Finite size effects on the quantum spin Hall state in HgTe quantum wells under two different types of boundary conditions

The finite size effect in a two-dimensional topological insulator can induce an energy gap Eg in the spectrum of helical edge states for a strip of finite width. In a recent work, it has been found that when the spin--orbit coupling due to bulk-inversion asymmetry is taken into account, the energy gap Eg of the edge states features an oscillating exponential decay as a function of the strip width of the inverted HgTe quantum well. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the interface between a topological insulator and a normal insulator on the finite size effect in the HgTe quantum well by means of the numerical diagonalization method. Two different types of boundary conditions, i.e., the symmetric and asymmetric geometries, are considered. It is found that due to the existence of the interface between topological insulator and normal insulator this oscillatory pattern on the exponential decay induced by bulk-inversion asymmetry is modulated by the width of normal insulator regions. With the variation of the width of normal insulator regions, the shift of the Dirac point of the edge states in the spectrum and the energy gap Eg closing point in the oscillatory pattern can occur. Additionally, the effect of the spin-orbit coupling due to structure-inversion asymmetry on the finite size effects is also investigated.

Competition of Quantum Anomalous Hall States and Charge Density Wave in a Correlated Topological Model

We investigate the topological phase transition driven by non-local electronic correlations in a realistic quantum anomalous Hall model consisting of d_(xy)–d_(x^(2)-y^(2)) orbitals. Three topologically distinct phases defined in the noninteracting limit evolve to different charge density wave phases under correlations. Two conspicuous conclusions were obtained: The topological phase transition does not involve gap-closing and the dynamical fluctuations significantly suppress the charge order favored by the next nearest neighbor interaction. Our study sheds light on the stability of topological phase under electronic correlations, and we demonstrate a positive role played by dynamical fluctuations that is distinct to all previous studies on correlated topological states.

Level Statistics Crossover of Chiral Surface States in a Three-Dimensional Quantum Hall System

Recent experiments have demonstrated the realization of the three-dimensional quantum Hall effect in highly anisotropic crystalline materials, such as ZrTe|_5 and BaMnSb_2. Such a system supports chiral surface states in the presence of a strong magnetic field, which exhibit a one-dimensional metal-insulator crossover due to suppression of surface diffusion by disorder potential. We study the nontrivial surface states in a lattice model and find a wide crossover of the level-spacing distribution through a semi-Poisson distribution. We also discover a nonmonotonic evolution of the level statistics due to the disorder-induced mixture of surface and bulk states.

An Anderson Impurity Interacting with the Helical Edge States in a Quantum Spin Hall Insulator

Using the natural orbitals renormalization group（NORG）method,we investigate the screening of the local spin of an Anderson impurity interacting with the helical edge states in a quantum spin Hall insulator.It is found that there is a local spin formed at the impurity site and the local spin is completel.y screened by electrons in the quantum spin Hall insulator.Meanwhile,the local spin is screened dominantly by a single active natural orbital.We then show that the Kondo screening mechanism becomes transparent and simple in the framework of the natural orbitals formalism.We project the active natural orbital respectively into real space and momentum space to characterize its structure.We conilrm the spin-momentum locking property of the edge states based on the occupancy of a Bloch state on the edge to which the impurity couples.Furthermore,we study the dynamical property of the active natural orbital represented by the local density of states,from which we observe the Kondo resonance peak.

Finite size effects on helical edge states in HgTe quantum wells with the spin orbit coupling due to bulk- and structure-inversion asymmetries

There is a quantum spin Hall state in the inverted HgTe quantum well, characterized by the topologically protected gapless helical edge states lying within the bulk gap. It has been found that for a strip of finite width, the edge states on the two sides can couple together to produce a gap in the spectrum. The phenomenon is called the finite size effect in quantum spin Hall systems. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the spin-orbit coupling due to bulk- and structure-inversion asymmetries on the finite size effect in the HgTe quantum well by means of the numerical diagonalization method. When the bulk-inversion asymmetry is taken into account, it is shown that the energy gap Eg of the edge states due to the finite size effect features an oscillating exponential decay as a function of the strip width of the HgTe quantum well. The origin of this oscillatory pattern on the exponential decay is explained. Furthermore, if the bulk- and structure-inversion asymmetries are considered simultaneously, the structure-inversion asymmetry will induce a shift of the energy gap Eg closing point. Finally, based on the roles of the bulk- and structure-inversion asymmetries on the finite size effects, a way to realize the quantum spin Hall field effect transistor is proposed.

Neutral excitation and bulk gap of fractional quantum Hall liquids in disk geometry

For the numerical simulation of the fractional quantum Hall(FQH) effects on a finite disk, the rotational symmetry is the only symmetry that is used in diagonalizing the Hamiltonian. In this work, we propose a method of using the weak translational symmetry for the center of mass of the many-body system. With this approach, the bulk properties, such as the energy gap and the magneto-roton excitation are consistent with those in the closed manifolds like the sphere and torus. As an application, we consider the FQH phase and its phase transition in the fast rotated dipolar fermions. We thus demonstrate the disk geometry having versatility in analyzing the bulk properties beside the usual edge physics.

Coulomb-dominated oscillations in a graphene quantum Hall Fabry–Pérot interferometer

The electronic Fabry–Pérot interferometer operating in the quantum Hall regime may be a promising tool for probing edge state interferences and studying the non-Abelian statistics of fractionally charged quasiparticles. Here we report on realizing a quantum Hall Fabry–Pérot interferometer based on monolayer graphene. We observe resistance oscillations as a function of perpendicular magnetic field and gate voltage both on the electron and hole sides. Their Coulomb-dominated origin is revealed by the positive(negative) slope of the constant phase lines in the plane of magnetic field and gate voltage on the electron(hole) side. Our work demonstrates that the graphene interferometer is feasible and paves the way for the studies of edge state interferences since high-Landau-level and even denominator fractional quantum Hall states have been found in graphene.

Spin Chern numbers and time-reversal-symmetry-broken quantum spin Hall effect

The quantum spin Hall （QSH） effect is considered to be unstable to perturbations violating the time-reversal （TR） symmetry. We review some recent developments in the search of the QSH effect in the absence of the TR symmetry. The possibility to realize a robust QSH effect by artificial removal of the TR symmetry of the edge states is explored. As a useful tool to characterize topological phases without the TR symmetry, the spin-Chern number theory is introduced.

Spin-valley quantum Hall phases in graphene

We theoretically investigate possible quantum Hall phases and corresponding edge states in graphene by taking a strong magnetic field, Zeeman splitting M, and sublattice potential △ into account but without spin–orbit interaction. It was found that for the undoped graphene either a quantum valley Hall phase or a quantum spin Hall phase emerges in the system, depending on relative magnitudes of M and △. When the Fermi energy deviates from the Dirac point, the quantum spin-valley Hall phase appears and its characteristic edge state is contributed only by one spin and one valley species. The metallic boundary states bridging different quantum Hall phases possess a half-integer quantized conductance, like e^2/2h or3e^2/2h. The possibility of tuning different quantum Hall states with M and △ suggests possible graphene-based spintronics and valleytronics applications.

掺杂量子自旋霍尔态后所形成超导的平均场计算

给出了对易面t-λ模型详细平均场理论和计算的结果,特别是给出了平均场相图.研究表明,掺杂纯的量子自旋霍尔(QSH)态后可获得2种结论:1)相互作用强度较弱时,QSH态和超导态之间可发生一级相变;2)相互作用强度较强时,系统经过一个连续相变进入2相共存区,并发生QSH态消失的一级相变.计算结果表明,平均场理论虽然体现了对称破缺相的特征,但是其忽略了涨落,致使其得到QSH态与超导态共存的错误结论,从而使得平均场理论无法准确描述因拓扑激发所引起的相变.

量子Hall效应与Berry相因子

将绝热过程中的Berry相因于的概念推广到简并系统.在对称规范条件下研究了量子Hall效应与Berry相因子之间的关系,导出了量子Hall电导率与Berry相因子之间的关系,理论分析与Klitzing,Tsui等人的实验结果一致.

Finite size effects on the helical edge states on the Lieb lattice

For a two-dimensional Lieb lattice,that is,a line-centered square lattice,the inclusion of the intrinsic spin–orbit（ISO）coupling opens a topologically nontrivial gap,and gives rise to the quantum spin Hall（QSH） effect characterized by two pairs of gapless helical edge states within the bulk gap.Generally,due to the finite size effect in QSH systems,the edge states on the two sides of a strip of finite width can couple together to open a gap in the spectrum.In this paper,we investigate the finite size effect of helical edge states on the Lieb lattice with ISO coupling under three different kinds of boundary conditions,i.e.,the straight,bearded and asymmetry edges.The spectrum and wave function of edge modes are derived analytically for a tight-binding model on the Lieb lattice.For a strip Lieb lattice with two straight edges,the ISO coupling induces the Dirac-like bulk states to localize at the edges to become the helical edge states with the same Dirac-like spectrum.Moreover,it is found that in the case with two straight edges the gapless Dirac-like spectrum remains unchanged with decreasing the width of the strip Lieb lattice,and no gap is opened in the edge band.It is concluded that the finite size effect of QSH states is absent in the case with the straight edges.However,in the other two cases with the bearded and asymmetry edges,the energy gap induced by the finite size effect is still opened with decreasing the width of the strip.It is also proposed that the edge band dispersion can be controlled by applying an on-site potential energy on the outermost atoms.

Antiferromagnetic and topological states in silicene:A mean field study

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.

MoiréDirac fermions in transition metal dichalcogenides heterobilayers

Monolayer group-VIB transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs)feature low-energy massive Dirac fermions,which have valley contrasting Berry curvature.This nontrivial local band topology gives rise to valley Hall transport and optical selection rules for interband transitions that open up new possibilities for valleytronics.However,the large bandgap in TMDs results in relatively small Berry curvature,leading to weak valley contrasting physics in practical experiments.Here,we show that Dirac fermions with tunable large Berry curvature can be engineered in moirésuperlattice of TMD heterobilayers.These moiréDirac fermions are created in a magnified honeycomb lattice with its sublattice degree of freedom formed by two local moirépotential minima.We show that applying an on-site potential can tune the moiréflat bands into helical ones.In short-period moirésuperlattice,we find that the two moirévalleys become asymmetric,which results in a net spin Hall current.More interestingly,a circularly polarized light drives these moiréDirac fermions into quantum anomalous Hall phase with chiral edge states.Our results open a new possibility to design the moiré-scale spin and valley physics using TMD moiréstructures.

Evolution of individual quantum Hall edge states in the presence of disorder

By using the Bloch eigenmode matching approach, we numerically study the evolution of individual quantum Hall edge states with respect to disorder. As demonstrated by the two-parameter renormal- ization group flow of the Hall and Thouless conductances, quantum Hall edge states with high Chern number n are completely different from that of the n = 1 case. Two categories of individual edge modes are evaluated in a quantum Hall system with high Chern number. Edge states from the lowest Landau level have similar eigenfunctions that are well localized at the system edge and independent of the Fermi energy. On the other hand, at fixed Fermi energy, the edge state from higher Landau levels exhibit larger expansion, which results in less stable quantum Hall states at high Fermi energies. By presenting the local current density distribution, the effect of disorder on eigenmode-resolved edge states is distinctly demonstrated.

Kagome晶格中的拓扑平带和量子霍尔效应

本文采用紧束缚模型研究Kagome晶格中的拓扑平带.通过调控交错磁通和次近邻跃迁强度可以得到具有大带隙且Chern数为非零的近平带结构.由于拓扑平带与二维Landau能级的相似性,所以此拓扑非平庸的平带可以产生整数量子霍尔态,再加上相互作用还可能产生分数量子霍尔态.

Qubit Approach to the Topological Degeneracy of 4 and 6-Quasihole Pfaffian Paired Hall State

By virtue of the two-layer picture of Pfatfian pair Hall state, a qubit representation of topological degeneracy for quasiholes excitation is displayed. The non-Abelian feature of states can be manifested readily by the new wave functions. The virtue of this approach is that one does not need to find the equalities of Pfalfians, which is a so tedious task as exemplified for the case of six quasiholes. Then the braiding matrices are also constructed readily by just permutating single-qubit states, which are unitary and hermite.

自旋陈数理论和时间反演对称破缺的量子自旋霍尔效应

一般认为,量子自旋霍尔效应只有受到时间反演对称性的保护才是稳定的。但是,因为在实际材料中破坏时间反演对称性的微扰往往无法避免,这种受时间反演对称性保护的量子自旋霍尔效应在真实环境中并不稳定。本综述将介绍近期在寻找无需时间反演对称性保护的量子自旋霍尔效应方向上的系列研究进展。我们将证明量子自旋霍尔体系的非平庸拓扑性质在时间反演对称性被破坏后仍然可以完好存在,并通过一个规范讨论,将边缘态一般性质和体能带的非平庸拓扑性质联系起来。进一步,将探讨通过人工消除边缘态时间反演对称性而实现稳定的量子自旋霍尔效应的方案。此外,我们还将介绍自旋陈数理论,自旋陈数是在没有时间反演对称性存在时,表征量子自旋霍尔体系所处不同拓扑相的有效工具。

凝聚态、宏观量子效应和高温超导

凝聚态物理是对称性破缺的产物,由此讨论Ising模型及其推广;探讨分形的应用和Hall效应;探索宏观量子效应和超流;探讨高温超导及其袋模型,联系于玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚(BEC),预言应该存在高温超流;讨论粒子-分子的类似性等,并总结宏观量子效应.

整数量子霍尔效应的问题与解答

本文的目的是让学生运用学过的大学物理中的量子力学知识来解释整数量子霍尔效应 .在探究问题的过程中需要掌握薛定谔方程及其对线性谐振子的解 ,用对易算符建立相应的本征值 ,熟悉周期性边界条件 。