattices.

Quantum spin/valley Hall effect and topological insulator phase transitions in silicene

KAUST Repository

Tahir, M.

2013-04-26

We present a theoretical realization of quantum spin and quantum valley Hall effects in silicene. We show that combination of an electric field and intrinsic spin-orbit interaction leads to quantum phase transitions at the charge neutrality point. This phase transition from a two dimensional topological insulator to a trivial insulating state is accompanied by a quenching of the quantum spin Hall effect and the onset of a quantum valley Hall effect, providing a tool to experimentally tune the topological state of silicene. In contrast to graphene and other conventional topological insulators, the proposed effects in silicene are accessible to experiments.

Quantum spin/valley Hall effect and topological insulator phase transitions in silicene

KAUST Repository

Tahir, M.; Manchon, Aurelien; Sabeeh, K.; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo

2013-01-01

We present a theoretical realization of quantum spin and quantum valley Hall effects in silicene. We show that combination of an electric field and intrinsic spin-orbit interaction leads to quantum phase transitions at the charge neutrality point. This phase transition from a two dimensional topological insulator to a trivial insulating state is accompanied by a quenching of the quantum spin Hall effect and the onset of a quantum valley Hall effect, providing a tool to experimentally tune the topological state of silicene. In contrast to graphene and other conventional topological insulators, the proposed effects in silicene are accessible to experiments.

Uncertainty relations and topological-band insulator transitions in 2D gapped Dirac materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romera, E; Calixto, M

2015-01-01

Uncertainty relations are studied for a characterization of topological-band insulator transitions in 2D gapped Dirac materials isostructural with graphene. We show that the relative or Kullback–Leibler entropy in position and momentum spaces, and the standard variance-based uncertainty relation give sharp signatures of topological phase transitions in these systems. (paper)

Topological phase transition in anisotropic square-octagon lattice with spin-orbit coupling and exchange field

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yuan; Yang, Jian; Li, Xiaobing; Zhao, Yue

2018-03-01

We investigate the topological phase transitions in an anisotropic square-octagon lattice in the presence of spin-orbit coupling and exchange field. On the basis of the Chern number and spin Chern number, we find a number of topologically distinct phases with tuning the exchange field, including time-reversal-symmetry-broken quantum spin Hall phases, quantum anomalous Hall phases and a topologically trivial phase. Particularly, we observe a coexistent state of both the quantum spin Hall effect and quantum anomalous Hall effect. Besides, by adjusting the exchange filed, we find the phase transition from time-reversal-symmetry-broken quantum spin Hall phase to spin-imbalanced and spin-polarized quantum anomalous Hall phases, providing an opportunity for quantum spin manipulation. The bulk band gap closes when topological phase transitions occur between different topological phases. Furthermore, the energy and spin spectra of the edge states corresponding to different topological phases are consistent with the topological characterization based on the Chern and spin Chern numbers.

Topological phase transitions from Harper to Fibonacci crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Amit, Guy; Dana, Itzhack

2018-02-01

Topological properties of Harper and generalized Fibonacci chains are studied in crystalline cases, i.e., for rational values of the modulation frequency. The Harper and Fibonacci crystals at fixed frequency are connected by an interpolating one-parameter Hamiltonian. As the parameter is varied, one observes topological phase transitions, i.e., changes in the Chern integers of two bands due to the degeneracy of these bands at some parameter value. For small frequency, corresponding to a semiclassical regime, the degeneracies are shown to occur when the average energy of the two bands is approximately equal to the energy of the classical separatrix. Spectral and topological features of the Fibonacci crystal for small frequency leave a clear imprint on the corresponding Hofstadter butterfly for arbitrary frequency.

Link between the photonic and electronic topological phases in artificial graphene

Science.gov (United States)

Lannebère, Sylvain; Silveirinha, Mário G.

2018-04-01

In recent years the study of topological phases of matter has emerged as a very exciting field of research, both in photonics and in electronics. However, up to now the electronic and photonic properties have been regarded as totally independent. Here we establish a link between the electronic and the photonic topological phases of the same material system and theoretically demonstrate that they are intimately related. We propose a realization of the Haldane model as a patterned two-dimensional electron gas and determine its optical response using the Kubo formula. It is shown that the electronic and photonic phase diagrams of the patterned electron gas are strictly related. In particular, the system has a trivial photonic topology when the inversion symmetry is the prevalent broken symmetry, whereas it has a nontrivial photonic topology for a dominant broken time-reversal symmetry, similar to the electronic case. To confirm these predictions, we numerically demonstrate the emergence of topologically protected unidirectional electromagnetic edge states at the interface with a trivial photonic material.

Deep Learning the Quantum Phase Transitions in Random Electron Systems: Applications to Three Dimensions

Science.gov (United States)

Ohtsuki, Tomi; Ohtsuki, Tomoki

2017-04-01

Three-dimensional random electron systems undergo quantum phase transitions and show rich phase diagrams. Examples of the phases are the band gap insulator, Anderson insulator, strong and weak topological insulators, Weyl semimetal, and diffusive metal. As in the previous paper on two-dimensional quantum phase transitions [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 85, 123706 (2016)], we use an image recognition algorithm based on a multilayered convolutional neural network to identify which phase the eigenfunction belongs to. The Anderson model for localization-delocalization transition, the Wilson-Dirac model for topological insulators, and the layered Chern insulator model for Weyl semimetal are studied. The situation where the standard transfer matrix approach is not applicable is also treated by this method.

Series of topological phase transitions in TiTe2 under strain

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Qingyun

2013-10-21

First-principles calculations are performed to investigate the topological properties of TiTe2 under hydrostatic pressure, uniaxial strain, and biaxial strain. It is found that the system is unusually accessible to strain effects and the first compound that under hydrostatic pressure (up to experimentally reasonable 30 GPa) is subject to a series of four topological phase transitions, which are related to band inversions at different points of the Brillouin zone. Therefore, TiTe2 enables experimental access to all these transitions in a single compound.

Series of topological phase transitions in TiTe2 under strain

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Qingyun; Cheng, Yingchun; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo

2013-01-01

First-principles calculations are performed to investigate the topological properties of TiTe2 under hydrostatic pressure, uniaxial strain, and biaxial strain. It is found that the system is unusually accessible to strain effects and the first compound that under hydrostatic pressure (up to experimentally reasonable 30 GPa) is subject to a series of four topological phase transitions, which are related to band inversions at different points of the Brillouin zone. Therefore, TiTe2 enables experimental access to all these transitions in a single compound.

From bosonic topological transition to symmetric fermion mass generation

Science.gov (United States)

You, Yi-Zhuang; He, Yin-Chen; Vishwanath, Ashvin; Xu, Cenke

2018-03-01

A bosonic topological transition (BTT) is a quantum critical point between the bosonic symmetry-protected topological phase and the trivial phase. In this work, we investigate such a transition in a (2+1)-dimensional lattice model with the maximal microscopic symmetry: an internal SO (4 ) symmetry. We derive a description for this transition in terms of compact quantum electrodynamics (QED) with four fermion flavors (Nf=4 ). Within a systematic renormalization group analysis, we identify the critical point with the desired O (4 ) emergent symmetry and all expected deformations. By lowering the microscopic symmetry, we recover the previous Nf=2 noncompact QED description of the BTT. Finally, by merging two BTTs we recover a previously discussed theory of symmetric mass generation, as an SU (2 ) quantum chromodynamics-Higgs theory with Nf=4 flavors of SU (2 ) fundamental fermions and one SU (2 ) fundamental Higgs boson. This provides a consistency check on both theories.

Tunable Topological Phononic Crystals

KAUST Repository

Chen, Zeguo

2016-05-27

Topological insulators first observed in electronic systems have inspired many analogues in photonic and phononic crystals in which remarkable one-way propagation edge states are supported by topologically nontrivial band gaps. Such band gaps can be achieved by breaking the time-reversal symmetry to lift the degeneracy associated with Dirac cones at the corners of the Brillouin zone. Here, we report on our construction of a phononic crystal exhibiting a Dirac-like cone in the Brillouin zone center. We demonstrate that simultaneously breaking the time-reversal symmetry and altering the geometric size of the unit cell result in a topological transition that we verify by the Chern number calculation and edge-mode analysis. We develop a complete model based on the tight binding to uncover the physical mechanisms of the topological transition. Both the model and numerical simulations show that the topology of the band gap is tunable by varying both the velocity field and the geometric size; such tunability may dramatically enrich the design and use of acoustic topological insulators.

Tunable Topological Phononic Crystals

KAUST Repository

Chen, Zeguo; Wu, Ying

2016-01-01

Topological insulators first observed in electronic systems have inspired many analogues in photonic and phononic crystals in which remarkable one-way propagation edge states are supported by topologically nontrivial band gaps. Such band gaps can be achieved by breaking the time-reversal symmetry to lift the degeneracy associated with Dirac cones at the corners of the Brillouin zone. Here, we report on our construction of a phononic crystal exhibiting a Dirac-like cone in the Brillouin zone center. We demonstrate that simultaneously breaking the time-reversal symmetry and altering the geometric size of the unit cell result in a topological transition that we verify by the Chern number calculation and edge-mode analysis. We develop a complete model based on the tight binding to uncover the physical mechanisms of the topological transition. Both the model and numerical simulations show that the topology of the band gap is tunable by varying both the velocity field and the geometric size; such tunability may dramatically enrich the design and use of acoustic topological insulators.

Tunable spin-charge conversion through topological phase transitions in zigzag nanoribbons

KAUST Repository

Li, Hang

2016-06-29

We study spin-orbit torques and charge pumping in magnetic quasi-one-dimensional zigzag nanoribbons with a hexagonal lattice, in the presence of large intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. Such a system experiences a topological phase transition from a trivial band insulator to a quantum spin Hall insulator by tuning of either the magnetization direction or the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. We find that the spin-charge conversion efficiency (i.e., spin-orbit torque and charge pumping) is dramatically enhanced at the topological transition, displaying a substantial angular anisotropy.

Tunable spin-charge conversion through topological phase transitions in zigzag nanoribbons

KAUST Repository

Li, Hang; Manchon, Aurelien

2016-01-01

We study spin-orbit torques and charge pumping in magnetic quasi-one-dimensional zigzag nanoribbons with a hexagonal lattice, in the presence of large intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. Such a system experiences a topological phase transition from a trivial band insulator to a quantum spin Hall insulator by tuning of either the magnetization direction or the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling. We find that the spin-charge conversion efficiency (i.e., spin-orbit torque and charge pumping) is dramatically enhanced at the topological transition, displaying a substantial angular anisotropy.

Actively Controlling the Topological Transition of Dispersion Based on Electrically Controllable Metamaterials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiwei Guo

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Topological transition of the iso-frequency contour (IFC from a closed ellipsoid to an open hyperboloid provides unique capabilities for controlling the propagation of light. However, the ability to actively tune these effects remains elusive, and the related experimental observations are highly desirable. Here, a tunable electric IFC in a periodic structure composed of graphene/dielectric multilayers is investigated by tuning the chemical potential of the graphene layer. Specially, we present the actively controlled transportation in two kinds of anisotropic zero-index media containing perfect electric conductor/perfect magnetic conductor impurities. Finally, by adding variable capacitance diodes into a two-dimensional transmission-line system, we present an experimental demonstration of the actively controlled magnetic topological transition of dispersion based on electrically controllable metamaterials. With the increase in voltage, we measure the different emission patterns from a point source inside the structure and observe the phase-transition process of IFCs. The realization of an actively tuned topological transition will open up a new avenue in the dynamical control of metamaterials.

Ripple-modulated electronic structure of a 3D topological insulator.

Science.gov (United States)

Okada, Yoshinori; Zhou, Wenwen; Walkup, D; Dhital, Chetan; Wilson, Stephen D; Madhavan, V

2012-01-01

Three-dimensional topological insulators host linearly dispersing states with unique properties and a strong potential for applications. An important ingredient in realizing some of the more exotic states in topological insulators is the ability to manipulate local electronic properties. Direct analogy to the Dirac material graphene suggests that a possible avenue for controlling local properties is via a controlled structural deformation such as the formation of ripples. However, the influence of such ripples on topological insulators is yet to be explored. Here we use scanning tunnelling microscopy to determine the effects of one-dimensional buckling on the electronic properties of Bi(2)Te(3.) By tracking spatial variations of the interference patterns generated by the Dirac electrons we show that buckling imposes a periodic potential, which locally modulates the surface-state dispersion. This suggests that forming one- and two-dimensional ripples is a viable method for creating nanoscale potential landscapes that can be used to control the properties of Dirac electrons in topological insulators.

Topological phase transition in the quench dynamics of a one-dimensional Fermi gas with spin–orbit coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Pei; Yi, Wei; Xianlong, Gao

2015-01-01

We study the quench dynamics of a one-dimensional ultracold Fermi gas with synthetic spin-orbit coupling. At equilibrium, the ground state of the system can undergo a topological phase transition and become a topological superfluid with Majorana edge states. As the interaction is quenched near the topological phase boundary, we identify an interesting dynamical phase transition of the quenched state in the long-time limit, characterized by an abrupt change of the pairing gap at a critical quenched interaction strength. We further demonstrate the topological nature of this dynamical phase transition from edge-state analysis of the quenched states. Our findings provide interesting clues for the understanding of topological phase transitions in dynamical processes, and can be useful for the dynamical detection of Majorana edge states in corresponding systems. (paper)

Topological phase transition in the quench dynamics of a one-dimensional Fermi gas with spin-orbit coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Pei; Yi, Wei; Xianlong, Gao

2015-01-01

We study the quench dynamics of a one-dimensional ultracold Fermi gas with synthetic spin-orbit coupling. At equilibrium, the ground state of the system can undergo a topological phase transition and become a topological superfluid with Majorana edge states. As the interaction is quenched near the topological phase boundary, we identify an interesting dynamical phase transition of the quenched state in the long-time limit, characterized by an abrupt change of the pairing gap at a critical quenched interaction strength. We further demonstrate the topological nature of this dynamical phase transition from edge-state analysis of the quenched states. Our findings provide interesting clues for the understanding of topological phase transitions in dynamical processes, and can be useful for the dynamical detection of Majorana edge states in corresponding systems.

Parametric disordering-driven topological transitions in a liquid metacrystal

Science.gov (United States)

Zharov, A. A.; Zharov, A. A.; Zharova, N. A.

2018-03-01

We show that an amplitude-modulated electromagnetic wave incident onto a liquid metacrystal (LMC) may cause parametric instability of meta-atoms' mechanical oscillations. It results in either phase-coherent motion of the meta-atoms (leading to time-dependent components of LMC dielectric tensor) or chaotic isotropization of the medium that can be treated in terms of effective temperature. Both scenarios enable switching of the sign of certain components of permittivity tensor that, in turn, modifies the topology of isofrequency surface. Thus, the topological transition in LMC is expected to have an oscillatory or quasi-thermal character depending on the parameters, but in any case the change of topology leads to dramatic changes of the medium properties, switching the LMC between the transparent and opaque states.

Spin Chern number and topological phase transition on the Lieb lattice with spin–orbit coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Rui; Zhou, Bin

2017-01-01

We propose that quantum anomalous Hall effect may occur in the Lieb lattice, when Rashba spin–orbit coupling, spin-independent and spin-dependent staggered potentials are introduced into the lattice. It is found that spin Chern numbers of two degenerate flat bands change from 0 to ±2 due to Rashba spin–orbit coupling effect. The inclusion of Rashba spin–orbit coupling and two kinds of staggered potentials opens a gap between the two flat bands. The topological property of the gap is determined by the amplitudes of Rashba spin–orbit coupling and staggered potentials, and thus the topological phase transition from quantum anomalous Hall effect to normal insulator can occur. Finally, the topological phase transition from quantum spin Hall state to normal insulator is discussed when Rashba spin–orbit coupling and intrinsic spin–orbit coupling coexist in the Lieb lattice. - Highlights: • Spin Chern numbers of the bulk states on the Lieb lattice are calculated. • RSOC plays an important role on the topological phase transition on the Lieb lattice. • Quantum anomalous Hall effect can occur due to RSOC and staggered potentials. • Topological phase transition can occur when ISOC and RSOC coexist.

Exotic topological insulator states and topological phase transitions in Sb2Se3-Bi2Se3 heterostructures

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Qianfan; Zhang, Zhiyong; Zhu, Zhiyong; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo; Cui, Yi

2012-01-01

in controlling the electronic properties of semiconductor devices, are interesting for topological insulators. Here, we studied the spatial distribution of the topological state in Sb 2Se 3-Bi 2Se 3 heterostructures by first-principle simulation and discovered

Deep learning the quantum phase transitions in random two-dimensional electron systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohtsuki, Tomoki; Ohtsuki, Tomi

2016-01-01

Random electron systems show rich phases such as Anderson insulator, diffusive metal, quantum Hall and quantum anomalous Hall insulators, Weyl semimetal, as well as strong/weak topological insulators. Eigenfunctions of each matter phase have specific features, but owing to the random nature of systems, determining the matter phase from eigenfunctions is difficult. Here, we propose the deep learning algorithm to capture the features of eigenfunctions. Localization-delocalization transition, as well as disordered Chern insulator-Anderson insulator transition, is discussed. (author)

Phase transitions, double-scaling limit, and topological strings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caporaso, Nicola; Griguolo, Luca; Pasquetti, Sara; Marino, Marcos; Seminara, Domenico

2007-01-01

Topological strings on Calabi-Yau manifolds are known to undergo phase transitions at small distances. We study this issue in the case of perturbative topological strings on local Calabi-Yau threefolds given by a bundle over a two-sphere. This theory can be regarded as a q-deformation of Hurwitz theory, and it has a conjectural nonperturbative description in terms of q-deformed 2D Yang-Mills theory. We solve the planar model and find a phase transition at small radius in the universality class of 2D gravity. We give strong evidence that there is a double-scaled theory at the critical point whose all-genus free energy is governed by the Painleve I equation. We compare the critical behavior of the perturbative theory to the critical behavior of its nonperturbative description, which belongs to the universality class of 2D supergravity, and we comment on possible implications for nonperturbative 2D gravity. We also give evidence for a new open/closed duality relating these Calabi-Yau backgrounds to open strings with framing

Accounting for the contributions of topological excitations in phase transitions through dual actions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramos, Rudnei O.

2006-01-01

Topological excitations are believed to play an important role in different areas of physics. For example, cases of topical interest are the study of contributions of nonhomogeneous field configurations, in particular those of topological nature (like kinks, vortices and monopoles) in phase transitions associated to spontaneous symmetry breaking, the use of topological excitations in dual models of QCD to understand properties of its vacuum and confinement through the condensation of magnetic monopoles and vortices and also the relevance of these nonhomogeneous type of configurations in cosmology, again associated to possible phase transitions that are expected to have happened in the early universe. Here we show a derivation of a model dual to the scalar Abelian Higgs model where its topological excitations, namely vortex-strings, become manifest and can be treated in a quantum field theory way. The contribution of these nontrivial vacuum excitations in the phase transition for the scalar Abelian Higgs model in a thermal background is then studied and the results interpreted from the computation of the partition function taking into account the vortice-strings in the functional integration. This is made possible from the derived dual action. The relevance of the obtained results in cosmology, the analogy with phase transitions in superconductors, the relevance also for the study of confinement and other extensions of our calculations are briefly discussed here. (author)

Topological excitations in semiconductor heterostructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koushik, R.; Mukerjee, Subroto; Ghosh, Arindam; Baenninger, Matthias; Narayan, Vijay; Pepper, Michael; Farrer, Ian; Ritchie, David A.

2013-01-01

Topological defects play an important role in the melting phenomena in two-dimensions. In this work, we report experimental observation of topological defect induced melting in two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) in the presence of strong Coulomb interaction and disorder. The phenomenon is characterised by measurement of conductivity which goes to zero in a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless like transition. Further evidence is provided via low-frequency conductivity noise measurements

Tuning topological phase transitions in hexagonal photonic lattices made of triangular rods

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Hsun-Chi; Guo, Guang-Yu

2018-01-01

In this paper we study topological phases in a two-dimensional photonic crystal with broken time (T ) and parity (P ) symmetries by performing calculations of band structures, Berry curvatures, Chern numbers, edge states, and also numerical simulations of light propagation in the edge modes. Specifically, we consider a hexagonal lattice consisting of triangular gyromagnetic rods. Here the gyromagnetic material breaks T symmetry while the triangular rods break P symmetry. Interestingly, we find that the crystal could host quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) phases with different gap Chern numbers (Cg) including | Cg|>1 as well as quantum valley Hall (QVH) phases with contrasting valley Chern numbers (Cv), depending on the orientation of the triangular rods. Furthermore, phase transitions among these topological phases, such as from QAH to QVH and vice versa, can be engineered by a simple rotation of the rods. Our band theoretical analyses reveal that the Dirac nodes at the K and K' valleys in the momentum space are produced and protected by the mirror symmetry (my) instead of the P symmetry, and they become gapped when either T or my symmetry is broken, resulting in a QAH or QVH phase, respectively. Moreover, a high Chern number (Cg=-2 ) QAH phase is generated by gapping triply degenerate nodal points rather than pairs of Dirac points by breaking T symmetry. Our proposed photonic crystal thus provides a platform for investigating intriguing topological phenomena which may be challenging to realize in electronic systems, and also has promising potentials for device applications in photonics such as reflection-free one-way waveguides and topological photonic circuits.

Topological Quantum Phase Transitions in Two-Dimensional Hexagonal Lattice Bilayers

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Xuechao; Jin, Guojun

2013-09-01

Since the successful fabrication of graphene, two-dimensional hexagonal lattice structures have become a research hotspot in condensed matter physics. In this short review, we theoretically focus on discussing the possible realization of a topological insulator (TI) phase in systems of graphene bilayer (GBL) and boron nitride bilayer (BNBL), whose band structures can be experimentally modulated by an interlayer bias voltage. Under the bias, a band gap can be opened in AB-stacked GBL but is still closed in AA-stacked GBL and significantly reduced in AA- or AB-stacked BNBL. In the presence of spin-orbit couplings (SOCs), further demonstrations indicate whether the topological quantum phase transition can be realized strongly depends on the stacking orders and symmetries of structures. It is observed that a bulk band gap can be first closed and then reopened when the Rashba SOC increases for gated AB-stacked GBL or when the intrinsic SOC increases for gated AA-stacked BNBL. This gives a distinct signal for a topological quantum phase transition, which is further characterized by a jump of the ℤ2 topological invariant. At fixed SOCs, the TI phase can be well switched by the interlayer bias and the phase boundaries are precisely determined. For AA-stacked GBL and AB-stacked BNBL, no strong TI phase exists, regardless of the strength of the intrinsic or Rashba SOCs. At last, a brief overview is given on other two-dimensional hexagonal materials including silicene and molybdenum disulfide bilayers.

Flow Topology Transition via Global Bifurcation in Thermally Driven Turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yi-Chao; Ding, Guang-Yu; Xia, Ke-Qing

2018-05-01

We report an experimental observation of a flow topology transition via global bifurcation in a turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection. This transition corresponds to a spontaneous symmetry breaking with the flow becomes more turbulent. Simultaneous measurements of the large-scale flow (LSF) structure and the heat transport show that the LSF bifurcates from a high heat transport efficiency quadrupole state to a less symmetric dipole state with a lower heat transport efficiency. In the transition zone, the system switches spontaneously and stochastically between the two long-lived metastable states.

A study of topological quantum phase transition and Majorana localization length for the interacting helical liquid system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dey, Dayasindhu; Saha, Sudip Kumar; Deo, P. Singha; Kumar, Manoranjan; Sarkar, Sujit

2017-01-01

We study the topological quantum phase transition and also the nature of this transition using the density matrix renormalization group method. We observe the existence of topological quantum phase transition for repulsive interaction, however this phase is more stable for the attractive interaction. The length scale dependent study shows many new and important results and we show explicitly that the major contribution to the excitation comes from the edge of the system when the system is in the topological state. We also show the dependence of Majorana localization length for various values of chemical potential. (author)

Complex Nonlinearity Chaos, Phase Transitions, Topology Change and Path Integrals

CERN Document Server

Ivancevic, Vladimir G

2008-01-01

Complex Nonlinearity: Chaos, Phase Transitions, Topology Change and Path Integrals is a book about prediction & control of general nonlinear and chaotic dynamics of high-dimensional complex systems of various physical and non-physical nature and their underpinning geometro-topological change. The book starts with a textbook-like expose on nonlinear dynamics, attractors and chaos, both temporal and spatio-temporal, including modern techniques of chaos–control. Chapter 2 turns to the edge of chaos, in the form of phase transitions (equilibrium and non-equilibrium, oscillatory, fractal and noise-induced), as well as the related field of synergetics. While the natural stage for linear dynamics comprises of flat, Euclidean geometry (with the corresponding calculation tools from linear algebra and analysis), the natural stage for nonlinear dynamics is curved, Riemannian geometry (with the corresponding tools from nonlinear, tensor algebra and analysis). The extreme nonlinearity – chaos – corresponds to th...

Test-electron analysis of the magnetic reconnection topology

Science.gov (United States)

Borgogno, D.; Perona, A.; Grasso, D.

2017-12-01

Three-dimensional (3D) investigations of the magnetic reconnection field topology in space and laboratory plasmas have identified the abidance of magnetic coherent structures in the stochastic region, which develop during the nonlinear stage of the reconnection process. Further analytical and numerical analyses highlighted the efficacy of some of these structures in limiting the magnetic transport. The question then arises as to what is the possible role played by these patterns in the dynamics of the plasma particles populating the chaotic region. In order to explore this aspect, we provide a detailed description of the nonlinear 3D magnetic field topology in a collisionless magnetic reconnection event with a strong guide field. In parallel, we study the evolution of a population of test electrons in the guiding-center approximation all along the reconnection process. In particular, we focus on the nonlinear spatial redistribution of the initially thermal electrons and show how the electron dynamics in the stochastic region depends on the sign and on the value of their velocities. While the particles with the highest positive speed populate the coherent current structures that survive in the chaotic sea, the presence of the manifolds calculated in the stochastic region defines the confinement area for the electrons with the largest negative velocity. These results stress the link between the magnetic topology and the electron motion and contribute to the overall picture of a non-stationary fluid magnetic reconnection description in a geometry proper to physical systems where the effects of the curvature can be neglected.

Pressure induced Ag{sub 2}Te polymorphs in conjunction with topological non trivial to metal transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, J.; Zhang, S. J., E-mail: sjzhang@iphy.ac.cn, E-mail: jin@iphy.ac.cn; Yu, X. H.; Yu, R. C.; Jin, C. Q., E-mail: sjzhang@iphy.ac.cn, E-mail: jin@iphy.ac.cn; Dai, X.; Fang, Z. [Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Oganov, A. R. [Department of Geosciences, University of New York at Stony Brook (United States); Feng, W. X.; Yao, Y. G. [Department of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing (China); Zhu, J. L. [High Pressure Science and Engineering Center, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154 (United States); Zhao, Y. S. [Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); South University of Science and Technology of China, Shenzhen, Guangdong (China)

2016-08-15

Silver telluride (Ag{sub 2}Te) is well known as superionic conductor and topological insulator with polymorphs. Pressure induced three phase transitions in Ag{sub 2}Te have been reported in previous. Here, we experimentally identified high pressure phase above 13 GPa of Ag{sub 2}Te by using high pressure synchrotron x ray diffraction method in combination with evolutionary crystal structure prediction, showing it crystallizes into a monoclinic structure of space group C2/m with lattice parameters a = 6.081Å, b = 5.744Å, c = 6.797 Å, β = 105.53°. The electronic properties measurements of Ag{sub 2}Te reveal that the topologically non-trivial semiconducting phase I and semimetallic phase II previously predicated by theory transformed into bulk metals for high pressure phases in consistent with the first principles calculations.

Topological defect densities in type-I superconducting phase transitions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paramos, J.; Bertolami, O.; Girard, T.A.; Valko, P.

2003-01-01

We examine the consequences of a cubic term added to the mean-field potential of Ginzburg-Landau theory to describe first-order superconducting phase transitions. Constraints on its existence are obtained from experiment, which are used to assess its impact on topological defect creation. We find no fundamental changes in either the Kibble-Zurek or Hindmarsh-Rajantie predictions

Topological materials discovery using electron filling constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ru; Po, Hoi Chun; Neaton, Jeffrey B.; Vishwanath, Ashvin

2018-01-01

Nodal semimetals are classes of topological materials that have nodal-point or nodal-line Fermi surfaces, which give them novel transport and topological properties. Despite being highly sought after, there are currently very few experimental realizations, and identifying new materials candidates has mainly relied on exhaustive database searches. Here we show how recent studies on the interplay between electron filling and nonsymmorphic space-group symmetries can guide the search for filling-enforced nodal semimetals. We recast the previously derived constraints on the allowed band-insulator fillings in any space group into a new form, which enables effective screening of materials candidates based solely on their space group, electron count in the formula unit, and multiplicity of the formula unit. This criterion greatly reduces the computation load for discovering topological materials in a database of previously synthesized compounds. As a demonstration, we focus on a few selected nonsymmorphic space groups which are predicted to host filling-enforced Dirac semimetals. Of the more than 30,000 entires listed, our filling criterion alone eliminates 96% of the entries before they are passed on for further analysis. We discover a handful of candidates from this guided search; among them, the monoclinic crystal Ca2Pt2Ga is particularly promising.

Two Topologically Distinct Dirac-Line Semimetal Phases and Topological Phase Transitions in Rhombohedrally Stacked Honeycomb Lattices

Science.gov (United States)

Hyart, T.; Ojajärvi, R.; Heikkilä, T. T.

2018-04-01

Three-dimensional topological semimetals can support band crossings along one-dimensional curves in the momentum space (nodal lines or Dirac lines) protected by structural symmetries and topology. We consider rhombohedrally (ABC) stacked honeycomb lattices supporting Dirac lines protected by time-reversal, inversion and spin rotation symmetries. For typical band structure parameters there exists a pair of nodal lines in the momentum space extending through the whole Brillouin zone in the stacking direction. We show that these Dirac lines are topologically distinct from the usual Dirac lines which form closed loops inside the Brillouin zone. In particular, an energy gap can be opened only by first merging the Dirac lines going through the Brillouin zone in a pairwise manner so that they turn into closed loops inside the Brillouin zone, and then by shrinking these loops into points. We show that this kind of topological phase transition can occur in rhombohedrally stacked honeycomb lattices by tuning the ratio of the tunneling amplitudes in the directions perpendicular and parallel to the layers. We also discuss the properties of the surface states in the different phases of the model.

Pressure dependence of the Raman spectrum, lattice parameters and superconducting critical temperature of MgB2: evidence for pressure-driven phonon-assisted electronic topological transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goncharov, A.F.; Struzhkin, V.V.

2003-01-01

We overview recent high-pressure studies of high-temperature superconductor MgB 2 by Raman scattering technique combined with measurements of superconducting critical temperature T c and lattice parameters up to 57 GPa. An anomalously broadened Raman band at 620 cm -1 is observed and assigned to the in-plane boron stretching E 2g mode. It exhibits a large Grueneisen parameter indicating that the vibration is highly anharmonic. The pressure dependencies of the E 2g mode and T c reveal anomalies at 15-22 GPa (isotope dependent). The anharmonic character of the E 2g phonon mode, its anomalous pressure dependence, and also that for T c are interpreted as a result of a phonon-assisted Lifshitz electronic topological transition

Rényi-Fisher entropy product as a marker of topological phase transitions

Science.gov (United States)

Bolívar, J. C.; Nagy, Ágnes; Romera, Elvira

2018-05-01

The combined Rényi-Fisher entropy product of electrons plus holes displays a minimum at the charge neutrality points. The Stam-Rényi difference and the Stam-Rényi uncertainty product of the electrons plus holes, show maxima at the charge neutrality points. Topological quantum numbers capable of detecting the topological insulator and the band insulator phases, are defined. Upper and lower bounds for the position and momentum space Rényi-Fisher entropy products are derived.

Symmetry protected topological Luttinger liquids and the phase transition between them

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2018-01-01

We show that a doped spin-1/2 ladder with antiferromagnetic intra-chain and ferromagnetic inter-chain coupling is a symmetry protected topologically non-trivial Luttinger liquid. Turning on a large easy-plane spin anisotropy drives the system to a topologically-trivial Luttinger liquid. Both phases have full spin gaps and exhibit power-law superconducting pair correlation. The Cooper pair symmetry is singlet $d_{xy}$ in the non-trivial phase and triplet $S_z=0$ in the trivial phase. The topologically non-trivial Luttinger liquid exhibits gapless spin excitations in the presence of a boundary, and it has no non-interacting or mean-field theory analog even when the fluctuating phase in the charge sector is pinned. As a function of the strength of spin anisotropy there is a topological phase transition upon which the spin gap closes. We speculate these Luttinger liquids are relevant to the superconductivity in metalized integer spin ladders or chains.

Particle signatures of magnetic topology at the magnetopause: AMPTE/CCE observations

Science.gov (United States)

Fuselier, S. A.; Anderson, B. J.; Onsager, T. G.

1995-01-01

Electron distributions at energies above 50 eV have been found to be a sensitive indicator of magnetic topology for magnetopause crossings of the AMPTE/CCE spacecraft. Progressing from the magnetosheath to the magnetosphere two abrupt transitions occur. First, the magnetosheath electron population directed either parallel or antiparallel to the magnetic field is replaced by a streaming, heated magnetosheath electron population. The other half of the distribution is unchanged. The region with unidirectional, heated magnetosheath electrons is identified as the magnetosheath boundary layer (MSBL). Second, the unheated magnetosheath electron population is replaced by a heated population nearly identical to the population encountered in the MSBL, resulting in a symmetric counterstreaming distribution. The region populated by the bidirectional heated magnetosheath electrons is identified as the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL). The MSBL and LLBL identified by the electron transitions are the same as the regions identified using ion composition measurements. The magnetosheath-MSBL transition reflects a change in magnetic topology from a solar wind field line to one that threads the magnetopause, and the existence of a magnetosheath-MSBL transition implies that the magnetopause is open. When the current layer is easily identified, the MSBL-LLBL transition coincides with the magnetopause current layer, indicating that the magnetosheath electrons are heated in the current layer. Both magnetosheath-MSBL and MSBL-LLBL transitions are observed for low as well as high magnetic shears. Moreover, the transitions are particularly clear for low shear implying that magnetic topology boundaries are sharp even when abrupt changes in the field and other plasma parameters are absent. Furthermore, for low magnetic shear, solar wind ions with low parallel drift speeds make up the majority of the LLBL population indicating that the magnetosheath plasma has convected directly across the

Monopole and topological electron dynamics in adiabatic spintronic and graphene systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, S.G.; Jalil, M.B.A.; Fujita, T.

2010-01-01

A unified theoretical treatment is presented to describe the physics of electron dynamics in semiconductor and graphene systems. Electron spin's fast alignment with the Zeeman magnetic field (physical or effective) is treated as a form of adiabatic spin evolution which necessarily generates a monopole in magnetic space. One could transform this monopole into the physical and intuitive topological magnetic fields in the useful momentum (K) or real spaces (R). The physics of electron dynamics related to spin Hall, torque, oscillations and other technologically useful spinor effects can be inferred from the topological magnetic fields in spintronic, graphene and other SU(2) systems.

Topological Aspects of Entropy and Phase Transition of Kerr Black Holes

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YANG Guo-Hong; YAN Ji-Jiang; TIAN Li-Jun; DUAN Yi-Shi

2005-01-01

In the light of topological current and the relationship between the entropy and the Euler characteristic, the topological aspects of entropy and phase transition of Kerr black holes are studied. From Gauss-Bonnet-Chern theorem,it is shown that the entropy of Kerr black holes is determined by the singularities of the Killing vector field of spacetime.By calculating the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of the Killing vector field at the singularities, the entropy S = A/4for nonextreme Kerr black holes and S = 0 for extreme ones are obtained, respectively. It is also discussed that, with the change of the ratio of mass to angular momentum for unit mass, the Euler characteristic and the entropy of Kerr black holes will change discontinuously when the singularities on Cauchy horizon merge with the singularities on event horizon, which will lead to the first-order phase transition of Kerr black holes.

Pressure variation of Rashba spin splitting toward topological transition in the polar semiconductor BiTeI

Science.gov (United States)

Ideue, T.; Checkelsky, J. G.; Bahramy, M. S.; Murakawa, H.; Kaneko, Y.; Nagaosa, N.; Tokura, Y.

2014-10-01

BiTeI is a polar semiconductor with gigantic Rashba spin-split bands in bulk. We have investigated the effect of pressure on the electronic structure of this material via magnetotransport. Periods of Shubunikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations originating from the spin-split outer Fermi surface and inner Fermi surface show disparate responses to pressure, while the carrier number derived from the Hall effect is unchanged with pressure. The associated parameters which characterize the spin-split band structure are strongly dependent on pressure, reflecting the pressure-induced band deformation. We find the SdH oscillations and transport response are consistent with the theoretically proposed pressure-induced band deformation leading to a topological phase transition. Our analysis suggests the critical pressure for the quantum phase transition near Pc=3.5 GPa.

Low energy electronic scattering processes in the topological Weyl semimetal TaAs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muellner, Silvia; Lemmens, Peter [IPKM, TU-BS, Braunschweig (Germany); Gnezdilov, Vladimir [IPKM, TU-BS, Braunschweig (Germany); ILTPE NAS (Ukraine); Sankar, Raman; Chou, Fangcheng [CCMS, National Taiwan Univ., Taipei (China)

2016-07-01

The topological Weyl semimetal TaAs shows Weyl points as well as topological surface states (Fermi arcs) intimately related to symmetry and strong spin orbit interaction. We find evidence for a low energy maximum in the scattering intensity that is compatible with electronic correlations in a collision dominated regime. We compare our observations with topological insulators.

Surface conduction of topological Dirac electrons in bulk insulating Bi2Se3

Science.gov (United States)

Fuhrer, Michael

2013-03-01

The three dimensional strong topological insulator (STI) is a new phase of electronic matter which is distinct from ordinary insulators in that it supports on its surface a conducting two-dimensional surface state whose existence is guaranteed by topology. I will discuss experiments on the STI material Bi2Se3, which has a bulk bandgap of 300 meV, much greater than room temperature, and a single topological surface state with a massless Dirac dispersion. Field effect transistors consisting of thin (3-20 nm) Bi2Se3 are fabricated from mechanically exfoliated from single crystals, and electrochemical and/or chemical gating methods are used to move the Fermi energy into the bulk bandgap, revealing the ambipolar gapless nature of transport in the Bi2Se3 surface states. The minimum conductivity of the topological surface state is understood within the self-consistent theory of Dirac electrons in the presence of charged impurities. The intrinsic finite-temperature resistivity of the topological surface state due to electron-acoustic phonon scattering is measured to be ~60 times larger than that of graphene largely due to the smaller Fermi and sound velocities in Bi2Se3, which will have implications for topological electronic devices operating at room temperature. As samples are made thinner, coherent coupling of the top and bottom topological surfaces is observed through the magnitude of the weak anti-localization correction to the conductivity, and, in the thinnest Bi2Se3 samples (~ 3 nm), in thermally-activated conductivity reflecting the opening of a bandgap.

Simulating a topological transition in a superconducting phase qubit by fast adiabatic trajectories

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tenghui; Zhang, Zhenxing; Xiang, Liang; Gong, Zhihao; Wu, Jianlan; Yin, Yi

2018-04-01

The significance of topological phases has been widely recognized in the community of condensed matter physics. The well controllable quantum systems provide an artificial platform to probe and engineer various topological phases. The adiabatic trajectory of a quantum state describes the change of the bulk Bloch eigenstates with the momentum, and this adiabatic simulation method is however practically limited due to quantum dissipation. Here we apply the "shortcut to adiabaticity" (STA) protocol to realize fast adiabatic evolutions in the system of a superconducting phase qubit. The resulting fast adiabatic trajectories illustrate the change of the bulk Bloch eigenstates in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model. A sharp transition is experimentally determined for the topological invariant of a winding number. Our experiment helps identify the topological Chern number of a two-dimensional toy model, suggesting the applicability of the fast adiabatic simulation method for topological systems.

Phase-Field Simulations of Topological Structures and Topological Phase Transitions in Ferroelectric Oxide Heterostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Zijian Hong

Ferroelectrics are materials that exhibit spontaneous electric polarization which can be switched between energy-degenerated states by external stimuli (e.g., mechanical force and electric field) that exceeds a critical value. They have wide potential applications in memories, capacitors, piezoelectric and pyroelectric sensors, and nanomechanical systems. Topological structures and topological phase transitions have been introduced to the condensed matter physics in the past few decades and have attracted broad attentions in various disciplines due to the rich physical insights and broad potential applications. Ferromagnetic topological structures such as vortex and skyrmion are known to be stabilized by the antisymmetric chiral interaction (e.g., Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction). Without such interaction, ferroelectric topological structures (i.e., vortex, flux-closure, skyrmions, and merons) have been studied only recently with other designing strategies, such as reducing the dimension of the ferroelectrics. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to investigate the topological structures in ferroelectric oxide perovskites as well as the topological phase transitions under external applied forces. Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) with morphotropic phase boundary is widely explored for high piezoelectric and dielectric properties. The domain structure of PZT tetragonal/rhombohedral (T/R) bilayer is investigated. Strong interfacial coupling is shown, with large polarization rotation to a lower symmetry phase near the T/R interface. Interlayer domain growth can also be captured, with T-domains in the R layer and R-domains in the T layer. For thin PZT bilayer with 5nm of T-layer and 20 nm of R-layer, the a1/a 2 twin domain structure is formed in the top T layer, which could be fully switched to R domains under applied bias. While a unique flux-closure pattern is observed both theoretically and experimentally in the thick bilayer film with 50 nm of thickness for both T and R

Topology optimization of an electronics cover plate with respect to eigenfrequencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

A. Kristensen, Anders Schmidt

In the present paper it is illustrated how topology optimization with respect to eigenfrequency can be applied effectively in the product development process. The topology optimization code is implemented in ANSYS by a so called UPF. The maximization of eigenfrequency as objective is invoked...... into the existing code. As an example is chosen an electronics cover plate. The resulting design devised by the topology optimization yield a significant higher eigenfrequency than obtained by traditional design methods and experience....

Topological superconductivity, topological confinement, and the vortex quantum Hall effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamantini, M. Cristina; Trugenberger, Carlo A.

2011-01-01

Topological matter is characterized by the presence of a topological BF term in its long-distance effective action. Topological defects due to the compactness of the U(1) gauge fields induce quantum phase transitions between topological insulators, topological superconductors, and topological confinement. In conventional superconductivity, because of spontaneous symmetry breaking, the photon acquires a mass due to the Anderson-Higgs mechanism. In this paper we derive the corresponding effective actions for the electromagnetic field in topological superconductors and topological confinement phases. In topological superconductors magnetic flux is confined and the photon acquires a topological mass through the BF mechanism: no symmetry breaking is involved, the ground state has topological order, and the transition is induced by quantum fluctuations. In topological confinement, instead, electric charge is linearly confined and the photon becomes a massive antisymmetric tensor via the Stueckelberg mechanism. Oblique confinement phases arise when the string condensate carries both magnetic and electric flux (dyonic strings). Such phases are characterized by a vortex quantum Hall effect potentially relevant for the dissipationless transport of information stored on vortices.

Valley polarized quantum Hall effect and topological insulator phase transitions in silicene

KAUST Repository

Tahir, M.; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo

2013-01-01

encountered for graphene, in particular the zero band gap and weak spin orbit interaction. We demonstrate a valley polarized quantum Hall effect and topological insulator phase transitions. We use the Kubo formalism to discuss the Hall conductivity and address

Nanoscale electron transport at the surface of a topological insulator

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Sebastian; Bobisch, Christian A.

2016-04-01

The use of three-dimensional topological insulators for disruptive technologies critically depends on the dissipationless transport of electrons at the surface, because of the suppression of backscattering at defects. However, in real devices, defects are unavoidable and scattering at angles other than 180° is allowed for such materials. Until now, this has been studied indirectly by bulk measurements and by the analysis of the local density of states in close vicinity to defect sites. Here, we directly measure the nanoscale voltage drop caused by the scattering at step edges, which occurs if a lateral current flows along a three-dimensional topological insulator. The experiments were performed using scanning tunnelling potentiometry for thin Bi2Se3 films. So far, the observed voltage drops are small because of large contributions of the bulk to the electronic transport. However, for the use of ideal topological insulating thin films in devices, these contributions would play a significant role.

Topological phase transition of Dirac superconductors in the presence of pseudo-scalar pairings

Science.gov (United States)

Salehi, Morteza; Jafari, S. A.

2018-06-01

Motivated by recent developments in the field of topological superconductors, we show that there is a topological phase transition (TPT) for three dimensional Dirac superconductors (3DDS) in the presence of pseudo-scalar superconducting order parameter which leads to the appearance of a two dimensional Majorana sea (2DMS) on its surface. The perfect Andreev-Klein transmission, resonant peak with robust character in the differential conductance and 4π periodic Josephson current are experimental signatures of 2DMS.

Pre-inflation: Origin of the Universe from a topological phase transition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauricio Bellini

2017-08-01

Full Text Available I study a model which describes the birth of the universe using a global topological phase transition with a complex manifold where the time, τ, is considered as a complex variable. Before the big bang τ is a purely imaginary variable so that the space can be considered as Euclidean. The phase transition from a pre-inflation to inflation is examined by studying the dynamical rotation of the time on the complex plane. Back-reaction effects are exactly calculated using Relativistic Quantum Geometry.

Topological Classification of Crystalline Insulators through Band Structure Combinatorics

Science.gov (United States)

Kruthoff, Jorrit; de Boer, Jan; van Wezel, Jasper; Kane, Charles L.; Slager, Robert-Jan

2017-10-01

We present a method for efficiently enumerating all allowed, topologically distinct, electronic band structures within a given crystal structure in all physically relevant dimensions. The algorithm applies to crystals without time-reversal, particle-hole, chiral, or any other anticommuting or anti-unitary symmetries. The results presented match the mathematical structure underlying the topological classification of these crystals in terms of K -theory and therefore elucidate this abstract mathematical framework from a simple combinatorial perspective. Using a straightforward counting procedure, we classify all allowed topological phases of spinless particles in crystals in class A . Employing this classification, we study transitions between topological phases within class A that are driven by band inversions at high-symmetry points in the first Brillouin zone. This enables us to list all possible types of phase transitions within a given crystal structure and to identify whether or not they give rise to intermediate Weyl semimetallic phases.

Quantum criticality around metal-insulator transitions of strongly correlated electron systems

Science.gov (United States)

Misawa, Takahiro; Imada, Masatoshi

2007-03-01

Quantum criticality of metal-insulator transitions in correlated electron systems is shown to belong to an unconventional universality class with violation of the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson (GLW) scheme formulated for symmetry breaking transitions. This unconventionality arises from an emergent character of the quantum critical point, which appears at the marginal point between the Ising-type symmetry breaking at nonzero temperatures and the topological transition of the Fermi surface at zero temperature. We show that Hartree-Fock approximations of an extended Hubbard model on square lattices are capable of such metal-insulator transitions with unusual criticality under a preexisting symmetry breaking. The obtained universality is consistent with the scaling theory formulated for Mott transitions and with a number of numerical results beyond the mean-field level, implying that preexisting symmetry breaking is not necessarily required for the emergence of this unconventional universality. Examinations of fluctuation effects indicate that the obtained critical exponents remain essentially exact beyond the mean-field level. It further clarifies the whole structure of singularities by a unified treatment of the bandwidth-control and filling-control transitions. Detailed analyses of the criticality, containing diverging carrier density fluctuations around the marginal quantum critical point, are presented from microscopic calculations and reveal the nature as quantum critical “opalescence.” The mechanism of emerging marginal quantum critical point is ascribed to a positive feedback and interplay between the preexisting gap formation present even in metals and kinetic energy gain (loss) of the metallic carrier. Analyses of crossovers between GLW type at nonzero temperature and topological type at zero temperature show that the critical exponents observed in (V,Cr)2O3 and κ-ET -type organic conductors provide us with evidence for the existence of the present marginal

Concavity anomalies, topology of events and phase transitions in finite systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulminelli, F.; Chomaz, P.H.

2001-02-01

We propose a definition of first order phase transitions in finite systems based on topology anomalies of the event distribution in the space of observations. This generalizes the definitions based on the curvature anomalies of thermodynamical potentials, provides a natural definition of order parameters and can be related to the Yang Lee theorem in the thermodynamical limit. It is directly operational from the experimental point of view. It allows to study phase transitions in Gibbs equilibria as well as in other ensembles such as the Tsallis ensemble. (authors)

Electronic transport in bismuth selenide in the topological insulator regime

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dohun

The 3D topological insulators (TIs) have an insulating bulk but spin-momentum coupled metallic surface states stemming from band inversion due to strong spin-orbit interaction, whose existence is guaranteed by the topology of the band structure of the insulator. While the STI surface state has been studied spectroscopically by e.g. photoemission and scanned probes, transport experiments have failed to demonstrate clear signature of the STI due to high level of bulk conduction. In this thesis, I present experimental results on the transport properties of TI material Bi2Se3 in the absence of bulk conduction (TI regime), achieved by applying novel p-type doping methods. Field effect transistors consisting of thin (thickness: 5-17 nm) Bi2Se3 are fabricated by mechanical exfoliation of single crystals, and a combination of conventional dielectric (300 nm thick SiO2) and electrochemical or chemical gating methods are used to move the Fermi energy through the surface Dirac point inside bulk band gap, revealing the ambipolar gapless nature of transport in the Bi2Se3 surface states. The minimum conductivity of the topological surface state is understood within the self-consistent theory of Dirac electrons in the presence of charged impurities. The intrinsic finite-temperature resistivity of the topological surface state due to electron-acoustic phonon scattering is measured to be 60 times larger than that of graphene largely due to the smaller Fermi and sound velocities in Bi2Se 3, which will have implications for topological electronic devices operating at room temperature. Along with semi-classical Boltzmann transport, I also discuss 2D weak anti-localization (WAL) behavior of the topological surface states. By investigating gate-tuned WAL behavior in thin (5-17 nm) TI films, I show that WAL in the TI regime is extraordinarily sensitive to the hybridization induced quantum mechanical tunneling between top and bottom topological surfaces, and interplay of phase coherence

Converting topological insulators into topological metals within the tetradymite family

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, K.-W.; Aryal, N.; Dai, J.; Graf, D.; Zhang, S.; Das, S.; Le Fèvre, P.; Bertran, F.; Yukawa, R.; Horiba, K.; Kumigashira, H.; Frantzeskakis, E.; Fortuna, F.; Balicas, L.; Santander-Syro, A. F.; Manousakis, E.; Baumbach, R. E.

2018-04-01

We report the electronic band structures and concomitant Fermi surfaces for a family of exfoliable tetradymite compounds with the formula T2C h2P n , obtained as a modification to the well-known topological insulator binaries Bi2(Se,Te ) 3 by replacing one chalcogen (C h ) with a pnictogen (P n ) and Bi with the tetravalent transition metals T = Ti, Zr, or Hf. This imbalances the electron count and results in layered metals characterized by relatively high carrier mobilities and bulk two-dimensional Fermi surfaces whose topography is well-described by first-principles calculations. Intriguingly, slab electronic structure calculations predict Dirac-like surface states. In contrast to Bi2Se3 , where the surface Dirac bands are at the Γ point, for (Zr,Hf ) 2Te2 (P,As) there are Dirac cones of strong topological character around both the Γ ¯ and M ¯ points, which are above and below the Fermi energy, respectively. For Ti2Te2P , the surface state is predicted to exist only around the M ¯ point. In agreement with these predictions, the surface states that are located below the Fermi energy are observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements, revealing that they coexist with the bulk metallic state. Thus this family of materials provides a foundation upon which to develop novel phenomena that exploit both the bulk and surface states (e.g., topological superconductivity).

Phase transition and field effect topological quantum transistor made of monolayer MoS2

Science.gov (United States)

Simchi, H.; Simchi, M.; Fardmanesh, M.; Peeters, F. M.

2018-06-01

We study topological phase transitions and topological quantum field effect transistor in monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) using a two-band Hamiltonian model. Without considering the quadratic (q 2) diagonal term in the Hamiltonian, we show that the phase diagram includes quantum anomalous Hall effect, quantum spin Hall effect, and spin quantum anomalous Hall effect regions such that the topological Kirchhoff law is satisfied in the plane. By considering the q 2 diagonal term and including one valley, it is shown that MoS2 has a non-trivial topology, and the valley Chern number is non-zero for each spin. We show that the wave function is (is not) localized at the edges when the q 2 diagonal term is added (deleted) to (from) the spin-valley Dirac mass equation. We calculate the quantum conductance of zigzag MoS2 nanoribbons by using the nonequilibrium Green function method and show how this device works as a field effect topological quantum transistor.

Electronic states of zigzag graphene nanoribbons with edges reconstructed with topological defects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pincak, R., E-mail: pincak@saske.sk [Institute of Experimental Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Watsonova 47, 043 53 Kosice (Slovakia); Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna, Moscow Region (Russian Federation); Smotlacha, J., E-mail: smota@centrum.cz [Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna, Moscow Region (Russian Federation); Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University, Brehova 7, 110 00 Prague (Czech Republic); Osipov, V.A., E-mail: osipov@theor.jinr.ru [Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna, Moscow Region (Russian Federation)

2015-10-15

The energy spectrum and electronic density of states (DOS) of zigzag graphene nanoribbons with edges reconstructed with topological defects are investigated within the tight-binding method. In case of the Stone–Wales zz(57) edge the low-energy spectrum is markedly changed in comparison to the pristine zz edge. We found that the electronic DOS at the Fermi level is different from zero at any width of graphene nanoribbons. In contrast, for ribbons with heptagons only at one side and pentagons at another one the energy gap at the Fermi level is open and the DOS is equal to zero. The reason is the influence of uncompensated topological charges on the localized edge states, which are topological in nature. This behavior is similar to that found for the structured external electric potentials along the edges.

A New Cost-Effective Multi-Drive Solution based on a Two-Stage Direct Power Electronic Conversion Topology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klumpner, Christian; Blaabjerg, Frede

2002-01-01

of a protection circuit involving twelve diodes with full voltage/current ratings used only during faulty situations, makes this topology not so attractive. Lately, two stage Direct Power Electronic Conversion (DPEC) topologies have been proposed, providing similar functionality as a matrix converter but allowing...... shared by many loads, making this topology more cost effective. The functionality of the proposed two-stage multi-drive direct power electronic conversion topology is validated by experiments on a realistic laboratory prototype....

Non-local electron transport through normal and topological ladder-like atomic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kurzyna, Marcin; Kwapiński, Tomasz

2018-05-01

We propose a locally protected ladder-like atomic system (nanoconductor) on a substrate that is insensitive to external perturbations. The system corresponds to coupled atomic chains fabricated on different surfaces. Electron transport properties of such conductors are studied theoretically using the model tight-binding Su-Schriffer-Hegger (SSH) Hamiltonian and Green's function formalism. We have found that the conductance of the system is almost insensitive to single adatoms and oscillates as a function of the side chain length with very large periods. Non-local character of the electron transport was observed also for topological SSH chains where nontrivial end states survive in the presence of disturbances as well as for different substrates. We have found that the careful inspection of the density of states or charge waves can provide the information about the atom energy levels and hopping amplitudes. Moreover, the ladder-like geometry allows one to distinguish between normal and topological zero-energy states. It is important that topological chains do not reveal Friedel oscillations which are observed in non-topological chains.

Online Open Circuit Fault Diagnosis for Rail Transit Traction Converter Based on Object-Oriented Colored Petri Net Topology Reasoning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Wang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available For online open circuit fault diagnosis of the traction converter in rail transit vehicles, conventional approaches depend heavily on component parameters and circuit layouts. For better universality and less parameter sensitivity during the diagnosis, this paper proposes a novel topology analysis approach to diagnose switching device open circuit failures. During the diagnosis, the topology is analyzed with fault reasoning mechanism, which is based on object-oriented Petri net (OOCPN. The OOCPN model takes in digitalized current inputs as fault signatures, and dynamical transitions between discrete switching states of a circuit with broken device are symbolized with the dynamical transitions of colored tokens in OOCPN. Such transitions simulate natural reasoning process of an expert’s brain during diagnosis. The dependence on component parameters and on circuit layouts is finally eliminated by such circuit topology reasoning process. In the last part, the proposed online reasoning and diagnosis process is exemplified with the case of a certain switching device failure in the power circuit of traction converter.

Lateral topological crystalline insulator heterostructure

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Qilong; Dai, Ying; Niu, Chengwang; Ma, Yandong; Wei, Wei; Yu, Lin; Huang, Baibiao

2017-06-01

The emergence of lateral heterostructures fabricated by two-dimensional building blocks brings many exciting realms in material science and device physics. Enriching available nanomaterials for creating such heterostructures and enabling the underlying new physics is highly coveted for the integration of next-generation devices. Here, we report a breakthrough in lateral heterostructure based on the monolayer square transition-metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M  =  W, X  =  S/Se) modules. Our results reveal that the MX2 lateral heterostructure (1S-MX2 LHS) can possess excellent thermal and dynamical stability. Remarkably, the highly desired two-dimensional topological crystalline insulator phase is confirmed by the calculated mirror Chern number {{n}\\text{M}}=-1 . A nontrivial band gap of 65 meV is obtained with SOC, indicating the potential for room-temperature observation and applications. The topologically protected edge states emerge at the edges of two different nanoribbons between the bulk band gap, which is consistent with the mirror Chern number. In addition, a strain-induced topological phase transition in 1S-MX2 LHS is also revealed, endowing the potential utilities in electronics and spintronics. Our predictions not only introduce new member and vitality into the studies of lateral heterostructures, but also highlight the promise of lateral heterostructure as appealing topological crystalline insulator platforms with excellent stability for future devices.

Two strongly correlated electron systems: the Kondo mode in the strong coupling limit and a 2-D model of electrons close to an electronic topological transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouis, F.

1999-01-01

Two strongly correlated electron systems are considered in this work, Kondo insulators and high Tc cuprates. Experiments and theory suggest on one hand that the Kondo screening occurs on a rather short length scale and on the other hand that the Kondo coupling is renormalized to infinity in the low energy limit. The strong coupling limit is then the logical approach although the real coupling is moderate. A systematic development is performed around this limit in the first part. The band structure of these materials is reproduced within this scheme. Magnetic fluctuations are also studied. The antiferromagnetic transition is examined in the case where fermionic excitations are shifted to high energy. In the second part, the Popov and Fedotov representation of spins is used to formulate the Kondo and the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model in terms of a non-polynomial action of boson fields. In the third part the properties of high Tc cuprates are explained by a change of topology of the Fermi surface. This phenomenon would happen near the point of optimal doping and zero temperature. It results in the appearance of a density wave phase in the under-doped regime. The possibility that this phase has a non-conventional symmetry is considered. The phase diagram that described the interaction and coexistence of density wave and superconductivity is established in the mean-field approximation. The similarities with the experimental observations are numerous in particular those concerning the pseudo-gap and the behavior of the resistivity near optimal doping. (author)

Quantum phase transitions between a class of symmetry protected topological states

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsui, Lokman; Jiang, Hong-Chen; Lu, Yuan-Ming; Lee, Dung-Hai

2015-07-01

The subject of this paper is the phase transition between symmetry protected topological states (SPTs). We consider spatial dimension d and symmetry group G so that the cohomology group, Hd+1(G,U(1)), contains at least one Z2n or Z factor. We show that the phase transition between the trivial SPT and the root states that generate the Z2n or Z groups can be induced on the boundary of a (d+1)-dimensional View the MathML source-symmetric SPT by a View the MathML source symmetry breaking field. Moreover we show these boundary phase transitions can be “transplanted” to d dimensions and realized in lattice models as a function of a tuning parameter. The price one pays is for the critical value of the tuning parameter there is an extra non-local (duality-like) symmetry. In the case where the phase transition is continuous, our theory predicts the presence of unusual (sometimes fractionalized) excitations corresponding to delocalized boundary excitations of the non-trivial SPT on one side of the transition. This theory also predicts other phase transition scenarios including first order transition and transition via an intermediate symmetry breaking phase.

Long-range string orders and topological quantum phase transitions in the one-dimensional quantum compass model.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hai Tao; Cho, Sam Young

2015-01-14

In order to investigate the quantum phase transition in the one-dimensional quantum compass model, we numerically calculate non-local string correlations, entanglement entropy and fidelity per lattice site by using the infinite matrix product state representation with the infinite time evolving block decimation method. In the whole range of the interaction parameters, we find that four distinct string orders characterize the four different Haldane phases and the topological quantum phase transition occurs between the Haldane phases. The critical exponents of the string order parameters β = 1/8 and the cental charges c = 1/2 at the critical points show that the topological phase transitions between the phases belong to an Ising type of universality classes. In addition to the string order parameters, the singularities of the second derivative of the ground state energies per site, the continuous and singular behaviors of the Von Neumann entropy and the pinch points of the fidelity per lattice site manifest that the phase transitions between the phases are of the second-order, in contrast to the first-order transition suggested in previous studies.

From topology to geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eberhart, M.

1996-01-01

A systematic study of the charge density topologies corresponding to a number of transition metal aluminides with the B2 structure indicates that unstable crystal structures are sometimes associated with uncharacteristic topologies. This observation invites the speculation that the distance to a topological instability might relate to a metals phase behavior. Following this speculation, a metric is imposed on the topological theory of Bader, producing a geometrical theory, where it is now possible to assign a distance from a calculated charge density topology to a topological instability. For the cubic transition metals, these distances are shown to correlate with single crystal elastic constants, where the metals that are furthest from an instability are observed to be the stiffest. (author). 16 refs., 1 tab., 9 figs

Topological photonic crystals with zero Berry curvature

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Feng; Deng, Hai-Yao; Wakabayashi, Katsunori

2018-02-01

Topological photonic crystals are designed based on the concept of Zak's phase rather than the topological invariants such as the Chern number and spin Chern number, which rely on the existence of a nonvanishing Berry curvature. Our photonic crystals (PCs) are made of pure dielectrics and sit on a square lattice obeying the C4 v point-group symmetry. Two varieties of PCs are considered: one closely resembles the electronic two-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, and the other continues as an extension of this analogy. In both cases, the topological transitions are induced by adjusting the lattice constants. Topological edge modes (TEMs) are shown to exist within the nontrivial photonic band gaps on the termination of those PCs. The high efficiency of these TEMs transferring electromagnetic energy against several types of disorders has been demonstrated using the finite-element method.

Electronic properties of novel topological quantum materials studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Yun [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

2016-12-17

The discovery of quantum Hall e ect has motivated the use of topology instead of broken symmetry to classify the states of matter. Quantum spin Hall e ect has been proposed to have a separation of spin currents as an analogue of the charge currents separation in quantum Hall e ect, leading us to the era of topological insulators. Three-dimensional analogue of the Dirac state in graphene has brought us the three-dimensional Dirac states. Materials with three-dimensional Dirac states could potentially be the parent compounds for Weyl semimetals and topological insulators when time-reversal or space inversion symmetry is broken. In addition to the single Dirac point linking the two dispersion cones in the Dirac/Weyl semimetals, Dirac points can form a line in the momentum space, resulting in a topological node line semimetal. These fascinating novel topological quantum materials could provide us platforms for studying the relativistic physics in condensed matter systems and potentially lead to design of new electronic devices that run faster and consume less power than traditional, silicon based transistors. In this thesis, we present the electronic properties of novel topological quantum materials studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES).

Accidental degeneracy in photonic bands and topological phase transitions in two-dimensional core-shell dielectric photonic crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Lin; Wang, Hai-Xiao; Xu, Ya-Dong; Chen, Huan-Yang; Jiang, Jian-Hua

2016-08-08

A simple core-shell two-dimensional photonic crystal is studied where the triangular lattice symmetry and the C6 point group symmetry give rich physics in accidental touching points of photonic bands. We systematically evaluate different types of accidental nodal points at the Brillouin zone center for transverse-magnetic harmonic modes when the geometry and permittivity of the core-shell material are continuously tuned. The accidental nodal points can have different dispersions and topological properties (i.e., Berry phases). These accidental nodal points can be the critical states lying between a topological phase and a normal phase of the photonic crystal. They are thus very important for the study of topological photonic states. We show that, without breaking time-reversal symmetry, by tuning the geometry of the core-shell material, a phase transition into the photonic quantum spin Hall insulator can be achieved. Here the "spin" is defined as the orbital angular momentum of a photon. We study the topological phase transition as well as the properties of the edge and bulk states and their application potentials in optics.

Topological insulator materials and nanostructures for future electronics, spintronics and energy conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kantser, Valeriu

2011-01-01

Two fundamental electrons attributes in materials and nanostructures - charge and spin - determine their electronic properties. The processing of information in conventional electronic devices is based only on the charge of the electrons. Spin electronics, or spintronics, uses the spin of electrons, as well as their charge, to process information. Metals, semiconductors and insulators are the basic materials that constitute the components of electronic devices, and these have been transforming all aspects of society for over a century. In contrast, magnetic metals, half-metals, magnetic semiconductors, dilute magnetic semiconductors and magnetic insulators are the materials that will form the basis for spintronic devices. Materials with topological band structure attributes and having a zero-energy band gap surface states are a special class of these materials that exhibit some fascinating and superior electronic properties compared to conventional materials allowing to combine both charge and spin functionalities. This article reviews a range of topological insulator materials and nanostructures with tunable surface states, focusing on nanolayered and nanowire like structures. These materials and nanostructures all have intriguing physical properties and numerous potential practical applications in spintronics, electronics, optics and sensors.

Emergence of topological and topological crystalline phases in TlBiS2 and TlSbS2

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Qingyun

2015-02-11

Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the band structure evolution and topological phase transitions in TlBiS2 and TlSbS2 under hydrostatic pressure as well as uniaxial and biaxial strain. The phase transitions are identified by parity analysis and by calculating the surface states. Zero, one, and four Dirac cones are found for the (111) surfaces of both TlBiS2 and TlSbS2 when the pressure grows, which confirms trivial-nontrivial-trivial phase transitions. The Dirac cones at the (M) over bar points are anisotropic with large out-of-plane component. TlBiS2 shows normal, topological, and topological crystalline insulator phases under hydrostatic pressure, thus being the first compound to exhibit a phase transition from a topological to a topological crystalline insulator.

Emergence of topological and topological crystalline phases in TlBiS2 and TlSbS2

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Qingyun; Cheng, Yingchun; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo

2015-01-01

Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the band structure evolution and topological phase transitions in TlBiS2 and TlSbS2 under hydrostatic pressure as well as uniaxial and biaxial strain. The phase transitions are identified by parity analysis and by calculating the surface states. Zero, one, and four Dirac cones are found for the (111) surfaces of both TlBiS2 and TlSbS2 when the pressure grows, which confirms trivial-nontrivial-trivial phase transitions. The Dirac cones at the (M) over bar points are anisotropic with large out-of-plane component. TlBiS2 shows normal, topological, and topological crystalline insulator phases under hydrostatic pressure, thus being the first compound to exhibit a phase transition from a topological to a topological crystalline insulator.

Topological and trivial magnetic oscillations in nodal loop semimetals

Science.gov (United States)

Oroszlány, László; Dóra, Balázs; Cserti, József; Cortijo, Alberto

2018-05-01

Nodal loop semimetals are close descendants of Weyl semimetals and possess a topologically dressed band structure. We argue by combining the conventional theory of magnetic oscillation with topological arguments that nodal loop semimetals host coexisting topological and trivial magnetic oscillations. These originate from mapping the topological properties of the extremal Fermi surface cross sections onto the physics of two dimensional semi-Dirac systems, stemming from merging two massless Dirac cones. By tuning the chemical potential and the direction of magnetic field, a sharp transition is identified from purely trivial oscillations, arising from the Landau levels of a normal two dimensional (2D) electron gas, to a phase where oscillations of topological and trivial origin coexist, originating from 2D massless Dirac and semi-Dirac points, respectively. These could in principle be directly identified in current experiments.

On the Axiomatization of Mathematical Understanding: Continuous Functions in the Transition to Topology

Science.gov (United States)

Cheshire, Daniel C.

2017-01-01

The introduction to general topology represents a challenging transition for students of advanced mathematics. It requires the generalization of their previous understanding of ideas from fields like geometry, linear algebra, and real or complex analysis to fit within a more abstract conceptual system. Students must adopt a new lexicon of…

Topology of event distributions as a generalized definition of phase transitions in finite systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chomaz, Ph.; Duflot, V.; Gulminelli, F.; Duflot, V.

2000-01-01

We propose a definition of phase transitions in finite systems based on topology anomalies of the event distribution in the space of observations. This generalizes all the definitions based on the curvature anomalies of thermodynamical potentials and provides a natural definition of order parameters. It is directly operational from the experimental point of view. It allows to study phase transitions in Gibbs equilibria as well as in other ensembles such as the Tsallis ensemble. (author)

Advanced Power Electronic Interfaces for Distributed Energy Systems Part 1: Systems and Topologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kramer, W.; Chakraborty, S.; Kroposki, B.; Thomas, H.

2008-03-01

This report summarizes power electronic interfaces for DE applications and the topologies needed for advanced power electronic interfaces. It focuses on photovoltaic, wind, microturbine, fuel cell, internal combustion engine, battery storage, and flywheel storage systems.

Electronic interconnects and devices with topological surface states and methods for fabricating same

Science.gov (United States)

Yazdani, Ali; Ong, N. Phuan; Cava, Robert J.

2016-05-03

An interconnect is disclosed with enhanced immunity of electrical conductivity to defects. The interconnect includes a material with charge carriers having topological surface states. Also disclosed is a method for fabricating such interconnects. Also disclosed is an integrated circuit including such interconnects. Also disclosed is a gated electronic device including a material with charge carriers having topological surface states.

Electronic interconnects and devices with topological surface states and methods for fabricating same

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yazdani, Ali; Ong, N. Phuan; Cava, Robert J.

2017-04-04

An interconnect is disclosed with enhanced immunity of electrical conductivity to defects. The interconnect includes a material with charge carriers having topological surface states. Also disclosed is a method for fabricating such interconnects. Also disclosed is an integrated circuit including such interconnects. Also disclosed is a gated electronic device including a material with charge carriers having topological surface states.

Observation of topological surface states and strong electron/hole imbalance in extreme magnetoresistance compound LaBi

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, J.; Schröter, N. B. M.; Wu, S.-C.; Kumar, N.; Shekhar, C.; Peng, H.; Xu, X.; Chen, C.; Yang, H. F.; Hwang, C.-C.; Mo, S.-K.; Felser, C.; Yan, B. H.; Liu, Z. K.; Yang, L. X.; Chen, Y. L.

2018-02-01

The recent discovery of the extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) in the nonmagnetic rare-earth monopnictides La X (X = P, As, Sb, Bi,), a recently proposed new topological semimetal family, has inspired intensive research effort in the exploration of the correlation between the XMR and their electronic structures. In this work, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate the three-dimensional band structure of LaBi, we unraveled its topologically nontrivial nature with the observation of multiple topological surface Dirac fermions, as supported by our ab initio calculations. Furthermore, we observed substantial imbalance between the volume of electron and hole pockets, which rules out the electron-hole compensation as the primary cause of the XMR in LaBi.

Topological phase transitions in the gauged BPS baby Skyrme model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adam, C.; Naya, C.; Romanczukiewicz, T.; Sanchez-Guillen, J.; Wereszczynski, A.

2015-01-01

We demonstrate that the gauged BPS baby Skyrme model with a double vacuum potential allows for phase transitions from a non-solitonic to a solitonic phase, where the latter corresponds to a ferromagnetic liquid. Such a transition can be generated by increasing the external pressure P or by turning on an external magnetic field H. As a consequence, the topological phase where gauged BPS baby skyrmions exist, is a higher density phase. For smaller densities, obtained for smaller values of P and H, a phase without solitons is reached. We find the critical line in the P,H parameter space. Furthermore, in the soliton phase, we find the equation of state for the baby skyrmion matter V=V(P,H) at zero temperature, where V is the “volume”, i.e., area of the solitons.

Topological phase transitions in the gauged BPS baby Skyrme model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adam, C.; Naya, C. [Departamento de Física de Partículas, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela andInstituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxias (IGFAE), Santiago de Compostela, E-15782 (Spain); Romanczukiewicz, T. [Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Lojasiecza 11, Kraków, 30-348 (Poland); Sanchez-Guillen, J. [Departamento de Física de Partículas, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela andInstituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxias (IGFAE), Santiago de Compostela, E-15782 (Spain); Wereszczynski, A. [Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Lojasiecza 11, Kraków, 30-348 (Poland)

2015-05-29

We demonstrate that the gauged BPS baby Skyrme model with a double vacuum potential allows for phase transitions from a non-solitonic to a solitonic phase, where the latter corresponds to a ferromagnetic liquid. Such a transition can be generated by increasing the external pressure P or by turning on an external magnetic field H. As a consequence, the topological phase where gauged BPS baby skyrmions exist, is a higher density phase. For smaller densities, obtained for smaller values of P and H, a phase without solitons is reached. We find the critical line in the P,H parameter space. Furthermore, in the soliton phase, we find the equation of state for the baby skyrmion matter V=V(P,H) at zero temperature, where V is the “volume”, i.e., area of the solitons.

Optical and Casimir effects in topological materials

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Justin H.

Two major electromagnetic phenomena, magneto-optical effects and the Casimir effect, have seen much theoretical and experimental use for many years. On the other hand, recently there has been an explosion of theoretical and experimental work on so-called topological materials, and a natural question to ask is how such electromagnetic phenomena change with these novel materials. Specifically, we will consider are topological insulators and Weyl semimetals. When Dirac electrons on the surface of a topological insulator are gapped or Weyl fermions in the bulk of a Weyl semimetal appear due to time-reversal symmetry breaking, there is a resulting quantum anomalous Hall effect (2D in one case and bulk 3D in the other, respectively). For topological insulators, we investigate the role of localized in-gap states which can leave their own fingerprints on the magneto-optics and can therefore be probed. We have shown that these states resonantly contribute to the Hall conductivity and are magneto-optically active. For Weyl semimetals we investigate the Casimir force and show that with thickness, chemical potential, and magnetic field, a repulsive and tunable Casimir force can be obtained. Additionally, various values of the parameters can give various combinations of traps and antitraps. We additionally probe the topological transition called a Lifshitz transition in the band structure of a material and show that in a Casimir experiment, one can observe a non-analytic "kink'' in the Casimir force across such a transition. The material we propose is a spin-orbit coupled semiconductor with large g-factor that can be magnetically tuned through such a transition. Additionally, we propose an experiment with a two-dimensional metal where weak localization is tuned with an applied field in order to definitively test the effect of diffusive electrons on the Casimir force---an issue that is surprisingly unresolved to this day. Lastly, we show how the time-continuous coherent state

Band structure and unconventional electronic topology of CoSi

Science.gov (United States)

Pshenay-Severin, D. A.; Ivanov, Y. V.; Burkov, A. A.; Burkov, A. T.

2018-04-01

Semimetals with certain crystal symmetries may possess unusual electronic structure topology, distinct from that of the conventional Weyl and Dirac semimetals. Characteristic property of these materials is the existence of band-touching points with multiple (higher than two-fold) degeneracy and nonzero Chern number. CoSi is a representative of this group of materials exhibiting the so-called ‘new fermions’. We report on an ab initio calculation of the electronic structure of CoSi using density functional methods, taking into account the spin-orbit interactions. The linearized \

Transition densities with electron scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heisenberg, J.

1985-01-01

This paper reviews the ground state and transition charge densities in nuclei via electron scattering. Using electrons as a spectroscopic tool in nuclear physics, these transition densities can be determined with high precision, also in the nuclear interior. These densities generally ask for a microscopic interpretation in terms of contributions from individual nucleons. The results for single particle transitions confirm the picture of particle-phonon coupling. (Auth.)

Topological and statistical properties of quantum control transition landscapes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsieh, Michael; Wu Rebing; Rabitz, Herschel; Rosenthal, Carey

2008-01-01

A puzzle arising in the control of quantum dynamics is to explain the relative ease with which high-quality control solutions can be found in the laboratory and in simulations. The emerging explanation appears to lie in the nature of the quantum control landscape, which is an observable as a function of the control variables. This work considers the common case of the observable being the transition probability between an initial and a target state. For any controllable quantum system, this landscape contains only global maxima and minima, and no local extrema traps. The probability distribution function for the landscape value is used to calculate the relative volume of the region of the landscape corresponding to good control solutions. The topology of the global optima of the landscape is analysed and the optima are shown to have inherent robustness to variations in the controls. Although the relative landscape volume of good control solutions is found to shrink rapidly as the system Hilbert space dimension increases, the highly favourable landscape topology at and away from the global optima provides a rationale for understanding the relative ease of finding high-quality, stable quantum optimal control solutions

Modification of electronic structure, magnetic structure, and topological phase of bismuthene by point defects

Science.gov (United States)

Kadioglu, Yelda; Kilic, Sevket Berkay; Demirci, Salih; Aktürk, O. Üzengi; Aktürk, Ethem; Ciraci, Salim

2017-12-01

This paper reveals how the electronic structure, magnetic structure, and topological phase of two-dimensional (2D), single-layer structures of bismuth are modified by point defects. We first showed that a free-standing, single-layer, hexagonal structure of bismuth, named h-bismuthene, exhibits nontrivial band topology. We then investigated interactions between single foreign adatoms and bismuthene structures, which comprise stability, bonding, electronic structure, and magnetic structures. Localized states in diverse locations of the band gap and resonant states in band continua of bismuthene are induced upon the adsorption of different adatoms, which modify electronic and magnetic properties. Specific adatoms result in reconstruction around the adsorption site. Single vacancies and divacancies can form readily in bismuthene structures and remain stable at high temperatures. Through rebondings, Stone-Whales-type defects are constructed by divacancies, which transform into a large hole at high temperature. Like adsorbed adatoms, vacancies induce also localized gap states, which can be eliminated through rebondings in divacancies. We also showed that not only the optical and magnetic properties, but also the topological features of pristine h-bismuthene can be modified by point defects. The modification of the topological features depends on the energies of localized states and also on the strength of coupling between point defects.

Topological insulators and topological superconductors

CERN Document Server

Bernevig, Andrei B

2013-01-01

This graduate-level textbook is the first pedagogical synthesis of the field of topological insulators and superconductors, one of the most exciting areas of research in condensed matter physics. Presenting the latest developments, while providing all the calculations necessary for a self-contained and complete description of the discipline, it is ideal for graduate students and researchers preparing to work in this area, and it will be an essential reference both within and outside the classroom. The book begins with simple concepts such as Berry phases, Dirac fermions, Hall conductance and its link to topology, and the Hofstadter problem of lattice electrons in a magnetic field. It moves on to explain topological phases of matter such as Chern insulators, two- and three-dimensional topological insulators, and Majorana p-wave wires. Additionally, the book covers zero modes on vortices in topological superconductors, time-reversal topological superconductors, and topological responses/field theory and topolo...

Topological analysis of the electron density and of the electron localization function of pyrene and its radicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez-Trujillo, Jesus; Garcia-Cruz, Isidoro; Martinez-Magadan, Jose Manuel

2005-01-01

The topological properties of the charge distribution of pyrene and the three derived monoradicals in their ground state and of didehydrogenated pyrenes in the lowest singlet and triplet electronic states are discussed in detail by means of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (TAIM) and by the electron localization function (ELF). The non-equivalence of the fused aromatic rings of pyrene prevents one from anticipating the stability and reactivity of these species from the chemistry of didehydrogenated species derived from benzene only. Whereas some of these didehydrogenated molecules were found to display a diradical character in the singlet ground state, the topological analysis reveals that others correspond to normal closed shells. Using these theoretical tools, the energetic and geometric details of o-, m- and p-benzyne-like pyrene derivatives are explained

Rotational symmetry breaking and topological phase transition in the exciton-polariton condensate of gapped 2D Dirac material

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ki Hoon; Lee, Changhee; Jeong, Jae-Seung; Min, Hongki; Chung, Suk Bum

For the quantum well in an optical microcavity, the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and the electron-photon coupling can lead to the emergence of bosonic quasiparticles consisting of the exciton and the cavity photon known as polariton, which can form the Bose-Einstein condensate above a threshold density. Additional physics due to the nontrivial Berry phase comes into play when the quantum well consists of the gapped Dirac material such as the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) MoS2 or WTe2. Specifically, in forming excitons, the electron-photon coupling from the optical selection rule due to the Berry phase competes against, rather than cooperates with, the Coulomb interaction. We find that this competition gives rise to the spontaneous breaking of the rotational symmetry in the polariton condensate and also drives topological phase transition, both novel features in polariton condensation. We also investigate the possible detection of this competition through photoluminescence. This work was supported in part by the Institute for Basic Science of Korea (IBS) under Grant IBS-R009-Y1 and by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) under the Basic Science Research Program Grant No. 2015R1D1A1A01058071.

Topology Optimization of an Actively Cooled Electronics Section for Downhole Tools

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Soprani, Stefano; Klaas Haertel, Jan Hendrik; Lazarov, Boyan Stefanov

2015-01-01

Active cooling systems represent a possible solution to the electronics overheating that occurs in wireline downhole tools operating in high temperature oil and gas wells. A Peltier cooler was chosen to maintain the downhole electronics to a tolerable temperature, but its integration into the dow......Active cooling systems represent a possible solution to the electronics overheating that occurs in wireline downhole tools operating in high temperature oil and gas wells. A Peltier cooler was chosen to maintain the downhole electronics to a tolerable temperature, but its integration......, according to the topology optimization results and assembly constraints, and compared to the optimized cases....

Coherent structures and flow topology of transitional separated-reattached flow over two and three dimensional geometrical shapes

Science.gov (United States)

Diabil, Hayder Azeez; Li, Xin Kai; Abdalla, Ibrahim Elrayah

2017-09-01

Large-scale organized motions (commonly referred to coherent structures) and flow topology of a transitional separated-reattached flow have been visualised and investigated using flow visualisation techniques. Two geometrical shapes including two-dimensional flat plate with rectangular leading edge and three-dimensional square cylinder are chosen to shed a light on the flow topology and present coherent structures of the flow over these shapes. For both geometries and in the early stage of the transition, two-dimensional Kelvin-Helmholtz rolls are formed downstream of the leading edge. They are observed to be twisting around the square cylinder while they stay flat in the case of the two-dimensional flat plate. For both geometrical shapes, the two-dimensional Kelvin-Helmholtz rolls move downstream of the leading edge and they are subjected to distortion to form three-dimensional hairpin structures. The flow topology in the flat plate is different from that in the square cylinder. For the flat plate, there is a merging process by a pairing of the Kelvin-Helmholtz rolls to form a large structure that breaks down directly into many hairpin structures. For the squire cylinder case, the Kelvin-Helmholtz roll evolves topologically to form a hairpin structure. In the squire cylinder case, the reattachment length is much shorter and a forming of the three-dimensional structures is closer to the leading edge than that in the flat plate case.

Topological order, entanglement, and quantum memory at finite temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazáč, Dalimil; Hamma, Alioscia

2012-01-01

We compute the topological entropy of the toric code models in arbitrary dimension at finite temperature. We find that the critical temperatures for the existence of full quantum (classical) topological entropy correspond to the confinement–deconfinement transitions in the corresponding Z 2 gauge theories. This implies that the thermal stability of topological entropy corresponds to the stability of quantum (classical) memory. The implications for the understanding of ergodicity breaking in topological phases are discussed. - Highlights: ► We calculate the topological entropy of a general toric code in any dimension. ► We find phase transitions in the topological entropy. ► The phase transitions coincide with the appearance of quantum/classical memory.

Topological insulators/superconductors: Potential future electronic materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hor, Y. S.

2014-01-01

A new material called topological insulator has been discovered and becomes one of the fastest growing field in condensed matter physics. Topological insulator is a new quantum phase of matter which has Dirac-like conductivity on its surface, but bulk insulator through its interior. It is considered a challenging problem for the surface transport measurements because of dominant internal conductance due to imperfections of the existing crystals of topological insulators. By a proper method, the internal bulk conduction can be suppressed in a topological insulator, and permit the detection of the surface currents which is necessary for future fault-tolerant quantum computing applications. Doped topological insulators have depicted a large variety of bulk physical properties ranging from magnetic to superconducting behaviors. By chemical doping, a TI can change into a bulk superconductor. Nb x Bi 2 Se 3 is shown to be a superconductor with T c ∼ 3.2 K, which could be a potential candidate for a topological superconductor

Microscopic effects of Dy doping in the topological insulator Bi2Te3

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, L. B.; Steinke, N.-J.; Krieger, J. A.; Figueroa, A. I.; Kummer, K.; Lancaster, T.; Giblin, S. R.; Pratt, F. L.; Blundell, S. J.; Prokscha, T.; Suter, A.; Langridge, S.; Strocov, V. N.; Salman, Z.; van der Laan, G.; Hesjedal, T.

2018-05-01

Magnetic doping with transition metal ions is the most widely used approach to break time-reversal symmetry in a topological insulator (TI)—a prerequisite for unlocking the TI's exotic potential. Recently, we reported the doping of Bi2Te3 thin films with rare-earth ions, which, owing to their large magnetic moments, promise commensurately large magnetic gap openings in the topological surface states. However, only when doping with Dy has a sizable gap been observed in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, which persists up to room temperature. Although disorder alone could be ruled out as a cause of the topological phase transition, a fundamental understanding of the magnetic and electronic properties of Dy-doped Bi2Te3 remained elusive. Here, we present an x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, polarized neutron reflectometry, muon-spin rotation, and resonant photoemission study of the microscopic magnetic and electronic properties. We find that the films are not simply paramagnetic but that instead the observed behavior can be well explained by the assumption of slowly fluctuating, inhomogeneous, magnetic patches with increasing volume fraction as the temperature decreases. At liquid helium temperatures, a large effective magnetization can be easily introduced by the application of moderate magnetic fields, implying that this material is very suitable for proximity coupling to an underlying ferromagnetic insulator or in a heterostructure with transition-metal-doped layers. However, the introduction of some charge carriers by the Dy dopants cannot be excluded at least in these highly doped samples. Nevertheless, we find that the magnetic order is not mediated via the conduction channel in these samples and therefore magnetic order and carrier concentration are expected to be independently controllable. This is not generally the case for transition-metal-doped topological insulators, and Dy doping should thus allow for improved TI quantum devices.

C library for topological study of the electronic charge density.

Science.gov (United States)

Vega, David; Aray, Yosslen; Rodríguez, Jesús

2012-12-05

The topological study of the electronic charge density is useful to obtain information about the kinds of bonds (ionic or covalent) and the atom charges on a molecule or crystal. For this study, it is necessary to calculate, at every space point, the electronic density and its electronic density derivatives values up to second order. In this work, a grid-based method for these calculations is described. The library, implemented for three dimensions, is based on a multidimensional Lagrange interpolation in a regular grid; by differentiating the resulting polynomial, the gradient vector, the Hessian matrix and the Laplacian formulas were obtained for every space point. More complex functions such as the Newton-Raphson method (to find the critical points, where the gradient is null) and the Cash-Karp Runge-Kutta method (used to make the gradient paths) were programmed. As in some crystals, the unit cell has angles different from 90°, the described library includes linear transformations to correct the gradient and Hessian when the grid is distorted (inclined). Functions were also developed to handle grid containing files (grd from DMol® program, CUBE from Gaussian® program and CHGCAR from VASP® program). Each one of these files contains the data for a molecular or crystal electronic property (such as charge density, spin density, electrostatic potential, and others) in a three-dimensional (3D) grid. The library can be adapted to make the topological study in any regular 3D grid by modifying the code of these functions. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Global monopoles can change Universe's topology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marunović, Anja; Prokopec, Tomislav

2016-01-01

If the Universe undergoes a phase transition, at which global monopoles are created or destroyed, topology of its spatial sections can change. More specifically, by making use of Myers' theorem, we show that, after a transition in which global monopoles form, spatial sections of a spatially flat, infinite Universe becomes finite and closed. This implies that global monopoles can change the topology of Universe's spatial sections (from infinite and open to finite and closed). Global monopoles cannot alter the topology of the space-time manifold.

Electronic phase transitions

CERN Document Server

Kopaev, YuV

1992-01-01

Electronic Phase Transitions deals with topics, which are presently at the forefront of scientific research in modern solid-state theory. Anderson localization, which has fundamental implications in many areas of solid-state physics as well as spin glasses, with its influence on quite different research activities such as neural networks, are two examples that are reviewed in this book. The ab initio statistical mechanics of structural phase transitions is another prime example, where the interplay and connection of two unrelated disciplines of solid-state theory - first principle ele

Quantum anomalous Hall effect and topological phase transition in two-dimensional antiferromagnetic Chern insulator NiOsCl6

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wei-Wei; Li, Lei; Zhao, Jing-Sheng; Liu, Xiao-Xiong; Deng, Jian-Bo; Tao, Xiao-Ma; Hu, Xian-Ru

2018-05-01

By doing calculations based on density functional theory, we predict that the two-dimensional anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) NiOsCl6 as a Chern insulator can realize the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect. We investigate the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energies in different magnetic configurations and the Néel AFM configuration is proved to be ground state. When considering spin–orbit coupling (SOC), this layered material with spins perpendicular to the plane shows properties as a Chern insulator characterized by an inversion band structure and a nonzero Chern number. The nontrivial band gap is 37 meV and the Chern number C  =  ‑1, which are induced by a strong SOC and AFM order. With strong SOC, the NiOsCl6 system performs a continuous topological phase transition from the Chern insulator to the trivial insulator upon the increasing Coulomb repulsion U. The critical U c is indicated as 0.23 eV, at which the system is in a metallic phase with . Upon increasing U, the E g reduces linearly with C  =  ‑1 for 0    U c . At last we analysis the QAH properties and this continuous topological phase transition theoretically in a two-band model. This AFM Chern insulator NiOsCl6 proposes not only a promising way to realize the QAH effect, but also a new material to study the continuous topological phase transition.

Transition radiation electron beam diagnostic study at ATF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu, X.Z.; Wang, X.J.; Batchelor, K.; Ben-Zvi, I.

1995-01-01

Recently we have started a program to develop transition radiation based electron beam diagnostics at the Accelerator Test Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In this paper, we will discuss a technique to estimate the lower limit in electron beam divergence measurement with single foil transition radiation and two-foil transition radiation interferometer. Preliminary experimental data from 4.5 MeV electron beam will be presented

Electronic structure and transport on the surface of topological insulator attached to an electromagnetic superlattice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Haiyan; Chen Xiongwen; Zhou Xiaoying; Zhang Lebo; Zhou Guanghui

2012-01-01

We study the electronic structure and transport for Dirac electron on the surface of a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator attached to an electromagnetic superlattice. It is found that, by means of the transfer-matrix method, the number of electronic tunneling channels for magnetic barriers in antiparallel alignment is larger than that in parallel alignment, which stems to the energy band structures. Interestingly, a remarkable semiconducting transport behavior appears in this system with a strong magnetic barrier due to low energy band nearly paralleling to the Fermi level. Consequently, there is only small incident angle transport in the higher energy region when the system is modulated mainly by the higher electric barriers. We further find that the spatial distribution of the spin polarization oscillates periodically in the incoming region, but it is almost in-plane with a fixed direction in the transmitting region. The results may provide a further understanding of the nature of 3D TI surface states, and may be useful in the design of topological insulator-based electronic devices such as collimating electron beam.

Topological Phase Transition-Induced Triaxial Vector Magnetoresistance in (Bi1-xInx)2Se3 Nanodevices.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Minhao; Wang, Huaiqiang; Mu, Kejun; Wang, Pengdong; Niu, Wei; Zhang, Shuai; Xiao, Guiling; Chen, Yequan; Tong, Tong; Fu, Dongzhi; Wang, Xuefeng; Zhang, Haijun; Song, Fengqi; Miao, Feng; Sun, Zhe; Xia, Zhengcai; Wang, Xinran; Xu, Yongbing; Wang, Baigeng; Xing, Dingyu; Zhang, Rong

2018-02-27

We report the study of a triaxial vector magnetoresistance (MR) in nonmagnetic (Bi 1-x In x ) 2 Se 3 nanodevices at the composition of x = 0.08. We show a dumbbell-shaped in-plane negative MR up to room temperature as well as a large out-of-plane positive MR. MR at three directions is about in a -3%:-1%:225% ratio at 2 K. Through both the thickness and composition-dependent magnetotransport measurements, we show that the in-plane negative MR is due to the topological phase transition enhanced intersurface coupling near the topological critical point. Our devices suggest the great potential for room-temperature spintronic applications in, for example, vector magnetic sensors.

Shake-off processes at the electron transitions in atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matveev, V.I.; Parilis, Eh.S.

1982-01-01

Elementary processes in multielectron atoms - radiative and Auger transitions, photoionization and ionization by an electron impact etc. are usually followed by the relaxation of electron shells. The conditions under which such multielectron problem could be solved in the shake-off approximation are considered. The shake-off processes occurring. as a result of the electron transitions are described from the general point of view. The common characteristics and peculiar features of this type of excitation in comparison with the electron shake-off under nuclear transformations are pointed out. Several electron shake-off processes are considered, namely: radiative Auger effect, the transition ''two electrons-one photon'', dipole ionization, spectral line broadening, post collision interaction, Auger decay stimulated by collision with fast electrons, three-electron Auger transitions: double and half Auger effect. Their classification is given according to the type of the electron transition causing the shake-off process. The experimental data are presented and the methods of theoretical description are reviewed. Other similar effects, which could follow the transitions in electron shells are pointed out. The deduction of shake-off approximation is presented, and it is pointed out that this approach is analogous to the distorted waves approximation in the theory of scattering. It was shown that in atoms the shake-off approximation is a very effective method, which allows to obtain the probability of different electronic effects

Systematics of electronic and magnetic properties in the transition metal doped Sb2Te3 quantum anomalous Hall platform

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, M. F.; Canali, C. M.; Pertsova, A.; Balatsky, A.; Mahatha, S. K.; Carbone, C.; Barla, A.; Kokh, K. A.; Tereshchenko, O. E.; Jiménez, E.; Brookes, N. B.; Gargiani, P.; Valvidares, M.; Schatz, S.; Peixoto, T. R. F.; Bentmann, H.; Reinert, F.; Jung, J.; Bathon, T.; Fauth, K.; Bode, M.; Sessi, P.

2018-04-01

The quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) has recently been reported to emerge in magnetically doped topological insulators. Although its general phenomenology is well established, the microscopic origin is far from being properly understood and controlled. Here, we report on a detailed and systematic investigation of transition metal (TM) doped Sb2Te3 . By combining density functional theory calculations with complementary experimental techniques, i.e., scanning tunneling microscopy, resonant photoemission, and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, we provide a complete spectroscopic characterization of both electronic and magnetic properties. Our results reveal that the TM dopants not only affect the magnetic state of the host material, but also significantly alter the electronic structure by generating impurity-derived energy bands. Our findings demonstrate the existence of a delicate interplay between electronic and magnetic properties in TM doped topological insulators. In particular, we find that the fate of the topological surface states critically depends on the specific character of the TM impurity: while V- and Fe-doped Sb2Te3 display resonant impurity states in the vicinity of the Dirac point, Cr and Mn impurities leave the energy gap unaffected. The single-ion magnetic anisotropy energy and easy axis, which control the magnetic gap opening and its stability, are also found to be strongly TM impurity dependent and can vary from in plane to out of plane depending on the impurity and its distance from the surface. Overall, our results provide general guidelines for the realization of a robust QAHE in TM doped Sb2Te3 in the ferromagnetic state.

Calculation of nuclear excitation in an electron transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pisk, K. (Institut Rudjer Boskovic, Zagreb (Yugoslavia)); Kaliman, Z. (Rijeka Univ. (Yugoslavia). Faculty of Pedagogics); Logan, B.A. (Ottawa Univ., ON (Canada). Ottawa-Carleton Centre for Physics)

1989-11-06

We have made a theoretical investigation of nuclear excitation during an electron transition (NEET). Our approach allows us to express the NEET probabilities in terms of the excited nuclear level width, the energy difference between the nuclear and electron transition, the Coulomb interaction between the initial electron states, and the electron level width. A comparison is made with the available experimental results. (orig.).

Power electronics for renewable and distributed energy systems a sourcebook of topologies, control and integration

CERN Document Server

Chakraborty, Sudipta; Kramer, William E

2013-01-01

While most books approach power electronics and renewable energy as two separate subjects, Power Electronics for Renewable and Distributed Energy Systems takes an integrative approach; discussing power electronic converters topologies, controls and integration that are specific to the renewable and distributed energy system applications. An overview of power electronic technologies is followed by the introduction of various renewable and distributed energy resources that includes photovoltaics, wind, small hydroelectric, fuel cells, microturbines and variable speed generation. Energy storage s

Butterfly magnetoresistance, quasi-2D Dirac Fermi surface and topological phase transition in ZrSiS.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Mazhar N; Schoop, Leslie M; Garg, Chirag; Lippmann, Judith M; Lara, Erik; Lotsch, Bettina; Parkin, Stuart S P

2016-12-01

Magnetoresistance (MR), the change of a material's electrical resistance in response to an applied magnetic field, is a technologically important property that has been the topic of intense study for more than a quarter century. We report the observation of an unusual "butterfly"-shaped titanic angular magnetoresistance (AMR) in the nonmagnetic Dirac material, ZrSiS, which we find to be the most conducting sulfide known, with a 2-K resistivity as low as 48(4) nΩ⋅cm. The MR in ZrSiS is large and positive, reaching nearly 1.8 × 10 5 percent at 9 T and 2 K at a 45° angle between the applied current ( I || a ) and the applied field (90° is H || c ). Approaching 90°, a "dip" is seen in the AMR, which, by analyzing Shubnikov de Haas oscillations at different angles, we find to coincide with a very sharp topological phase transition unlike any seen in other known Dirac/Weyl materials. We find that ZrSiS has a combination of two-dimensional (2D) and 3D Dirac pockets comprising its Fermi surface and that the combination of high-mobility carriers and multiple pockets in ZrSiS allows for large property changes to occur as a function of angle between applied fields. This makes it a promising platform to study the physics stemming from the coexistence of 2D and 3D Dirac electrons as well as opens the door to creating devices focused on switching between different parts of the Fermi surface and different topological states.

Electron spectroscopic investigation of metal–insulator transition in ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

Electronic structure of transition metal (TM) oxides has been under detailed investi- ..... Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi for a fellowship. ... Maiti K 1998 Novel electronic structures in transition metal oxides, Ph D thesis, Solid.

Optical conductivity of topological insulator thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, L. L.; Xu, W.; Peeters, F. M.

2015-01-01

We present a detailed theoretical study on the optoelectronic properties of topological insulator thin film (TITFs). The k·p approach is employed to calculate the energy spectra and wave functions for both the bulk and surface states in the TITF. With these obtained results, the optical conductivities induced by different electronic transitions among the bulk and surface states are evaluated using the energy-balance equation derived from the Boltzmann equation. We find that for Bi 2 Se 3 -based TITFs, three characteristic regimes for the optical absorption can be observed. (i) In the low radiation frequency regime (photon energy ℏω<200 meV), the free-carrier absorption takes place due to intraband electronic transitions. An optical absorption window can be observed. (ii) In the intermediate radiation frequency regime (200<ℏω<300 meV), the optical absorption is induced mainly by interband electronic transitions from surface states in the valance band to surface states in the conduction band and an universal value σ 0 =e 2 /(8ℏ) for the optical conductivity can be obtained. (iii) In the high radiation frequency regime (ℏω>300 meV), the optical absorption can be achieved via interband electronic transitions from bulk and surface states in the valance band to bulk and surface states in the conduction band. A strong absorption peak can be observed. These interesting findings indicate that optical measurements can be applied to identify the energy regimes of bulk and surface states in the TITF

Electron polarizability of crystalline solids in quantizing magnetic fields and topological gap numbers

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Středa, Pavel; Jonckheere, T.; Martin, T.

2008-01-01

Roč. 100, - (2008), 146804/1-146804/4 ISSN 0031-9007 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA202/05/0365 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100521 Keywords : electron polarizability * quantum Hall effect * topological numbers Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 7.180, year: 2008

Algebraic topology and concurrency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fajstrup, Lisbeth; Raussen, Martin; Goubault, Eric

2006-01-01

We show in this article that some concepts from homotopy theory, in algebraic topology,are relevant for studying concurrent programs. We exhibit a natural semantics of semaphore programs, based on partially ordered topological spaces, which are studied up to “elastic deformation” or homotopy...... differences between ordinary and directed homotopy through examples. We also relate the topological view to a combinatorial view of concurrent programs closer to transition systems, through the notion of a cubical set. Finally we apply some of these concepts to the proof of the safeness of a two...

Spin current in an electron waveguide tunnel-coupled to a topological insulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sukhanov, Aleksei A; Sablikov, Vladimir A

2012-01-01

We show that electron tunneling from edge states in a two-dimensional topological insulator into a parallel electron waveguide leads to the appearance of spin-polarized current in the waveguide. The spin polarization P can be very close to unity and the electron current passing through the tunnel contact splits in the waveguide into two branches flowing from the contact. The polarization essentially depends on the electron scattering by the contact and the electron-electron interaction in the one-dimensional edge states. The electron-electron interaction is treated within the Luttinger liquid model. The main effect of the interaction stems from the renormalization of the electron velocity, due to which the polarization increases with the interaction strength. Electron scattering by the contact leads to a decrease in P. A specific effect occurs when the bottom of the subbands in the waveguide crosses the Dirac point of the spectrum of edge states when changing the voltage or chemical potential. This leads to changing the direction of the spin current.

Quantum phase transitions of strongly correlated electron systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imada, Masatoshi

1998-01-01

Interacting electrons in solids undergo various quantum phase transitions driven by quantum fluctuations. The quantum transitions take place at zero temperature by changing a parameter to control quantum fluctuations rather than thermal fluctuations. In contrast to classical phase transitions driven by thermal fluctuations, the quantum transitions have many different features where quantum dynamics introduces a source of intrinsic fluctuations tightly connected with spatial correlations and they have been a subject of recent intensive studies as we see below. Interacting electron systems cannot be fully understood without deep analyses of the quantum phase transitions themselves, because they are widely seen and play essential roles in many phenomena. Typical and important examples of the quantum phase transitions include metal-insulator transitions, (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) metal-superconductor transitions, superconductor-insulator transitions, magnetic transitions to antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic phases in metals as well as in Mott insulators, and charge ordering transitions. Here, we focus on three different types of transitions

Electron transfer by excited benzoquinone anions: slow rates for two-electron transitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamadar, Matibur; Cook, Andrew R; Lewandowska-Andralojc, Anna; Holroyd, Richard; Jiang, Yan; Bikalis, Jin; Miller, John R

2013-09-05

Electron transfer (ET) rate constants from the lowest excited state of the radical anion of benzoquinone, BQ(-•)*, were measured in THF solution. Rate constants for bimolecular electron transfer reactions typically reach the diffusion-controlled limit when the free-energy change, ΔG°, reaches -0.3 eV. The rate constants for ET from BQ(-•)* are one-to-two decades smaller at this energy and do not reach the diffusion-controlled limit until -ΔG° is 1.5-2.0 eV. The rates are so slow probably because a second electron must also undergo a transition to make use of the energy of the excited state. Similarly, ET, from solvated electrons to neutral BQ to form the lowest excited state, is slow, while fast ET is observed at a higher excited state, which can be populated in a transition involving only one electron. A simple picture based on perturbation theory can roughly account for the control of electron transfer by the need for transition of a second electron. The picture also explains how extra driving force (-ΔG°) can restore fast rates of electron transfer.

An enhanced electronic topology aimed at improving the phase sensitivity of GMI sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa Silva, E; Gusmão, L A P; Hall Barbosa, C R; Costa Monteiro, E

2014-01-01

The giant magnetoimpedance effect (GMI) is used in the most recent technologies developed for the detection of magnetic fields, showing potential to be applied in the measurement of ultra-weak fields. GMI samples exhibit a huge dependency of their electrical impedance on the magnetic field, which makes them excellent magnetic sensors. In spite of GMI magnetometers being mostly based on magnitude impedance characteristics, it was previously verified that sensitivity could be significantly increased by reading the impedance phase. Pursuing this idea, a phase-based GMI magnetometer has been already developed as well as an electronic configuration capable of improving the phase sensitivity of GMI samples. However, when using this topology, it was noted that the sensitivity improvement comes at the cost of reduced voltage levels in the reading terminal, degrading the signal-to-noise ratio. Another drawback of the electronic configuration was that it was not capable of enforcing a linear behavior of the impedance phase in the function of the magnetic field in a given operation region. Aiming at overcoming those issues and then optimizing the behavior of the circuit developed to improve the phase sensitivity, this paper mathematically describes a completely new methodology, presents an enhanced newly developed electronic topology and exemplifies its application. (paper)

Yang-Lee zeros for a Potts model of helix-coil transition with nontrivial topology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ananikian, N.; Ananikyan, L.; Artuso, R.; Sargsyan, K.

2007-07-01

The Yang-Lee partition function zeros of the Q-state Potts model on a zigzag ladder are studied by a transfer-matrix approach. This Q-state model has a non-trivial topology induced by three-site interactions on a zigzag ladder and is proposed as a description of helix-coil transition in homo-polymers. The Yang-Lee zeros are associated to complex values of the solvent-related coupling constant K (magnetic field) and they are exactly derived for arbitrary values of the system parameters: Q, J (coupling constant of hydrogen binding) and temperature. It is shown that there is only a quasi-phase transition for all temperatures. The densities of the Yang-Lee zeros are singular at the edge singularity points and the critical exponent σ = -1/2. (author)

Critic: a new program for the topological analysis of solid-state electron densities

Science.gov (United States)

Otero-de-la-Roza, A.; Blanco, M. A.; Pendás, A. Martín; Luaña, Víctor

2009-01-01

In this paper we introduce CRITIC, a new program for the topological analysis of the electron densities of crystalline solids. Two different versions of the code are provided, one adapted to the LAPW (Linear Augmented Plane Wave) density calculated by the WIEN2K package and the other to the ab initio Perturbed Ion ( aiPI) density calculated with the PI7 code. Using the converged ground state densities, CRITIC can locate their critical points, determine atomic basins and integrate properties within them, and generate several graphical representations which include topological atomic basins and primary bundles, contour maps of ρ and ∇ρ, vector maps of ∇ρ, chemical graphs, etc. Program summaryProgram title: CRITIC Catalogue identifier: AECB_v1_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AECB_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: GPL, version 3 No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1 206 843 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 12 648 065 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: FORTRAN 77 and 90 Computer: Any computer capable of compiling Fortran Operating system: Unix, GNU/Linux Classification: 7.3 Nature of problem: Topological analysis of the electron density in periodic solids. Solution method: The automatic localization of the electron density critical points is based on a recursive partitioning of the Wigner-Seitz cell into tetrahedra followed by a Newton search from significant points on each tetrahedra. Plotting of and integration on the atomic basins is currently based on a new implementation of Keith's promega algorithm. Running time: Variable, depending on the task. From seconds to a few minutes for the localization of critical points. Hours to days for the determination of the atomic basins shape and properties. Times correspond to a typical 2007 PC.

Transition to H-mode by energetic electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, Kimitaka; Itoh, Sanae.

1992-07-01

Effect of the electron loss due to the toroidal ripple on an H-mode transition is studied. When energetic electrons exist in tokamaks, e.g., in the case of the current drive by lower hybrid (LH) waves, the edge electric field can show the bifurcation to the more positive value. In this state, both the electron loss and ion loss (such as loss cone loss) are reduced. The criterion for the transition is derived. Comparison with H-mode in JT-60 LH plasma shows a qualitative agreement. (author)

Nematic order on the surface of a three-dimensional topological insulator

Science.gov (United States)

Lundgren, Rex; Yerzhakov, Hennadii; Maciejko, Joseph

2017-12-01

We study the spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry in the helical surface state of three-dimensional topological insulators due to strong electron-electron interactions, focusing on time-reversal invariant nematic order. Owing to the strongly spin-orbit coupled nature of the surface state, the nematic order parameter is linear in the electron momentum and necessarily involves the electron spin, in contrast with spin-degenerate nematic Fermi liquids. For a chemical potential at the Dirac point (zero doping), we find a first-order phase transition at zero temperature between isotropic and nematic Dirac semimetals. This extends to a thermal phase transition that changes from first to second order at a finite-temperature tricritical point. At finite doping, we find a transition between isotropic and nematic helical Fermi liquids that is second order even at zero temperature. Focusing on finite doping, we discuss various observable consequences of nematic order, such as anisotropies in transport and the spin susceptibility, the partial breakdown of spin-momentum locking, collective modes and induced spin fluctuations, and non-Fermi-liquid behavior at the quantum critical point and in the nematic phase.

Bulk and interface quantum states of electrons in multi-layer heterostructures with topological materials

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolic, Aleksandar; Zhang, Kexin; Barnes, C. H. W.

2018-06-01

In this article we describe the bulk and interface quantum states of electrons in multi-layer heterostructures in one dimension, consisting of topological insulators (TIs) and topologically trivial materials. We use and extend an effective four-band continuum Hamiltonian by introducing position dependence to the eight material parameters of the Hamiltonian. We are able to demonstrate complete conduction-valence band mixing in the interface states. We find evidence for topological features of bulk states of multi-layer TI heterostructures, as well as demonstrating both complete and incomplete conduction-valence band inversion at different bulk state energies. We show that the linear k z terms in the low-energy Hamiltonian, arising from overlap of p z orbitals between different atomic layers in the case of chalcogenides, control the amount of tunneling from TIs to trivial insulators. Finally, we show that the same linear k z terms in the low-energy Hamiltonian affect the material’s ability to form the localised interface state, and we demonstrate that due to this effect the spin and probability density localisation in a thin film of Sb2Te3 is incomplete. We show that changing the parameter that controls the magnitude of the overlap of p z orbitals affects the transport characteristics of the topologically conducting states, with incomplete topological state localisation resulting in increased backscattering.

Transition to electronic publishing

Science.gov (United States)

Bowning, Sam

Previous communications have described some of the many changes that will occur in the next few months as AGU makes the transition to fully electronic publishing. With the advent of the new AGU electronic publishing system, manuscripts will be submitted, edited, reviewed, and published in electronic formats. This piece discusses how the electronic journals will differ from the print journals. Electronic publishing will require some adjustments to the ways we currently think about journals from our perspective of standard print versions. Visiting the Web site of AGU's Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (G-Cubed) is a great way to get familiar with the look and feel of electronic publishing. However, protocols, especially for citations of articles, are still evolving. Some of the biggest changes for users of AGU publications may be the lack of page numbers, the use of a unique identifier (DOI),and changes in citation style.

Studies of electron transitions using solid He pressure techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schirber, J.E.

1977-01-01

Changes in the topology of the Fermi surfaces of metals occur with variation of temperature or stoichiometry in a number of metallic systems of current interest. Pressure generated by a variety of techniques has proven to be the most useful experimental variable in the study of these transitions, but in most cases only solid He techniques yield sufficiently hydrostatic conditions to permit direct measurements of the Fermi surface as a function of pressure

Butterfly magnetoresistance, quasi-2D Dirac Fermi surface and topological phase transition in ZrSiS

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Mazhar N.; Schoop, Leslie M.; Garg, Chirag; Lippmann, Judith M.; Lara, Erik; Lotsch, Bettina; Parkin, Stuart S. P.

2016-01-01

Magnetoresistance (MR), the change of a material’s electrical resistance in response to an applied magnetic field, is a technologically important property that has been the topic of intense study for more than a quarter century. We report the observation of an unusual “butterfly”-shaped titanic angular magnetoresistance (AMR) in the nonmagnetic Dirac material, ZrSiS, which we find to be the most conducting sulfide known, with a 2-K resistivity as low as 48(4) nΩ⋅cm. The MR in ZrSiS is large and positive, reaching nearly 1.8 × 105 percent at 9 T and 2 K at a 45° angle between the applied current (I || a) and the applied field (90° is H || c). Approaching 90°, a “dip” is seen in the AMR, which, by analyzing Shubnikov de Haas oscillations at different angles, we find to coincide with a very sharp topological phase transition unlike any seen in other known Dirac/Weyl materials. We find that ZrSiS has a combination of two-dimensional (2D) and 3D Dirac pockets comprising its Fermi surface and that the combination of high-mobility carriers and multiple pockets in ZrSiS allows for large property changes to occur as a function of angle between applied fields. This makes it a promising platform to study the physics stemming from the coexistence of 2D and 3D Dirac electrons as well as opens the door to creating devices focused on switching between different parts of the Fermi surface and different topological states. PMID:28028541

Evidence of topological insulator state in the semimetal LaBi

Science.gov (United States)

Lou, R.; Fu, B.-B.; Xu, Q. N.; Guo, P.-J.; Kong, L.-Y.; Zeng, L.-K.; Ma, J.-Z.; Richard, P.; Fang, C.; Huang, Y.-B.; Sun, S.-S.; Wang, Q.; Wang, L.; Shi, Y.-G.; Lei, H. C.; Liu, K.; Weng, H. M.; Qian, T.; Ding, H.; Wang, S.-C.

2017-03-01

By employing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy combined with first-principles calculations, we performed a systematic investigation on the electronic structure of LaBi, which exhibits extremely large magnetoresistance (XMR), and is theoretically predicted to possess band anticrossing with nontrivial topological properties. Here, the observations of the Fermi-surface topology and band dispersions are similar to previous studies on LaSb [L.-K. Zeng, R. Lou, D.-S. Wu, Q. N. Xu, P.-J. Guo, L.-Y. Kong, Y.-G. Zhong, J.-Z. Ma, B.-B. Fu, P. Richard, P. Wang, G. T. Liu, L. Lu, Y.-B. Huang, C. Fang, S.-S. Sun, Q. Wang, L. Wang, Y.-G. Shi, H. M. Weng, H.-C. Lei, K. Liu, S.-C. Wang, T. Qian, J.-L. Luo, and H. Ding, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 127204 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.127204], a topologically trivial XMR semimetal, except the existence of a band inversion along the Γ -X direction, with one massless and one gapped Dirac-like surface state at the X and Γ points, respectively. The odd number of massless Dirac cones suggests that LaBi is analogous to the time-reversal Z2 nontrivial topological insulator. These findings open up a new series for exploring novel topological states and investigating their evolution from the perspective of topological phase transition within the family of rare-earth monopnictides.

Two dimensional topological insulator in quantizing magnetic fields

Science.gov (United States)

Olshanetsky, E. B.; Kvon, Z. D.; Gusev, G. M.; Mikhailov, N. N.; Dvoretsky, S. A.

2018-05-01

The effect of quantizing magnetic field on the electron transport is investigated in a two dimensional topological insulator (2D TI) based on a 8 nm (013) HgTe quantum well (QW). The local resistance behavior is indicative of a metal-insulator transition at B ≈ 6 T. On the whole the experimental data agrees with the theory according to which the helical edge states transport in a 2D TI persists from zero up to a critical magnetic field Bc after which a gap opens up in the 2D TI spectrum.

Topological Gyroscopic Metamaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Nash, Lisa Michelle

Topological materials are generally insulating in their bulk, with protected conducting states on their boundaries that are robust against disorder and perturbation of material property. The existence of these conducting edge states is characterized by an integer topological invariant. Though the phenomenon was first discovered in electronic systems, recent years have shown that topological states exist in classical systems as well. In this thesis we are primarily concerned with the topological properties of gyroscopic materials, which are created by coupling networks of fast-spinning objects. Through a series of simulations, numerical calculations, and experiments, we show that these materials can support topological edge states. We find that edge states in these gyroscopic metamaterials bear the hallmarks of topology related to broken time reversal symmetry: they transmit excitations unidirectionally and are extremely robust against experimental disorder. We also explore requirements for topology by studying several lattice configurations and find that topology emerges naturally in gyroscopic systems.A simple prescription can be used to create many gyroscopic lattices. Though many of our gyroscopic networks are periodic, we explore amorphous point-sets and find that topology also emerges in these networks.

The topological Anderson insulator phase in the Kane-Mele model

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Christoph P.; Sekera, Tibor; Bruder, Christoph; Schmidt, Thomas L.

2016-04-01

It has been proposed that adding disorder to a topologically trivial mercury telluride/cadmium telluride (HgTe/CdTe) quantum well can induce a transition to a topologically nontrivial state. The resulting state was termed topological Anderson insulator and was found in computer simulations of the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model. Here, we show that the topological Anderson insulator is a more universal phenomenon and also appears in the Kane-Mele model of topological insulators on a honeycomb lattice. We numerically investigate the interplay of the relevant parameters, and establish the parameter range in which the topological Anderson insulator exists. A staggered sublattice potential turns out to be a necessary condition for the transition to the topological Anderson insulator. For weak enough disorder, a calculation based on the lowest-order Born approximation reproduces quantitatively the numerical data. Our results thus considerably increase the number of candidate materials for the topological Anderson insulator phase.

Strain effects in topological insulators: Topological order and the emergence of switchable topological interface states in Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 heterojunctions

Science.gov (United States)

Aramberri, H.; Muñoz, M. C.

2017-05-01

We investigate the effects of strain on the topological order of the Bi2Se3 family of topological insulators by ab initio first-principles methods. Strain can induce a topological phase transition and we present the phase diagram for the 3D topological insulators, Bi2Te3 , Sb2Te3 , Bi2Se3 , and Sb2Se3 , under combined uniaxial and biaxial strain. Their phase diagram is universal and shows metallic and insulating phases, both topologically trivial and nontrivial. In particular, uniaxial tension can drive the four compounds into a topologically trivial insulating phase. We propose a Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 heterojunction in which a strain-induced topological interface state arises in the common gap of this normal insulator-topological insulator heterojunction. Unexpectedly, the interface state is confined in the topologically trivial subsystem and is physically protected from ambient impurities. It can be switched on or off by means of uniaxial strain and therefore Sb2Te3 /Bi2Te3 heterojunctions provide a topological system which hosts tunable robust helical interface states with promising spintronic applications.

Topological phononic insulator with robust pseudospin-dependent transport

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Bai-Zhan; Liu, Ting-Ting; Huang, Guo-Liang; Dai, Hong-Qing; Jiao, Jun-Rui; Zang, Xian-Guo; Yu, De-Jie; Zheng, Sheng-Jie; Liu, Jian

2017-09-01

Topological phononic states, which facilitate unique acoustic transport around defects and disorders, have significantly revolutionized our scientific cognition of acoustic systems. Here, by introducing a zone folding mechanism, we realize the topological phase transition in a double Dirac cone of the rotatable triangular phononic crystal with C3 v symmetry. We then investigate the distinct topological edge states on two types of interfaces of our phononic insulators. The first one is a zigzag interface which simultaneously possesses a symmetric mode and an antisymmetric mode. Hybridization of the two modes leads to a robust pseudospin-dependent one-way propagation. The second one is a linear interface with a symmetric mode or an antisymmetric mode. The type of mode is dependent on the topological phase transition of the phononic insulators. Based on the rotatability of triangular phononic crystals, we consider several complicated contours defined by the topological zigzag interfaces. Along these contours, the acoustic waves can unimpededly transmit without backscattering. Our research develops a route for the exploration of the topological phenomena in experiments and provides an excellent framework for freely steering the acoustic backscattering-immune propagation within topological phononic structures.

Fermiology and Superconductivity of Topological Surface States in PdTe2

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, O. J.; Neat, M. J.; Okawa, K.; Bawden, L.; Marković, I.; Mazzola, F.; Feng, J.; Sunko, V.; Riley, J. M.; Meevasana, W.; Fujii, J.; Vobornik, I.; Kim, T. K.; Hoesch, M.; Sasagawa, T.; Wahl, P.; Bahramy, M. S.; King, P. D. C.

2018-04-01

We study the low-energy surface electronic structure of the transition-metal dichalcogenide superconductor PdTe2 by spin- and angle-resolved photoemission, scanning tunneling microscopy, and density-functional theory-based supercell calculations. Comparing PdTe2 with its sister compound PtSe2 , we demonstrate how enhanced interlayer hopping in the Te-based material drives a band inversion within the antibonding p -orbital manifold well above the Fermi level. We show how this mediates spin-polarized topological surface states which form rich multivalley Fermi surfaces with complex spin textures. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals type-II superconductivity at the surface, and moreover shows no evidence for an unconventional component of its superconducting order parameter, despite the presence of topological surface states.

Topological phases of topological-insulator thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Asmar, Mahmoud M.; Sheehy, Daniel E.; Vekhter, Ilya

2018-02-01

We study the properties of a thin film of topological insulator material. We treat the coupling between helical states at opposite surfaces of the film in the properly-adapted tunneling approximation, and show that the tunneling matrix element oscillates as a function of both the film thickness and the momentum in the plane of the film for Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3 . As a result, while the magnitude of the matrix element at the center of the surface Brillouin zone gives the gap in the energy spectrum, the sign of the matrix element uniquely determines the topological properties of the film, as demonstrated by explicitly computing the pseudospin textures and the Chern number. We find a sequence of transitions between topological and nontopological phases, separated by semimetallic states, as the film thickness varies. In the topological phase, the edge states of the film always exist but only carry a spin current if the edge potentials break particle-hole symmetry. The edge states decay very slowly away from the boundary in Bi2Se3 , making Bi2Te3 , where this scale is shorter, a more promising candidate for the observation of these states. Our results hold for free-standing films as well as heterostructures with large-gap insulators.

A topological lens for a measure-preserving system

OpenAIRE

Glasner, Eli; Lemanczyk, Mariusz; Weiss, Benjamin

2009-01-01

We introduce a functor which associates to every measure preserving system (X,B,\\mu,T) a topological system (C_2(\\mu),\\tilde{T}) defined on the space of 2-fold couplings of \\mu, called the topological lens of T. We show that often the topological lens "magnifies" the basic measure dynamical properties of T in terms of the corresponding topological properties of \\tilde{T}. Some of our main results are as follows: (i) T is weakly mixing iff \\tilde{T} is topologically transitive (iff it is topol...

Longitudinal Electron Bunch Diagnostics Using Coherent Transition Radiation

CERN Document Server

Mihalcea, Daniel; Happek, Uwe; Regis-Guy Piot, Philippe

2005-01-01

The longitudinal charge distribution of electron bunches in the Fermilab A0 photo-injector was determined by using the coherent transition radiation produced by electrons passing through a thin metallic foil. The auto-correlation of the transition radiation signal was measured with a Michelson type interferometer. The response function of the interferometer was determined from measured and simulated power spectra for low electron bunch charge and maximum longitudinal compression. Kramers-Kroning technique was used to determine longitudinal charge distribution. Measurements were performed for electron bunch lengths in the range from 0.3 to 2 ps (rms).

Fidelity approach in topological superconductors with disorders

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tian, Wen-Chuan; Huang, Guang-Yao; Wang, Zhi, E-mail: physicswangzhi@gmail.com; Yao, Dao-Xin, E-mail: yaodaox@mail.sysu.edu.cn

2015-03-20

We apply the fidelity approach to study the topological superconductivity in spin–orbit coupling nanowire system. The wire is modeled as a one layer lattice chain with Zeeman energy and spin–orbit coupling, which is in proximity to a multi-layer superconductor. In particular, we study the effects of disorders and find that the fidelity susceptibility has multiple peaks. It is revealed that one peak indicates the topological quantum phase transition, while other peaks are signaling the pinning of the Majorana bound states by disorders. - Highlights: • We introduce fidelity approach to study the topological superconducting nanowire with disorders. • We study the quantum phase transition in the wire. • We investigate the disorder pinning of the Majorana bound states in the wire.

Fidelity approach in topological superconductors with disorders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian, Wen-Chuan; Huang, Guang-Yao; Wang, Zhi; Yao, Dao-Xin

2015-01-01

We apply the fidelity approach to study the topological superconductivity in spin–orbit coupling nanowire system. The wire is modeled as a one layer lattice chain with Zeeman energy and spin–orbit coupling, which is in proximity to a multi-layer superconductor. In particular, we study the effects of disorders and find that the fidelity susceptibility has multiple peaks. It is revealed that one peak indicates the topological quantum phase transition, while other peaks are signaling the pinning of the Majorana bound states by disorders. - Highlights: • We introduce fidelity approach to study the topological superconducting nanowire with disorders. • We study the quantum phase transition in the wire. • We investigate the disorder pinning of the Majorana bound states in the wire

Topological Acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhaoju; Gao, Fei; Shi, Xihang; Lin, Xiao; Gao, Zhen; Chong, Yidong; Zhang, Baile

2015-03-01

The manipulation of acoustic wave propagation in fluids has numerous applications, including some in everyday life. Acoustic technologies frequently develop in tandem with optics, using shared concepts such as waveguiding and metamedia. It is thus noteworthy that an entirely novel class of electromagnetic waves, known as "topological edge states," has recently been demonstrated. These are inspired by the electronic edge states occurring in topological insulators, and possess a striking and technologically promising property: the ability to travel in a single direction along a surface without backscattering, regardless of the existence of defects or disorder. Here, we develop an analogous theory of topological fluid acoustics, and propose a scheme for realizing topological edge states in an acoustic structure containing circulating fluids. The phenomenon of disorder-free one-way sound propagation, which does not occur in ordinary acoustic devices, may have novel applications for acoustic isolators, modulators, and transducers.

Topological properties and correlation effects in oxide heterostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Okamoto, Satoshi

2015-03-01

Transition-metal oxides (TMOs) have long been one of the main subjects of material science because of their novel functionalities such as high-Tc superconductivity in cuprates and the colossal magnetoresistance effect in manganites. In recent years, we have seen tremendous developments in thin film growth techniques with the atomic precision, resulting in the discovery of a variety of electronic states in TMO heterostructures. These developments motivate us to explore the possibility of novel quantum states of matter such as topological insulators (TIs) in TMO heterostructures. In this talk, I will present our systematic theoretical study on unprecedented electronic states in TMO heterostructures. An extremely simple but crucial observation is that, when grown along the [111] crystallographic axis, bilayers of perovskite TMOs form buckled honeycomb lattices of transition-metal ions, similar to graphene. Thus, with the relativistic spin-orbit coupling and proper band filling, two-dimensional TI states or spin Hall insulators are anticipated. Based on tight-binding modeling and density-functional theory calculations, possible candidate materials for TIs are identified. By means of the dynamical-mean-field theory and a slave-boson mean field theory, correlation effects, characteristics of TMOs, are also examined. I will further discuss future prospects in topological phenomena in TMO heterostructures and related systems. The author thanks D. Xiao, W. Zhu, Y. Ran, R. Arita, Y. Nomura and N. Nagaosa for their fruitful discussions and collaboration. This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division.

Observation of strongly forbidden solid effect dynamic nuclear polarization transitions via electron-electron double resonance detected NMR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Albert A.; Corzilius, Björn; Haze, Olesya; Swager, Timothy M.; Griffin, Robert G., E-mail: rgg@mit.edu [Department of Chemistry and Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)

2013-12-07

We present electron paramagnetic resonance experiments for which solid effect dynamic nuclear polarization transitions were observed indirectly via polarization loss on the electron. This use of indirect observation allows characterization of the dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) process close to the electron. Frequency profiles of the electron-detected solid effect obtained using trityl radical showed intense saturation of the electron at the usual solid effect condition, which involves a single electron and nucleus. However, higher order solid effect transitions involving two, three, or four nuclei were also observed with surprising intensity, although these transitions did not lead to bulk nuclear polarization—suggesting that higher order transitions are important primarily in the transfer of polarization to nuclei nearby the electron. Similar results were obtained for the SA-BDPA radical where strong electron-nuclear couplings produced splittings in the spectrum of the indirectly observed solid effect conditions. Observation of high order solid effect transitions supports recent studies of the solid effect, and suggests that a multi-spin solid effect mechanism may play a major role in polarization transfer via DNP.

On almost-periodic points of a topological Markov chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogatyi, Semeon A; Redkozubov, Vadim V

2012-01-01

We prove that a transitive topological Markov chain has almost-periodic points of all D-periods. Moreover, every D-period is realized by continuously many distinct minimal sets. We give a simple constructive proof of the result which asserts that any transitive topological Markov chain has periodic points of almost all periods, and study the structure of the finite set of positive integers that are not periods.

Two strongly correlated electron systems: the Kondo mode in the strong coupling limit and a 2-D model of electrons close to an electronic topological transition; Deux systemes d'electrons fortement correles: le modele de reseau Kondo dans la limite du couplage fort et un modele bidimensionnel d'electrons au voisinage d'une transition topologique electronique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bouis, F

1999-10-14

Two strongly correlated electron systems are considered in this work, Kondo insulators and high Tc cuprates. Experiments and theory suggest on one hand that the Kondo screening occurs on a rather short length scale and on the other hand that the Kondo coupling is renormalized to infinity in the low energy limit. The strong coupling limit is then the logical approach although the real coupling is moderate. A systematic development is performed around this limit in the first part. The band structure of these materials is reproduced within this scheme. Magnetic fluctuations are also studied. The antiferromagnetic transition is examined in the case where fermionic excitations are shifted to high energy. In the second part, the Popov and Fedotov representation of spins is used to formulate the Kondo and the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model in terms of a non-polynomial action of boson fields. In the third part the properties of high Tc cuprates are explained by a change of topology of the Fermi surface. This phenomenon would happen near the point of optimal doping and zero temperature. It results in the appearance of a density wave phase in the under-doped regime. The possibility that this phase has a non-conventional symmetry is considered. The phase diagram that described the interaction and coexistence of density wave and superconductivity is established in the mean-field approximation. The similarities with the experimental observations are numerous in particular those concerning the pseudo-gap and the behavior of the resistivity near optimal doping. (author)

Pseudogap and Fermi-Surface Topology in the Two-Dimensional Hubbard Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Wei; Scheurer, Mathias S.; Chatterjee, Shubhayu; Sachdev, Subir; Georges, Antoine; Ferrero, Michel

2018-04-01

One of the distinctive features of hole-doped cuprate superconductors is the onset of a "pseudogap" below a temperature T* . Recent experiments suggest that there may be a connection between the existence of the pseudogap and the topology of the Fermi surface. Here, we address this issue by studying the two-dimensional Hubbard model with two distinct numerical methods. We find that the pseudogap only exists when the Fermi surface is holelike and that, for a broad range of parameters, its opening is concomitant with a Fermi-surface topology change from electronlike to holelike. We identify a common link between these observations: The polelike feature of the electronic self-energy associated with the formation of the pseudogap is found to also control the degree of particle-hole asymmetry, and hence the Fermi-surface topology transition. We interpret our results in the framework of an SU(2) gauge theory of fluctuating antiferromagnetism. We show that a mean-field treatment of this theory in a metallic state with U(1) topological order provides an explanation of this polelike feature and a good description of our numerical results. We discuss the relevance of our results to experiments on cuprates.

Peierls transition with acoustic phonons and twist deformation in carbon nanotubes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Figge, M. T.; Mostovoy, M. V.; Knöster, J.

1999-01-01

Submitted to: Phys. Rev. Lett. Abstract: We consider the Peierls instability due to the interaction of electrons with both acoustic and optical phonons. We suggest that such a transition takes place in carbon nanotubes with small radius. The topological excitations and the temperature dependence of

Electronic Transitions of Tungsten Monosulfide

Science.gov (United States)

Tsang, L. F.; Chan, Man-Chor; Zou, Wenli; Cheung, Allan S. C.

2017-06-01

Electronic transition spectrum of the tungsten monosulfide (WS) molecule in the near infrared region between 725 nm and 885 nm has been recorded using laser ablation/reaction free-jet expansion and laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy. The WS molecule was produced by reacting laser - ablated tungsten atoms with 1% CS_{2} seeded in argon. Fifteen vibrational bands with resolved rotational structure have been recorded and analyzed, which were organized into seven electronic transition systems. The ground state has been identified to be the X^{3}Σ^{-}(0^{+}) state, and the determined vibrational frequency, ΔG_{1/2} and bond length, r_{0}, are respectively 556.7 cm^{-1} and 2.0676 Å. In addition, vibrational bands belong to another transition system involving lower state with Ω = 1 component have also been analyzed. Least-squares fit of the measured line positions yielded molecular constants for the electronic states involved. The low-lying Λ-S states and Ω sub-states of WS have been calculated using state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field (SA-CASSCF) and followed by MRCISD+Q (internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction with singles and doubles plus Davidson's cluster correction). The active space consists of 10 electrons in 9 orbitals corresponding to the W 5d6s and S 3p shells. The lower molecular orbitals from W 5s5p and S 3s are inactive but are also correlated, and relativistic effective core potential (RECPs) are adopted to replace the core orbitals with 60 (W) and 10 (S) core electrons, respectively. Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is calculated via the state-interaction (SI) approach with RECP spin-orbit operators using SA-CASSCF wavefunctions, where the diagonal elements in the SOC matrix are replaced by the corresponding MRCISD+Q energies calculated above. Spectroscopic constants and potential energy curves of the ground and many low-lying Λ-S states and Ω sub-states of the WS molecule are obtained. The calculated

Topological order and thermal equilibrium in polariton condensates

Science.gov (United States)

Caputo, Davide; Ballarini, Dario; Dagvadorj, Galbadrakh; Sánchez Muñoz, Carlos; de Giorgi, Milena; Dominici, Lorenzo; West, Kenneth; Pfeiffer, Loren N.; Gigli, Giuseppe; Laussy, Fabrice P.; Szymańska, Marzena H.; Sanvitto, Daniele

2018-02-01

The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition from a disordered to a quasi-ordered state, mediated by the proliferation of topological defects in two dimensions, governs seemingly remote physical systems ranging from liquid helium, ultracold atoms and superconducting thin films to ensembles of spins. Here we observe such a transition in a short-lived gas of exciton-polaritons, bosonic light-matter particles in semiconductor microcavities. The observed quasi-ordered phase, characteristic for an equilibrium two-dimensional bosonic gas, with a decay of coherence in both spatial and temporal domains with the same algebraic exponent, is reproduced with numerical solutions of stochastic dynamics, proving that the mechanism of pairing of the topological defects (vortices) is responsible for the transition to the algebraic order. This is made possible thanks to long polariton lifetimes in high-quality samples and in a reservoir-free region. Our results show that the joint measurement of coherence both in space and time is required to characterize driven-dissipative phase transitions and enable the investigation of topological ordering in open systems.

Topological order and thermal equilibrium in polariton condensates.

Science.gov (United States)

Caputo, Davide; Ballarini, Dario; Dagvadorj, Galbadrakh; Sánchez Muñoz, Carlos; De Giorgi, Milena; Dominici, Lorenzo; West, Kenneth; Pfeiffer, Loren N; Gigli, Giuseppe; Laussy, Fabrice P; Szymańska, Marzena H; Sanvitto, Daniele

2018-02-01

The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition from a disordered to a quasi-ordered state, mediated by the proliferation of topological defects in two dimensions, governs seemingly remote physical systems ranging from liquid helium, ultracold atoms and superconducting thin films to ensembles of spins. Here we observe such a transition in a short-lived gas of exciton-polaritons, bosonic light-matter particles in semiconductor microcavities. The observed quasi-ordered phase, characteristic for an equilibrium two-dimensional bosonic gas, with a decay of coherence in both spatial and temporal domains with the same algebraic exponent, is reproduced with numerical solutions of stochastic dynamics, proving that the mechanism of pairing of the topological defects (vortices) is responsible for the transition to the algebraic order. This is made possible thanks to long polariton lifetimes in high-quality samples and in a reservoir-free region. Our results show that the joint measurement of coherence both in space and time is required to characterize driven-dissipative phase transitions and enable the investigation of topological ordering in open systems.

Topological Coherent Modes in Trapped Bose Gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yukalov, V.I.; Marzlin, K.-P.; Yukalova, E.P.; Bagnato, V.S.

2005-01-01

The report reviews the problem of topological coherent modes, which are nonlinear collective states of Bose-condensed atoms. Such modes can be generated by means of alternating external fields, whose frequencies are in resonance with the transition frequencies between the related modes. The Bose gas with generated topological coherent modes is a collective nonlinear analog of a resonant atom. Such systems exhibit a variety of nontrivial effects, e.g. interference fringes, interference current, mode locking, dynamic transitions, critical phenomena, chaotic motion, harmonic generation, parametric conversion, atomic squeezing, and entanglement production

Electronic transitions and intermolecular forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hemert, M.C. van.

1981-01-01

This thesis describes two different subjects - electronic transitions and intermolecular forces - that are related mainly by the following observation: The wavenumber at which an electronic transition in an atom or molecule occurs, depends on the environment of that atom or molecule. This implies, for instance, that when a molecule becomes solvated its absorption spectrum may be shifted either to the blue or to the red side of the original gasphase spectrum. In part I attention is paid to the experimental aspects of VUV spectroscopy, both in the gasphase and in the condensed phase. In part II a series of papers are presented, dealing with the calculation of intermolecular forces (and some related topics) both for the ground state and for the excited state interactions, using different non-empirical methods. The calculations provide, among other results, a semiquantitative interpretation of the spectral blue shifts encountered in our experiments. (Auth.)

Multiple topological phase transitions in a gyromagnetic photonic crystal

KAUST Repository

Chen, Zeguo

2017-04-19

We present the design of a tunable two-dimensional photonic crystal that exhibits multiple topological phases, including a conventional insulator phase, a quantum spin Hall phase, and a quantum anomalous Hall phase under different combinations of geometric parameters and external magnetic fields. Our photonic crystal enables a platform to study the topology evolution attributed to the interplay between crystalline symmetry and time-reversal symmetry. A four-band tight-binding model unambiguously reveals that the topological property is associated with the pseudospin orientations and that it is characterized by the spin Chern number. The emerging quantum anomalous Hall phase features a single helical edge state that is locked by a specific pseudospin. Simulation results demonstrate that the propagation of such a single helical edge state is robust against magnetic impurities. Potential applications, such as spin splitters, are described.

Machine learning topological states

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Dong-Ling; Li, Xiaopeng; Das Sarma, S.

2017-11-01

Artificial neural networks and machine learning have now reached a new era after several decades of improvement where applications are to explode in many fields of science, industry, and technology. Here, we use artificial neural networks to study an intriguing phenomenon in quantum physics—the topological phases of matter. We find that certain topological states, either symmetry-protected or with intrinsic topological order, can be represented with classical artificial neural networks. This is demonstrated by using three concrete spin systems, the one-dimensional (1D) symmetry-protected topological cluster state and the 2D and 3D toric code states with intrinsic topological orders. For all three cases, we show rigorously that the topological ground states can be represented by short-range neural networks in an exact and efficient fashion—the required number of hidden neurons is as small as the number of physical spins and the number of parameters scales only linearly with the system size. For the 2D toric-code model, we find that the proposed short-range neural networks can describe the excited states with Abelian anyons and their nontrivial mutual statistics as well. In addition, by using reinforcement learning we show that neural networks are capable of finding the topological ground states of nonintegrable Hamiltonians with strong interactions and studying their topological phase transitions. Our results demonstrate explicitly the exceptional power of neural networks in describing topological quantum states, and at the same time provide valuable guidance to machine learning of topological phases in generic lattice models.

The Simplest Quantum Model Supporting the Kibble-Zurek Mechanism of Topological Defect Production: Landau-Zener Transitions from a New Perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Damski, Bogdan

2005-01-01

It can be shown that the dynamics of the Landau-Zener model can be accurately described in terms of the Kibble-Zurek theory of the topological defect production in nonequilibrium phase transitions. The simplest quantum model exhibiting the Kibble-Zurek mechanism is presented. A new intuitive description of Landau-Zener dynamics is found

An extended topological Yang-Mills theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deguchi, Shinichi

1992-01-01

Introducing infinite number of fields, we construct an extended version of the topological Yang-Mills theory. The properties of the extended topological Yang-Mills theory (ETYMT) are discussed from standpoint of the covariant canonical quantization. It is shown that the ETYMT becomes a cohomological topological field theory or a theory equivalent to a quantum Yang-Mills theory with anti-self-dual constraint according to subsidiary conditions imposed on state-vector space. On the basis of the ETYMT, we may understand a transition from an unbroken phase to a physical phase (broken phase). (author)

Topological Superconductivity on the Surface of Fe-Based Superconductors.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Gang; Lian, Biao; Tang, Peizhe; Qi, Xiao-Liang; Zhang, Shou-Cheng

2016-07-22

As one of the simplest systems for realizing Majorana fermions, the topological superconductor plays an important role in both condensed matter physics and quantum computations. Based on ab initio calculations and the analysis of an effective 8-band model with superconducting pairing, we demonstrate that the three-dimensional extended s-wave Fe-based superconductors such as Fe_{1+y}Se_{0.5}Te_{0.5} have a metallic topologically nontrivial band structure, and exhibit a normal-topological-normal superconductivity phase transition on the (001) surface by tuning the bulk carrier doping level. In the topological superconductivity (TSC) phase, a Majorana zero mode is trapped at the end of a magnetic vortex line. We further show that the surface TSC phase only exists up to a certain bulk pairing gap, and there is a normal-topological phase transition driven by the temperature, which has not been discussed before. These results pave an effective way to realize the TSC and Majorana fermions in a large class of superconductors.

Finite Topological Spaces as a Pedagogical Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Helmstutler, Randall D.; Higginbottom, Ryan S.

2012-01-01

We propose the use of finite topological spaces as examples in a point-set topology class especially suited to help students transition into abstract mathematics. We describe how carefully chosen examples involving finite spaces may be used to reinforce concepts, highlight pathologies, and develop students' non-Euclidean intuition. We end with a…

Topological Phase Transition in Layered GaS and GaSe

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Zhiyong; Cheng, Yingchun; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo

2012-01-01

By fully relativistic first principles calculations, we predict that appropriate strain engineering of layered GaX (X=S, Se) leads to a new class of three-dimensional topological insulators with an excitation gap of up to 135 meV. Our results provide a new perspective on the formation of three-dimensional topological insulators. Band inversion can be induced by strain only, without considering any spin-orbit coupling. The latter, however, is indispensable for the formation of local band gaps at the crossing points of the inverted bands. Our study indicates that three-dimensional topological insulators can also be realized in materials which comprise light elements only.

Topological Phase Transition in Layered GaS and GaSe

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Zhiyong

2012-06-29

By fully relativistic first principles calculations, we predict that appropriate strain engineering of layered GaX (X=S, Se) leads to a new class of three-dimensional topological insulators with an excitation gap of up to 135 meV. Our results provide a new perspective on the formation of three-dimensional topological insulators. Band inversion can be induced by strain only, without considering any spin-orbit coupling. The latter, however, is indispensable for the formation of local band gaps at the crossing points of the inverted bands. Our study indicates that three-dimensional topological insulators can also be realized in materials which comprise light elements only.

Transiting topological sectors with the overlap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Creutz, Michael

2003-01-01

The overlap operator provides an elegant definition for the winding number of lattice gauge field configurations. Only for a set of configurations of measure zero is this procedure undefined. Without restrictions on the lattice fields, however, the space of gauge fields is simply connected. I present a simple low dimensional illustration of how the eigenvalues of a truncated overlap operator flow as one travels between different topological sectors

Topological strength of magnetic skyrmions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bazeia, D.; Ramos, J.G.G.S.; Rodrigues, E.I.B.

2017-02-01

This work deals with magnetic structures that attain integer and half-integer skyrmion numbers. We model and solve the problem analytically, and show how the solutions appear in materials that engender distinct, very specific physical properties, and use them to describe their topological features. In particular, we found a way to model skyrmion with a large transition region correlated with the presence of a two-peak skyrmion number density. Moreover, we run into the issue concerning the topological strength of a vortex-like structure and suggest an experimental realization, important to decide how to modify and measure the topological strength of the magnetic structure.

Interplay between topology and disorder in a two-dimensional semi-Dirac material

Science.gov (United States)

Sriluckshmy, P. V.; Saha, Kush; Moessner, Roderich

2018-01-01

We investigate the role of disorder in a two-dimensional semi-Dirac material characterized by a linear dispersion in one direction and a parabolic dispersion in the orthogonal direction. Using the self-consistent Born approximation, we show that disorder can drive a topological Lifshitz transition from an insulator to a semimetal, as it generates a momentum-independent off-diagonal contribution to the self-energy. Breaking time-reversal symmetry enriches the topological phase diagram with three distinct regimes—single-node trivial, two-node trivial, and two-node Chern. We find that disorder can drive topological transitions from both the single- and two-node trivial to the two-node Chern regime. We further analyze these transitions in an appropriate tight-binding Hamiltonian of an anisotropic hexagonal lattice by calculating the real-space Chern number. Additionally, we compute the disorder-averaged entanglement entropy which signals both the topological Lifshitz and Chern transition as a function of the anisotropy of the hexagonal lattice. Finally, we discuss experimental aspects of our results.

Understanding electron magnetic circular dichroism in a transition potential approach

Science.gov (United States)

Barthel, J.; Mayer, J.; Rusz, J.; Ho, P.-L.; Zhong, X. Y.; Lentzen, M.; Dunin-Borkowski, R. E.; Urban, K. W.; Brown, H. G.; Findlay, S. D.; Allen, L. J.

2018-04-01

This paper introduces an approach based on transition potentials for inelastic scattering to understand the underlying physics of electron magnetic circular dichroism (EMCD). The transition potentials are sufficiently localized to permit atomic-scale EMCD. Two-beam and three-beam systematic row cases are discussed in detail in terms of transition potentials for conventional transmission electron microscopy, and the basic symmetries which arise in the three-beam case are confirmed experimentally. Atomic-scale EMCD in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), using both a standard STEM probe and vortex beams, is discussed.

The topology of the Coulomb potential density. A comparison with the electron density, the virial energy density, and the Ehrenfest force density.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Lizé-Mari; Eaby, Alan; Dillen, Jan

2017-12-15

The topology of the Coulomb potential density has been studied within the context of the theory of Atoms in Molecules and has been compared with the topologies of the electron density, the virial energy density and the Ehrenfest force density. The Coulomb potential density is found to be mainly structurally homeomorphic with the electron density. The Coulomb potential density reproduces the non-nuclear attractor which is observed experimentally in the molecular graph of the electron density of a Mg dimer, thus, for the first time ever providing an alternative and energetic foundation for the existence of this critical point. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Topological phases in a three-dimensional topological insulator with a time-reversal invariant external field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Xiaoyong; Ren, Xiaobin; Wang, Gangzhi; Peng, Jie

2014-01-01

We investigate the impact of a time-reversal invariant external field on the topological phases of a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator. By taking the momentum k z as a parameter, we calculate the spin-Chern number analytically. It is shown that both the quantum spin Hall phase and the integer quantum Hall phase can be realized in our system. When the strength of the external field is varied, a series of topological phase transitions occurs with the closing of the energy gap or the spin-spectrum gap. In a tight-binding form, the surface modes are discussed numerically to confirm the analytically results. (paper)

Electron-vibrational transitions under molecular ions collisions with slow electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, E.A.

1993-01-01

A concept of a multichannel quantum defect is considered and basic theoretic ratios of inelastic collisional processes with the participation of molecular positive ions and slow electrons playing an important role both in atmospheric and laboratory plasma, are presented. The problem of scattering channel number limitation with the provision of S-matrix unique character is considered. Different models of electron rotation-vibrational connection under collision of two-atom molecular ions with slow electrons are analysed. Taking N 2 + as an example, a high efficiency of transitions between different electron states of a molecular ion is shown. 73 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

Low-Energy Electron-Induced Strand Breaks in Telomere-Derived DNA Sequences-Influence of DNA Sequence and Topology.

Science.gov (United States)

Rackwitz, Jenny; Bald, Ilko

2018-03-26

During cancer radiation therapy high-energy radiation is used to reduce tumour tissue. The irradiation produces a shower of secondary low-energy (DNA very efficiently by dissociative electron attachment. Recently, it was suggested that low-energy electron-induced DNA strand breaks strongly depend on the specific DNA sequence with a high sensitivity of G-rich sequences. Here, we use DNA origami platforms to expose G-rich telomere sequences to low-energy (8.8 eV) electrons to determine absolute cross sections for strand breakage and to study the influence of sequence modifications and topology of telomeric DNA on the strand breakage. We find that the telomeric DNA 5'-(TTA GGG) 2 is more sensitive to low-energy electrons than an intermixed sequence 5'-(TGT GTG A) 2 confirming the unique electronic properties resulting from G-stacking. With increasing length of the oligonucleotide (i.e., going from 5'-(GGG ATT) 2 to 5'-(GGG ATT) 4 ), both the variety of topology and the electron-induced strand break cross sections increase. Addition of K + ions decreases the strand break cross section for all sequences that are able to fold G-quadruplexes or G-intermediates, whereas the strand break cross section for the intermixed sequence remains unchanged. These results indicate that telomeric DNA is rather sensitive towards low-energy electron-induced strand breakage suggesting significant telomere shortening that can also occur during cancer radiation therapy. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

High-Harmonic Generation in Solids with and without Topological Edge States

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Dieter; Hansen, Kenneth K.

2018-04-01

High-harmonic generation in the two topological phases of a finite, one-dimensional, periodic structure is investigated using a self-consistent time-dependent density functional theory approach. For harmonic photon energies smaller than the band gap, the harmonic yield is found to differ by up to 14 orders of magnitude for the two topological phases. This giant topological effect is explained by the degree of destructive interference in the harmonic emission of all valence-band (and edge-state) electrons, which strongly depends on whether or not topological edge states are present. The combination of strong-field laser physics with topological condensed matter opens up new possibilities to electronically control strong-field-based light or particle sources or—conversely—to steer by all optical means topological electronics.

Topological Acoustic Delay Line

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiwang; Tian, Ye; Cheng, Ying; Wei, Qi; Liu, Xiaojun; Christensen, Johan

2018-03-01

Topological protected wave engineering in artificially structured media is at the frontier of ongoing metamaterials research that is inspired by quantum mechanics. Acoustic analogues of electronic topological insulators have recently led to a wealth of new opportunities in manipulating sound propagation with strikingly unconventional acoustic edge modes immune to backscattering. Earlier fabrications of topological insulators are characterized by an unreconfigurable geometry and a very narrow frequency response, which severely hinders the exploration and design of useful devices. Here we establish topologically protected sound in reconfigurable phononic crystals that can be switched on and off simply by rotating its three-legged "atoms" without altering the lattice structure. In particular, we engineer robust phase delay defects that take advantage of the ultrabroadband reflection-free sound propagation. Such topological delay lines serve as a paradigm in compact acoustic devices, interconnects, and electroacoustic integrated circuits.

Sheath structure transition controlled by secondary electron emission

Science.gov (United States)

Schweigert, I. V.; Langendorf, S. J.; Walker, M. L. R.; Keidar, M.

2015-04-01

In particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision (PIC MCC) simulations and in an experiment we study sheath formation over an emissive floating Al2O3 plate in a direct current discharge plasma at argon gas pressure 10-4 Torr. The discharge glow is maintained by the beam electrons emitted from a negatively biased hot cathode. We observe three types of sheaths near the floating emissive plate and the transition between them is driven by changing the negative bias. The Debye sheath appears at lower voltages, when secondary electron emission is negligible. With increasing applied voltage, secondary electron emission switches on and a first transition to a new sheath type, beam electron emission (BEE), takes place. For the first time we find this specific regime of sheath operation near the floating emissive surface. In this regime, the potential drop over the plate sheath is about four times larger than the temperature of plasma electrons. The virtual cathode appears near the emissive plate and its modification helps to maintain the BEE regime within some voltage range. Further increase of the applied voltage U initiates the second smooth transition to the plasma electron emission sheath regime and the ratio Δφs/Te tends to unity with increasing U. The oscillatory behavior of the emissive sheath is analyzed in PIC MCC simulations. A plasmoid of slow electrons is formed near the plate and transported to the bulk plasma periodically with a frequency of about 25 kHz.

Topological insulators fundamentals and perspectives

CERN Document Server

Ortmann, Frank; Valenzuela, Sergio O

2015-01-01

There are only few discoveries and new technologies in physical sciences that have the potential to dramatically alter and revolutionize our electronic world. Topological insulators are one of them. The present book for the first time provides a full overview and in-depth knowledge about this hot topic in materials science and condensed matter physics. Techniques such as angle-resolved photoemission spectrometry (ARPES), advanced solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) or scanning-tunnel microscopy (STM) together with key principles of topological insulators such as spin-locked electronic

Instantaneous nonvertical electronic transitions with shaped femtosecond laser pulses: Is it possible?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Niels Engholm; Møller, Klaus Braagaard

2003-01-01

In molecular electronic transitions, a vertical transition can be induced by an ultrashort laser pulse. That is, a replica of the initial nuclear state-times the transition dipole moment of the electronic transition-can be created instantaneously (on the time scale of nuclear motion) in the excited...

Amorphous topological insulators constructed from random point sets

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Noah P.; Nash, Lisa M.; Hexner, Daniel; Turner, Ari M.; Irvine, William T. M.

2018-04-01

The discovery that the band structure of electronic insulators may be topologically non-trivial has revealed distinct phases of electronic matter with novel properties1,2. Recently, mechanical lattices have been found to have similarly rich structure in their phononic excitations3,4, giving rise to protected unidirectional edge modes5-7. In all of these cases, however, as well as in other topological metamaterials3,8, the underlying structure was finely tuned, be it through periodicity, quasi-periodicity or isostaticity. Here we show that amorphous Chern insulators can be readily constructed from arbitrary underlying structures, including hyperuniform, jammed, quasi-crystalline and uniformly random point sets. While our findings apply to mechanical and electronic systems alike, we focus on networks of interacting gyroscopes as a model system. Local decorations control the topology of the vibrational spectrum, endowing amorphous structures with protected edge modes—with a chirality of choice. Using a real-space generalization of the Chern number, we investigate the topology of our structures numerically, analytically and experimentally. The robustness of our approach enables the topological design and self-assembly of non-crystalline topological metamaterials on the micro and macro scale.

Exact phase boundaries and topological phase transitions of the X Y Z spin chain

Science.gov (United States)

Jafari, S. A.

2017-07-01

Within the block spin renormalization group, we give a very simple derivation of the exact phase boundaries of the X Y Z spin chain. First, we identify the Ising order along x ̂ or y ̂ as attractive renormalization group fixed points of the Kitaev chain. Then, in a global phase space composed of the anisotropy λ of the X Y interaction and the coupling Δ of the Δ σzσz interaction, we find that the above fixed points remain attractive in the two-dimesional parameter space. We therefore classify the gapped phases of the X Y Z spin chain as: (1) either attracted to the Ising limit of the Kitaev-chain, which in turn is characterized by winding number ±1 , depending on whether the Ising order parameter is along x ̂ or y ̂ directions; or (2) attracted to the charge density wave (CDW) phases of the underlying Jordan-Wigner fermions, which is characterized by zero winding number. We therefore establish that the exact phase boundaries of the X Y Z model in Baxter's solution indeed correspond to topological phase transitions. The topological nature of the phase transitions of the X Y Z model justifies why our analytical solution of the three-site problem that is at the core of the present renormalization group treatment is able to produce the exact phase boundaries of Baxter's solution. We argue that the distribution of the winding numbers between the three Ising phases is a matter of choice of the coordinate system, and therefore the CDW-Ising phase is entitled to host appropriate form of zero modes. We further observe that in the Kitaev-chain the renormalization group flow can be cast into a geometric progression of a properly identified parameter. We show that this new parameter is actually the size of the (Majorana) zero modes.

Complete theory of symmetry-based indicators of band topology.

Science.gov (United States)

Po, Hoi Chun; Vishwanath, Ashvin; Watanabe, Haruki

2017-06-30

The interplay between symmetry and topology leads to a rich variety of electronic topological phases, protecting states such as the topological insulators and Dirac semimetals. Previous results, like the Fu-Kane parity criterion for inversion-symmetric topological insulators, demonstrate that symmetry labels can sometimes unambiguously indicate underlying band topology. Here we develop a systematic approach to expose all such symmetry-based indicators of band topology in all the 230 space groups. This is achieved by first developing an efficient way to represent band structures in terms of elementary basis states, and then isolating the topological ones by removing the subset of atomic insulators, defined by the existence of localized symmetric Wannier functions. Aside from encompassing all earlier results on such indicators, including in particular the notion of filling-enforced quantum band insulators, our theory identifies symmetry settings with previously hidden forms of band topology, and can be applied to the search for topological materials.Understanding the role of topology in determining electronic structure can lead to the discovery, or appreciation, of materials with exotic properties such as protected surface states. Here, the authors present a framework for identifying topologically distinct band-structures for all 3D space groups.

A semi-Dirac point and an electromagnetic topological transition in a dielectric photonic crystal

KAUST Repository

Wu, Ying

2014-01-01

Accidental degeneracy in a photonic crystal consisting of a square array of elliptical dielectric cylinders leads to both a semi-Dirac point at the center of the Brillouin zone and an electromagnetic topological transition (ETT). A perturbation method is deduced to affirm the peculiar linear-parabolic dispersion near the semi-Dirac point. An effective medium theory is developed to explain the simultaneous semi-Dirac point and ETT and to show that the photonic crystal is either a zero-refractive-index material or an epsilon-near-zero material at the semi-Dirac point. Drastic changes in the wave manipulation properties at the semi-Dirac point, resulting from ETT, are described.©2014 Optical Society of America.

Communication: Electronic flux induced by crossing the transition state

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Dongming; Manz, Jörn; Yang, Yonggang

2018-01-01

We present a new effect of chemical reactions, e.g., isomerizations, that occurs when the reactants pass along the transition state, on the way to products. It is based on the well-known fact that at the transition state, the electronic structure of one isomer changes to the other. We discover that this switch of electronic structure causes a strong electronic flux that is well distinguishable from the usual flux of electrons that travel with the nuclei. As a simple but clear example, the effect is demonstrated here for bond length isomerization of Na2 (21Σu+), with adiabatic crossing the barrier between the inner and outer wells of the double minimum potential that support different "Rydberg" and "ionic" type electronic structures, respectively.

Dynamic surface electronic reconstruction as symmetry-protected topological orders in topological insulator Bi2Se3

Science.gov (United States)

Shu, G. J.; Liou, S. C.; Karna, S. K.; Sankar, R.; Hayashi, M.; Chou, F. C.

2018-04-01

The layered narrow-band-gap semiconductor Bi2Se3 is composed of heavy elements with strong spin-orbital coupling, which has been identified both as a good candidate for a thermoelectric material with high thermoelectric figure of merit (Z T ) and as a topological insulator of the Z2 type with a gapless surface band in a Dirac-cone shape. The existence of a conjugated π -bond system on the surface of each Bi2Se3 quintuple layer is proposed based on an extended valence bond model with valence electrons distributed in the hybridized orbitals. Supporting experimental evidence of a two-dimensional (2D) conjugated π -bond system on each quintuple layer of Bi2Se3 is provided using electron energy-loss spectroscopy and electron density mapping through inverse Fourier transform of x-ray diffraction data. Quantum chemistry calculations support the π -bond existence between partially filled 4 pz orbitals of Se via side-to-side orbital overlap positively. The conjugated π -bond system on the surface of each quintuple Bi2Se3 layer is proposed to be similar to that found in graphite (graphene) and responsible for the unique 2D conduction mechanism. The van der Waals (vdW) attractive force between quintuple layers is interpreted to be coming from the antiferroelectrically ordered effective electric dipoles, which are constructed with π -bond trimer pairs on Se layers across the vdW gap of minimized Coulomb repulsion.

Misfit Strain in Superlattices Controlling the Electron-Lattice Interaction via Micro strain in Active Layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poccia, N.; Ricci, A.; Bianconi, N.

2010-01-01

High-temperature superconductivity (HTS) emerges in quite different electronic materials: cuprates, diborides, and iron-pnictide superconductors. Looking for unity in the diversity we find in all these materials a common lattice architecture: they are practical realizations of heterostructures at atomic limit made of superlattices of metallic active layers intercalated by spacers as predicted in 1993 by one of us. The multilayer architecture is the key feature for the presence of electronic topological transitions where the Fermi surface of one of the subbands changes dimensionality. The superlattice misfit strain η between the active and spacer layers is shown to be a key variable to drive the system to the highest critical temperature Tc that occurs at a particular point of the 3D phase diagram Tc(θ, η) where d is the charge transfer or doping. The plots of Tc as a function of misfit strain at constant charge transfer in cuprates show a first-order quantum critical phase transition where an itinerant striped magnetic phase competes with superconductivity in the proximity of a structural phase transition, that is, associated with an electronic topological transition. The shape resonances in these multi gap superconductors is associated with the maximum Tc.

Cosmological phase transitions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolb, E.W.

1987-01-01

If the universe stated from conditions of high temperature and density, there should have been a series of phase transitions associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking. The cosmological phase transitions could have observable consequences in the present Universe. Some of the consequences including the formation of topological defects and cosmological inflation are reviewed here. One of the most important tools in building particle physics models is the use of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB). The proposal that there are underlying symmetries of nature that are not manifest in the vacuum is a crucial link in the unification of forces. Of particular interest for cosmology is the expectation that are the high temperatures of the big bang symmetries broken today will be restored, and that there are phase transitions to the broken state. The possibility that topological defects will be produced in the transition is the subject of this section. The possibility that the Universe will undergo inflation in a phase transition will be the subject of the next section. Before discussing the creation of topological defects in the phase transition, some general aspects of high-temperature restoration of symmetry and the development of the phase transition will be reviewed. 29 references, 1 figure, 1 table

Electronic transitions of fluorene, dibenzofuran, carbazole, and dibenzothiophene

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nguyen, Duy Duc; Trunk, John; Nakhimovsky, Lina

2010-01-01

A comparative study of the electronic transitions of fluorene and its hetero-analogues dibenzofuran, carbazole, and dibenzothiophene was performed in a wide energy range. Gas phase, crystal phase, and linear dichroism electronic transmittance spectra were measured with synchrotron radiation...

Topologically non-trivial electronic and magnetic states in doped copper Kagome lattices

Science.gov (United States)

Guterding, Daniel; Jeschke, Harald O.; Valenti, Roser

We present a theoretical investigation of doped copper kagome materials based on natural minerals Herbertsmithite [ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2] and Barlowite[Cu4(OH)6FBr]. Using ab-initio density functional theory calculations we estimate the stability of the hypothetical compounds against structural distortions and analyze their electronic and magnetic properties. We find that materials based on Herbertsmithite present an ideal playground for investigating the interplay of non-trivial band-topology and strong electronic correlation effects. In particular, we propose candidates for the Quantum Spin Hall effect at filling 4/3 and the Quantum Anomalous Hall effect at filling 2/3. For the Barlowite system we point out a route to realize a Quantum Spin Liquid. This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Grant No. SFB/TR 49 and the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY11-25915.

The effect of van der Waal's gap expansions on the surface electronic structure of layered topological insulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eremeev, S V; Vergniory, M G; Chulkov, E V; Menshchikova, T V; Shaposhnikov, A A

2012-01-01

On the basis of relativistic ab initio calculations, we show that an expansion of van der Waal's (vdW) spacings in layered topological insulators caused by intercalation of deposited atoms, leads to the simultaneous emergence of parabolic and M-shaped two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) bands as well as Rashba-splitting of the former states. The expansion of vdW spacings and the emergence of the 2DEG states localized in the (sub)surface region are also accompanied by a relocation of the topological surface state to the lower quintuple layers, that can explain the absence of inter-band scattering found experimentally. (paper)

Dual frequency parametric excitation of a nonlinear, multi degree of freedom mechanical amplifier with electronically modified topology

Science.gov (United States)

Dolev, A.; Bucher, I.

2018-04-01

Mechanical or electromechanical amplifiers can exploit the high-Q and low noise features of mechanical resonance, in particular when parametric excitation is employed. Multi-frequency parametric excitation introduces tunability and is able to project weak input signals on a selected resonance. The present paper addresses multi degree of freedom mechanical amplifiers or resonators whose analysis and features require treatment of the spatial as well as temporal behavior. In some cases, virtual electronic coupling can alter the given topology of the resonator to better amplify specific inputs. An analytical development is followed by a numerical and experimental sensitivity and performance verifications, illustrating the advantages and disadvantages of such topologies.

A discrete transition zone organizes the topological and regulatory autonomy of the adjacent tfap2c and bmp7 genes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taro Tsujimura

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the well-documented role of remote enhancers in controlling developmental gene expression, the mechanisms that allocate enhancers to genes are poorly characterized. Here, we investigate the cis-regulatory organization of the locus containing the Tfap2c and Bmp7 genes in vivo, using a series of engineered chromosomal rearrangements. While these genes lie adjacent to one another, we demonstrate that they are independently regulated by distinct sets of enhancers, which in turn define non-overlapping regulatory domains. Chromosome conformation capture experiments reveal a corresponding partition of the locus in two distinct structural entities, demarcated by a discrete transition zone. The impact of engineered chromosomal rearrangements on the topology of the locus and the resultant gene expression changes indicate that this transition zone functionally organizes the structural partition of the locus, thereby defining enhancer-target gene allocation. This partition is, however, not absolute: we show that it allows competing interactions across it that may be non-productive for the competing gene, but modulate expression of the competed one. Altogether, these data highlight the prime role of the topological organization of the genome in long-distance regulation of gene expression.

Topological Properties and the Dynamical Crossover from Mixed-Valence to Kondo-Lattice Behavior in the Golden Phase of SmS.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Chang-Jong; Choi, Hong Chul; Kim, Kyoo; Min, B I

2015-04-24

We have investigated temperature-dependent behaviors of electronic structure and resistivity in a mixed-valent golden phase of SmS, based on the dynamical mean-field-theory band-structure calculations. Upon cooling, the coherent Sm 4f bands are formed to produce the hybridization-induced pseudogap near the Fermi level, and accordingly the topology of the Fermi surface is changed to exhibit a Lifshitz-like transition. The surface states emerging in the bulk gap region are found to be not topologically protected states but just typical Rashba spin-polarized states, indicating that SmS is not a topological Kondo semimetal. From the analysis of anomalous resistivity behavior in SmS, we have identified universal energy scales, which characterize the Kondo-mixed-valent semimetallic systems.

Electronic properties and phase transitions in low-dimensional semiconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panich, A M

2008-01-01

We present the first review of the current state of the literature on electronic properties and phase transitions in TlX and TlMX 2 (M = Ga, In; X = Se, S, Te) compounds. These chalcogenides belong to a family of the low-dimensional semiconductors possessing chain or layered structure. They are of significant interest because of their highly anisotropic properties, semi- and photoconductivity, nonlinear effects in their I-V characteristics (including a region of negative differential resistance), switching and memory effects, second harmonic optical generation, relaxor behavior and potential applications for optoelectronic devices. We review the crystal structure of TlX and TlMX 2 compounds, their transport properties under ambient conditions, experimental and theoretical studies of the electronic structure, transport properties and semiconductor-metal phase transitions under high pressure, and sequences of temperature-induced structural phase transitions with intermediate incommensurate states. The electronic nature of the ferroelectric phase transitions in the above-mentioned compounds, as well as relaxor behavior, nanodomains and possible occurrence of quantum dots in doped and irradiated crystals is discussed. (topical review)

Optical transition probabilities in electron-vibration-rotation spectra of diatomic molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuznetsova, L.A.; Kuz'menko, N.E.; Kuzyakov, Yu.Ya.; Plastinin, Yu.A.

1974-01-01

The present review systematizes the data on the absolute probabilities of electron transitions in diatomic molecules, which have been published since the beginning of 1961 and up to the end of 1973, and those on the relative transition probabilities, which have been published since the beginning of 1966 till the end of 1973. The review discussed the theoretical relationships underlying the experimental techniques of determining the absolute transition probabilities. Modifications of the techniques under discussion are not specially examined; the details of interest can be found, however, in the references cited. The factual material-, such as the values of the absolute probabilities of electron transitions, the dependences of the electron transition moments on the internuclear distance and the values of the Franck-Condon factors,- is presented in tables 1, 2 and 4, respectively, embracing all the relevant works known to the present authors. Along with a complete systematization of the transition probability data, the authors have attempted a critical analysis of the available data in order to select the most reliable results. The recommended values of the squared matrix elements of the electron transition dipole moments are given in table 3. The last chaper of the work compares the results of calculations of the Franck-Condon factors obtained with the different milecular potentials [ru

Electronic and thermodynamic properties of transition metal elements and compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haeglund, J.

1993-01-01

This thesis focuses on the use of band-structure calculations for studying thermodynamic properties of solids. We discuss 3d-, 4d- and 5d-transition metal carbides and nitrides. Through a detailed comparison between theoretical and experimental results, we draw conclusions on the character of the atomic bonds in these materials. We show how electronic structure calculations can be used to give accurate predictions for bonding energies. Part of the thesis is devoted to the application of the generalized gradient approximation in electronic structure calculations on transition metals. For structures with vibrational disorder, we present a method for calculating averaged phonon frequencies without using empirical information. For magnetic excitations, we show how a combined use of theoretical results and experimental data can yield information on magnetic fluctuations at high temperatures. The main results in the thesis are: Apart for an almost constant shift, theoretically calculated bonding energies for transition metal carbides and nitrides agree with experimental data or with values from analysis of thermochemical information. The electronic spectrum of transition metal carbides and nitrides can be separated into bonding, antibonding and nonbonding electronic states. The lowest enthalpy of formation for substoichiometric vanadium carbide VC 1-X at zero temperature and pressure occurs for a structure containing vacancies (x not equal to 0). The generalized gradient approximation improves theoretical calculated cohesive energies for 3d-transition metals. Magnetic phase transitions are sensitive to the description of exchange-correlation effects in electronic structure calculations. Trends in Debye temperatures can be successfully analysed in electronic structure calculations on disordered lattices. For the elements, there is a clear dependence on the crystal structure (e.g., bcc, fcc or hcp). Chromium has fluctuating local magnetic moments at temperatures well above

Electron-topological investigation of the structure-antitumor activity relationship of thiosemicarbazone derivatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Dimoglo, A S; Chumakov, Y M; Dobrova, B N; Saracoglu, M

1997-04-01

In the frameworks of the electron-topological method (ETM) the structure-antitumor activity relationship was investigated for a series of thiosemicarbazone derivatives. The series included 70 compounds. Conformational analysis and quantum-chemical calculations were carried out for each compound. The revealed activity feature showed a satisfactory description of the class of active compounds according to two different parameters P and alpha estimating the probabilities of the feature realization in the class of active compounds (they are equal to 0.94 and 0.86, correspondingly). The results of testing demonstrated the high ability of ETM in predicting the activity investigated.

Magnetic topology and the problem of its invariant definition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hornig, G.; Schindler, K.

1996-01-01

The evolution of an ideal plasma conserves magnetic lines of force and hence magnetic topology. However, magnetic topology, i.e. the structure and linkage of magnetic flux, is a property of the magnetic field alone. Therefore, the conservation of topology can also be a property of non-ideal plasmas for which the plasma flow is not line conserving. A general definition of magnetic topology is given and it is shown that it yields a large set of non-ideal topology-conserving systems. In the application of the notion of magnetic topology to real plasmas problems arise concerning the stability of topology. Instability may inhibit one from defining the topology of a given real, i.e. not exactly prescribed, magnetic field configuration and makes it difficult to detect changes of magnetic topology, such as reconnection processes. This problem of structural instability of magnetic topology also appears in connection with changes of the frame of reference. A change of the frame of reference may lead to a transition in topology especially for topological unstable, non-ideal systems. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Phase transitions in glassy systems via convolutional neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Chao

Machine learning is a powerful approach commonplace in industry to tackle large data sets. Most recently, it has found its way into condensed matter physics, allowing for the first time the study of, e.g., topological phase transitions and strongly-correlated electron systems. The study of spin glasses is plagued by finite-size effects due to the long thermalization times needed. Here we use convolutional neural networks in an attempt to detect a phase transition in three-dimensional Ising spin glasses. Our results are compared to traditional approaches.

Emergent Gauge Fields and Their Nonperturbative Effects in Correlated Electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ki-Seok; Tanaka, Akihiro

The history of modern condensed matter physics may be regarded as the competition and reconciliation between Stoner's and Anderson's physical pictures, where the former is based on momentum-space descriptions focusing on long wave-length fluctuations while the latter is based on real-space physics emphasizing emergent localized excitations. In particular, these two view points compete with each other in various nonperturbative phenomena, which range from the problem of high Tc superconductivity, quantum spin liquids in organic materials and frustrated spin systems, heavy-fermion quantum criticality, metal-insulator transitions in correlated electron systems such as doped silicons and two-dimensional electron systems, the fractional quantum Hall effect, to the recently discussed Fe-based superconductors. An approach to reconcile these competing frameworks is to introduce topologically nontrivial excitations into the Stoner's description, which appear to be localized in either space or time and sometimes both, where scattering between itinerant electrons and topological excitations such as skyrmions, vortices, various forms of instantons, emergent magnetic monopoles, and etc. may catch nonperturbative local physics beyond the Stoner's paradigm. In this review article we discuss nonperturbative effects of topological excitations on dynamics of correlated electrons. First, we focus on the problem of scattering between itinerant fermions and topological excitations in antiferromagnetic doped Mott insulators, expected to be relevant for the pseudogap phase of high Tc cuprates. We propose that nonperturbative effects of topological excitations can be incorporated within the perturbative framework, where an enhanced global symmetry with a topological term plays an essential role. In the second part, we go on to discuss the subject of symmetry protected topological states in a largely similar light. While we do not introduce itinerant fermions here, the nonperturbative

Electron scattering by nuclei and transition charge densities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gul'karov, I.S.

1988-01-01

Transition charge densities for states of electric type, for nuclei with A≤40--50 as obtained from data on inelastic electron scattering, are studied. The formalism of electroexcitation of nuclei is considered, together with various models (macroscopic and microscopic) used to calculate form factors, transition charge densities, and the moments of these densities: B(Eλ) and R/sub λ/ . The macroscopic models are derived microscopically, and it is shown that the model-independent sum rules lead to the same transition densities as calculations based on various hydrodynamic models. The sum rules with and without allowance for the Skyrme exchange interaction are discussed. The results of the calculations are compared with the experimental form factors of electron scattering by nuclei from 12 C to 48 Ca with excitation in them of normal-parity states with I/sup π/ = 0 + , 1 - , 2 + , 3 - , 4 + , 5 - and T = 0. The model-independent transition charge densities for the weakly collectivized excitations differ strongly from the model-dependent densities. The influence of neutrons on the transition charge densities of the nuclear isotopes 16 /sup ,/ 18 O, 32 /sup ,/ 34 S, and 40 /sup ,/ 48 Ca is considered

Transitions to improved core electron heat confinement in JT-II plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Estrada, T.; Medina, F.; Ascasibar, E.; Balbin, R.; Castejon, F.; Hidalgo, C.; Lopez-Bruna, D.; Petrov, S.

2008-01-01

Transitions to improved core electron heat confinement are triggered by low order rational magnetic surfaces in TJ-II ECH plasmas. Transitions triggered by the rational surface n=4/m=2 show an increase in the ion temperature synchronized with the increase in the electron temperature. SXR measurements demonstrate that, under certain circumstances, the rational surface positioned inside the plasma core region precedes and provides a trigger for the transition. (author)

Electronic structure of transition metal dichalcogenides PdTe2 and Cu0.05PdTe2 superconductors obtained by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yan; Zhao Jian-Zhou; Yu Li; Hu Cheng; Liu De-Fa; Peng Ying-Ying; Xie Zhuo-Jin; He Jun-Feng; Chen Chao-Yu; Feng Ya; Yi He-Mian; Liu Xu; Zhao Lin; He Shao-Long; Liu Guo-Dong; Dong Xiao-Li; Zhang Jun; Lin Cheng-Tian; Chen Chuang-Tian; Xu Zu-Yan

2015-01-01

The layered transition metal chalcogenides have been a fertile land in solid state physics for many decades. Various MX 2 -type transition metal dichalcogenides, such as WTe 2 , IrTe 2 , and MoS 2 , have triggered great attention recently, either for the discovery of novel phenomena or some extreme or exotic physical properties, or for their potential applications. PdTe 2 is a superconductor in the class of transition metal dichalcogenides, and superconductivity is enhanced in its Cu-intercalated form, Cu 0.05 PdTe 2 . It is important to study the electronic structures of PdTe 2 and its intercalated form in order to explore for new phenomena and physical properties and understand the related superconductivity enhancement mechanism. Here we report systematic high resolution angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) studies on PdTe 2 and Cu 0.05 PdTe 2 single crystals, combined with the band structure calculations. We present in detail for the first time the complex multi-band Fermi surface topology and densely-arranged band structure of these compounds. By carefully examining the electronic structures of the two systems, we find that Cu-intercalation in PdTe 2 results in electron-doping, which causes the band structure to shift downwards by nearly 16 meV in Cu 0.05 PdTe 2 . Our results lay a foundation for further exploration and investigation on PdTe 2 and related superconductors. (rapid communication)

Entropic stabilisation of topologically close-packed phases in binary transition-metal alloys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hammerschmidt, Thomas; Fries, Suzana G.; Steinbach, Ingo; Drautz, Ralf [ICAMS, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Bochum (Germany); Seiser, Bernhard; Pettifor, David G. [Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom)

2010-07-01

The formation of topologically close-packed (tcp) phases in Ni-based superalloys leads to the degradation of the mechanical properties of the alloys. The precipitation of the tcp phases is attributed to refractory elements that are added in low concentration to improve creep resistance. It is well known that the structural stability of the tcp phases A15, {sigma} and {chi} is driven by the average d-band filling. For a direct comparison to experimental phase diagrams, we carried out extensive density-functional theory (DFT) calculations of the tcp phases A15, C14, C15, C36, {mu}, {sigma}, and {chi} in tcp-forming binary transition-metal (TM) systems. We observe several systems such as W-Re with positive values of the heat of formation for all tcp phases although some of the phases are observed experimentally. By combining our DFT total energies with the CALPHAD methodology, we can demonstrate that configurational entropy can stabilise the tcp phases in these systems.

Geometric Transitions, Topological Strings, and Generalized Complex Geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chuang, Wu-yen

2007-01-01

Mirror symmetry is one of the most beautiful symmetries in string theory. It helps us very effectively gain insights into non-perturbative worldsheet instanton effects. It was also shown that the study of mirror symmetry for Calabi-Yau flux compactification leads us to the territory of ''Non-Kaehlerity''. In this thesis we demonstrate how to construct a new class of symplectic non-Kaehler and complex non-Kaehler string theory vacua via generalized geometric transitions. The class admits a mirror pairing by construction. From a variety of sources, including super-gravity analysis and KK reduction on SU(3) structure manifolds, we conclude that string theory connects Calabi-Yau spaces to both complex non-Kaehler and symplectic non-Kaehler manifolds and the resulting manifolds lie in generalized complex geometry. We go on to study the topological twisted models on a class of generalized complex geometry, bi-Hermitian geometry, which is the most general target space for (2, 2) world-sheet theory with non-trivial H flux turned on. We show that the usual Kaehler A and B models are generalized in a natural way. Since the gauged supergravity is the low energy effective theory for the compactifications on generalized geometries, we study the fate of flux-induced isometry gauging in N = 2 IIA and heterotic strings under non-perturbative instanton effects. Interestingly, we find we have protection mechanisms preventing the corrections to the hyper moduli spaces. Besides generalized geometries, we also discuss the possibility of new NS-NS fluxes in a new doubled formalism

Geometric Transitions, Topological Strings, and Generalized Complex Geometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chuang, Wu-yen; /SLAC /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.

2007-06-29

Mirror symmetry is one of the most beautiful symmetries in string theory. It helps us very effectively gain insights into non-perturbative worldsheet instanton effects. It was also shown that the study of mirror symmetry for Calabi-Yau flux compactification leads us to the territory of ''Non-Kaehlerity''. In this thesis we demonstrate how to construct a new class of symplectic non-Kaehler and complex non-Kaehler string theory vacua via generalized geometric transitions. The class admits a mirror pairing by construction. From a variety of sources, including super-gravity analysis and KK reduction on SU(3) structure manifolds, we conclude that string theory connects Calabi-Yau spaces to both complex non-Kaehler and symplectic non-Kaehler manifolds and the resulting manifolds lie in generalized complex geometry. We go on to study the topological twisted models on a class of generalized complex geometry, bi-Hermitian geometry, which is the most general target space for (2, 2) world-sheet theory with non-trivial H flux turned on. We show that the usual Kaehler A and B models are generalized in a natural way. Since the gauged supergravity is the low energy effective theory for the compactifications on generalized geometries, we study the fate of flux-induced isometry gauging in N = 2 IIA and heterotic strings under non-perturbative instanton effects. Interestingly, we find we have protection mechanisms preventing the corrections to the hyper moduli spaces. Besides generalized geometries, we also discuss the possibility of new NS-NS fluxes in a new doubled formalism.

Topology without cooling: instantons and monopoles near to deconfinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feurstein, M.; Markum, H.; Thurner, S.

1998-01-01

In an attempt to describe the change of topological structure of pure SU(2) gauge theory near deconfinement a renormalization group inspired method is tested. Instead of cooling, blocking and subsequent inverse blocking is applied to Monte Carlo configurations to capture topological features at a well-defined scale. We check that this procedure largely conserves long range physics like string tension. UV fluctuations and lattice artefacts are removed which otherwise spoil topological charge density and Abelian monopole currents. We report the behaviour of topological susceptibility and monopole current densities across the deconfinement transition and relate the two faces of topology to each other. First results of a cluster analysis are described. (orig.)

Signature of Topological Phases in Zitterbewegung

KAUST Repository

Ghosh, Sumit

2016-09-02

We have studied the Zitterbewegung effect on an infinite two-dimensional sheet with honeycomb lattice. By tuning the perpendicular electric field and the magnetization of the sheet, it can enter different topological phases. We have shown that the phase and magnitude of Zitterbewegung effect, i.e., the jittering motion of electron wavepackets, correlates with the various topological phases. The topological phase diagram can be reconstructed by analyzing these features. Our findings are applicable to materials like silicene, germanene, stanene, etc.

Signature of Topological Phases in Zitterbewegung

KAUST Repository

Ghosh, Sumit; Manchon, Aurelien

2016-01-01

We have studied the Zitterbewegung effect on an infinite two-dimensional sheet with honeycomb lattice. By tuning the perpendicular electric field and the magnetization of the sheet, it can enter different topological phases. We have shown that the phase and magnitude of Zitterbewegung effect, i.e., the jittering motion of electron wavepackets, correlates with the various topological phases. The topological phase diagram can be reconstructed by analyzing these features. Our findings are applicable to materials like silicene, germanene, stanene, etc.

Absence of lattice strain anomalies at the electronic topological transition in zinc at high pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steinle-Neumann, Gerd; Stixrude, Lars; Cohen, Ronald E.

2001-01-01

High-pressure structural distortions of the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) element zinc have been a subject of controversy. Earlier experimental results and theory showed a large anomaly in lattice strain with compression in zinc at about 10 GPa which was explained theoretically by a change in Fermi surface topology. Later hydrostatic experiments showed no such anomaly, resulting in a discrepancy between theory and experiment. We have computed the compression and lattice strain of hcp zinc over a wide range of compressions using the linearized augmented plane-wave method paying special attention to k-point convergence. We find that the behavior of the lattice strain is strongly dependent on k-point sampling, and with large k-point sets the previously computed anomaly in lattice parameters under compression disappears, in agreement with recent experiments

Superconducting Coset Topological Fluids in Josephson Junction Arrays

CERN Document Server

Diamantini, M C; Trugenberger, C A; Sodano, Pasquale; Trugenberger, Carlo A.

2006-01-01

We show that the superconducting ground state of planar Josephson junction arrays is a P- and T-invariant coset topological quantum fluid whose topological order is characterized by the degeneracy 2 on the torus. This new mechanism for planar superconductivity is the P- and T-invariant analogue of Laughlin's quantum Hall fluids. The T=0 insulator-superconductor quantum transition is a quantum critical point characterized by gauge fields and deconfined degrees of freedom. Experiments on toroidal Josephson junction arrays could provide the first direct evidence for topological order and superconducting quantum fluids.

Transition matrices and orbitals from reduced density matrix theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Etienne, Thibaud [Université de Lorraine – Nancy, Théorie-Modélisation-Simulation, SRSMC, Boulevard des Aiguillettes 54506, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France); CNRS, Théorie-Modélisation-Simulation, SRSMC, Boulevard des Aiguillettes 54506, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France); Unité de Chimie Physique Théorique et Structurale, Université de Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur (Belgium)

2015-06-28

In this contribution, we report two different methodologies for characterizing the electronic structure reorganization occurring when a chromophore undergoes an electronic transition. For the first method, we start by setting the theoretical background necessary to the reinterpretation through simple tensor analysis of (i) the transition density matrix and (ii) the natural transition orbitals in the scope of reduced density matrix theory. This novel interpretation is made more clear thanks to a short compendium of the one-particle reduced density matrix theory in a Fock space. The formalism is further applied to two different classes of excited states calculation methods, both requiring a single-determinant reference, that express an excited state as a hole-particle mono-excited configurations expansion, to which particle-hole correlation is coupled (time-dependent Hartree-Fock/time-dependent density functional theory) or not (configuration interaction single/Tamm-Dancoff approximation). For the second methodology presented in this paper, we introduce a novel and complementary concept related to electronic transitions with the canonical transition density matrix and the canonical transition orbitals. Their expression actually reflects the electronic cloud polarisation in the orbital space with a decomposition based on the actual contribution of one-particle excitations from occupied canonical orbitals to virtual ones. This approach validates our novel interpretation of the transition density matrix elements in terms of the Euclidean norm of elementary transition vectors in a linear tensor space. A proper use of these new concepts leads to the conclusion that despite the different principles underlying their construction, they provide two equivalent excited states topological analyses. This connexion is evidenced through simple illustrations of (in)organic dyes electronic transitions analysis.

Experimental demonstration of anomalous Floquet topological insulator for sound

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Yu-Gui; Qin, Cheng-Zhi; Zhao, De-Gang; Shen, Ya-Xi; Xu, Xiang-Yuan; Bao, Ming; Jia, Han; Zhu, Xue-Feng

2016-11-01

Time-reversal invariant topological insulator is widely recognized as one of the fundamental discoveries in condensed matter physics, for which the most fascinating hallmark is perhaps a spin-based topological protection, the absence of scattering of conduction electrons with certain spins on matter surface. Recently, it has created a paradigm shift for topological insulators, from electronics to photonics, phononics and mechanics as well, bringing about not only involved new physics but also potential applications in robust wave transport. Despite the growing interests in topologically protected acoustic wave transport, T-invariant acoustic topological insulator has not yet been achieved. Here we report experimental demonstration of anomalous Floquet topological insulator for sound: a strongly coupled metamaterial ring lattice that supports one-way propagation of pseudo-spin-dependent edge states under T-symmetry. We also demonstrate the formation of pseudo-spin-dependent interface states due to lattice dislocations and investigate the properties of pass band and band gap states.

Aharonov–Bohm interference in topological insulator nanoribbons

KAUST Repository

Peng, Hailin

2009-12-13

Topological insulators represent unusual phases of quantum matter with an insulating bulk gap and gapless edges or surface states. The two-dimensional topological insulator phase was predicted in HgTe quantum wells and confirmed by transport measurements. Recently, Bi2 Se3 and related materials have been proposed as three-dimensional topological insulators with a single Dirac cone on the surface, protected by time-reversal symmetry. The topological surface states have been observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments. However, few transport measurements in this context have been reported, presumably owing to the predominance of bulk carriers from crystal defects or thermal excitations. Here we show unambiguous transport evidence of topological surface states through periodic quantum interference effects in layered single-crystalline Bi2 Se3 nanoribbons, which have larger surface-to-volume ratios than bulk materials and can therefore manifest surface effects. Pronounced Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the magnetoresistance clearly demonstrate the coherent propagation of two-dimensional electrons around the perimeter of the nanoribbon surface, as expected from the topological nature of the surface states. The dominance of the primary h/e oscillation, where h is Plancks constant and e is the electron charge, and its temperature dependence demonstrate the robustness of these states. Our results suggest that topological insulator nanoribbons afford promising materials for future spintronic devices at room temperature.

Strongly Coupled Magnetic and Electronic Transitions in Multivalent Strontium Cobaltites.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, J H; Choi, Woo Seok; Jeen, H; Lee, H-J; Seo, J H; Nam, J; Yeom, M S; Lee, H N

2017-11-22

The topotactic phase transition in SrCoO x (x = 2.5-3.0) makes it possible to reversibly transit between the two distinct phases, i.e. the brownmillerite SrCoO 2.5 that is a room-temperature antiferromagnetic insulator (AFM-I) and the perovskite SrCoO 3 that is a ferromagnetic metal (FM-M), owing to their multiple valence states. For the intermediate x values, the two distinct phases are expected to strongly compete with each other. With oxidation of SrCoO 2.5 , however, it has been conjectured that the magnetic transition is decoupled to the electronic phase transition, i.e., the AFM-to-FM transition occurs before the insulator-to-metal transition (IMT), which is still controversial. Here, we bridge the gap between the two-phase transitions by density-functional theory calculations combined with optical spectroscopy. We confirm that the IMT actually occurs concomitantly with the FM transition near the oxygen content x = 2.75. Strong charge-spin coupling drives the concurrent IMT and AFM-to-FM transition, which fosters the near room-T magnetic transition characteristic. Ultimately, our study demonstrates that SrCoO x is an intriguingly rare candidate for inducing coupled magnetic and electronic transition via fast and reversible redox reactions.

When quantum optics meets topology

Science.gov (United States)

Amo, Alberto

2018-02-01

Routing photons at the micrometer scale remains one of the greatest challenges of integrated quantum optics. The main difficulty is the scattering losses at bends and splitters in the photonic circuit. Current approaches imply elaborate designs, quite sensitive to fabrication details (1). Inspired by the physics underlying the one-way transport of electrons in topological insulators, on page 666 of this issue, Barik et al. (2) report a topological photonic crystal in which single photons are emitted and routed through bends with negligible loss. The marriage between quantum optics and topology promises new opportunities for compact quantum optics gating and manipulation.

Electrically controlled crossing of energy levels in quantum dots in two-dimensional topological insulators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sukhanov, Aleksei A.

2017-05-15

We study the energy spectra of bound states in quantum dots (QDs) formed by an electrostatic potential in two-dimensional topological insulator (TI) and their transformation with changes in QD depth and radius. It is found that, unlike a trivial insulator, the energy difference between the levels of the ground state and first excited state can decrease with decreasing the radius and increasing the depth of the QD so that these levels intersect under some critical condition. The crossing of the levels results in unusual features of optical properties caused by intraceneter electron transitions. In particular, it leads to significant changes of light absorption due to electron transitions between such levels and to the transient electroluminescence induced by electrical tuning of QD and TI parameters. In the case of magnetic TIs, the polarization direction of the absorbed or emitted circularly polarized light is changed due to the level crossing.

Electrically controlled crossing of energy levels in quantum dots in two-dimensional topological insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Sukhanov, Aleksei A.

2017-05-01

We study the energy spectra of bound states in quantum dots (QDs) formed by an electrostatic potential in two-dimensional topological insulator (TI) and their transformation with changes in QD depth and radius. It is found that, unlike a trivial insulator, the energy difference between the levels of the ground state and first excited state can decrease with decreasing the radius and increasing the depth of the QD so that these levels intersect under some critical condition. The crossing of the levels results in unusual features of optical properties caused by intraceneter electron transitions. In particular, it leads to significant changes of light absorption due to electron transitions between such levels and to the transient electroluminescence induced by electrical tuning of QD and TI parameters. In the case of magnetic TIs, the polarization direction of the absorbed or emitted circularly polarized light is changed due to the level crossing.

Topological insulators and C*-algebras: Theory and numerical practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hastings, Matthew B.; Loring, Terry A.

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → We classify topological insulators using C* algebras. → We present new K-theory invariants. → We develop efficient numerical algorithms based on this technique. → We observe unexpected quantum phase transitions using our algorithm. - Abstract: We apply ideas from C*-algebra to the study of disordered topological insulators. We extract certain almost commuting matrices from the free Fermi Hamiltonian, describing band projected coordinate matrices. By considering topological obstructions to approximating these matrices by exactly commuting matrices, we are able to compute invariants quantifying different topological phases. We generalize previous two dimensional results to higher dimensions; we give a general expression for the topological invariants for arbitrary dimension and several symmetry classes, including chiral symmetry classes, and we present a detailed K-theory treatment of this expression for time reversal invariant three dimensional systems. We can use these results to show non-existence of localized Wannier functions for these systems. We use this approach to calculate the index for time-reversal invariant systems with spin-orbit scattering in three dimensions, on sizes up to 12 3 , averaging over a large number of samples. The results show an interesting separation between the localization transition and the point at which the average index (which can be viewed as an 'order parameter' for the topological insulator) begins to fluctuate from sample to sample, implying the existence of an unsuspected quantum phase transition separating two different delocalized phases in this system. One of the particular advantages of the C*-algebraic technique that we present is that it is significantly faster in practice than other methods of computing the index, allowing the study of larger systems. In this paper, we present a detailed discussion of numerical implementation of our method.

Correction: Conceptual design of tetraazaporphyrin- and subtetraazaporphyrin-based functional nanocarbon materials: electronic structures, topologies, optical properties, and methane storage capacities.

Science.gov (United States)

Belosludov, Rodion V; Rhoda, Hannah M; Zhdanov, Ravil K; Belosludov, Vladimir R; Kawazoe, Yoshiyuki; Nemykin, Victor N

2017-08-02

Correction for 'Conceptual design of tetraazaporphyrin- and subtetraazaporphyrin-based functional nanocarbon materials: electronic structures, topologies, optical properties, and methane storage capacities' by Rodion V. Belosludov et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 13503-13518.

Electron correlation influenced magnetic phase transitions in f-electron systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frauenheim, T.; Ropke, G.

1980-01-01

The temperature-induced phase transition (on lowering the temperature) antiferromagnet-ferromagnet in the heavy rare earth and some of actinide compounds is qualitatively explained in the scope of a two-band Hubbard model and the more complex RKKY model as the result of electron correlation effects in the conduction bands. (orig.)

Kibble-Zurek Scaling and String-Net Coarsening in Topologically Ordered Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Khemani, Vedika; Chandran, Anushya; Burnell, F. J.; Sondhi, S. L.

2013-03-01

We consider the non-equilibrium dynamics of topologically ordered systems, such as spin liquids, driven across a continuous phase transition into proximate phases with no, or reduced, topological order. This dynamics exhibits scaling in the spirit of Kibble and Zurek but now without the presence of symmetry breaking and a local order parameter. The non-equilibrium dynamics near the critical point is universal in a particular scaling limit. The late stages of the process are seen to exhibit slow, quantum coarsening dynamics for the extended string-nets characterizing the topological phase, a potentially interesting signature of topological order. Certain gapped degrees of freedom that could potentially destroy coarsening are, at worst, dangerously irrelevant in the scaling limit. We also note a time dependent amplification of the energy splitting between topologically degenerate states on closed manifolds. We illustrate these phenomena in the context of particular phase transitions out of the abelian Z2 topologically ordered phase of the toric code, and the non-abelian SU(2)k ordered phases of the relevant Levin-Wen models. This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF PHY11-25915 and DMR 10-06608.

Treatment of Electronic Energy Level Transition and Ionization Following the Particle-Based Chemistry Model

Science.gov (United States)

Liechty, Derek S.; Lewis, Mark

2010-01-01

A new method of treating electronic energy level transitions as well as linking ionization to electronic energy levels is proposed following the particle-based chemistry model of Bird. Although the use of electronic energy levels and ionization reactions in DSMC are not new ideas, the current method of selecting what level to transition to, how to reproduce transition rates, and the linking of the electronic energy levels to ionization are, to the author s knowledge, novel concepts. The resulting equilibrium temperatures are shown to remain constant, and the electronic energy level distributions are shown to reproduce the Boltzmann distribution. The electronic energy level transition rates and ionization rates due to electron impacts are shown to reproduce theoretical and measured rates. The rates due to heavy particle impacts, while not as favorable as the electron impact rates, compare favorably to values from the literature. Thus, these new extensions to the particle-based chemistry model of Bird provide an accurate method for predicting electronic energy level transition and ionization rates in gases.

Fundamental Fermions (e.g. Neutrinos) as Topological Objects

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Gerald L.

1999-05-01

A new internal ``macroscopic'' description of fundamental fermions based on a matrix-generalization (F) of the scalar fermion-number f, predicts that only three families of quarks and leptons, and their associated neutrinos (ν_e, ν_μ and ν_τ), exist [1]. Moreover, this description places important phtopological constraints on neutrino mixtures [2]. With respect to F, the topology of the νe (ν_μ or ν_τ) is that of a cylinder (Möbius strip). Assuming that topology-changing neutrino-neutrino transitions are suppressed (e.g., one cannot continuously deform a donut into a sphere), while topology-maintaining transitions are relatively enhanced, one may have an explanation for short-distance observations of (nearly) maximal ν_μ-ν_τ mixing [3]. To test this idea, simple topological arguments were used to deduce a matrix describing long-distance neutrino mixtures, which is phidentical to that proposed by Georgi and Glashow on different grounds [4]. Experimental confirmation of this prediction would support the new description, which requires the νe and (ν_μ or ν_τ) to start ``life'' as topologically-distinct quantum objects.l [1] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0965569500, [2] G. L. Fitzpatrick, aps1999feb12\\underbar001 at http://publish.aps.org/eprint/, [3] hep-ex/981001, [4] hep-ph/9808293, p. 5, Eq. 20.

Disorder Effects in Charge Transport and Spin Response of Topological Insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Lukas Zhonghua

), and describe our detection of paramagnetic singularity in the magnetic susceptibility at low magnetic fields that persists up to room temperature, and which we have demonstrated to arise from the surfaces of the samples. The singularity is universal to the entire family, largely independent of the bulk carrier density, and consistent with the existence of electronic states near the spin-degenerate Dirac point of the 2D helical metal. The exceptional thermal stability of the signal points to an intrinsic surface cooling process, probably of thermoelectric organ, and establishes a sustainable platform for the singular field-tunable Dirac spin response. In Chapter 4 we describe our discovery of surface superconductivity in a hole-conducting topological insulator Sb2Te3 with transition to zero resistance induced through a minor tuning of growth chemistry that depletes bulk conduction channels. The depletion shifts Fermi energy towards the Dirac point as witnessed by over two orders of magnitude reduced bulk hole density and by the largest carrier mobility (~ 25,000 cm 2 V-1 s-1) found in any topological material. Direct evidence from transport, the unprecedentedly large diamagnetic screening, and the presence of up to ~ 25 meV gaps in differential conductance detected by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STM) reveal the superconducting condensate to emerge first in surface puddles at unexpectedly high temperature, near 50 K. Percolative Josephson paths mediated by diffusing quasiparticles establish global phase coherence around 9 K. Rich structure of this state lends itself to manipulation and tuning via growth conditions and the topological material's parameters such as Fermi velocity and mean free path. In Chapter 5 we describe a new approach we have developed to reaching stable charge neutrality in 3D topological materials. The technique uses swift (~ 2.5 MeV energy) electron beams to compensate charged bulk defects and bring the Fermi level back into the bulk gap. By

Relaxation dynamics following transition of solvated electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnett, R.B.; Landman, U.; Nitzan, A.

1989-01-01

Relaxation dynamics following an electronic transition of an excess solvated electron in clusters and in bulk water is studied using an adiabatic simulation method. In this method the solvent evolves classically and the electron is constrained to a specified state. The coupling between the solvent and the excess electron is evaluated via the quantum expectation value of the electron--water molecule interaction potential. The relaxation following excitation (or deexcitation) is characterized by two time scales: (i) a very fast (/similar to/20--30 fs) one associated with molecular rotations in the first solvation shell about the electron, and (ii) a slower stage (/similar to/200 fs), which is of the order of the longitudinal dielectric relaxation time. The fast relaxation stage exhibits an isotope effect. The spectroscopical consequences of the relaxation dynamics are discussed

Search for Majorana fermions in topological superconductors.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pan, Wei [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Shi, Xiaoyan [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hawkins, Samuel D. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Klem, John Frederick [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2014-10-01

The goal of this project is to search for Majorana fermions (a new quantum particle) in a topological superconductor (a new quantum matter achieved in a topological insulator proximitized by an s-wave superconductor). Majorana fermions (MFs) are electron-like particles that are their own anti-particles. MFs are shown to obey non-Abelian statistics and, thus, can be harnessed to make a fault-resistant topological quantum computer. With the arrival of topological insulators, novel schemes to create MFs have been proposed in hybrid systems by combining a topological insulator with a conventional superconductor. In this LDRD project, we will follow the theoretical proposals to search for MFs in one-dimensional (1D) topological superconductors. 1D topological superconductor will be created inside of a quantum point contact (with the metal pinch-off gates made of conventional s-wave superconductors such as niobium) in a two-dimensional topological insulator (such as inverted type-II InAs/GaSb heterostructure).

Spin-polarized charge transport in HgTe/CdTe quantum well topological insulator under a ferromagnetic metal strip

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zhenhua; Luo, Kun; Yu, Jiahan; Wu, Xiaobo; Lin, Liangzhong

2018-02-01

Electron tunneling through a single magnetic barrier in a HgTe topological insulator has been theoretically investigated. We find that the perpendicular magnetic field would not lead to spin-flip of the edge states due to the conservation of the angular moment. By tuning the magnetic field and the Fermi energy, the edge channels can be transited from switch-on states to switch-off states and the current from unpolarized states can be filtered to fully spin polarized states. These features offer us an efficient way to control charge/spin transport in a HgTe/CdTe quantum well, and pave a way to construct the nanoelectronic devices utilizing the topological edge states.

Topological nanophononic states by band inversion

Science.gov (United States)

Esmann, Martin; Lamberti, Fabrice Roland; Senellart, Pascale; Favero, Ivan; Krebs, Olivier; Lanco, Loïc; Gomez Carbonell, Carmen; Lemaître, Aristide; Lanzillotti-Kimura, Norberto Daniel

2018-04-01

Nanophononics is essential for the engineering of thermal transport in nanostructured electronic devices, it greatly facilitates the manipulation of mechanical resonators in the quantum regime, and it could unveil a new route in quantum communications using phonons as carriers of information. Acoustic phonons also constitute a versatile platform for the study of fundamental wave dynamics, including Bloch oscillations, Wannier-Stark ladders, and other localization phenomena. Many of the phenomena studied in nanophononics were inspired by their counterparts in optics and electronics. In these fields, the consideration of topological invariants to control wave dynamics has already had a great impact for the generation of robust confined states. Interestingly, the use of topological phases to engineer nanophononic devices remains an unexplored and promising field. Conversely, the use of acoustic phonons could constitute a rich platform to study topological states. Here, we introduce the concept of topological invariants to nanophononics and experimentally implement a nanophononic system supporting a robust topological interface state at 350 GHz. The state is constructed through band inversion, i.e., by concatenating two semiconductor superlattices with inverted spatial mode symmetries. The existence of this state is purely determined by the Zak phases of the constituent superlattices, i.e., the one-dimensional Berry phase. We experimentally evidenced the mode through Raman spectroscopy. The reported robust topological interface states could become part of nanophononic devices requiring resonant structures such as sensors or phonon lasers.

Electronic tunneling through a potential barrier on the surface of a topological insulator

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Benliang; Zhou, Benhu; Zhou, Guanghui

2016-12-01

We investigate the tunneling transport for electrons on the surface of a topological insulator (TI) through an electrostatic potential barrier. By using the Dirac equation with the continuity conditions for all segments of wave functions at the interfaces between regions inside and outside the barrier, we calculate analytically the transmission probability and conductance for the system. It is demonstrated that, the Klein paradox can also been observed in the system same as in graphene system. Interestingly, the conductance reaches the minimum value when the incident electron energy is equal to the barrier strength. Moreover, with increasing barrier width, the conductance turns up some tunneling oscillation peaks, and larger barrier strength can cause lower conductance, shorter period but larger oscillation amplitude. The oscillation amplitude decreases as the barrier width increases, which is similar as that of the system consisting of the compressive uniaxial strain applied on a TI, but somewhat different from that of graphene system where the oscillation amplitude is a constant. The findings here imply that an electrostatic barrier can greatly influence the electron tunneling transport of the system, and may provide a new way to realize directional filtering of electrons.

The numerical evaluation on non-radiative multiphonon transition rate from different electronic bases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Bangfen.

1985-10-01

A numerical calculation on the non-radiative multiphonon transition probability based on the adiabatic approximation (AA) and the static approximation (SA) has been accomplished in a model of two electronic levels coupled to one phonon mode. The numerical results indicate that the spectra based on different approximations are generally different apart from those vibrational levels which are far below the classical crossing point. For large electron-phonon coupling constant, the calculated transition rates based on AA are more reliable; on the other hand, for small transition coupling the transition rates near or beyond the cross region are quite different for two approximations. In addition to the diagonal non-adiabatic potential, the mixing and splitting of the original static potential sheets are responsible for the deviation of the transition rates based on different approximations. The relationship between the transition matrix element and the vibrational level shift, the Huang-Rhys factor, the separation of the electronic levels and the electron-phonon coupling is analysed and discussed. (author)

Emergent Momentum-Space Skyrmion Texture on the Surface of Topological Insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Mohanta, Narayan; Kampf, Arno P.; Kopp, Thilo

The quantum anomalous Hall effect has been theoretically predicted and experimentally verified in magnetic topological insulators. In addition, the surface states of these materials exhibit a hedgehog-like ``spin'' texture in momentum space. Here, we apply the previously formulated low-energy model for Bi2Se3, a parent compound for magnetic topological insulators, to a slab geometry in which an exchange field acts only within one of the surface layers. In this sample set up, the hedgehog transforms into a skyrmion texture beyond a critical exchange field. This critical field marks a transition between two topologically distinct phases. The topological phase transition takes place without energy gap closing at the Fermi level and leaves the transverse Hall conductance unchanged and quantized to e2 / 2 h . The momentum-space skyrmion texture persists in a finite field range. It may find its realization in hybrid heterostructures with an interface between a three-dimensional topological insulator and a ferromagnetic insulator. The work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through TRR 80.

Absorption of surface acoustic waves by topological insulator thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, L. L.; Xu, W.

2014-01-01

We present a theoretical study on the absorption of the surface acoustic waves (SAWs) by Dirac electrons in topological insulator (TI) thin films (TITFs). We find that due to momentum and energy conservation laws, the absorption of the SAWs in TITFs can only be achieved via intra-band electronic transitions. The strong absorption can be observed up to sub-terahertz frequencies. With increasing temperature, the absorption intensity increases significantly and the cut-off frequency is blue-shifted. More interestingly, we find that the absorption of the SAWs by the TITFs can be markedly enhanced by the tunable subgap in the Dirac energy spectrum of the TI surface states. Such a subgap is absent in conventional two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) and in the gapless Dirac 2DEG such as graphene. This study is pertinent to the exploration of the acoustic properties of TIs and to potential application of TIs as tunable SAW devices working at hypersonic frequencies

Electron-nuclear. gamma. transition spectrum of a nucleus in a multicharged atomic ion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ivanov, L N; Letokhov, V S

1987-08-01

The nuclear emission of absorption spectrum of an atom possesses a set of electron satelites which are due to an alternation of the state of the electron shell. It is shown that the mechanism of formation of the satellites might be different for neutral atoms and high-charge ions. In the first case (loose electron shell) a ''shaking'' of the shell resulting from the interaction between the nucleus and ..gamma.. quantum is predominant. In the second case (rigid electron shell) the mechanism involves a direct interaction between the ..gamma.. quantum and electrons. The second mechanism is important in the case of dipole nuclear transitions and dominates at ..gamma.. quantum energies electron transition multiplicity do not pertain to the second mechanism. Consequently, the satellite spectrum is much enriched and transitions between the fine and hyperfine structure components, transitions and transitions which do not involve a change in the electron configuration can be considered. The relative intensities of the satellites are determined by the smallest parameter ..mu../sub p//sup 2lambda/ (lambda is the nuclear transition multipole order, ..mu../sub p/ approx. 12 ..pi.. is the relative proton mass and z the core mass). In the spectrum of the plasma source the electron satellites corresponding to the ..gamma.. quantum emission and absorption lines are not overlapped by the Doppler contour of the ..gamma.. line.

Effect of electron-electron collisions on the phase transition and kinetics of nonequilibrium superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elesin, V.F.; Kashurnikov, V.A.; Kondrashov, V.E.; Shamraev, B.N.

1983-01-01

An explicit expression is obtained for the distribution function of excess quasiparticles, taking into account electron-electron collisions in nonequilibrium superconductors. It is shown that the character of the phase transition may change at a definite ratio of the electron-electron and electron-phonon interaction constants: the dependence of the order parameter on the power of the source becomes single-valued. In addition, diffusion instability and paramagnetism of the superconductors arise. The multiplication factor of the excess quasiparticles due to electron-electron collisions and to reabsorption of phonons is calculated

Electron and photon reconstruction and performance in ATLAS using a dynamical, topological cell clustering-based approach

CERN Document Server

The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The electron and photon reconstruction in ATLAS has moved towards the use of a dynamical, topo- logical cell-based approach for cluster building, owing to advancements in the calibration procedure which allow for such a method to be applied. The move to this new technique allows for improved measurements of electron and photon energies, particularly in situations where an electron radiates a bremsstrahlung photon, or a photon converts to an electron-poistron pair. This note details the changes to the ATLAS electron and photon reconstruction software, and assesses its performance under current LHC luminosity conditions using simulated data. Changes to the converted photon reconstruction are also detailed, which improve the reconstruction efficiency of double-track converted photons, as well as reducing the reconstruction of spurious one-track converted photons. The performance of the new reconstruction algorithm is also presented in a number of important topologies relevant to precision Standard Model physics,...

A class of P,T-invariant topological phases of interacting electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freedman, Michael; Nayak, Chetan; Shtengel, Kirill; Walker, Kevin; Wang Zhenghan

2004-01-01

We describe a class of parity- and time-reversal-invariant topological states of matter which can arise in correlated electron systems in 2+1-dimensions. These states are characterized by particle-like excitations exhibiting exotic braiding statistics. P and T invariance are maintained by a 'doubling' of the low-energy degrees of freedom which occurs naturally without doubling the underlying microscopic degrees of freedom. The simplest examples have been the subject of considerable interest as proposed mechanisms for high-T c superconductivity. One is the 'doubled' version of the chiral spin liquid. The chiral spin liquid gives rise to anyon superconductivity at finite doping and the corresponding field theory is U(1) Chern-Simons theory at coupling constant m=2. The 'doubled' theory is two copies of this theory, one with m=2 the other with m=-2. The second example corresponds to Z 2 gauge theory, which describes a scenario for spin-charge separation. Our main concern, with an eye towards applications to quantum computation, are richer models which support non-Abelian statistics. All of these models, richer or poorer, lie in a tightly organized discrete family indexed by the Baraha numbers, 2cos(π/(k+2)), for positive integer k. The physical inference is that a material manifesting the Z 2 gauge theory or a doubled chiral spin liquid might be easily altered to one capable of universal quantum computation. These phases of matter have a field-theoretic description in terms of gauge theories which, in their infrared limits, are topological field theories. We motivate these gauge theories using a parton model or slave-fermion construction and show how they can be solved exactly. The structure of the resulting Hilbert spaces can be understood in purely combinatorial terms. The highly constrained nature of this combinatorial construction, phrased in the language of the topology of curves on surfaces, lays the groundwork for a strategy for constructing microscopic

The role of topology in materials

CERN Document Server

Saxena, Avadh

2018-01-01

This book presents the most important advances in the class of topological materials and discusses the topological characterization, modeling and metrology of materials. Further, it addresses currently emerging characterization techniques such as optical and acoustic, vibrational spectroscopy (Brillouin, infrared, Raman), electronic, magnetic, fluorescence correlation imaging, laser lithography, small angle X-ray and neutron scattering and other techniques, including site-selective nanoprobes. The book analyzes the topological aspects to identify and quantify these effects in terms of topology metrics. The topological materials are ubiquitous and range from (i) de novo nanoscale allotropes of carbons in various forms such as nanotubes, nanorings, nanohorns, nanowalls, peapods, graphene, etc. to (ii) metallo-organic frameworks, (iii) helical gold nanotubes, (iv) Möbius conjugated polymers, (v) block co-polymers, (vi) supramolecular assemblies, to (vii) a variety of biological and soft-matter systems, e.g. foa...

Proximity effects in topological insulator heterostructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xiao-Guang; Wu Guang-Fen; Zhang Gu-Feng; Culcer Dimitrie; Zhang Zhen-Yu; Chen Hua

2013-01-01

Topological insulators (TIs) are bulk insulators that possess robust helical conducting states along their interfaces with conventional insulators. A tremendous research effort has recently been devoted to Tl-based heterostructures, in which conventional proximity effects give rise to a series of exotic physical phenomena. This paper reviews our recent studies on the potential existence of topological proximity effects at the interface between a topological insulator and a normal insulator or other topologically trivial systems. Using first-principles approaches, we have realized the tunability of the vertical location of the topological helical state via intriguing dual-proximity effects. To further elucidate the control parameters of this effect, we have used the graphene-based heterostructures as prototypical systems to reveal a more complete phase diagram. On the application side of the topological helical states, we have presented a catalysis example, where the topological helical state plays an essential role in facilitating surface reactions by serving as an effective electron bath. These discoveries lay the foundation for accurate manipulation of the real space properties of the topological helical state in TI-based heterostructures and pave the way for realization of the salient functionality of topological insulators in future device applications. (topical review - low-dimensional nanostructures and devices)

Two-dimensional topological photonic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiao-Chen; He, Cheng; Liu, Xiao-Ping; Lu, Ming-Hui; Zhu, Shi-Ning; Chen, Yan-Feng

2017-09-01

The topological phase of matter, originally proposed and first demonstrated in fermionic electronic systems, has drawn considerable research attention in the past decades due to its robust transport of edge states and its potential with respect to future quantum information, communication, and computation. Recently, searching for such a unique material phase in bosonic systems has become a hot research topic worldwide. So far, many bosonic topological models and methods for realizing them have been discovered in photonic systems, acoustic systems, mechanical systems, etc. These discoveries have certainly yielded vast opportunities in designing material phases and related properties in the topological domain. In this review, we first focus on some of the representative photonic topological models and employ the underlying Dirac model to analyze the edge states and geometric phase. On the basis of these models, three common types of two-dimensional topological photonic systems are discussed: 1) photonic quantum Hall effect with broken time-reversal symmetry; 2) photonic topological insulator and the associated pseudo-time-reversal symmetry-protected mechanism; 3) time/space periodically modulated photonic Floquet topological insulator. Finally, we provide a summary and extension of this emerging field, including a brief introduction to the Weyl point in three-dimensional systems.

Assessing topology and surface orientation of an antimicrobial peptide magainin 2 using mechanically aligned bilayers and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo, Daniel J; Sahu, Indra D; Lorigan, Gary A

2018-07-01

Aligned CW-EPR membrane protein samples provide additional topology interactions that are absent from conventional randomly dispersed samples. These samples are aptly suited to studying antimicrobial peptides because of their dynamic peripheral topology. In this study, four consecutive substitutions of the model antimicrobial peptide magainin 2 were synthesized and labeled with the rigid TOAC spin label. The results revealed the helical tilts to be 66° ± 5°, 76° ± 5°, 70° ± 5°, and 72° ± 5° for the TOAC substitutions H7, S8, A9, and K10 respectively. These results are consistent with previously published literature. Using the EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) mechanical alignment technique, these substitutions were used to critically assess the topology and surface orientation of the peptide with respect to the membrane. This methodology offers a rapid and simple approach to investigate the structural topology of antimicrobial peptides. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Topological Phases in the Real World

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Yi-Ting

The experimental discovery and subsequent theoretical understanding of the integer quantum Hall effect, the first known topological phase, has started a revolutionary breakthrough in understanding states of matter since its discovery four decades ago. Topological phases are predicted to have many generic signatures resulting from their underlying topological nature, such as quantized Hall transport, robust boundary states, and possible fractional excitations. The intriguing nature of these signatures and their potential applications in quantum computation has intensely fueled the efforts of the physics community to materialize topological phases. Among various topological phases initially predicted on theoretical grounds, chiral topological superconductors and time-reversal symmetric topological insulators (TI) in three dimension (3D) are two promising candidates for experimental realization and application. The family of materials, Bi2X3 (X = Se, Te), has been predicted and shown experimentally to be time-reversal symmetric 3D TIs through the observation of robust Dirac surface states with Rashba-type spin-winding. Due to their robust surface states with spin-windings, these 3D TIs are expected to be promising materials for producing large spin-transfer torques which are advantageous for spintronics application. As for topological superconductors, despite the exotic excitations that have been extensively proposed as qubits for topological quantum computing, materials hosting topological superconductivity are rare to date and the leading candidate in two dimensions (2D), Sr 2RuO4, has a low transition temperature (Tc ). The goal of my phd study is to push forward the current status of realization of topological phases by materializing higher Tc topological superconductors and investigating the stability of Dirac surface states in 3D TIs. In the first part of this thesis, I will discuss our double-pronged objective for topological superconductors: to propose how to

Hot Electron Photoemission from Plasmonic Nanostructures: The Role of Surface Photoemission and Transition Absorption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Babicheva, Viktoriia; Zhukovsky, Sergei; Ikhsanov, Renat Sh

2015-01-01

We study mechanisms of photoemission of hot electrons from plasmonic nanoparticles. We analyze the contribution of "transition absorption", i.e., loss of energy of electrons passing through the boundary between different materials, to the surface mechanism of photoemission. We calculate photoemis......We study mechanisms of photoemission of hot electrons from plasmonic nanoparticles. We analyze the contribution of "transition absorption", i.e., loss of energy of electrons passing through the boundary between different materials, to the surface mechanism of photoemission. We calculate...... photoemission rate and transition absorption for nanoparticles surrounded by various media with a broad range of permittivities and show that photoemission rate and transition absorption follow the same dependence on the permittivity. Thus, we conclude that transition absorption is responsible...

Les Houches lectures on matrix models and topological strings

CERN Document Server

Marino, M

2004-01-01

In these lecture notes for the Les Houches School on Applications of Random Matrices in Physics we give an introduction to the connections between matrix models and topological strings. We first review some basic results of matrix model technology and then we focus on type B topological strings. We present the main results of Dijkgraaf and Vafa describing the spacetime string dynamics on certain Calabi-Yau backgrounds in terms of matrix models, and we emphasize the connection to geometric transitions and to large N gauge/string duality. We also use matrix model technology to analyze large N Chern-Simons theory and the Gopakumar-Vafa transition.

Giant multiferroic effects in topological GeTe-Sb2Te3 superlattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tominaga, Junji; Kolobov, Alexander V; Fons, Paul J; Wang, Xiaomin; Saito, Yuta; Nakano, Takashi; Hase, Muneaki; Murakami, Shuichi; Herfort, Jens; Takagaki, Yukihiko

2015-01-01

Multiferroics, materials in which both magnetic and electric fields can induce each other, resulting in a magnetoelectric response, have been attracting increasing attention, although the induced magnetic susceptibility and dielectric constant are usually small and have typically been reported for low temperatures. The magnetoelectric response usually depends on d-electrons of transition metals. Here we report that in [(GeTe) 2 (Sb 2 Te 3 ) l ] m superlattice films (where l and m are integers) with topological phase transition, strong magnetoelectric response may be induced at temperatures above room temperature when the external fields are applied normal to the film surface. By ab initio computer simulations, it is revealed that the multiferroic properties are induced due to the breaking of spatial inversion symmetry when the p-electrons of Ge atoms change their bonding geometry from octahedral to tetrahedral. Finally, we demonstrate the existence in such structures of spin memory, which paves the way for a future hybrid device combining nonvolatile phase-change memory and magnetic spin memory. (focus issue paper)

Multiple topological phase transitions in a gyromagnetic photonic crystal

KAUST Repository

Chen, Zeguo; Mei, Jun; Sun, Xiao Cheng; Zhang, Xiujuan; Zhao, Jiajun; Wu, Ying

2017-01-01

reveals that the topological property is associated with the pseudospin orientations and that it is characterized by the spin Chern number. The emerging quantum anomalous Hall phase features a single helical edge state that is locked by a specific

Manipulating topological-insulator properties using quantum confinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotulla, M; Zülicke, U

2017-01-01

Recent discoveries have spurred the theoretical prediction and experimental realization of novel materials that have topological properties arising from band inversion. Such topological insulators are insulating in the bulk but have conductive surface or edge states. Topological materials show various unusual physical properties and are surmised to enable the creation of exotic Majorana-fermion quasiparticles. How the signatures of topological behavior evolve when the system size is reduced is interesting from both a fundamental and an application-oriented point of view, as such understanding may form the basis for tailoring systems to be in specific topological phases. This work considers the specific case of quantum-well confinement defining two-dimensional layers. Based on the effective-Hamiltonian description of bulk topological insulators, and using a harmonic-oscillator potential as an example for a softer-than-hard-wall confinement, we have studied the interplay of band inversion and size quantization. Our model system provides a useful platform for systematic study of the transition between the normal and topological phases, including the development of band inversion and the formation of massless-Dirac-fermion surface states. The effects of bare size quantization, two-dimensional-subband mixing, and electron–hole asymmetry are disentangled and their respective physical consequences elucidated. (paper)

Magnetic gating of a 2D topological insulator

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, Xiaoqian; Burton, J. D.; Tsymbal, Evgeny Y.

2016-09-01

Deterministic control of transport properties through manipulation of spin states is one of the paradigms of spintronics. Topological insulators offer a new playground for exploring interesting spin-dependent phenomena. Here, we consider a ferromagnetic ‘gate’ representing a magnetic adatom coupled to the topologically protected edge state of a two-dimensional (2D) topological insulator to modulate the electron transmission of the edge state. Due to the locked spin and wave vector of the transport electrons the transmission across the magnetic gate depends on the mutual orientation of the adatom magnetic moment and the current. If the Fermi energy matches an exchange-split bound state of the adatom, the electron transmission can be blocked due to the full back scattering of the incident wave. This antiresonance behavior is controlled by the adatom magnetic moment orientation so that the transmission of the edge state can be changed from 1 to 0. Expanding this consideration to a ferromagnetic gate representing a 1D chain of atoms shows a possibility to control the spin-dependent current of a strip of a 2D topological insulator by magnetization orientation of the ferromagnetic gate.

Correlated electron pseudopotentials for 3d-transition metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trail, J. R.; Needs, R. J.

2015-01-01

A recently published correlated electron pseudopotentials (CEPPs) method has been adapted for application to the 3d-transition metals, and to include relativistic effects. New CEPPs are reported for the atoms Sc − Fe, constructed from atomic quantum chemical calculations that include an accurate description of correlated electrons. Dissociation energies, molecular geometries, and zero-point vibrational energies of small molecules are compared with all electron results, with all quantities evaluated using coupled cluster singles doubles and triples calculations. The CEPPs give better results in the correlated-electron calculations than Hartree-Fock-based pseudopotentials available in the literature

Irrational Charge from Topological Order

Science.gov (United States)

Moessner, R.; Sondhi, S. L.

2010-10-01

Topological or deconfined phases of matter exhibit emergent gauge fields and quasiparticles that carry a corresponding gauge charge. In systems with an intrinsic conserved U(1) charge, such as all electronic systems where the Coulombic charge plays this role, these quasiparticles are also characterized by their intrinsic charge. We show that one can take advantage of the topological order fairly generally to produce periodic Hamiltonians which endow the quasiparticles with continuously variable, generically irrational, intrinsic charges. Examples include various topologically ordered lattice models, the three-dimensional resonating valence bond liquid on bipartite lattices as well as water and spin ice. By contrast, the gauge charges of the quasiparticles retain their quantized values.

High-Pressure Thermodynamic Properties of f-electron Metals, Transition Metal Oxides, and Half-Metallic Magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richard T. Scalettar; Warren E. Pickett

2005-01-01

This project involves research into the thermodynamic properties of f-electron metals, transition metal oxides, and half-metallic magnets at high pressure. These materials are ones in which the changing importance of electron-electron interactions as the distance between atoms is varied can tune the system through phase transitions from localized to delocalized electrons, from screened to unscreened magnetic moments, and from normal metal to one in which only a single spin specie can conduct. Three main thrusts are being pursued: (1) Mott transitions in transition metal oxides, (2) magnetism in half-metallic compounds, and (3) large volume-collapse transitions in f-band metals

High-Pressure Thermodynamic Properties of f-electron Metals, Transition Metal Oxides, and Half-Metallic Magnets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scalettar, Richard T.; Pickett, Warren E.

2004-07-01

This project involves research into the thermodynamic properties of f-electron metals, transition metal oxides, and half-metallic magnets at high pressure. These materials are ones in which the changing importance of electron-electron interactions as the distance between atoms is varied can tune the system through phase transitions from localized to delocalized electrons, from screened to unscreened magnetic moments, and from normal metal to one in which only a single spin specie can conduct. Three main thrusts are being pursued: (1) Mott transitions in transition metal oxides, (2) magnetism in half-metallic compounds, and (3) large volume-collapse transitions in f-band metals.

High-Pressure Thermodynamic Properties of f-electron Metals, Transition Metal Oxides, and Half-Metallic Magnets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Richard T. Scalettar; Warren E. Pickett

2005-08-02

This project involves research into the thermodynamic properties of f-electron metals, transition metal oxides, and half-metallic magnets at high pressure. These materials are ones in which the changing importance of electron-electron interactions as the distance between atoms is varied can tune the system through phase transitions from localized to delocalized electrons, from screened to unscreened magnetic moments, and from normal metal to one in which only a single spin specie can conduct. Three main thrusts are being pursued: (i) Mott transitions in transition metal oxides, (ii) magnetism in half-metallic compounds, and (iii) large volume-collapse transitions in f-band metals.

Size-dependent single electron transfer and semi-metal-to-insulator transitions in molecular metal oxide electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Balliou, Angelika; Bouroushian, Mirtat; Douvas, Antonios M.; Skoulatakis, George; Kennou, Stella; Glezos, Nikos

2018-07-01

All-inorganic self-arranged molecular transition metal oxide hyperstructures based on polyoxometalate molecules (POMs) are fabricated and tested as electronically tunable components in emerging electronic devices. POM hyperstructures reveal great potential as charging nodes of tunable charging level for molecular memories and as enhancers of interfacial electron/hole injection for photovoltaic stacks. STM, UPS, UV–vis spectroscopy and AFM measurements show that this functionality stems from the films’ ability to structurally tune their HOMO–LUMO levels and electron localization length at room temperature. By adapting POM nanocluster size in solution, self-doping and current modulation of four orders of magnitude is monitored on a single nanocluster on SiO2 at voltages as low as 3 Volt. Structurally driven insulator-to-semi-metal transitions and size-dependent current regulation through single electron tunneling are demonstrated and examined with respect to the stereochemical and electronic structure of the molecular entities. This extends the value of self-assembly as a tool for correlation length and electronic properties tuning and demonstrate POM hyperstructures’ plausibility for on-chip molecular electronics operative at room temperature.

Size-dependent single electron transfer and semi-metal-to-insulator transitions in molecular metal oxide electronics.

Science.gov (United States)

Balliou, Angelika; Bouroushian, Mirtat; Douvas, Antonios M; Skoulatakis, George; Kennou, Stella; Glezos, Nikos

2018-07-06

All-inorganic self-arranged molecular transition metal oxide hyperstructures based on polyoxometalate molecules (POMs) are fabricated and tested as electronically tunable components in emerging electronic devices. POM hyperstructures reveal great potential as charging nodes of tunable charging level for molecular memories and as enhancers of interfacial electron/hole injection for photovoltaic stacks. STM, UPS, UV-vis spectroscopy and AFM measurements show that this functionality stems from the films' ability to structurally tune their HOMO-LUMO levels and electron localization length at room temperature. By adapting POM nanocluster size in solution, self-doping and current modulation of four orders of magnitude is monitored on a single nanocluster on SiO 2 at voltages as low as 3 Volt. Structurally driven insulator-to-semi-metal transitions and size-dependent current regulation through single electron tunneling are demonstrated and examined with respect to the stereochemical and electronic structure of the molecular entities. This extends the value of self-assembly as a tool for correlation length and electronic properties tuning and demonstrate POM hyperstructures' plausibility for on-chip molecular electronics operative at room temperature.

Coherent transition radiation from a laser wakefield accelerator as an electron bunch diagnostic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tilborg, J. van; Geddes, C.G.R.; Toth, C.; Esarey, E.; Schroeder, C.B.; Martin, M.C.; Hao, Z.; Leemans, W.P.

2004-01-01

The observation and modeling of coherent transition radiation from femtosecond laser accelerated electron bunches is discussed. The coherent transition radiation, scaling quadratically with bunch charge, is generated as the electrons transit the plasma-vacuum boundary. Due to the limited transverse radius of the plasma boundary, diffraction effects will strongly modify the angular distribution and the total energy radiated is reduced compared to an infinite transverse boundary. The multi-nC electron bunches, concentrated in a length of a few plasma periods (several tens of microns), experience partial charge neutralization while propagating inside the plasma towards the boundary. This reduces the space-charge blowout of the beam, allowing for coherent radiation at relatively high frequencies (several THz). The charge distribution of the electron bunch at the plasma-vacuum boundary can be derived from Fourier analysis of the coherent part of the transition radiation spectrum. A Michelson interferometer was used to measure the coherent spectrum, and electron bunches with duration on the order of 50 fs (rms) were observed

Symmetry, Symmetry Breaking and Topology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siddhartha Sen

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The ground state of a system with symmetry can be described by a group G. This symmetry group G can be discrete or continuous. Thus for a crystal G is a finite group while for the vacuum state of a grand unified theory G is a continuous Lie group. The ground state symmetry described by G can change spontaneously from G to one of its subgroups H as the external parameters of the system are modified. Such a macroscopic change of the ground state symmetry of a system from G to H correspond to a “phase transition”. Such phase transitions have been extensively studied within a framework due to Landau. A vast range of systems can be described using Landau’s approach, however there are also systems where the framework does not work. Recently there has been growing interest in looking at such non-Landau type of phase transitions. For instance there are several “quantum phase transitions” that are not of the Landau type. In this short review we first describe a refined version of Landau’s approach in which topological ideas are used together with group theory. The combined use of group theory and topological arguments allows us to determine selection rule which forbid transitions from G to certain of its subgroups. We end by making a few brief remarks about non-Landau type of phase transition.

Voltage-driven magnetization control in topological insulator/magnetic insulator heterostructures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael E. Flatté

2017-05-01

Full Text Available A major barrier to the development of spin-based electronics is the transition from current-driven spin torque, or magnetic-field-driven magnetization reversal, to a more scalable voltage-driven magnetization reversal. To achieve this, multiferroic materials appear attractive, however the effects in current materials occur at very large voltages or at low temperatures. Here the potential of a new class of hybrid multiferroic materials is described, consisting of a topological insulator adjacent to a magnetic insulator, for which an applied electric field reorients the magnetization. As these materials lack conducting states at the chemical potential in their bulk, no dissipative charge currents flow in the bulk. Surface states at the interface, if present, produce effects similar to surface recombination currents in bipolar devices, but can be passivated using magnetic doping. Even without conducting states at the chemical potential, for a topological insulator there is a finite spin Hall conductivity provided by filled bands below the chemical potential. Spin accumulation at the interface with the magnetic insulator provides a torque on the magnetization. Properly timed voltage pulses can thus reorient the magnetic moment with only the flow of charge current required in the leads to establish the voltage. If the topological insulator is sufficiently thick the resulting low capacitance requires little charge current.

Things Fall Apart: Topology Change From Winding Tachyons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adams, A.

2005-02-04

We argue that closed string tachyons drive two spacetime topology changing transitions--loss of genus in a Riemann surface and separation of a Riemann surface into two components. The tachyons of interest are localized versions of Scherk-Schwarz winding string tachyons arising on Riemann surfaces in regions of moduli space where string-scale tubes develop. Spacetime and world-sheet renormalization group analyses provide strong evidence that the decay of these tachyons removes a portion of the spacetime, splitting the tube into two pieces. We address the fate of the gauge fields and charges lost in the process, generalize it to situations with weak flux backgrounds, and use this process to study the type 0 tachyon, providing further evidence that its decay drives the theory sub-critical. Finally, we discuss the time-dependent dynamics of this topology-changing transition and find that it can occur more efficiently than analogous transitions on extended supersymmetric moduli spaces, which are limited by moduli trapping.

Electronic computer prediction of properties of binary refractory transition metal compounds on the base of their simplificated electronic structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kutolin, S.A.; Kotyukov, V.I.

1979-01-01

An attempt is made to obtain calculation equations of macroscopic physico-chemical properties of transition metal refractory compounds (density, melting temperature, Debye characteristic temperature, microhardness, standard formation enthalpy, thermo-emf) using the method of the regression analysis. Apart from the compound composition the argument of the regression equation is the distribution of electron bands of d-transition metals, created by the energy electron distribution in the simplified zone structure of transition metals and approximated by Chebishev polynoms, by the position of Fermi energy on the map of distribution of electron band energy depending upon the value of quasi-impulse, multiple to the first, second and third Brillouin zone for transition metals. The maximum relative error of the regressions obtained as compared with the literary data is 15-20 rel.%

Determination of electron bunch shape using transition radiation and phase-energy measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crosson, E.R.; Berryman, K.W.; Richman, B.A.

1995-01-01

We present data comparing microbunch temporal information obtained from electron beam phase-energy measurements with that obtained from transition radiation auto-correlation measurements. The data was taken to resolve some of the ambiguities in previous transition radiation results. By measuring the energy spectrum of the electron beam as a function of its phase relative to the accelerating field, phase-energy information was extracted. This data was analyzed using tomographic techniques to reconstruct the phase-space distribution assuming an electron energy dependence of E(var-phi) = E o + E acc cos(var-phi), where E o is the energy of an electron entering the field, E acc is the peak energy gain, and var-phi is the phase between the crest of the RF wave and an electron. Temporal information about the beam was obtained from the phase space distribution by taking the one dimensional projection along the time axis. We discuss the use of this technique to verify other transition radiation analysis methods

Determination of electron bunch shape using transition radiation and phase-energy measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crosson, E.R.; Berryman, K.W.; Richman, B.A. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] [and others

1995-12-31

We present data comparing microbunch temporal information obtained from electron beam phase-energy measurements with that obtained from transition radiation auto-correlation measurements. The data was taken to resolve some of the ambiguities in previous transition radiation results. By measuring the energy spectrum of the electron beam as a function of its phase relative to the accelerating field, phase-energy information was extracted. This data was analyzed using tomographic techniques to reconstruct the phase-space distribution assuming an electron energy dependence of E({var_phi}) = E{sub o} + E{sub acc}cos({var_phi}), where E{sub o} is the energy of an electron entering the field, E{sub acc} is the peak energy gain, and {var_phi} is the phase between the crest of the RF wave and an electron. Temporal information about the beam was obtained from the phase space distribution by taking the one dimensional projection along the time axis. We discuss the use of this technique to verify other transition radiation analysis methods.

Topological triplon modes and bound states in a Shastry-Sutherland magnet

Science.gov (United States)

McClarty, P. A.; Krüger, F.; Guidi, T.; Parker, S. F.; Refson, K.; Parker, A. W.; Prabhakaran, D.; Coldea, R.

2017-08-01

The twin discoveries of the quantum Hall effect, in the 1980s, and of topological band insulators, in the 2000s, were landmarks in physics that enriched our view of the electronic properties of solids. In a nutshell, these discoveries have taught us that quantum mechanical wavefunctions in crystalline solids may carry nontrivial topological invariants which have ramifications for the observable physics. One of the side effects of the recent topological insulator revolution has been that such physics is much more widespread than was appreciated ten years ago. For example, while topological insulators were originally studied in the context of electron wavefunctions, recent work has initiated a hunt for topological insulators in bosonic systems: in photonic crystals, in the vibrational modes of crystals, and in the excitations of ordered magnets. Using inelastic neutron scattering along with theoretical calculations, we demonstrate that, in a weak magnetic field, the dimerized quantum magnet SrCu2(BO3)2 is a bosonic topological insulator with topologically protected chiral edge modes of triplon excitations.

High-resolution electron microscopy study of electron-irradiation-induced crystalline-to-amorphous transition in α-SiC single crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inui, H.; Mori, H.; Sakata, T.

1992-01-01

An electron-irradiation-induced crystalline-to-amorphous (CA) transition in α-SiC has been studied by high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). The irradiation-produced damage structure was examined as a function of dose of electrons by taking high-resolution maps extending from the unirradiated crystalline region to the completely amorphized region. In the intermediate region between those two regions, that is in the CA transition region, the damage structure was essentially a mixture of crystalline and amorphous phases. The volume fraction of the amorphous phase was found to increase with increasing dose of electrons and no discrete crystalline-amorphous interface was observed in the CA transition region. These facts indicate the heterogeneous and gradual nature of the CA transition. In the transition region close to the unirradiated crystalline region, a sort of fragmentation of the crystal lattice was observed to occur, crystallites with slightly different orientations with respect to the parent crystal were formed owing to the strain around the dispersed local amorphous regions. In the transition region close to the amorphized region, these crystallites were reduced in size and were embedded in an amorphous matrix. This damage structure is the result of the increased volume fraction of the amorphous phase. In the completely amorphized region, no lattice fringes were recognized in the HREM images. The atomistic process of the CA transition is discussed on the basis of the present results and those from previous studies. (Author)

Temperature Driven Topological Switch in 1T'-MoTe2 and Strain Induced Nematicity in NaFeAs

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Ayelet Denise Notis

Quasiparticle interference (QPI) is a powerful technique within Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) that is used to probe the electronic bandstructure of materials. This thesis presents two examples using QPI to measure the bandstructure in materials with exotic electronic states that can be tuned via outside parameters (temperature and strain). In Part I of the thesis, we discuss the temperature dependence of Fermi Arcs in 1T'-MoTe 2, and then in Part II, the strain dependent nematic state in NaFeAs. The recent discovery of Weyl semimetals has introduced a new family of materials with topologically protected electronic properties and potential applications due to their anomalous transport effects. Even more useful is a Weyl semimetal that can be turned "on" and "off," switching between a topological and trivial state. One possible material is MoTe2, which undergoes a phase transition at 240K. This thesis consists of experiments using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and Spectroscopy (STS) at different temperatures to visualize changes in the electronic bandstructure of MoTe2 across the topological phase transition. We show that a signature of topologically protected Fermi Arcs is present at low temperatures but disappears at room temperature, in the trivial phase. We include an in-depth discussion of how to account for thermal effects when comparing these two types of measurements. In Part II, we discuss strain induced nematicity in NaFeAs, an iron pnictide. Nematic fluctuations and spin correlations play an important role in the phase diagram of the iron pnictides, a family of unconventional superconductors. Illuminating the mechanism behind this symmetry breaking is key to understanding the superconducting state. Previous work has shown that nematicity in the iron pnictides responds strongly to applied strain [1, 2]. In this thesis, I present results from a new experimental technique, elasto-scanning tunneling microscopy (E-STM), which combines in situ strain

Topological Photonics for Continuous Media

Science.gov (United States)

Silveirinha, Mario

Photonic crystals have revolutionized light-based technologies during the last three decades. Notably, it was recently discovered that the light propagation in photonic crystals may depend on some topological characteristics determined by the manner how the light states are mutually entangled. The usual topological classification of photonic crystals explores the fact that these structures are periodic. The periodicity is essential to ensure that the underlying wave vector space is a closed surface with no boundary. In this talk, we prove that it is possible calculate Chern invariants for a wide class of continuous bianisotropic electromagnetic media with no intrinsic periodicity. The nontrivial topology of the relevant continuous materials is linked with the emergence of edge states. Moreover, we will demonstrate that continuous photonic media with the time-reversal symmetry can be topologically characterized by a Z2 integer. This novel classification extends for the first time the theory of electronic topological insulators to a wide range of photonic platforms, and is expected to have an impact in the design of novel photonic systems that enable a topologically protected transport of optical energy. This work is supported in part by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia Grant Number PTDC/EEI-TEL/4543/2014.

Theory of coherent transition radiation generated by ellipsoidal electron bunches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Root, op 't W.P.E.M.; Smorenburg, P.W.; Oudheusden, van T.; Wiel, van der M.J.; Luiten, O.J.

2007-01-01

We present the theory of coherent transition radiation (CTR) generated by ellipsoidal electron bunches. We calculate analytical expressions for the electric field spectrum, the power spectrum, and the temporal electric field of CTR, generated by cylindrically symmetric ellipsoidal electron bunches

Electronic Structure of the Metastable Epitaxial Rock-Salt SnSe {111} Topological Crystalline Insulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wencan Jin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Topological crystalline insulators have been recently predicted and observed in rock-salt structure SnSe {111} thin films. Previous studies have suggested that the Se-terminated surface of this thin film with hydrogen passivation has a reduced surface energy and is thus a preferred configuration. In this paper, synchrotron-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, along with density functional theory calculations, is used to demonstrate that a rock-salt SnSe {111} thin film epitaxially grown on Bi_{2}Se_{3} has a stable Sn-terminated surface. These observations are supported by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED intensity-voltage measurements and dynamical LEED calculations, which further show that the Sn-terminated SnSe {111} thin film has undergone a surface structural relaxation of the interlayer spacing between the Sn and Se atomic planes. In sharp contrast to the Se-terminated counterpart, the observed Dirac surface state in the Sn-terminated SnSe {111} thin film is shown to yield a high Fermi velocity, 0.50×10^{6}  m/s, which suggests a potential mechanism of engineering the Dirac surface state of topological materials by tuning the surface configuration.

Infrared circular photogalvanic effect in topological insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Siyuan

2018-04-01

Topological insulators have attracted a lot of attention in recent years due to its unique phenomena. Circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE) is one of the important phenomena in topological insulators. Bi2Se3, as one of the 3D topological insulators, consist of a single Dirac cone at the Γ point in k-space [1], corresponding to the surface states. Controlled by the Berry curvature of the surface band, the dominant photo response due to the interband transition is helicity dependent [2]. In addition, due to the spin-momentum locking in topological insulators' surface, the sign of spin-angular-momentum of obliquely incident light and photo currents are locked together. On the other hand, Bi2Se3 consists of quintuple layers which make it possible to be exfoliated and transferred based on graphene fabrication. In this paper, Bi2Se3 devices were fabricated and Ohm contact was achieved. We experimentally demonstrated the CPGE in Bi2Se3 using 1550nm incident laser.

Matrix elements of the relativistic electron-transition operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudzikas, Z.B.; Slepcov, A.A.; Kickin, I.S.

1976-01-01

The formulas, which enable us to calculate the electric and magnetic multipole transition probabilities in relativistic approximation under various gauge conditions of the electromagnetic potential, are presented. The numerical values of the coefficients of the one-electron reduced matrix elements of the relativistic operators of the electric and magnetic dipole transitions between the configurations K 0 n 2 l 2 j 2 α 0 J 0 j 2 J--K 0 n 1 l 1 j 1 α 0 'J 0 'j 1 J', where K 0 represents any electronic configuration, having the quantum number of the total angular momentum 0 less than or equal to J 0 less than or equal to 8 (the step is 1 / 2 ), and 1 / 2 less than or equal to j 2 , j 1 less than or equal to 7 / 2 , are given

Topological edge modes in multilayer graphene systems

KAUST Repository

Ge, Lixin

2015-08-10

Plasmons can be supported on graphene sheets as the Dirac electrons oscillate collectively. A tight-binding model for graphene plasmons is a good description as the field confinement in the normal direction is strong. With this model, the topological properties of plasmonic bands in multilayer graphene systems are investigated. The Zak phases of periodic graphene sheet arrays are obtained for different configurations. Analogous to Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model in electronic systems, topological edge plasmon modes emerge when two periodic graphene sheet arrays with different Zak phases are connected. Interestingly, the dispersion of these topological edge modes is the same as that in the monolayer graphene and is invariant as the geometric parameters of the structure such as the separation and period change. These plasmonic edge states in multilayer graphene systems can be further tuned by electrical gating or chemical doping. © 2015 Optical Society of America.

Phase Transitions of the Polariton Condensate in 2D Dirac Materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ki Hoon; Lee, Changhee; Min, Hongki; Chung, Suk Bum

2018-04-13

For the quantum well in an optical microcavity, the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and the electron-photon (e-ph) coupling can lead to the hybridizations of the exciton and the cavity photon known as polaritons, which can form the Bose-Einstein condensate above a threshold density. Additional physics due to the nontrivial Berry phase comes into play when the quantum well consists of the gapped two-dimensional Dirac material such as the transition metal dichalcogenide MoS_{2} or WSe_{2}. Specifically, in forming the polariton, the e-ph coupling from the optical selection rule due to the Berry phase can compete against the Coulomb electron-electron (e-e) interaction. We find that this competition gives rise to a rich phase diagram for the polariton condensate involving both topological and symmetry breaking phase transitions, with the former giving rise to the quantum anomalous Hall and the quantum spin Hall phases.

Phase Transitions of the Polariton Condensate in 2D Dirac Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ki Hoon; Lee, Changhee; Min, Hongki; Chung, Suk Bum

2018-04-01

For the quantum well in an optical microcavity, the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and the electron-photon (e -ph) coupling can lead to the hybridizations of the exciton and the cavity photon known as polaritons, which can form the Bose-Einstein condensate above a threshold density. Additional physics due to the nontrivial Berry phase comes into play when the quantum well consists of the gapped two-dimensional Dirac material such as the transition metal dichalcogenide MoS2 or WSe2 . Specifically, in forming the polariton, the e -ph coupling from the optical selection rule due to the Berry phase can compete against the Coulomb electron-electron (e -e ) interaction. We find that this competition gives rise to a rich phase diagram for the polariton condensate involving both topological and symmetry breaking phase transitions, with the former giving rise to the quantum anomalous Hall and the quantum spin Hall phases.

Spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry in topological insulators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karnaukhov, Igor N., E-mail: karnaui@yahoo.com

2017-06-21

Highlights: • Proposed a new approach for description of phase transitions in topological insulators. • Considered the mechanism of spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry in topological insulators. • The Haldane model can be implemented in real compounds of the condensed matter physics. - Abstract: The system of spinless fermions on a hexagonal lattice is studied. We have considered tight-binding model with the hopping integrals between the nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor lattice sites, that depend on the direction of the link. The links are divided on three types depending on the direction, the hopping integrals are defined by different phases along the links. The energy of the system depends on the phase differences, the solutions for the phases, that correspond to the minimums of the energy, lead to a topological insulator state with the nontrivial Chern numbers. We have analyzed distinct topological states and phase transitions, the behavior of the chiral gapless edge modes, have defined the Chern numbers. The band structure of topological insulator (TI) is calculated, the ground-state phase diagram in the parameter space is obtained. We propose a novel mechanism of realization of TI, when the TI state is result of spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry due to nontrivial stable solutions for the phases that determine the hopping integrals along the links and show that the Haldane model can be implemented in real compounds of the condensed matter physics.

Melting of Domain Wall in Charge Ordered Dirac Electron of Organic Conductor α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3

Science.gov (United States)

Ohki, Daigo; Matsuno, Genki; Omori, Yukiko; Kobayashi, Akito

2018-05-01

The origin of charge order melting is identified by using the real space dependent mean-field theory in the extended Hubbard model describing an organic Dirac electron system α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3. In this model, the width of a domain wall which arises between different types of the charge ordered phase exhibits a divergent increase with decreasing the strength of electron-electron correlations. By analyzing the finite-size effect carefully, it is shown that the divergence coincides with a topological transition where a pair of Dirac cones merges in keeping with a finite gap. It is also clarified that the gap opening point and the topological transition point are different, which leads to the existence of an exotic massive Dirac electron phase with melted-type domain wall and gapless edge states. The present result also indicated that multiple metastable states are emerged in massive Dirac Electron phase. In the trivial charge ordered phase, the gapless domain-wall bound state takes place instead of the gapless edge states, accompanying with a form change of the domain wall from melted-type into hyperbolic-tangent-type.

Duo gating on a 3D topological insulator - independent tuning of both topological surface states

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chuan; de Ronde, Bob; Snelder, Marieke; Stehno, Martin; Huang, Yingkai; Golden, Mark; Brinkman, Alexander; ICE Team; IOP Collaboration

ABSTRACT: Topological insulators are associated with a trove of exciting physics, such as the ability to host robust anyons, Majorana Bound States, which can be used for quantum computation. For future Majorana devices it is desirable to have the Fermi energy tuned as close as possible to the Dirac point of the topological surface state. Based on previous work on gating BSTS, we report the experimental progress towards gate-tuning of the top and bottom topological surface states of BiSbTeSe2 crystal flakes. When the Fermi level is moved across the Dirac point conduction is shown to change from electron dominated transport to hole dominated transport independently for either surface. In the high magnetic field, one can tune the system precisely between the different landau levels of both surfaces, thus a full gating map of the possible landau levels combination is established. In addition, we provide a simple capacitance model to explain the general hysteresis behaviors in topological insulator systems.

Three-dimensional fractional topological insulators in coupled Rashba layers

Science.gov (United States)

Volpez, Yanick; Loss, Daniel; Klinovaja, Jelena

2017-08-01

We propose a model of three-dimensional topological insulators consisting of weakly coupled electron- and hole-gas layers with Rashba spin-orbit interaction stacked along a given axis. We show that in the presence of strong electron-electron interactions the system realizes a fractional strong topological insulator, where the rotational symmetry and condensation energy arguments still allow us to treat the problem as quasi-one-dimensional with bosonization techniques. We also show that if Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction terms are equally strong, by doping the system with magnetic impurities, one can bring it into the Weyl semimetal phase.

Quantum spin-glass transition in the two-dimensional electron gas

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Pramana – Journal of Physics; Volume 58; Issue 2 ... Spin glasses; quantum phase transition; ferromagnetism; electron gas. ... We argue that a quantum transition involving the destruction of the spin-glass order in an applied in-plane magnetic field offers a natural explanation of some features of recent ...

Numerical insights into the phase diagram of p-atic membranes with spherical topology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Allan Grønhøj; Ramakrishnan, N.; Sunil Kumar, P. B.

2017-01-01

Abstract.: The properties of self-avoiding p-atic membranes restricted to spherical topology have been studied by Monte Carlo simulations of a triangulated random surface model. Spherically shaped p-atic membranes undergo a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition as expected with topology induced mutually...... of disclinations. We confirm the proposed buckling of disclinations in the p-atic ordered phase, while the expected associated disordering (crumpling) transition at low bending rigidities is absent in the phase diagram. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]...

Topology of polymer chains under nanoscale confinement.

Science.gov (United States)

Satarifard, Vahid; Heidari, Maziar; Mashaghi, Samaneh; Tans, Sander J; Ejtehadi, Mohammad Reza; Mashaghi, Alireza

2017-08-24

topologies have nearly the same contact orders. Such degeneracy implies that the kinetics and transition rates between the topological states cannot be solely explained by contact order. We expect these findings to be of general importance in understanding chaperone assisted protein folding, chromosome architecture, and the evolution of molecular folds.

Topologically protected bound states in one-dimensional Floquet acoustic waveguide systems

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Yu-Gui; Geng, Zhi-Guo; Zhu, Xue-Feng

2018-03-01

Topological manipulation of sound has recently been a hot spot in acoustics due to the fascinating property of defect immune transport. To the best of our knowledge, the studies on one-dimensional (1D) topological acoustic systems hitherto mainly focus on the case of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. Here, we show that topologically protected bound states may also exist in 1D periodically modulated acoustic waveguide systems, viz., 1D Floquet topological insulators. The results show that tuning the coupling strength in a waveguide lattice could trigger topological phase transition, which gives rise to topologically protected interface states as we put together two waveguide lattices featured with different topological phases or winding numbers. However, for the combined lattice, input at the waveguides other than the interfacial ones will excite bulk states. We have further verified the robustness of interface bound states against the variation of coupling strengths between the two distinct waveguide lattices. This work extends the scope of topological acoustics and may promote potential applications for acoustic devices with topological functionalities.

Electrons in the boundary layers near the dayside magnetopause

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, D.S.; Chaloner, C.P.; Bryant, D.A.; Lepine, D.R.; Tritakis, V.P.

1990-10-01

Entry of heated solar-wind plasma into the magnetosphere is examined using electron distributions. In particular, the angular structure of the electron distributions is studied within the transition region separating the magnetosheath from the inner magnetosphere. The measurements suggest that electrons in the outer part of the transition region originate in the magnetosheath, whilst the population closer to the Earth consists of electrons from the magnetosphere combined with an energized magnetosheath component. This energized component contains ''counterstreaming'' electrons, which are confined to directions closely parallel and anti-parallel to the magnetic field direction. The possibilities, that the energization of the counterstreaming electrons is cumulatively gained from either waves, electric fields perpendicular to the magnetic field, or quasi-Fermi acceleration, are discussed. It is not possible to identify the topology of the magnetic fields of the outer part of the region, but there is strong evidence that the inner part is on closed magnetic field lines, which map to the dayside auroral zone. The outer part of the transition region is a plasma depletion/magnetic-field compression layer. The structure of the transition region is similar to that surrounding flux transfer events, which leads to the deduction that the plasma and field signatures of flux transfer events may be the result of displacement of the transition region earthwards. Cases where the displacement is such that the field maximum of the depletion/compression region is encountered, may well explain ''crater'' flux transfer event signatures. (author)

Tunable topological phases in photonic and phononic crystals

KAUST Repository

Chen, Zeguo

2018-02-18

Topological photonics/phononics, inspired by the discovery of topological insulators, is a prosperous field of research, in which remarkable one-way propagation edge states are robust against impurities or defect without backscattering. This dissertation discusses the implementation of multiple topological phases in specific designed photonic and phononic crystals. First, it reports a tunable quantum Hall phase in acoustic ring-waveguide system. A new three-band model focused on the topological transitions at the Γ point is studied, which gives the functionality that nontrivial topology can be tuned by changing the strengths of the couplings and/or the broken time-reversal symmetry. The resulted tunable topological edge states are also numerically verified. Second, based on our previous studied acoustic ring-waveguide system, we introduce anisotropy by tuning the couplings along different directions. We find that the bandgap topology is related to the frequency and directions. We report our proposal on a frequency filter designed from such an anisotropic topological phononic crystal. Third, motivated by the recent progress on quantum spin Hall phases, we propose a design of time-reversal symmetry broken quantum spin Hall insulators in photonics, in which a new quantum anomalous Hall phase emerges. It supports a chiral edge state with certain spin orientations, which is robust against the magnetic impurities. We also report the realization of the quantum anomalous Hall phase in phononics.

Surfaces and slabs of fractional topological insulator heterostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Sahoo, Sharmistha; Sirota, Alexander; Cho, Gil Young; Teo, Jeffrey C. Y.

2017-10-01

Fractional topological insulators (FTIs) are electronic topological phases in (3 +1 ) dimensions enriched by time reversal (TR) and charge U (1 ) conservation symmetries. We focus on the simplest series of fermionic FTIs, whose bulk quasiparticles consist of deconfined partons that carry fractional electric charges in integral units of e*=e /(2 n +1 ) and couple to a discrete Z2 n +1 gauge theory. We propose massive symmetry preserving or breaking FTI surface states. Combining the long-ranged entangled bulk with these topological surface states, we deduce the novel topological order of quasi-(2 +1 ) -dimensional FTI slabs as well as their corresponding edge conformal field theories.

Topological properties and functionalities in oxide thin films and interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Uchida, Masaki; Kawasaki, Masashi

2018-04-01

As symbolized by the Nobel Prize in Physics 2016, ‘topology’ has been recognized as an essential standpoint to understand and control the physics of condensed matter. This concept may be spreading even into application areas such as novel electronics. In this trend, there has been reported a number of studies for oxide films and heterostructures with topologically non-trivial electronic or magnetic states. In this review, we overview the trends of new topological properties and functionalities in oxide materials by sorting out a number of examples. The technological advances in oxide film growth achieved over the last few decades are now opening the door for harnessing novel topological properties.

Particles with changeable topology in nematic colloids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ravnik, Miha; Čopar, Simon; Žumer, Slobodan

2015-01-01

We show that nematic colloids can serve as a highly variable and controllable platform for studying inclusions with changeable topology and their effects on the surrounding ordering fields. We explore morphing of toroidal and knotted colloidal particles into effective spheres, distinctively changing their Euler characteristic and affecting the surrounding nematic field, including topological defect structures. With toroidal particles, the inner nematic defect eventually transitions from a wide loop to a point defect (a small loop). Trefoil particles become linked with two knotted defect loops, mutually forming a three component link, that upon tightening transform into a two-component particle-defect loop link. For more detailed topological analysis, Pontryagin-Thom surfaces are calculated and visualised, indicating an interesting cascade of defect rewirings caused by the shape morphing of the knotted particles. (paper)

Electronic traffic signs: Reflecting upon its transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arbaiza Martin, A.E.; Alba, A.L.; Hernando Mazon, A.; Blanch Mico, M.T.

2016-07-01

In our days we face a fundamental issue concerning road signs. We may display contents in vertical and horizontal format (static signs, variable message signs, road markings), either on a post, a gantry or a dashboard. And we foresee a coming age where the excellent matrix resolution of painted signs will be truly approached by the resolution of full matrix displays. But we also risk a babel context threatening the universal approach encouraged by international catalogues as the 1968 Convention (ECE/TRANS/196, 2007). And the fundamental risk comes from our decisions regarding how the transition from the contents and formats displayed on static message signs to the ones displayed on electronic signs (in gantries or dashboards) should be. Our work explores this issue specifically, considering the transition from Advance Direction Signs (static message signs, class G, 1 in the 1968 Convention) to what could be termed Advance Location Signs (signs concerning the location of variable events with regards to certain landmarks) developed as an adaptation of the G, 1 class to electronic traffic signs.(Author)

Topological description of mechanical behavior of Cu, Ag and Au: A first-principle study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Saghayezhian

2011-12-01

Full Text Available  Mechanical properties and stress-strain curves of Cu, Ag and Au single crystals are calculated using ab initio methods. Elastic and Plastic regions are scrutinized. Yield stress and slope of these curves can shed light on brittlenesss and ductility of these metals that prove Cu, despite its high ultimate tensile strength, is less ductile than Au and Ag. Analysis of topology of charge density along with stress-strain curves shows that the elastic-plastic transition accompanies topological transition and for these metals, both transitions occur in the same strain. Some charactristics of critical point, especially bond points, are inspected.

Observation of topological edge states of acoustic metamaterials at subwavelength scale

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Hongqing; Jiao, Junrui; Xia, Baizhan; Liu, Tingting; Zheng, Shengjie; Yu, Dejie

2018-05-01

Topological states are of key importance for acoustic wave systems owing to their unique transport properties. In this study, we develop a hexagonal array of hexagonal columns with Helmholtz resonators to obtain subwavelength Dirac cones. Rotation operations are performed to open the Dirac cones and obtain acoustic valley vortex states. In addition, we calculate the angular-dependent frequencies for the band edges at the K-point. Through a topological phase transition, the topological phase of pattern A can change into that of pattern B. The calculations for the bulk dispersion curves show that the acoustic metamaterials exhibit BA-type and AB-type topological edge states. Experimental results demonstrate that a sound wave can transmit well along the topological path. This study could reveal a simple approach to create acoustic topological edge states at the subwavelength scale.

Topological Crystalline Insulators and Dirac Octets in Anti-perovskites

OpenAIRE

Hsieh, Timothy H.; Liu, Junwei; Fu, Liang

2014-01-01

We predict a new class of topological crystalline insulators (TCI) in the anti-perovskite material family with the chemical formula A$_3$BX. Here the nontrivial topology arises from band inversion between two $J=3/2$ quartets, which is described by a generalized Dirac equation for a "Dirac octet". Our work suggests that anti-perovskites are a promising new venue for exploring the cooperative interplay between band topology, crystal symmetry and electron correlation.

Transition of radial electric field by electron cyclotron heating in stellarator plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Idei, H.; Ida, K.; Sanuki, H.

1993-06-01

The transition of a radial electric field from a negative to a positive value is observed in Compact Helical System when the electron loss is sufficiently enhanced by the superposition of the off-axis second harmonic electron cyclotron heating on the neutral beam heated plasmas. The observed threshold for the enhanced particle flux required to cause the transition is compared with a theoretical prediction. (author)

Disorder effects in topological states: Brief review of the recent developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Binglan; Zhou Jiaojiao; Jiang Hua; Song Juntao

2016-01-01

Disorder inevitably exists in realistic samples, manifesting itself in various exotic properties for the topological states. In this paper, we summarize and briefly review the work completed over the last few years, including our own, regarding recent developments in several topics about disorder effects in topological states. For weak disorder, the robustness of topological states is demonstrated, especially for both quantum spin Hall states with Z 2 = 1 and size induced nontrivial topological insulators with Z 2 = 0. For moderate disorder, by increasing the randomness of both the impurity distribution and the impurity induced potential, the topological insulator states can be created from normal metallic or insulating states. These phenomena and their mechanisms are summarized. For strong disorder, the disorder causes a metal–insulator transition. Due to their topological nature, the phase diagrams are much richer in topological state systems. Finally, the trends in these areas of disorder research are discussed. (topical review)

Anomalous Z2 antiferromagnetic topological phase in pressurized SmB6

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Kai-Wei; Chen, Peng-Jen

2018-05-01

Antiferromagnetic materials, whose time-reversal symmetry is broken, can be classified into the Z2 topology if they respect some specific symmetry. Since the theoretical proposal, however, no materials have been found to host such Z2 antiferromagnetic topological (Z2-AFT ) phase to date. Here we demonstrate that the topological Kondo insulator SmB6 can be a Z2-AFT system when pressurized to undergo an antiferromagnetic phase transition. In addition to proposing the possible candidate for a Z2-AFT material, in this work we also illustrate the anomalous topological surface states of the Z2-AFT phase which have not been discussed before. Originating from the interplay between the topological properties and the antiferromagnetic surface magnetization, the topological surface states of the Z2-AFT phase behave differently as compared with those of a topological insulator. Besides, the Z2-AFT insulators are also found promising in the generation of tunable spin currents, which is an important application in spintronics.

3-D topological signatures and a new discrimination method for single-electron events and 0νββ events in CdZnTe: A Monte Carlo simulation study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeng, Ming; Li, Teng-Lin; Cang, Ji-Rong [Key Laboratory of Particle & Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education (China); Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Zeng, Zhi, E-mail: zengzhi@tsinghua.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Particle & Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education (China); Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Fu, Jian-Qiang; Zeng, Wei-He; Cheng, Jian-Ping; Ma, Hao; Liu, Yi-Nong [Key Laboratory of Particle & Radiation Imaging (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education (China); Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2017-06-21

In neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay experiments, the diversity of topological signatures of different particles provides an important tool to distinguish double beta events from background events and reduce background rates. Aiming at suppressing the single-electron backgrounds which are most challenging, several groups have established Monte Carlo simulation packages to study the topological characteristics of single-electron events and 0νββ events and develop methods to differentiate them. In this paper, applying the knowledge of graph theory, a new topological signature called REF track (Refined Energy-Filtered track) is proposed and proven to be an accurate approximation of the real particle trajectory. Based on the analysis of the energy depositions along the REF track of single-electron events and 0νββ events, the REF energy deposition models for both events are proposed to indicate the significant differences between them. With these differences, this paper presents a new discrimination method, which, in the Monte Carlo simulation, achieved a single-electron rejection factor of 93.8±0.3 (stat.)% as well as a 0νββ efficiency of 85.6±0.4 (stat.)% with optimized parameters in CdZnTe.

Antiferromagnetic and topological states in silicene: A mean field study

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Feng; Liu, Cheng-Cheng; Yao, Yu-Gui

2015-08-01

It has been widely accepted that silicene is a topological insulator, and its gap closes first and then opens again with increasing electric field, which indicates a topological phase transition from the quantum spin Hall state to the band insulator state. However, due to the relatively large atomic spacing of silicene, which reduces the bandwidth, the electron-electron interaction in this system is considerably strong and cannot be ignored. The Hubbard interaction, intrinsic spin orbital coupling (SOC), and electric field are taken into consideration in our tight-binding model, with which the phase diagram of silicene is carefully investigated on the mean field level. We have found that when the magnitudes of the two mass terms produced by the Hubbard interaction and electric potential are close to each other, the intrinsic SOC flips the sign of the mass term at either K or K‧ for one spin and leads to the emergence of the spin-polarized quantum anomalous Hall state. Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2014CB920903, 2013CB921903, 2011CBA00108, and 2012CB937500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11021262, 11172303, 11404022, 11225418, and 11174337), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20121101110046), the Excellent Young Scholars Research Fund of Beijing Institute of Technology (Grant No. 2014CX04028), and the Basic Research Funds of Beijing Institute of Technology (Grant No. 20141842001).

Mechanical and electronic properties of Janus monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Wenwu; Wang, Zhiguo

2018-05-01

The mechanical and electronic properties of Janus monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides MXY (M  =  Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W; X/Y  =  S, Se, Te) were investigated using density functional theory. Results show that breaking the out-of-plane structural symmetry can be used to tune the electronic and mechanical behavior of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. The band gaps of monolayer WXY and MoXY are in the ranges of 0.16–1.91 and 0.94–1.69 eV, respectively. A semiconductor to metallic phase transition occurred in Janus monolayer MXY (M  =  Ti, Zr and Hf). The monolayers MXY (M  =  V, Nb, Ta and Cr) show metallic characteristics, which show no dependence on the structural symmetry breaking. The mechanical properties of MXY depended on the composition. Monolayer MXY (M  =  Mo, Ti, Zr, Hf and W) showed brittle characteristic, whereas monolayer CrXY and VXY are with ductile characteristic. The in-plane stiffness of pristine and Janus monolayer MXY are in the range between 22 and 158 N m‑1. The tunable electronic and mechanical properties of these 2D materials would advance the development of ultra-sensitive detectors, nanogenerators, low-power electronics, and energy harvesting and electromechanical systems.

Changing electronic density in sites of crystalline lattice under superconducting of phase transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turaev, N.Yu.; Turaev, E.Yu.; Khuzhakulov, E.S.; Seregin, P.P.

2006-01-01

Results of electron density change calculations for sites of the one-dimensional Kronig-Penny lattice at the superconducting phase transition have been presented. The transition from normal state to super conducting one is accompanied by the rise of the electron density at the unit cell centre. It is agreement with Moessbauer spectroscopy data. (author)

Ring-array processor distribution topology for optical interconnects

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yao; Ha, Berlin; Wang, Ting; Wang, Sunyu; Katz, A.; Lu, X. J.; Kanterakis, E.

1992-01-01

The existing linear and rectangular processor distribution topologies for optical interconnects, although promising in many respects, cannot solve problems such as clock skews, the lack of supporting elements for efficient optical implementation, etc. The use of a ring-array processor distribution topology, however, can overcome these problems. Here, a study of the ring-array topology is conducted with an aim of implementing various fast clock rate, high-performance, compact optical networks for digital electronic multiprocessor computers. Practical design issues are addressed. Some proof-of-principle experimental results are included.

Strain engineering of topological phase transition in elemental gray tin: Dirac semimetal phase in the missing half of strain spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Huaqing; Liu, Feng

Gray tin was previously found to be a strong topological insulator under compressive uniaxial strain. Here, based on effective k . p analysis and first-principles calculations, we discover that gray tin becomes a Dirac semimetal in the other missing half of strain spectrum, under tensile uniaxial strain. In this newly found Dirac semimetal state, two Dirac points which are tunable by tensile [001] strains, lie in the kz axis and Fermi arcs appear in the (100) surface. A large negative magnetoresistance is anticipated in this half of strain spectrum, which shows as a strong signature of the chiral anomaly effect. Comparing to other Dirac semimetal materials, the proposed Dirac semimetal state in the nontoxic elemental gray tin can be more easily manipulated and accurately controlled. We envision that gray tin provides a perfect platform for strain engineering of topological phase transitions by sweeping through the strain spectrum from positive to negative and vice versa. This work was support by DOE-BES (Grant No. DE-FG02-04ER46148).

Topological Oxide Insulator in Cubic Perovskite Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Hosub; Rhim, Sonny H.; Im, Jino; Freeman, Arthur J.

2013-01-01

The emergence of topologically protected conducting states with the chiral spin texture is the most prominent feature at the surface of topological insulators. On the application side, large band gap and high resistivity to distinguish surface from bulk degrees of freedom should be guaranteed for the full usage of the surface states. Here, we suggest that the oxide cubic perovskite YBiO3, more than just an oxide, defines itself as a new three-dimensional topological insulator exhibiting both a large bulk band gap and a high resistivity. Based on first-principles calculations varying the spin-orbit coupling strength, the non-trivial band topology of YBiO3 is investigated, where the spin-orbit coupling of the Bi 6p orbital plays a crucial role. Taking the exquisite synthesis techniques in oxide electronics into account, YBiO3 can also be used to provide various interface configurations hosting exotic topological phenomena combined with other quantum phases. PMID:23575973

Topological susceptibility near Tc in SU(3 gauge theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guang-Yi Xiong

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Topological charge susceptibility χt for pure gauge SU(3 theory at finite temperature is studied using anisotropic lattices. The over-improved stout-link smoothing method is utilized to calculate the topological charge. Near the phase transition point we find a rapid declining behavior for χt with values decreasing from (188(1 MeV4 to (67(3 MeV4 as the temperature increased from zero temperature to 1.9Tc which demonstrates the existence of topological excitations far above Tc. The 4th order cumulant c4 of topological charge, as well as the ratio c4/χt is also investigated. Results of c4 show step-like behavior near Tc while the ratio at high temperature agrees with the value as predicted by the diluted instanton gas model.

Rigid muffin-tin approximation for the electron-phonon interaction in transition metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butler, W.H.

1980-01-01

Progress in calculating the electron-phonon parameters of transition metals has been based on either the rigid muffin-tin approximation (RMTA) or the fitted modified tight-binding approximation (FMTBA). The RMTA has been shown to be remarkably accurate for average electron-phonon properties, but there are indications that RMTA matrix elements may be too small at low momentum transfer. An attempt is made to demonstrate these assertions concerning the accuracy of RMTA and the numerous electron-phonon calculations are placed in a broader perspective by a demonstration of how they can be used to explain the trends in the strength of the electron-phonon coupling among the transition metals and the A-15 compounds

Rigid muffin-tin approximation for the electron-phonon interaction in transition metals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butler, W.H.

1980-01-01

Progress in calculating the electron-phonon parameters of transition metals has been based on either the rigid muffin-tin approximation (RMTA) or the fitted modified tight-binding approximation (FMTBA). The RMTA has been shown to be remarkably accurate for average electron-phonon properties, but there are indications that RMTA matrix elements may be too small at low momentum transfer. An attempt is made to demonstrate these assertions concerning the accuracy of RMTA and the numerous electron-phonon calculations are placed in a broader perspective by a demonstration of how they can be used to explain the trends in the strength of the electron-phonon coupling among the transition metals and the A-15 compounds. (GHT)

Cyclic electron flow is redox-controlled but independent of state transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Hiroko; Clowez, Sophie; Wollman, Francis-André; Vallon, Olivier; Rappaport, Fabrice

2013-01-01

Photosynthesis is the biological process that feeds the biosphere with reduced carbon. The assimilation of CO2 requires the fine tuning of two co-existing functional modes: linear electron flow, which provides NADPH and ATP, and cyclic electron flow, which only sustains ATP synthesis. Although the importance of this fine tuning is appreciated, its mechanism remains equivocal. Here we show that cyclic electron flow as well as formation of supercomplexes, thought to contribute to the enhancement of cyclic electron flow, are promoted in reducing conditions with no correlation with the reorganization of the thylakoid membranes associated with the migration of antenna proteins towards Photosystems I or II, a process known as state transition. We show that cyclic electron flow is tuned by the redox power and this provides a mechanistic model applying to the entire green lineage including the vast majority of the cases in which state transition only involves a moderate fraction of the antenna.

Anomalous second ferromagnetic phase transition in Co{sub 0.08}Bi{sub 1.92}Se{sub 3} topological insulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Min, E-mail: zmzmi1987@163.com; Liu, Ligang; Yang, Hui

2016-09-05

We report the observation of ferromagnetism in topological insulator Co{sub 0.08}Bi{sub 1.92}Se{sub 3} single crystal. The structural, magnetic, and microstructure properties of Co{sub 0.08}Bi{sub 1.92}Se{sub 3} are investigated. The existence of complicated ferromagnetic ordering, indicates the anomalous second ferromagnetic phase transition below 30 K. Well-defined ferromagnetic hysteresis in the magnetization was found in the sample. The origin of bulk ferromagnetism in Co{sub 0.08}Bi{sub 1.92}Se{sub 3} is concerned with three aspects: Co cluster, RKKY interactions, and the spin texture of Co impurities. - Highlights: • The bulk ferromagnetism have been found in the C{sub o0.08}Bi{sub 1.92}Se{sub 3} single crystal. • The anomalous second ferromagnetic phase transition is found below 30 K. • The origin of bulk ferromagnetism in Co{sub 0.08}Bi{sub 1.92}Se{sub 3} is concerned with three aspects.

Interlayer magnetoresistance in multilayer Dirac electron systems: motion and merging of Dirac cones

OpenAIRE

Assili, Mohamed; Haddad, Sonia

2013-01-01

We theoretically study the effect of the motion and the merging of Dirac cone on the interlayer magnetoresistance in multilayer graphene like systems. This merging, which could be induced by a uniaxial strain, gives rise in monolayer Dirac electron system to a topological transition from a semi-metallic phase to an insulating phase where Dirac points disappear. Based on a universal Hamiltonian proposed to describe the motion and the merging of Dirac points in two dimensional Dirac electron cr...

Duality between the Deconfined Quantum-Critical Point and the Bosonic Topological Transition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Qi Qin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Recently, significant progress has been made in (2+1-dimensional conformal field theories without supersymmetry. In particular, it was realized that different Lagrangians may be related by hidden dualities; i.e., seemingly different field theories may actually be identical in the infrared limit. Among all the proposed dualities, one has attracted particular interest in the field of strongly correlated quantum-matter systems: the one relating the easy-plane noncompact CP^{1} model (NCCP^{1} and noncompact quantum electrodynamics (QED with two flavors (N=2 of massless two-component Dirac fermions. The easy-plane NCCP^{1} model is the field theory of the putative deconfined quantum-critical point separating a planar (XY antiferromagnet and a dimerized (valence-bond solid ground state, while N=2 noncompact QED is the theory for the transition between a bosonic symmetry-protected topological phase and a trivial Mott insulator. In this work, we present strong numerical support for the proposed duality. We realize the N=2 noncompact QED at a critical point of an interacting fermion model on the bilayer honeycomb lattice and study it using determinant quantum Monte Carlo (QMC simulations. Using stochastic series expansion QMC simulations, we study a planar version of the S=1/2 J-Q spin Hamiltonian (a quantum XY model with additional multispin couplings and show that it hosts a continuous transition between the XY magnet and the valence-bond solid. The duality between the two systems, following from a mapping of their phase diagrams extending from their respective critical points, is supported by the good agreement between the critical exponents according to the proposed duality relationships. In the J-Q model, we find both continuous and first-order transitions, depending on the degree of planar anisotropy, with deconfined quantum criticality surviving only up to moderate strengths of the anisotropy. This explains previous claims of no deconfined

Electronic Structure Evolution across the Peierls Metal-Insulator Transition in a Correlated Ferromagnet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. A. Bhobe

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Transition metal compounds often undergo spin-charge-orbital ordering due to strong electron-electron correlations. In contrast, low-dimensional materials can exhibit a Peierls transition arising from low-energy electron-phonon-coupling-induced structural instabilities. We study the electronic structure of the tunnel framework compound K_{2}Cr_{8}O_{16}, which exhibits a temperature-dependent (T-dependent paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic-metal transition at T_{C}=180  K and transforms into a ferromagnetic insulator below T_{MI}=95  K. We observe clear T-dependent dynamic valence (charge fluctuations from above T_{C} to T_{MI}, which effectively get pinned to an average nominal valence of Cr^{+3.75} (Cr^{4+}∶Cr^{3+} states in a 3∶1 ratio in the ferromagnetic-insulating phase. High-resolution laser photoemission shows a T-dependent BCS-type energy gap, with 2G(0∼3.5(k_{B}T_{MI}∼35  meV. First-principles band-structure calculations, using the experimentally estimated on-site Coulomb energy of U∼4  eV, establish the necessity of strong correlations and finite structural distortions for driving the metal-insulator transition. In spite of the strong correlations, the nonintegral occupancy (2.25 d-electrons/Cr and the half-metallic ferromagnetism in the t_{2g} up-spin band favor a low-energy Peierls metal-insulator transition.

Topological interface states and effects for next generation of innovative devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kantser, Valeriu; Carlig, Sergiu

2013-01-01

Topological insulators (TI) have opened a gateway to search new quantum electronic phase of the condensed matter as well as to pave new platform of modern technology. This stems mainly on their unique surface states that are protected by time-reversal symmetry, show the Dirac cones connecting the inverted conduction and valence bands and exhibit unique spin-momentum locking property. Increasing the surface state contribution in proportion to the bulk of material is critical to investigate the surface states and for future innovative device applications. The way to achieve this is to configure topological insulators into nanostructures, which at the same time in combination with others materials significantly enlarge the variety of new states and phenomena. This article reviews the recent progress made in topological insulator nano heterostructures electronic states investigation. The state of art of different new scenario of engineering topologically interface states in the TI heterostructures are revealed, in particular by using polarization fields and antiferromagnetic ordering. Some of new proposals for innovative electronic devices are discussed. (authors)

Electron internal transport barriers and magnetic topology in the stellarator TJ-II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Estrada, T.; Alonso, A.; Castejon, F.; Hidalgo, C.; Pablos, J.L. de; Tereshin, V.; Krupnik, L.; Chmyga, A.A.; Dreval, N.; Khrebtov, S.M.; Komarov, A.D.; Kozachok, A.S.; Eliseev, L.; Melnikov, A.V.

2005-01-01

Electron Internal Transport Barriers (e-ITBs) are frequently observed in helical systems. e-ITBs are characterized by an increase in core electron temperature and plasma potential as well as an improvement in core electron heat confinement. A comparative study of transport barriers in different helical devices will be presented by Yokoyama et al at this conference. In most helical systems, and in particular in TJ-II stellarator, the formation of e-ITBs is observed in Electron Cyclotron Heated plasmas with high heating power density. In TJ-II, e-ITBs are also formed in magnetic configurations having a low order rational surface close to the plasma core where the ECH power is deposited. In such configurations the key element to improve heat confinement, i.e. the strong radial electric field, results from a synergistic effect between enhanced electron heat fluxes through the low order rational surface and pump-out mechanisms in the heat deposition zone. Recent experiments show a quasi-coherent mode associated with a rational surface that triggers the formation of the e-ITB. This quasi-coherent mode is observed by both ECE and HIBP diagnostics. The mode is found to be localized within the radial range ρ: 0.0 - 0.4, with a maximum amplitude around ρ: 0.25 - 0.35, close to the foot of the e- ITB. The quasi-coherent mode evolves during the formation/annihilation of the e-ITB and vanishes as the barrier is fully developed. These observations indicate that the quasi-coherent modes are modified by the radial electric fields that develop at the transitions, thereby showing the importance of ExB flows in the evolution of MHD instabilities linked to low-order rational surfaces. Further studies are in progress to investigate the influence of the order of the low rational surfaces (3/2, 5/3,...) in triggering core transitions. (author)

Universal Quantum Criticality in the Metal-Insulator Transition of Two-Dimensional Interacting Dirac Electrons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuichi Otsuka

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The metal-insulator transition has been a subject of intense research since Mott first proposed that the metallic behavior of interacting electrons could turn to an insulating one as electron correlations increase. Here, we consider electrons with massless Dirac-like dispersion in two spatial dimensions, described by the Hubbard models on two geometrically different lattices, and perform numerically exact calculations on unprecedentedly large systems that, combined with a careful finite-size scaling analysis, allow us to explore the quantum critical behavior in the vicinity of the interaction-driven metal-insulator transition. Thereby, we find that the transition is continuous, and we determine the quantum criticality for the corresponding universality class, which is described in the continuous limit by the Gross-Neveu model, a model extensively studied in quantum field theory. Furthermore, we discuss a fluctuation-driven scenario for the metal-insulator transition in the interacting Dirac electrons: The metal-insulator transition is triggered only by the vanishing of the quasiparticle weight, not by the Dirac Fermi velocity, which instead remains finite near the transition. This important feature cannot be captured by a simple mean-field or Gutzwiller-type approximate picture but is rather consistent with the low-energy behavior of the Gross-Neveu model.

Thermoelectric properties of 3D topological insulator: Direct observation of topological surface and its gap opened states

Science.gov (United States)

Matsushita, Stephane Yu; Huynh, Khuong Kim; Yoshino, Harukazu; Tu, Ngoc Han; Tanabe, Yoichi; Tanigaki, Katsumi

2017-10-01

We report thermoelectric (TE) properties of topological surface Dirac states (TSDS) in three-dimensional topological insulators (3D-TIs) purely isolated from the bulk by employing single-crystal B i2 -xS bxT e3 -yS ey films epitaxially grown in the ultrathin limit. Two intrinsic nontrivial topological surface states, a metallic TSDS (m-TSDS) and a gap-opened semiconducting topological state (g-TSDS), are successfully observed by electrical transport, and important TE parameters [electrical conductivity (σ), thermal conductivity (κ), and thermopower (S )] are accurately determined. Pure m-TSDS gives S =-44 μ V K-1 , which is an order of magnitude higher than those of the conventional metals and the value is enhanced to -212 μ V K-1 for g-TSDS. It is clearly shown that the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation (SBTE) in the framework of constant relaxation time (τ) most frequently used for conventional analysis cannot be valid in 3D-TIs and strong energy dependent relaxation time τ(E ) beyond the Born approximation is essential for making intrinsic interpretations. Although σ is protected on the m-TSDS, κ is greatly influenced by the disorder on the topological surface, giving a dissimilar effect between topologically protected electronic conduction and phonon transport.

Topology and shape optimization of induced-charge electro-osmotic micropumps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gregersen, Misha Marie; Okkels, Fridolin; Bazant, M. Z.

2009-01-01

For a dielectric solid surrounded by an electrolyte and positioned inside an externally biased parallel-plate capacitor, we study numerically how the resulting induced-charge electro-osmotic (ICEO) flow depends on the topology and shape of the dielectric solid. In particular, we extend existing...... conventional electrokinetic models with an artificial design field to describe the transition from the liquid electrolyte to the solid dielectric. Using this design field, we have succeeded in applying the method of topology optimization to find system geometries with non-trivial topologies that maximize...... the net induced electro-osmotic flow rate through the electrolytic capacitor in the direction parallel to the capacitor plates. Once found, the performance of the topology-optimized geometries has been validated by transferring them to conventional electrokinetic models not relying on the artificial...

Beyond Group: Multiple Person Tracking via Minimal Topology-Energy-Variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Shan; Ye, Qixiang; Xing, Junliang; Kuijper, Arjan; Han, Zhenjun; Jiao, Jianbin; Ji, Xiangyang

2017-12-01

Tracking multiple persons is a challenging task when persons move in groups and occlude each other. Existing group-based methods have extensively investigated how to make group division more accurately in a tracking-by-detection framework; however, few of them quantify the group dynamics from the perspective of targets' spatial topology or consider the group in a dynamic view. Inspired by the sociological properties of pedestrians, we propose a novel socio-topology model with a topology-energy function to factor the group dynamics of moving persons and groups. In this model, minimizing the topology-energy-variance in a two-level energy form is expected to produce smooth topology transitions, stable group tracking, and accurate target association. To search for the strong minimum in energy variation, we design the discrete group-tracklet jump moves embedded in the gradient descent method, which ensures that the moves reduce the energy variation of group and trajectory alternately in the varying topology dimension. Experimental results on both RGB and RGB-D data sets show the superiority of our proposed model for multiple person tracking in crowd scenes.

Experimental verification of acoustic pseudospin multipoles in a symmetry-broken snowflakelike topological insulator

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiwang; Tian, Ye; Cheng, Ying; Liu, Xiaojun; Christensen, Johan

2017-12-01

Topologically protected wave engineering in artificially structured media resides at the frontier of ongoing metamaterials research, which is inspired by quantum mechanics. Acoustic analogs of electronic topological insulators have recently led to a wealth of new opportunities in manipulating sound propagation by means of robust edge mode excitations through analogies drawn to exotic quantum states. A variety of artificial acoustic systems hosting topological edge states have been proposed analogous to the quantum Hall effect, topological insulators, and Floquet topological insulators in electronic systems. However, those systems were characterized by a fixed geometry and a very narrow frequency response, which severely hinders the exploration and design of useful applications. Here we establish acoustic multipolar pseudospin states as an engineering degree of freedom in time-reversal invariant flow-free phononic crystals and develop reconfigurable topological insulators through rotation of their meta-atoms and reshaping of the metamolecules. Specifically, we show how rotation forms man-made snowflakelike molecules, whose topological phase mimics pseudospin-down (pseudospin-up) dipolar and quadrupolar states, which are responsible for a plethora of robust edge confined properties and topological controlled refraction disobeying Snell's law.

Topological Field Theory of Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qi, Xiao-Liang; Hughes, Taylor; Zhang, Shou-Cheng; /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.

2010-03-19

We show that the fundamental time reversal invariant (TRI) insulator exists in 4 + 1 dimensions, where the effective field theory is described by the 4 + 1 dimensional Chern-Simons theory and the topological properties of the electronic structure is classified by the second Chern number. These topological properties are the natural generalizations of the time reversal breaking (TRB) quantum Hall insulator in 2 + 1 dimensions. The TRI quantum spin Hall insulator in 2 + 1 dimensions and the topological insulator in 3 + 1 dimension can be obtained as descendants from the fundamental TRI insulator in 4 + 1 dimensions through a dimensional reduction procedure. The effective topological field theory, and the Z{sub 2} topological classification for the TRI insulators in 2+1 and 3+1 dimensions are naturally obtained from this procedure. All physically measurable topological response functions of the TRI insulators are completely described by the effective topological field theory. Our effective topological field theory predicts a number of novel and measurable phenomena, the most striking of which is the topological magneto-electric effect, where an electric field generates a magnetic field in the same direction, with an universal constant of proportionality quantized in odd multiples of the fine structure constant {alpha} = e{sup 2}/hc. Finally, we present a general classification of all topological insulators in various dimensions, and describe them in terms of a unified topological Chern-Simons field theory in phase space.

Tetradymites as thermoelectrics and topological insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Heremans, Joseph P.; Cava, Robert J.; Samarth, Nitin

2017-10-01

Tetradymites are M2X3 compounds — in which M is a group V metal, usually Bi or Sb, and X is a group VI anion, Te, Se or S — that crystallize in a rhombohedral structure. Bi2Se3, Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 are archetypical tetradymites. Other mixtures of M and X elements produce common variants, such as Bi2Te2Se. Because tetradymites are based on heavy p-block elements, strong spin-orbit coupling greatly influences their electronic properties, both on the surface and in the bulk. Their surface electronic states are a cornerstone of frontier work on topological insulators. The bulk energy bands are characterized by small energy gaps, high group velocities, small effective masses and band inversion near the centre of the Brillouin zone. These properties are favourable for high-efficiency thermoelectric materials but make it difficult to obtain an electrically insulating bulk, which is a requirement of topological insulators. This Review outlines recent progress made in bulk and thin-film tetradymite materials for the optimization of their properties both as thermoelectrics and as topological insulators.

Disorder effects in topological states: Brief review of the recent developments

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Binglan; Song, Juntao; Zhou, Jiaojiao; Jiang, Hua

2016-11-01

Disorder inevitably exists in realistic samples, manifesting itself in various exotic properties for the topological states. In this paper, we summarize and briefly review the work completed over the last few years, including our own, regarding recent developments in several topics about disorder effects in topological states. For weak disorder, the robustness of topological states is demonstrated, especially for both quantum spin Hall states with Z 2 = 1 and size induced nontrivial topological insulators with Z 2 = 0. For moderate disorder, by increasing the randomness of both the impurity distribution and the impurity induced potential, the topological insulator states can be created from normal metallic or insulating states. These phenomena and their mechanisms are summarized. For strong disorder, the disorder causes a metal-insulator transition. Due to their topological nature, the phase diagrams are much richer in topological state systems. Finally, the trends in these areas of disorder research are discussed. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11374219, 11474085, and 11534001) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No BK20160007).

Topology and Edge Modes in Quantum Critical Chains

Science.gov (United States)

Verresen, Ruben; Jones, Nick G.; Pollmann, Frank

2018-02-01

We show that topology can protect exponentially localized, zero energy edge modes at critical points between one-dimensional symmetry-protected topological phases. This is possible even without gapped degrees of freedom in the bulk—in contrast to recent work on edge modes in gapless chains. We present an intuitive picture for the existence of these edge modes in the case of noninteracting spinless fermions with time-reversal symmetry (BDI class of the tenfold way). The stability of this phenomenon relies on a topological invariant defined in terms of a complex function, counting its zeros and poles inside the unit circle. This invariant can prevent two models described by the same conformal field theory (CFT) from being smoothly connected. A full classification of critical phases in the noninteracting BDI class is obtained: Each phase is labeled by the central charge of the CFT, c ∈1/2 N , and the topological invariant, ω ∈Z . Moreover, c is determined by the difference in the number of edge modes between the phases neighboring the transition. Numerical simulations show that the topological edge modes of critical chains can be stable in the presence of interactions and disorder.

Fermion condensation and gapped domain walls in topological orders

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wan, Yidun [Department of Physics and Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics, Fudan University,Shanghai 200433 (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University,Nanjing 210093 (China); Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics,Waterloo N2L 2Y5, Ontario (Canada); Wang, Chenjie [Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics,Waterloo N2L 2Y5, Ontario (Canada)

2017-03-31

We study fermion condensation in bosonic topological orders in two spatial dimensions. Fermion condensation may be realized as gapped domain walls between bosonic and fermionic topological orders, which may be thought of as real-space phase transitions from bosonic to fermionic topological orders. This picture generalizes the previous idea of understanding boson condensation as gapped domain walls between bosonic topological orders. While simple-current fermion condensation was considered before, we systematically study general fermion condensation and show that it obeys a Hierarchy Principle: a general fermion condensation can always be decomposed into a boson condensation followed by a minimal fermion condensation. The latter involves only a single self-fermion that is its own anti-particle and that has unit quantum dimension. We develop the rules of minimal fermion condensation, which together with the known rules of boson condensation, provides a full set of rules for general fermion condensation.

Topology and the eta' mass in SU(3) lattice gauge theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hock, Jaap; Teper, M.; Waterhouse, J.

1986-06-01

The topological charge density of the (Monte Carlo generated) SU(3) vacuum is measured. The algorithm is designed to be robust against lattice artifacts. The resulting topological susceptibility is found to vary with g 2 like the string tension (within errors) which allows one to extract a value in physical units: Xsub(t) approx. = (190 +-10 MeV) 4 in good agreement with the Witten-Veneziano mass formula. The topological susceptibility is found to be strongly suppressed as the temperature is raised through the deconfining transition: the quantum Usub(A)(1) symmetry is effectively restored in the deconfined phase. (author)

Transition and Electron Impact Excitation Collision Rates for O III

Science.gov (United States)

Tayal, S. S.; Zatsarinny, O.

2017-12-01

Transition probabilities, electron excitation collision strengths, and rate coefficients for a large number of O III lines over a broad wavelength range, from the infrared to ultraviolet, have been reported. The collision strengths have been calculated in the close-coupling approximation using the B-spline Breit-Pauli R-matrix method. The multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock method in combination with B-spline expansions is employed for an accurate representation of the target wave functions. The close-coupling expansion contains 202 O2+ fine-structure levels of the 2{s}22{p}2,2s2{p}3, 2{p}4,2{s}22p3s,3p,3d, 4s,4p,4d,4f,5s, and 2s2{p}33s,3p,3d configurations. The effective collision strengths are obtained by averaging electron excitation collision strengths over a Maxwellian distribution of velocities at electron temperatures ranging from 100 to 100,000 K. The calculated effective collision strengths have been reported for the 20,302 transitions between all 202 fine-structure levels. There is an overall good agreement with the recent R-matrix calculations by Storey et al. for the transitions between all levels of the ground 2{s}22{p}2 configuration, but significant discrepancies have been found with Palay et al. for transitions to the 2{s}22{p}2 1 S 0 level. Line intensity ratios between the optical lines arising from the 2{s}22{p}2{}3{P}{0,1,2} - 1 D 2 transitions have been compared with other calculations and observations from the photoionized gaseous nebulae, and good agreement is found. The present calculations provide the most complete and accurate data sets, which should allow a more detailed treatment of the available measured spectra from different ground and space observatories.

Probing a molecular electronic transition by two-colour sum-frequency generation spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humbert, C.; Dreesen, L.; Nihonyanagi, S.; Masuda, T.; Kondo, T.; Mani, A.A.; Uosaki, K.; Thiry, P.A.; Peremans, A.

2003-01-01

We demonstrate that a new emerging technique, two-colour sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy, can be used to probe the molecular electronic properties of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). In the CH spectral range (2800-3200 cm -1 ), we show that the sum-frequency generation signal of a porphyrin alkanethiol derivative adsorbed on Pt(1 1 1) reaches a maximum intensity at ∼435 nm SFG wavelength. This wavelength corresponds to the porphyrin moiety specific π-π* molecular electronic transition which is called the Soret or B band. This resonant behaviour is not observed for 1-dodecanethiol SAMs, which are devoid of molecular electronic transition in the investigated visible spectral range

Strongly correlated electron systems and neutron scattering. Magnetism, superconductivity, structural phase transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katano, Susumu [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

1998-03-01

Neutron scattering experiments in our group on strongly correlated electron systems are reviewed Metal-insulator transitions caused by structural phase transitions in (La{sub 1-x}Sr{sub x}) MnO{sub 3}, a novel magnetic transition in the CeP compound, correlations between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in UPd{sub 2}Al{sub 3} and so forth are discussed. Here, in this note, the phase transition of Mn-oxides was mainly described. (author)

Spin-rotation symmetry breaking and triplet superconducting state in doped topological insulator CuxBi2Se3

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Guo-Qing

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is an important concept for understanding physics ranging from the elementary particles to states of matter. For example, the superconducting state breaks global gauge symmetry, and unconventional superconductors can break additional symmetries. In particular, spin rotational symmetry is expected to be broken in spin-triplet superconductors. However, experimental evidence for such symmetry breaking has not been obtained so far in any candidate compounds. We report 77Se nuclear magnetic resonance measurements which showed that spin rotation symmetry is spontaneously broken in the hexagonal plane of the electron-doped topological insulator Cu0.3Bi2Se3 below the superconducting transition temperature Tc =3.4 K. Our results not only establish spin-triplet (odd parity) superconductivity in this compound, but also serve to lay a foundation for the research of topological superconductivity (Ref.). We will also report the doping mechanism and superconductivity in Sn1-xInxTe.

Network topology for the formation of solvated electrons in binary CaO–Al2O3 composition glasses

Science.gov (United States)

Akola, Jaakko; Kohara, Shinji; Ohara, Koji; Fujiwara, Akihiko; Watanabe, Yasuhiro; Masuno, Atsunobu; Usuki, Takeshi; Kubo, Takashi; Nakahira, Atsushi; Nitta, Kiyofumi; Uruga, Tomoya; Weber, J. K. Richard; Benmore, Chris J.

2013-01-01

Glass formation in the CaO–Al2O3 system represents an important phenomenon because it does not contain typical network-forming cations. We have produced structural models of CaO–Al2O3 glasses using combined density functional theory–reverse Monte Carlo simulations and obtained structures that reproduce experiments (X-ray and neutron diffraction, extended X-ray absorption fine structure) and result in cohesive energies close to the crystalline ground states. The O–Ca and O–Al coordination numbers are similar in the eutectic 64 mol % CaO (64CaO) glass [comparable to 12CaO·7Al2O3 (C12A7)], and the glass structure comprises a topologically disordered cage network with large-sized rings. This topologically disordered network is the signature of the high glass-forming ability of 64CaO glass and high viscosity in the melt. Analysis of the electronic structure reveals that the atomic charges for Al are comparable to those for Ca, and the bond strength of Al–O is stronger than that of Ca–O, indicating that oxygen is more weakly bound by cations in CaO-rich glass. The analysis shows that the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals occurs in cavity sites, suggesting that the C12A7 electride glass [Kim SW, Shimoyama T, Hosono H (2011) Science 333(6038):71–74] synthesized from a strongly reduced high-temperature melt can host solvated electrons and bipolarons. Calculations of 64CaO glass structures with few subtracted oxygen atoms (additional electrons) confirm this observation. The comparable atomic charges and coordination of the cations promote more efficient elemental mixing, and this is the origin of the extended cage structure and hosted solvated (trapped) electrons in the C12A7 glass. PMID:23723350

Spin delocalization phase transition in a correlated electrons model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huerta, L.

1990-11-01

In a simplified one-site model for correlated electrons systems we show the existence of a phase transition corresponding to spin delocalization. The system becomes a solvable model and zero-dimensional functional techniques are used. (author). 7 refs, 3 figs

Measurement of peripheral electron temperature by electron cyclotron emission during the H-mode transition in JFT-2M tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshino, Katsumichi; Yamamoto, Takumi; Kawashima, Hisato

1987-01-01

Time evolution and profile of peripheral electron temperature during the H-mode like transition in a tokamak plasma is measured using the second and third harmonic of electron cyclotron emission (ECE). The so called ''H-mode'' state which has good particle/energy confinement is characterized by sudden decrease in the spectral line intensity of deuterium molecule. Such a sudden decrease in the line intensity of D α with good energy confinement is found not only in divertor discharges, but also in limiter dischargs in JFT-2M tokamak. It is found by the measurement of ECE that the peripheral electron temperature suddenly increases in both of such phases. The relation between H-transition and the peripheral electron temperature or its profile is investigated. (author)

Topology

CERN Document Server

Hocking, John G

1988-01-01

""As textbook and reference work, this is a valuable addition to the topological literature."" - Mathematical ReviewsDesigned as a text for a one-year first course in topology, this authoritative volume offers an excellent general treatment of the main ideas of topology. It includes a large number and variety of topics from classical topology as well as newer areas of research activity.There are four set-theoretic chapters, followed by four primarily algebraic chapters. Chapter I covers the fundamentals of topological and metrical spaces, mappings, compactness, product spaces, the Tychonoff t

Topological hierarchy matters — topological matters with superlattices of defects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Jing; Kou Su-Peng

2016-01-01

Topological insulators/superconductors are new states of quantum matter with metallic edge/surface states. In this paper, we review the defects effect in these topological states and study new types of topological matters — topological hierarchy matters. We find that both topological defects (quantized vortices) and non topological defects (vacancies) can induce topological mid-gap states in the topological hierarchy matters after considering the superlattice of defects. These topological mid-gap states have nontrivial topological properties, including the nonzero Chern number and the gapless edge states. Effective tight-binding models are obtained to describe the topological mid-gap states in the topological hierarchy matters. (topical review)

Relation of the runaway avalanche threshold to momentum space topology

Science.gov (United States)

McDevitt, Christopher J.; Guo, Zehua; Tang, Xian-Zhu

2018-02-01

The underlying physics responsible for the formation of an avalanche instability due to the generation of secondary electrons is studied. A careful examination of the momentum space topology of the runaway electron population is carried out with an eye toward identifying how qualitative changes in the momentum space of the runaway electrons is correlated with the avalanche threshold. It is found that the avalanche threshold is tied to the merger of an O and X point in the momentum space of the primary runaway electron population. Such a change of the momentum space topology is shown to be accurately described by a simple analytic model, thus providing a powerful means of determining the avalanche threshold for a range of model assumptions.

The average-shadowing property and topological ergodicity for flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu Rongbao; Guo Wenjing

2005-01-01

In this paper, the transitive property for a flow without sensitive dependence on initial conditions is studied and it is shown that a Lyapunov stable flow with the average-shadowing property on a compact metric space is topologically ergodic

Electron paramagnetic resonance of transition ions

CERN Document Server

Abragam, Anatole

1970-01-01

This book is a reissue of a classic Oxford text, and provides a comprehensive treatment of electron paramagnetic resonance of ions of the transition groups. The emphasis is on basic principles, with numerous references to publications containing further experimental results and more detailed developments of the theory. An introductory survey gives a general understanding, and a general survey presents such topics as the classical and quantum resonance equations, thespin-Hamiltonian, Endor, spin-spin and spin-lattice interactions, together with an outline of the known behaviour of ions of each

High-Harmonic Generation in Solids with and without Topological Edge States

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bauer, Dieter; Hansen, Kenneth Christian Klochmann

2018-01-01

High-harmonic generation in the two topological phases of a finite, one-dimensional, periodic structure is investigated using a self-consistent time-dependent density functional theory approach. For harmonic photon energies smaller than the band gap, the harmonic yield is found to differ by up...... to 14 orders of magnitude for the two topological phases. This giant topological effect is explained by the degree of destructive interference in the harmonic emission of all valence-band (and edge-state) electrons, which strongly depends on whether or not topological edge states are present...

Topological dynamics of gyroscopic and Floquet lattices from Newton's laws

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ching Hua; Li, Guangjie; Jin, Guliuxin; Liu, Yuhan; Zhang, Xiao

2018-02-01

Despite intense interest in realizing topological phases across a variety of electronic, photonic, and mechanical platforms, the detailed microscopic origin of topological behavior often remains elusive. To bridge this conceptual gap, we show how hallmarks of topological modes—boundary localization and chirality—emerge from Newton's laws in mechanical topological systems. We first construct a gyroscopic lattice with analytically solvable edge modes, and show how the Lorentz and spring restoring forces conspire to support very robust "dangling bond" boundary modes. The chirality and locality of these modes intuitively emerges from microscopic balancing of restoring forces and cyclotron tendencies. Next, we introduce the highlight of this work, an experimentally realistic mechanical nonequilibrium (Floquet) Chern lattice driven by ac electromagnets. Through appropriate synchronization of the ac driving protocol, the Floquet lattice is "pushed around" by a rotating potential analogous to an object washed ashore by water waves. Besides hosting "dangling bond" chiral modes analogous to the gyroscopic boundary modes, our Floquet Chern lattice also supports peculiar half-period chiral modes with no static analog, i.e., analogs of anomalous Floquet Chern insulators edge modes. With key parameters controlled electronically, our setup has the advantage of being dynamically tunable for applications involving arbitrary Floquet modulations. The physical intuition gleaned from our two prototypical topological systems is applicable not just to arbitrarily complicated mechanical systems, but also photonic and electrical topological setups.

Positron annihilation and pressure-induced electronic s-d transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McMahan, A.K.; Skriver, H.L.

1985-06-01

The polycrystalline, partial annihilation rates for positrons in compressed cesium have been calculated using the linear muffin-tin orbitals method. These results suggest that the pressure-induced electronic s-d transition in Cs should be directly observable by momentum sensitive positron annihilation experiments

Exploring the Interaction Natures in Plutonyl (VI Complexes with Topological Analyses of Electron Density

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiguang Du

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The interaction natures between Pu and different ligands in several plutonyl (VI complexes are investigated by performing topological analyses of electron density. The geometrical structures in both gaseous and aqueous phases are obtained with B3LYP functional, and are generally in agreement with available theoretical and experimental results when combined with all-electron segmented all-electron relativistic contracted (SARC basis set. The Pu– O y l bond orders show significant linear dependence on bond length and the charge of oxygen atoms in plutonyl moiety. The closed-shell interactions were identified for Pu-Ligand bonds in most complexes with quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM analyses. Meanwhile, we found that some Pu–Ligand bonds, like Pu–OH−, show weak covalent. The interactive nature of Pu–ligand bonds were revealed based on the interaction quantum atom (IQA energy decomposition approach, and our results indicate that all Pu–Ligand interactions is dominated by the electrostatic attraction interaction as expected. Meanwhile it is also important to note that the quantum mechanical exchange-correlation contributions can not be ignored. By means of the non-covalent interaction (NCI approach it has been found that some weak and repulsion interactions existed in plutonyl(VI complexes, which can not be distinguished by QTAIM, can be successfully identified.

On the electron density localization in elemental cubic ceramic and FCC transition metals by means of a localized electrons detector.

Science.gov (United States)

Aray, Yosslen; Paredes, Ricardo; Álvarez, Luis Javier; Martiz, Alejandro

2017-06-14

The electron density localization in insulator and semiconductor elemental cubic materials with diamond structure, carbon, silicon, germanium, and tin, and good metallic conductors with face centered cubic structure such as α-Co, Ni, Cu, Rh, Pd, Ag, Ir, Pt, and Au, was studied using a localized electrons detector defined in the local moment representation. Our results clearly show an opposite pattern of the electron density localization for the cubic ceramic and transition metal materials. It was found that, for the elemental ceramic materials, the zone of low electron localization is very small and is mainly localized on the atomic basin edges. On the contrary, for the transition metals, there are low-valued localized electrons detector isocontours defining a zone of highly delocalized electrons that extends throughout the material. We have found that the best conductors are those in which the electron density at this low-value zone is the lowest.

Metamorphoses of electronic structure of FeSe-based superconductors (Review Article)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pustovit, Yu.V.; Kordyuk, A.A.

2016-01-01

The electronic structure of FeSe, the simplest iron-based superconductor (Fe-SC), conceals a potential of dramatic increase of Tc that realizes under pressure or in a single layer film. This is also the system where nematicity, the phenomenon of a keen current interest, is most easy to study since it is not accompanied by the antiferromagnetic transition like in all other Fe-SC. Here we overview recent experimental data on electronic structure of FeSe-based superconductors: isovalently doped crystals, intercalates, and single layer films, trying to clarify its topology and possible relation of this topology to superconductivity. We argue that the marked differences between the experimental and calculated band structures for all FeSe compounds can be described by a hoping selective renormalization model for a spin/orbital correlated state that may naturally ex-plain both the evolution of the band structure with temperature and nematicity.

Symmetry-protected topological superfluids and superconductors. From the basics to 3He

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizushima, Takeshi; Tsutsumi, Yasumasa; Kawakami, Takuto; Sato, Masatoshi; Ichioka, Masanori; Machida, Kazushige

2016-01-01

In this article, we give a comprehensive review of recent progress in research on symmetry-protected topological superfluids and topological crystalline superconductors, and their physical consequences such as helical and chiral Majorana fermions. We start this review article with the minimal model that captures the essence of such topological materials. The central part of this article is devoted to the superfluid 3 He, which serves as a rich repository of novel topological quantum phenomena originating from the intertwining of symmetries and topologies. In particular, it is emphasized that the quantum fluid confined to nanofabricated geometries possesses multiple superfluid phases composed of the symmetry-protected topological superfluid B-phase, the A-phase as a Weyl superfluid, the nodal planar and polar phases, and the crystalline ordered stripe phase. All these phases generate noteworthy topological phenomena, including topological phase transitions concomitant with spontaneous symmetry breaking, Majorana fermions, Weyl superfluidity, emergent supersymmetry, spontaneous edge mass and spin currents, topological Fermi arcs, and exotic quasiparticles bound to topological defects. In relation to the mass current carried by gapless edge states, we also briefly review a longstanding issue on the intrinsic angular momentum paradox in 3 He-A. Moreover, we share the current status of our knowledge on the topological aspects of unconventional superconductors, such as the heavy-fermion superconductor UPt 3 and superconducting doped topological insulators, in connection with the superfluid 3 He. (author)

Quantum and Classical Approaches in Graphene and Topological Insulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Posvyanskiy, Vladimir

mechanical study, this approach can give simple and pictorial explanation of the topological edge states. In our work we find the semiclassical orbits for the samples of different geometries and also discuss the influence of the quantum effects, the Berry phase, on the semiclassical electron dynamics....... Finally, we try to find the semiclassical mechanism responsible for topological protection of the edge states....

Ferromagnetic semiconductor-metal transition in heterostructures of electron doped europium monoxide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stollenwerk, Tobias

2013-09-15

In the present work, we develop and solve a self-consistent theory for the description of the simultaneous ferromagnetic semiconductor-metal transition in electron doped Europium monoxide. We investigate two different types of electron doping, Gadolinium impurities and Oxygen vacancies. Besides the conduction band occupation, we can identify low lying spin fluctuations on magnetic impurities as the driving force behind the doping induced enhancement of the Curie temperature. Moreover, we predict the signatures of these magnetic impurities in the spectra of scanning tunneling microscope experiments. By extending the theory to allow for inhomogeneities in one spatial direction, we are able to investigate thin films and heterostructures of Gadolinium doped Europium monoxide. Here, we are able to reproduce the experimentally observed decrease of the Curie temperature with the film thickness. This behavior is attributed to missing coupling partners of the localized 4f moments as well as to an electron depletion at the surface which leads to a reduction of the number of itinerant electrons. By investigating the influence of a metallic substrate onto the phase transition in Gadolinium doped Europium monoxide, we find that the Curie temperature can be increased up to 20%. However, as we show, the underlying mechanism of metal-interface induced charge carrier accumulation is inextricably connected to a suppression of the semiconductor-metal transition.

Ferromagnetic semiconductor-metal transition in heterostructures of electron doped europium monoxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stollenwerk, Tobias

2013-09-01

In the present work, we develop and solve a self-consistent theory for the description of the simultaneous ferromagnetic semiconductor-metal transition in electron doped Europium monoxide. We investigate two different types of electron doping, Gadolinium impurities and Oxygen vacancies. Besides the conduction band occupation, we can identify low lying spin fluctuations on magnetic impurities as the driving force behind the doping induced enhancement of the Curie temperature. Moreover, we predict the signatures of these magnetic impurities in the spectra of scanning tunneling microscope experiments. By extending the theory to allow for inhomogeneities in one spatial direction, we are able to investigate thin films and heterostructures of Gadolinium doped Europium monoxide. Here, we are able to reproduce the experimentally observed decrease of the Curie temperature with the film thickness. This behavior is attributed to missing coupling partners of the localized 4f moments as well as to an electron depletion at the surface which leads to a reduction of the number of itinerant electrons. By investigating the influence of a metallic substrate onto the phase transition in Gadolinium doped Europium monoxide, we find that the Curie temperature can be increased up to 20%. However, as we show, the underlying mechanism of metal-interface induced charge carrier accumulation is inextricably connected to a suppression of the semiconductor-metal transition.

Magnetic susceptibility in the edged topological disordered nanoscopic cylinder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faizabadi, Edris; Omidi, Mahboubeh

2011-01-01

The effects of edged topological disorder on magnetic susceptibility are investigated in a nanoscopic cylinder threaded by a magnetic flux. Persistent current versus even or odd number of electrons shows different signs in ordered and disordered cylinders and also in short or long ones. In addition, temperature-averaged susceptibility has only diamagnetic signs in strong regimes and it is associated with paramagnetic signs in ordered and weak disordered ones. Besides, in an edged topological disordered cylinder, the temperature-averaged susceptibility decreases by raising the temperature somewhat and then increasing initiates and finally at high temperature tends to zero as the ordered one. - Research highlights: → Magnetic susceptibility in one-dimensional topological disordered quantum ring. → Edged topological disorder effect on magnetic susceptibility in nanoscopic cylinder. → Edged topological disorder effect on temperature-averaged susceptibility in cylinder.

Low bias negative differential conductance and reversal of current in coupled quantum dots in different topological configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Devi, Sushila; Brogi, B. B.; Ahluwalia, P. K.; Chand, S.

2018-06-01

Electronic transport through asymmetric parallel coupled quantum dot system hybridized between normal leads has been investigated theoretically in the Coulomb blockade regime by using Non-Equilibrium Green Function formalism. A new decoupling scheme proposed by Rabani and his co-workers has been adopted to close the chain of higher order Green's functions appearing in the equations of motion. For resonant tunneling case; the calculations of current and differential conductance have been presented during transition of coupled quantum dot system from series to symmetric parallel configuration. It has been found that during this transition, increase in current and differential conductance of the system occurs. Furthermore, clear signatures of negative differential conductance and negative current appear in series case, both of which disappear when topology of system is tuned to asymmetric parallel configuration.

Interface currents in topological superconductor–ferromagnet heterostructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brydon, P M R; Timm, Carsten; Schnyder, Andreas P

2013-01-01

We propose the existence of a substantial charge current parallel to the interface between a noncentrosymmetric superconductor and a metallic ferromagnet. Our analysis focuses upon two complementary orbital-angular-momentum pairing states of the superconductor, exemplifying topologically nontrivial states which are gapped and gapless in the bulk, respectively. Utilizing a quasiclassical scattering theory, we derive an expression for the interface current in terms of Andreev reflection coefficients. Performing a systematic study of the current, we find stark qualitative differences between the gapped and gapless superconductors, which reflect the very different underlying topological properties. For the fully gapped superconductor, there is a sharp drop in the zero-temperature current as the system is tuned from a topologically nontrivial to a trivial phase. We explain this in terms of the sudden disappearance of the contribution to the current from the subgap edge states at the topological transition. The current in the gapless superconductor is characterized by a dramatic enhancement at low temperatures, and exhibits a singular dependence on the exchange-field strength in the ferromagnetic metal at zero temperature. This is caused by the energy shift of the strongly spin-polarized nondegenerate zero-energy flat bands due to their coupling to the exchange field. We argue that the interface current provides a novel test of the topology of the superconductor, and discuss prospects for the experimental verification of our predictions. (paper)

Electron-doping by hydrogen in transition-metal dichalcogenides

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Sehoon; Im, Seongil; Choi, Hyoung Joon

Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the atomic and electronic structures of 2H-phase transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDC), 2H-MX2, with and without defects, where M is Mo or W and X is S, Se or Te. We find that doping of atomic hydrogen on 2H-MX2 induces electron doping in the conduction band. To understand the mechanism of this electron doping, we analyze the electronic structures with and without impurities. We also calculate the diffusion energy barrier to discuss the spatial stability of the doping. Based on these results, we suggest a possible way to fabricate elaborately-patterned circuits by modulating the carrier type of 2H-MoTe2. We also discuss possible applications of this doping in designing nano-devices. This work was supported by NRF of Korea (Grant No. 2011-0018306) and KISTI supercomputing center (Project No. KSC-2016-C3-0052).

Geodesic paths and topological charges in quantum systems

Science.gov (United States)

Grangeiro Souza Barbosa Lima, Tiago Aecio

This dissertation focuses on one question: how should one drive an experimentally prepared state of a generic quantum system into a different target-state, simultaneously minimizing energy dissipation and maximizing the fidelity between the target and evolved-states? We develop optimal adiabatic driving protocols for general quantum systems, and show that these are geodesic paths. Geometric ideas have always played a fundamental role in the understanding and unification of physical phenomena, and the recent discovery of topological insulators has drawn great interest to topology from the field of condensed matter physics. Here, we discuss the quantum geometric tensor, a mathematical object that encodes geometrical and topological properties of a quantum system. It is related to the fidelity susceptibility (an important quantity regarding quantum phase transitions) and to the Berry curvature, which enables topological characterization through Berry phases. A refined understanding of the interplay between geometry and topology in quantum mechanics is of direct relevance to several emergent technologies, such as quantum computers, quantum cryptography, and quantum sensors. As a demonstration of how powerful geometric and topological ideas can become when combined, we present the results of an experiment that we recently proposed. This experimental work was done at the Google Quantum Lab, where researchers were able to visualize the topological nature of a two-qubit system in sharp detail, a startling contrast with earlier methods. To achieve this feat, the optimal protocols described in this dissertation were used, allowing for a great improvement on the experimental apparatus, without the need for technical engineering advances. Expanding the existing literature on the quantum geometric tensor using notions from differential geometry and topology, we build on the subject nowadays known as quantum geometry. We discuss how slowly changing a parameter of a quantum

Nanometric holograms based on a topological insulator material.

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Zengji; Xue, Gaolei; Liu, Juan; Wang, Yongtian; Gu, Min

2017-05-18

Holography has extremely extensive applications in conventional optical instruments spanning optical microscopy and imaging, three-dimensional displays and metrology. To integrate holography with modern low-dimensional electronic devices, holograms need to be thinned to a nanometric scale. However, to keep a pronounced phase shift modulation, the thickness of holograms has been generally limited to the optical wavelength scale, which hinders their integration with ultrathin electronic devices. Here, we break this limit and achieve 60 nm holograms using a topological insulator material. We discover that nanometric topological insulator thin films act as an intrinsic optical resonant cavity due to the unequal refractive indices in their metallic surfaces and bulk. The resonant cavity leads to enhancement of phase shifts and thus the holographic imaging. Our work paves a way towards integrating holography with flat electronic devices for optical imaging, data storage and information security.

Weak Localization and Antilocalization in Topological Materials with Impurity Spin-Orbit Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Hankiewicz, Ewelina M.; Culcer, Dimitrie

2017-01-01

Topological materials have attracted considerable experimental and theoretical attention. They exhibit strong spin-orbit coupling both in the band structure (intrinsic) and in the impurity potentials (extrinsic), although the latter is often neglected. In this work, we discuss weak localization and antilocalization of massless Dirac fermions in topological insulators and massive Dirac fermions in Weyl semimetal thin films, taking into account both intrinsic and extrinsic spin-orbit interactions. The physics is governed by the complex interplay of the chiral spin texture, quasiparticle mass, and scalar and spin-orbit scattering. We demonstrate that terms linear in the extrinsic spin-orbit scattering are generally present in the Bloch and momentum relaxation times in all topological materials, and the correction to the diffusion constant is linear in the strength of the extrinsic spin-orbit. In topological insulators, which have zero quasiparticle mass, the terms linear in the impurity spin-orbit coupling lead to an observable density dependence in the weak antilocalization correction. They produce substantial qualitative modifications to the magnetoconductivity, differing greatly from the conventional Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka formula traditionally used in experimental fits, which predicts a crossover from weak localization to antilocalization as a function of the extrinsic spin-orbit strength. In contrast, our analysis reveals that topological insulators always exhibit weak antilocalization. In Weyl semimetal thin films having intermediate to large values of the quasiparticle mass, we show that extrinsic spin-orbit scattering strongly affects the boundary of the weak localization to antilocalization transition. We produce a complete phase diagram for this transition as a function of the mass and spin-orbit scattering strength. Throughout the paper, we discuss implications for experimental work, and, at the end, we provide a brief comparison with transition metal

Suppression of the Transit -Time Instability in Large-Area Electron Beam Diodes

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Matthew C.; Friedman, Moshe; Swanekamp, Stephen B.; Chan, Lop-Yung; Ludeking, Larry; Sethian, John D.

2002-12-01

Experiment, theory, and simulation have shown that large-area electron-beam diodes are susceptible to the transit-time instability. The instability modulates the electron beam spatially and temporally, producing a wide spread in electron energy and momentum distributions. The result is gross inefficiency in beam generation and propagation. Simulations indicate that a periodic, slotted cathode structure that is loaded with resistive elements may be used to eliminate the instability. Such a cathode has been fielded on one of the two opposing 60 cm × 200 cm diodes on the NIKE KrF laser at the Naval Research Laboratory. These diodes typically deliver 600 kV, 500 kA, 250 ns electron beams to the laser cell in an external magnetic field of 0.2 T. We conclude that the slotted cathode suppressed the transit-time instability such that the RF power was reduced by a factor of 9 and that electron transmission efficiency into the laser gas was improved by more than 50%.

Suppression of the transit-time instability in large-area electron beam diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, Matthew C.; Friedman, Moshe; Sethian, John D.; Swanekamp, Stephen B.; Chan, L.-Y.; Ludeking, Larry

2002-01-01

Experiment, theory, and simulation have shown that large-area electron-beam diodes are susceptible to the transit-time instability. The instability modulates the electron beam spatially and temporally, producing a wide spread in electron energy and momentum distributions. The result is gross inefficiency in beam generation and propagation. Simulations indicate that a periodic, slotted cathode structure that is loaded with resistive elements may be used to eliminate the instability. Such a cathode has been fielded on one of the two opposing 60 cm x 200 cm diodes on the NIKE KrF laser at the Naval Research Laboratory. These diodes typically deliver 600 kV, 500 kA, 250 ns electron beams to the laser cell in an external magnetic field of 0.2 T. We conclude that the slotted cathode suppressed the transit-time instability such that the RF power was reduced by a factor of 9 and that electron transmission efficiency into the laser gas was improved by more than 50%

Identifying carcinogenic activity of methylated and non-methylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) through electronic and topological indices

CERN Document Server

Braga, R S; Barone, P M V B

2000-01-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of planar molecules, abundant in urban environment, which can induce chemical carcinogenesis. Their carcinogenic power varies in a large range, from very strong carcinogens to inactive ones. In a previous study, we proposed a methodology to identify the PAHs carcinogenic activity exploring electronic and topological indices. In the present work, we show that it is possible to simplify that methodology and expand its applicability to include methylated PAHs compounds. Using very simple rules, we can predict their carcinogenic activity with high accuracy (approx 89%).

Superconducting proximity effect in topological materials

Science.gov (United States)

Reeg, Christopher R.

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the proximity effect due to its role in the realization of topological superconductivity. In this dissertation, we discuss several results that have been obtained in the field of proximity-induced superconductivity and relate the results to the search for Majorana fermions. First, we show that repulsive electron-electron interactions can induce a non-Majorana zero-energy bound state at the interface between a conventional superconductor and a normal metal. We show that this state is very sensitive to disorder, owing to its lack of topological protection. Second, we show that Rashba spin-orbit coupling, which is one of the key ingredients in engineering a topological superconductor, induces triplet pairing in the proximity effect. When the spin-orbit coupling is strong (i.e., when the characteristic energy scale for spin-orbit coupling is comparable to the Fermi energy), the induced singlet and triplet pairing amplitudes can be comparable in magnitude. Finally, we discuss how the size of the proximity-induced gap, which appears in a low-dimensional material coupled to a superconductor, evolves as the thickness of the (quasi-)low-dimensional material is increased. We show that the induced gap can be comparable to the bulk energy gap of the underlying superconductor in materials that are much thicker than the Fermi wavelength, even in the presence of an interfacial barrier and strong Fermi surface mismatch. This result has important experimental consequences for topological superconductivity, as a sizable gap is required to isolate and detect the Majorana modes.

77 FR 47692 - Notice of Transportation Services' Transition From Paper to Electronic Fare Media Comments...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-09

... and effective electronic fare media transition to its participating transit benefit agencies... New Program Distribution Methodology for Transit Benefits This section presents a summary of the..., 2012 on TRANServe's adoption of a new program distribution methodology for transit benefits and...

Imaging active topological defects in carbon nanotubes

Science.gov (United States)

Suenaga, Kazu; Wakabayashi, Hideaki; Koshino, Masanori; Sato, Yuta; Urita, Koki; Iijima, Sumio

2007-06-01

A single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) is a wrapped single graphene layer, and its plastic deformation should require active topological defects-non-hexagonal carbon rings that can migrate along the nanotube wall. Although in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been used to examine the deformation of SWNTs, these studies deal only with diameter changes and no atomistic mechanism has been elucidated experimentally. Theory predicts that some topological defects can form through the Stone-Wales transformation in SWNTs under tension at 2,000 K, and could act as a dislocation core. We demonstrate here, by means of high-resolution (HR)-TEM with atomic sensitivity, the first direct imaging of pentagon-heptagon pair defects found in an SWNT that was heated at 2,273 K. Moreover, our in situ HR-TEM observation reveals an accumulation of topological defects near the kink of a deformed nanotube. This result suggests that dislocation motions or active topological defects are indeed responsible for the plastic deformation of SWNTs.

Geared Topological Metamaterials with Tunable Mechanical Stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne S. Meeussen

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The classification of materials into insulators and conductors has been shaken up by the discovery of topological insulators that conduct robustly at the edge but not in the bulk. In mechanics, designating a material as insulating or conducting amounts to asking if it is rigid or floppy. Although mechanical structures that display topological floppy modes have been proposed, they are all vulnerable to global collapse. Here, we design and build mechanical metamaterials that are stable and yet capable of harboring protected edge and bulk modes, analogous to those in electronic topological insulators and Weyl semimetals. To do so, we exploit gear assemblies that, unlike point masses connected by springs, incorporate both translational and rotational degrees of freedom. Global structural stability is achieved by eliminating geometrical frustration of collective gear rotations extending through the assembly. The topological robustness of the mechanical modes makes them appealing across scales from engineered macrostructures to networks of toothed microrotors of potential use in micromachines.

Topological semimetal in honeycomb lattice LnSI

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Simin; Xu, Gang; Prinz, Fritz B.; Zhang, Shou-cheng

2017-10-01

Recognized as elementary particles in the standard model, Weyl fermions in condensed matter have received growing attention. However, most of the previously reported Weyl semimetals exhibit rather complicated electronic structures that, in turn, may have raised questions regarding the underlying physics. Here, we report promising topological phases that can be realized in specific honeycomb lattices, including ideal Weyl semimetal structures, 3D strong topological insulators, and nodal-line semimetal configurations. In particular, we highlight a semimetal featuring both Weyl nodes and nodal lines. Guided by this model, we showed that GdSI, the long-perceived ideal Weyl semimetal, has two pairs of Weyl nodes residing at the Fermi level and that LuSI (YSI) is a 3D strong topological insulator with the right-handed helical surface states. Our work provides a mechanism to study topological semimetals and proposes a platform for exploring the physics of Weyl semimetals as well as related device designs.

Ultrafast Hot Electron Induced Phase Transitions in Vanadium Dioxide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haglund R. F.

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The Au/Cr/VO2/Si system was investigated in pump–probe experiments. Hot-electrons generated in the Au were found to penetrate into the underlying VO2 and couple with its lattice inducing a semiconductor-to-metal phase transition in ~2 picoseconds.

Topologically robust sound propagation in an angular-momentum-biased graphene-like resonator lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Khanikaev, Alexander B.; Fleury, Romain; Mousavi, S. Hossein; Alù, Andrea

2015-10-01

Topological insulators do not allow conduction in the bulk, yet they support edge modes that travel along the boundary only in one direction, determined by the carried electron spin, with inherent robustness to defects and disorder. Topological insulators have inspired analogues in photonics and optics, in which one-way edge propagation in topologically protected two-dimensional materials is achieved breaking time-reversal symmetry with a magnetic bias. Here, we introduce the concept of topological order in classical acoustics, realizing robust topological protection and one-way edge propagation of sound in a suitably designed resonator lattice biased with angular momentum, forming the acoustic analogue of a magnetically biased graphene layer. Extending the concept of an acoustic nonreciprocal circulator based on angular-momentum bias, time-reversal symmetry is broken here using moderate rotational motion of air within each element of the lattice, which takes the role of the electron spin in determining the direction of modal edge propagation.

Triggering of 178Hfm2 by photoinduced electron transition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ya. Dzyublik

2013-03-01

Full Text Available We considered the NEET (nuclear excitation by electron transition as a possible triggering mechanism of the isomer 178Hfm2 during ionization of the L3 atomic shell by x-rays. This isomer is assumed to be excited into an intermediate state by E1 electronic transition between M5 and L3 shells. Simple nonrelativistic formulas are derived for the NEET probability. The estimations show the probability to be less than the experimental data of [1] by one order of magnitude. The intermediate level is found to decay bypassing the isomeric level 16+, if the nucleus attributes a triaxial shape in the state and, besides, there exists a level 13- shifted with respect to 15- by 400 keV. We have shown also that the NEET cross section as a function of the energy of x-ray photons , has to accept constant value above the L photoionization threshold in contrast to narrow peak observed by [1].

Transitivity and ergodicity of quantum systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narnhofer, H.; Thirring, W.; Wiklicky, H.

1987-01-01

First we try to generalize the notion of a topological transitive or a topologically mixing system for quantum mechanical systems in a consistent way. Furthermore we compare these ergodic properties with the classical results. Finaly we deal with some aspects of nearly abelian systems and investigate some relations between these notions. 11 refs. (Author)

Aperiodic topological order in the domain configurations of functional materials

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Fei-Ting; Cheong, Sang-Wook

2017-03-01

In numerous functional materials, such as steels, ferroelectrics and magnets, new functionalities can be achieved through the engineering of the domain structures, which are associated with the ordering of certain parameters within the material. The recent progress in technologies that enable imaging at atomic-scale spatial resolution has transformed our understanding of domain topology, revealing that, along with simple stripe-like or irregularly shaped domains, intriguing vortex-type topological domain configurations also exist. In this Review, we present a new classification scheme of 'Zm Zn domains with Zl vortices' for 2D macroscopic domain structures with m directional variants and n translational antiphases. This classification, together with the concepts of topological protection and topological charge conservation, can be applied to a wide range of materials, such as multiferroics, improper ferroelectrics, layered transition metal dichalcogenides and magnetic superconductors, as we discuss using selected examples. The resulting topological considerations provide a new basis for the understanding of the formation, kinetics, manipulation and property optimization of domains and domain boundaries in functional materials.

Saturated bonds and anomalous electronic transport in transition-metal aluminides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt, T.

2006-05-22

This thesis deals with the special electronic properties of the transition-metal aluminides. Following quasicrystals and their approximants it is shown that even materials with small elementary cells exhibit the same surprising effects. So among the transition-metal aluminides also semi-metallic and semiconducting compounds exist, although if they consist of classic-metallic components like Fe, Al, or Cr. These properties are furthermore coupled with a deep pseusogap respectively gap in the density of states and strongly covalent bonds. Bonds are described in this thesis by two eseential properties. First by the bond charge and second by the energetic effect of the bond. It results that in the caes of semiconducting transition-metal aluminides both a saturation of certain bonds and a bond-antibond alteration in the Fermi level is present. By the analysis of the near-order in form of the so-calles coordination polyeders it has been succeeded to establish a simple rule for semiconductors, the five-fold coordination for Al. This rule states that aluminium atoms with their three valence electrons are not able to build more than five saturated bonds to their nearest transition-metal neighbours. In excellent agreement with the bond angles predicted theoretically under assumption of equal-type bonds it results that all binary transition-element aluminide semiconductors exhibit for the Al atoms the same near order. Typical values for specific resistances of the studied materials at room temperature lie in the range of some 100 {mu}{omega}cm, which is farly larger than some 10 {mu}{omega}cm as in the case of the unalloyed metals. SUrprising is furthermore a high transport anisotropy with a ratio of the specific resistances up to 3.0. An essential result of this thesis can be seen in the coupling of the properties of the electronic transport and the bond properties. The small conducitivities could be explained by small values in the density of states and a bond

Slow and fast electron concentrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacDougall, P.J.

1991-01-01

We consider the physical significance of the topology of the Laplacian of the electron momentum density. Via a single simple postulate, the electrical properties of metals, superconductors, and insulators are linked to well-defined and observable topological features in this distribution From this postulate it follows that a necessary condition for superconductivity is a closed path of cusp singularities in the material's time-averaged distribution. The topology of the path is constrained by the geometry of the sample and its environment. Yet, by virtue of the postulate, the unique collision properties of this path (in momentum space suggest that it charts a common course for electrons throughout the material, along which there is absolute minimum resistance to electron flow. As a further consequence of the postulate, it is also predicted that the preferred planes or axes of electron transport in anisotropic conductors with correspond to uniquely and unambiguously defined topological features of the Laplacian of the electron momentum distribution. (Author) 34 refs., 2 figs., tab

On projection methods, convergence and robust formulations in topology optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Fengwen; Lazarov, Boyan Stefanov; Sigmund, Ole

2011-01-01

alleviated using various projection methods. In this paper we show that simple projection methods do not ensure local mesh-convergence and propose a modified robust topology optimization formulation based on erosion, intermediate and dilation projections that ensures both global and local mesh-convergence.......Mesh convergence and manufacturability of topology optimized designs have previously mainly been assured using density or sensitivity based filtering techniques. The drawback of these techniques has been gray transition regions between solid and void parts, but this problem has recently been...

Tracing the transition of a macro electron shuttle into nonlinear response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Chulki [Sensor System Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 136791 (Korea, Republic of); Prada, Marta [I. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Hamburg, Jungiusstr. 9, Hamburg 20355 (Germany); Qin, Hua [Key Laboratory of Nanodevices, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 398 Ruoshui Road, Industrial Park, Suzhou City, Jiangsu 215123 (China); Kim, Hyun-Seok [Division of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Dongguk University-Seoul, 100715 Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Blick, Robert H., E-mail: rblick@physnet.uni-hamburg.de [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin-53706 (United States); Center for Hybrid Nanostructures, Universität Hamburg, Jungiusstr. 11c, Hamburg 20355 (Germany); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1415 Engineering Dr. Madison, Wisconsin-53706 (United States)

2015-02-09

We present a study on a macroscopic electron shuttle in the transition from linear to nonlinear response. The shuttle consists of a classical mechanical pendulum situated between two capacitor plates. The metallic pendulum enables mechanical transfer of electrons between the plates, hence allowing to directly trace electron shuttling in the time domain. By applying a high voltage to the plates, we drive the system into a controlled nonlinear response, where we observe period doubling.

Surface states on a topologically nontrivial semimetal: The case of Sb(110)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bianchi, Marco; Guan, Dandan; Strózecka, Anna

2012-01-01

The electronic structure of Sb(110) is studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations, revealing several electronic surface states in the projected bulk band gaps around the Fermi energy. The dispersion of the states can be interpreted in terms of a strong...... spin-orbit splitting. The bulk band structure of Sb has the characteristics of a strong topological insulator with a Z2 invariant ν0 = 1. This puts constraints on the existence of metallic surface states and the expected topology of the surface Fermi contour. However, bulk Sb is a semimetal......, not an insulator, and these constraints are therefore partly relaxed. This relation of bulk topology and expected surface-state dispersion for semimetals is discussed....

Dynamical mechanism of atrial fibrillation: A topological approach

Science.gov (United States)

Marcotte, Christopher D.; Grigoriev, Roman O.

2017-09-01

While spiral wave breakup has been implicated in the emergence of atrial fibrillation, its role in maintaining this complex type of cardiac arrhythmia is less clear. We used the Karma model of cardiac excitation to investigate the dynamical mechanisms that sustain atrial fibrillation once it has been established. The results of our numerical study show that spatiotemporally chaotic dynamics in this regime can be described as a dynamical equilibrium between topologically distinct types of transitions that increase or decrease the number of wavelets, in general agreement with the multiple wavelets' hypothesis. Surprisingly, we found that the process of continuous excitation waves breaking up into discontinuous pieces plays no role whatsoever in maintaining spatiotemporal complexity. Instead, this complexity is maintained as a dynamical balance between wave coalescence—a unique, previously unidentified, topological process that increases the number of wavelets—and wave collapse—a different topological process that decreases their number.

Topological defects in extended inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Copeland, E.J.; Kolb, E.W.; Chicago Univ., IL; Liddle, A.R.

1990-04-01

We consider the production of topological defects, especially cosmic strings, in extended inflation models. In extended inflation, the Universe passes through a first-order phase transition via bubble percolation, which naturally allows defects to form at the end of inflation. The correlation length, which determines the number density of the defects, is related to the mean size of bubbles when they collide. This mechanism allows a natural combination of inflation and large-scale structure via cosmic strings. 18 refs

Topological defects in extended inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Copeland, E.J.; Kolb, E.W.; Liddle, A.R.

1990-01-01

We consider the production of topological defects, especially cosmic strings, in extended-inflation models. In extended inflation, the Universe passes through a first-order phase transition via bubble percolation, which naturally allows defects to form at the end of inflation. The correlation length, which determines the number density of the defects, is related to the mean size of the bubbles when they collide. This mechanism allows a natural combination of inflation and large-scale structure via cosmic strings

Particle creation and destruction of quantum coherence by topological change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavrelashvili, G.V.; Rubakov, V.A.; Tinyakov, P.G.

1988-01-01

The possibility is considered that changes of spatial topology occur as tunneling events in quantum gravity. Creation of scalar and spinor particles during these tunneling transitions is studied. The relevant formalism based on the euclidean Schroedinger equation and coherent state representation is developed. This formalism is illustrated in a two-dimensional example. It is argued that the particle creation during the topological changes induces the loss of quantum coherence. The particle creation is calculated in the case of O(4)-invariant background euclidean four-dimensional metrics. This calculation is used for estimating the loss of quantum coherence. An upper limit on the rate of the topological changes, A -17 M 4 Pl , is derived from the observation of K 0 -anti K 0 oscillations. (orig.)