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Efficient magnetic control of electronic conduction is at the heart of spintronic functionality for memory and logic applications1,2. Magnets with topological band crossings serve as a good material platform for such control, because their topological band degeneracy can be readily tuned by spin configurations, dramatically modulating electronic conduction3–10. Here we propose that the topological nodal-line degeneracy of spin-polarized bands in magnetic semiconductors induces an extremely large angular response of magnetotransport. Taking a layered ferrimagnet, Mn3Si2Te6, and its derived compounds as a model system, we show that the topological band degeneracy, driven by chiral molecular orbital states, is lifted depending on spin orientation, which leads to a metal–insulator transition in the same ferrimagnetic phase. The resulting variation of angular magnetoresistance with rotating magnetization exceeds a trillion per cent per radian, which we call colossal angular magnetoresistance. Our findings demonstrate that magnetic nodal-line semiconductors are a promising platform for realizing extremely sensitive spin- and orbital-dependent functionalities. A study reports a colossal angular magnetoresistance in the topological magnet Mn3Si2Te6, resulting from a metal-to-insulator transition caused by controlled lifting of a topological band degeneracy, and discusses the key parameters involved.

When two identical two-dimensional (2D) periodic lattices are stacked in parallel after rotating one layer by a certain angle relative to the other layer, the resulting bilayer system can lose lattice periodicity completely and become a 2D quasicrystal. Twisted bilayer graphene with 30-degree rotation is a representative example. We show that such quasicrystalline bilayer systems generally develop macroscopically degenerate localized zero-energy states (ZESs) in strong coupling limit where the interlayer couplings are overwhelmingly larger than the intralayer couplings. The emergent chiral symmetry in strong coupling limit and aperiodicity of bilayer quasicrystals guarantee the existence of the ZESs. The macroscopically degenerate ZESs are analogous to the flat bands of periodic systems, in that both are composed of localized eigenstates, which give divergent density of states. For monolayers, we consider the triangular, square, and honeycomb lattices, comprised of homogenous tiling of three possible planar regular polygons: the equilateral triangle, square, and regular hexagon. We construct a compact theoretical framework, which we call the quasiband model, that describes the low energy properties of bilayer quasicrystals and counts the number of ZESs using a subset of Bloch states of monolayers. We also propose a simple geometric scheme in real space which can show the spatial localization of ZESs and count their number. Our work clearly demonstrates that bilayer quasicrystals in strong coupling limit are an ideal playground to study the intriguing interplay of flat band physics and the aperiodicity of quasicrystals., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures + Supplementary Material (12 pages,5 figures)

We theoretically study the intrinsic thermal Hall and spin Nernst effect in collinear ferrimagnets on a honeycomb lattice with broken inversion symmetry. The broken inversion symmetry allows in-plane Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction between the nearest neighbors, which does not affect the magnon spectrum in the linear spin wave theory. However, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction can induce large Berry curvature in the magnetoelastic excitation spectrum through the magnon-phonon interaction to produce thermal Hall current. Furthermore, we find that the magnetoelastic excitations transport spin, which is inherited from the magnon bands. Therefore, the thermal Hall current is accompanied by spin Nernst current. Because the magnon-phonon interaction does not conserve the spin, we also study the spin density induced by thermal gradient in the presence of magnon-phonon interaction. We find that the intrinsic part of the spin density shows no asymmetric spin accumulation near the boundary of the system having a stripe geometry. However, because of the magnon-phonon interaction, we find nonzero total spin density in the system having armchair edges. The extrinsic part of the spin density, on the other hand, shows asymmetric spin accumulation near the boundary for both armchair and zigzag edges because of the magnon-phonon interaction. In addition, we find nonzero total spin density in the system having zigzag edge., 5+16 pages, 4+4 figures

Spin Hall effect is the transverse flow of the electron spin in conductors under external electric field. Similarly, thermal gradient in magnetic insulators can drive a transverse flow of the spin angular momentum of magnons, which provides a thermal alternative for spin manipulation. Recently, the phonon angular momentum (PAM), which is the angular momentum of atoms as a result of their orbital motion around their equilibrium positions, has garnered attention as a quantity analogous to the magnon spin. However, can we manipulate PAM like magnon spin? Here, we show that temperature gradient generally induces a transverse flow of PAM, which we term the phonon angular momentum Hall effect (PAMHE). The PAMHE relies only on the presence of transverse and longitudinal acoustic phonons, and it is therefore ubiquitous in condensed matter systems. As a consequence of the PAMHE, PAM accumulates at the edges of a crystal. When the atoms in the crystal carry nonzero Born effective charge, the edge PAM induces edge magnetization, which may be observed through optical measurement. We believe that PAMHE provides a new principle for the manipulation of angular momenta in insulators and opens up an avenue for developing functional materials based on phonon engineering., 8+3 pages, 5 figures, additional discussion on 3D, some amendments

Based on first-principles calculations and tight-binding model analysis, we propose monolayer graphdiyne as a candidate material for a two-dimensional higher-order topological insulator protected by inversion symmetry. Despite the absence of chiral symmetry, the higher-order topology of monolayer graphdiyne is manifested in the filling anomaly and charge accumulation at two corners. Although its low energy band structure can be properly described by the tight-binding Hamiltonian constructed by using only the $p_z$ orbital of each atom, the corresponding bulk band topology is trivial. The nontrivial bulk topology can be correctly captured only when the contribution from the core levels derived from $p_{x,y}$ and $s$ orbitals are included, which is further confirmed by the Wilson loop calculations. We also show that the higher-order band topology of a monolayer graphdyine gives rise to the nontrivial band topology of the corresponding three-dimensional material, ABC-stacked graphdiyne, which hosts monopole nodal lines and hinge states., Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, new title

In topological semimetals and nodal superconductors, band crossings between occupied and unoccupied bands form stable nodal points/lines/surfaces carrying quantized topological charges. In particular, in centrosymmetric systems, some nodal structures at the Fermi energy $E_F$ carry two distinct topological charges, and thus they are called doubly charged nodes. Here we show that doubly charged nodal surfaces of centrosymmetric superconductors in three-dimensions always develop peculiar linking structures with nodal points or lines formed between occupied bands below $E_F$. Such linking structures can naturally explain the inherent relationship between the charge of the node below $E_F$ and the two charges of the nodal surfaces at $E_F$. Based on the Altland-Zirnbauer (AZ)-type ten-fold classification of nodes with additional inversion $\mathcal{I}$ symmetry, which is called the AZ$+\mathcal{I}$ classification, we provide the complete list of linking structures of doubly charged nodes in centrosymmetric systems. The linking structures of doubly charged nodes clearly demonstrate that not only the local band structure around the node but also the global band structure play a critical role in characterizing gapless topological phases., Comment: 16 pages, 3+5 figures

We propose a route to achieve odd-parity spin-triplet (OPST) superconductivity in metallic collinear antiferromagnets with inversion symmetry. Owing to the existence of hidden antiunitary symmetry, which we call the effective time-reversal symmetry (eTRS), the Fermi surfaces of ordinary antiferromagnetic metals are generally spin degenerate, and spin-singlet pairing is favored. However, by introducing a local inversion symmetry breaking perturbation that also breaks the eTRS, we can lift the degeneracy to obtain spin-polarized Fermi surfaces. In the weak-coupling limit, the spin-polarized Fermi surfaces constrain the electrons to form spin-triplet Cooper pairs with odd parity. Interestingly, all the odd-parity superconducting ground states we obtained host nontrivial band topologies manifested as chiral topological superconductors, second-order topological superconductors, and nodal superconductors. We propose that double perovskite oxides with collinear antiferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic ordering, such as ${\mathrm{SrLaVMoO}}_{6}$, are promising candidate systems where our theoretical ideas can be applied to.

We demonstrate robust-boundary-mode (RBM) and non-contractible loop state (NLS) in a photonic Kagome lattice, manifesting unique topological entities in flatband systems. We achieve direct observation of the NLS along toroidal direction in a Corbino- geometry.

Recent advances in thin film technologies enable us to engineer structural details of surface and interface in transition metal oxide films, and provide numerous valuable opportunities to manipulate electric and magnetic properties via strong couplings among charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom. In this work, we exploit an optical second harmonic generation technique to determine crystalline symmetries of surface and interface of compressively strained SrRuO3 thin films, which have been widely used as one of representative ferromagnetic metals in oxide devices. We reveal that the structural symmetries of the surface, the inner-bulk part, and the interface of the films are given distinctly owing to the compressive strain and its relaxation. Furthermore, we trace evolutions of the surface/interface structural symmetries with variations of temperature and film thickness, and discuss their similarities and differences compared to the bulk crystal. The structural phase diagram presented here will provide fundamental information of the surface and interface structural symmetry in exploring electronic and magnetic phenomena emerging in relevant oxide heterostructures.

Magnetism and spin–orbit coupling are two quintessential ingredients underlying topological transport phenomena in itinerant ferromagnets. When spin-polarized bands support nodal points/lines with band degeneracy that can be lifted by spin–orbit coupling, the nodal structures become a source of Berry curvature, leading to a large anomalous Hall effect. However, two-dimensional systems can possess stable nodal structures only when proper crystalline symmetry exists. Here we show that two-dimensional spin-polarized band structures of perovskite oxides generally support symmetry-protected nodal lines and points that govern both the sign and the magnitude of the anomalous Hall effect. To demonstrate this, we performed angle-resolved photoemission studies of ultrathin films of SrRuO3, a representative metallic ferromagnet with spin–orbit coupling. We show that the sign-changing anomalous Hall effect upon variation in the film thickness, magnetization and chemical potential can be well explained by theoretical models. Our work may facilitate new switchable devices based on ferromagnetic ultrathin films. The topological nature of the electronic structure of two-dimensional ferromagnetic SrRuO3 and its relationship to the anomalous Hall effect is explored through transport measurements, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and theoretical modelling.

We study the topological property of the magnetoelastic excitation in non-collinear antiferromagnets. As a toy model, we consider the magnon-phonon coupling in a triangular antiferromagnet with a $120^\circ$ N\`eel order. We find that in the presence of out-of-plane external magnetic field, the magnon-polaron bands, which arise from hybridization of magnons and phonons, can carry Chern number, even though the individual magnon and phonon bands are topologically trivial. Large Berry curvature is induced from the anti-crossing regions between the magnon and phonon bands, which renormalizes the thermal Hall conductivity of phonon bands. To compute the Berry curvature and Chern number of magnon-polarons, we give a simple algorithm to diagonalize magnetoelastic Hamiltonian without diagonalizing the phonon Hamiltonian, by mapping the problem to the diagonalization of bosonic Bogoliubov-de-Gennes (BdG) Hamiltonian. This is necessary because the contribution to the Berry curvature from phonon cannot be properly captured if we compute the Berry curvature from magnetoelastic Hamiltonian whose phonon sector has been already diagonalized., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures

Correlated topological phases (CTPs) with interplay between topology and electronic correlations have attracted tremendous interest in condensed matter physics. Therein, correlated Weyl semimetals (WSMs) are rare in nature and, thus, have so far been less investigated experimentally. In particular, the experimental realization of the interacting WSM state with logarithmic Fermi velocity renormalization has not been achieved yet. Here, experimental evidence of a correlated magnetic WSM state with logarithmic renormalization in strained pyrochlore iridate Pr2 Ir2 O7 (PIO) which is a paramagnetic Luttinger semimetal in bulk, is reported. Benefitting from epitaxial strain, "bulk-absent" all-in-all-out antiferromagnetic ordering can be stabilized in PIO film, which breaks time-reversal symmetry and leads to a magnetic WSM state. With further analysis of the experimental data and renormalization group calculations, an interacting Weyl liquid state with logarithmically renormalized Fermi velocity, similar to that in graphene, is found, dressed by long-range Coulomb interactions. This work highlights the interplay of strain, magnetism, and topology with electronic correlations, and paves the way for strain-engineering of CTPs in pyrochlore iridates.

$1H$-phase monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides have spin-split electronic band structures near the $K({K}^{\ensuremath{'}})$ point due to strong spin-orbit coupling and intrinsic inversion symmetry breaking. In the case of the monolayer ${\mathrm{Mo}X}_{2}$ ($X=\text{S}$, Se, Te), the spin-split conduction bands cross near the $K({K}^{\ensuremath{'}})$ point. We show that the band crossing occurs not only along the high-symmetry directions, but also along arbitrary directions due to a mirror reflection symmetry of the monolayer. As a result, $n$-doped monolayer ${\mathrm{Mo}X}_{2}$ is a two-dimensional type-II nodal-line material.

Ferroic domain walls (DWs) create different symmetries and ordered states compared with those in single-domain bulk materials. In particular, the DWs of an antiferromagnet with noncoplanar spin structure have a distinct symmetry that cannot be realized in those of their ferromagnet counterparts. In this paper, we show that an unconventional anomalous Hall effect (AHE) can arise from the DWs of a noncoplanar antiferromagnet, $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{d}}_{2}\mathrm{I}{\mathrm{r}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$. Bulk $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{d}}_{2}\mathrm{I}{\mathrm{r}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ has a cubic symmetry; thus, its Hall signal should be zero without an applied magnetic field. The DWs generated in this material break the twofold rotational symmetry, which allows for finite anomalous Hall conductivity. A strong $f\text{\ensuremath{-}}d$ exchange interaction between the Nd and Ir magnetic moments significantly influences antiferromagnetic (AFM) domain switching. Our epitaxial $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{d}}_{2}\mathrm{I}{\mathrm{r}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ thin film showed a large enhancement of the AHE signal when the AFM domains switched, indicating that the AHE is mainly due to DWs. Our paper highlights the symmetry-broken interface of AFM materials as a means of exploring topological effects and their relevant applications.

Interplay of Fermi surface topology and electron correlation is the quintessential ingredient underlying spontaneous symmetry breaking in itinerant electronic systems. In one-dimensional (1D) systems at half-filling, the inherent Fermi surface nesting makes the translationally invariant metallic state unstable, which is known as Peierls instability. Extending the scope of Peierls instability to two (2D) or three dimensions (3D), however, is not straightforward, since the Fermi surface in higher dimensions is generally not nested. In this work, we show that a perfectly nested Fermi surface can be realized in a class of 2D perovskite oxides, giving rise to 2D Peierls instability. Here the central role is played by the zone boundary Dirac line node (DLN) protected by two orthogonal glide mirrors induced by the rotation of oxygen octahedra. Especially, at a critical angle of the octahedron rotation, the zone-boundary DLN flattens, leading to logarithmically diverging susceptibility. We propose the 2D Peierls instability driven by dispersionless DLN as a principle mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking in various layered perovskite oxides including the antiferromagnetism of Sr$_2$IrO$_4$. As a clear signature of the 2D Peierls instability, we predict that the magnetic domain wall in Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ hosts localized soliton modes., 26+31 pages, 6+8 figures

Topological semimetals host electronic structures with several band-contact points or lines and are generally expected to exhibit strong topological responses. Up to now, most work has been limited to non-magnetic materials and the interplay between topology and magnetism in this class of quantum materials has been largely unexplored. Here we utilize theoretical calculations, magnetotransport and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to propose Fe3GeTe2, a van der Waals material, as a candidate ferromagnetic (FM) nodal line semimetal. We find that the spin degree of freedom is fully quenched by the large FM polarization, but the line degeneracy is protected by crystalline symmetries that connect two orbitals in adjacent layers. This orbital-driven nodal line is tunable by spin orientation due to spin-orbit coupling and produces a large Berry curvature, which leads to a large anomalous Hall current, angle and factor. These results demonstrate that FM topological semimetals hold significant potential for spin- and orbital-dependent electronic functionalities.

The interplay between electron correlation and spin–orbit coupling in solids has been proven to be an abundant gold mine for emergent topological phases. Here we report the results of systematic magnetotransport study on bandwidth-controlled pyrochlore iridates R2Ir2O7 near quantum metal-insulator transition (MIT). The application of a magnetic field along [001] crystallographic direction (H//[001]) significantly decreases resistivity while producing a unique Hall response, which indicates the emergence of the novel semi-metallic state in the course of the magnetic transformation from all-in all-out (AIAO, 4/0) to 2-in 2-out (2/2) spin configuration. For H//[111] that favours 3-in 1-out (3/1) configuration, by contrast, the resistivity exhibits saturation at a relatively high value typical of a semimetal. The observed properties can be identified to reflect the emergence of multiple Weyl semimetal states with varying numbers of Weyl points and line nodes in respective spin configurations. With tuning effective bandwidth, all these states appear to concentrate around the quantum MIT region, which may open a promising venue for topological phenomena and functions., The interplay between multiple electronic interactions in solid promotes the emergence of exotic phases. Here, Ueda et al. report magnetotransport study on pyrochlore iridates R 2Ir2O7 near quantum metal-insulator transition reflecting the emergence of multiple Weyl semimetal states.

Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are renowned for their rich and varied properties. They range from metals and superconductors to strongly spin-orbit-coupled semiconductors and charge-density-wave systems, with their single-layer variants one of the most prominent current examples of two-dimensional materials beyond graphene. Their varied ground states largely depend on the transition metal d-electron-derived electronic states, on which the vast majority of attention has been concentrated to date. Here, we focus on the chalcogen-derived states. From density-functional theory calculations together with spin- and angle- resolved photoemission, we find that these generically host type-II three-dimensional bulk Dirac fermions as well as ladders of topological surface states and surface resonances. We demonstrate how these naturally arise within a single p-orbital manifold as a general consequence of a trigonal crystal field, and as such can be expected across a large number of compounds. Already, we demonstrate their existence in six separate TMDs, opening routes to tune, and ultimately exploit, their topological physics., 10 pages, 4 figures

We study the effects of Coulomb interaction between 2D Weyl fermions with anisotropic dispersion which displays relativistic dynamics along one direction and Newtonian dynamics along the other. Such a dispersion can be realized in phosphorene under electric field or strain, in TiO$_2$/VO$_2$ superlattices, and, more generally, at the quantum critical point between a nodal semimetal and an insulator in systems with a chiral symmetry. Using the one-loop renormalization group approach in combination with the large-$N$ expansion, we find that the system displays interaction-driven non-Fermi liquid behavior in a wide range of intermediate frequencies and marginal Fermi liquid behavior at the smallest frequencies. In the non-Fermi liquid regime, the quasiparticle residue $Z$ at energy $E$ scales as $Z \propto E^a$ with $a >0$, and the parameters of the fermionic dispersion acquire anomalous dimensions. In the marginal Fermi-liquid regime, $Z \propto (|\log E|)^{-b}$ with universal $b = 3/2$., 15 pages, 5 figures

We investigate magnetotransport properties in a single crystal of pyrochore-type ${\mathrm{Nd}}_{2}{\mathrm{Ir}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$. The metallic conduction is observed on the antiferromagnetic domain walls of the all-in--all-out-type Ir $5d$ moment ordered insulating bulk state that can be finely controlled by an external magnetic field along [111]. On the other hand, an applied field along [001] induces the bulk phase transition from insulator to semimetal as a consequence of the field-induced modification of the Nd $4f$ and Ir $5d$ moment configurations. A theoretical calculation consistently describing the experimentally observed features suggests a variety of exotic topological states as functions of electron correlation and Ir $5d$ moment orders, which can be finely tuned by the choice of rare-earth ion and magnetic field, respectively.

In general, the stability of a band crossing point indicates the presence of a quantized topological number associated with it. In particular, the recent discovery of three-dimensional Dirac semimetals in Na$_{3}$Bi and Cd$_{3}$As$_{2}$ demonstrates that a Dirac point with four-fold degeneracy can be stable as long as certain crystalline symmetries are supplemented in addition to the time-reversal and inversion symmetries. However, the topological charges associated with Na$_{3}$Bi and Cd$_{3}$As$_{2}$ are not clarified yet. In this work, we identify the topological charge of three-dimensional Dirac points. It is found that although the simultaneous presence of the time-reversal and inversion symmetries forces the net chiral charge to vanish, a Dirac point can carry another quantized topological charge when an additional rotation symmetry is considered. Two different classes of Dirac semimetals are identified depending on the nature of the rotation symmetries. First, the conventional symmorphic rotational symmetry which commutes with the inversion gives rise to the class I Dirac semimetals having a pair of Dirac points on the rotation axes. Since the topological charges of each pair of Dirac points have the opposite sign, a pair-creation or a pair-annihilation is required to change the number of Dirac points in the momentum space. On the other hand, the class II Dirac semimetals possess a single isolated Dirac point at a time-reversal invariant momentum, which is protected by a screw rotation. The non-symmorphic nature of screw rotations allows the anti-commutation relation between the rotation and inversion symmetries, which enables to circumvent the doubling of the number of Dirac points and create a single Dirac point at the Brillouin zone boundary., 23 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables

We have constructed a general theory describing the topological quantum phase transitions in 3D systems with broken inversion symmetry. While the consideration of the system's codimension generally predicts the appearance of a stable metallic phase between the normal and topological insulators, it is shown that a direct topological phase transition between two insulators is also possible when an accidental band crossing (ABC) occurs along directions with high crystalline symmetry. At the quantum critical point (QCP), the energy dispersion becomes quadratic along one direction while the dispersions along the other two orthogonal directions are linear, which manifests the zero chirality of the band touching point (BTP). Due to the anisotropic dispersion at QCP, various thermodynamic and transport properties show unusual temperature dependence and anisotropic behaviors., Comment: 5+6 pages, 3+5 figures, 1 table

Transition-metal dichalcogenides such as WSe2 and MoS2 have electronic band structures that are ideal for hosting many exotic spin–orbit phenomena. Here we investigate the possibility to generate and modulate a giant Zeeman-type spin polarization in WSe2 under an external electric field. By tuning the perpendicular electric field applied to the WSe2 channel with an electric-double-layer transistor, we observe a systematic crossover from weak localization to weak anti-localization in magnetotransport. Our optical reflection measurements also reveal an electrically tunable exciton splitting. Using first-principles calculations, we propose that these are probably due to the emergence of a merely out-of-plane and momentum-independent spin splitting at and in the vicinity of the vertices of the WSe2 Brillouin zone under electric field. The non-magnetic approach for creating such an intriguing spin splitting keeps the system time-reversally invariant, thereby suggesting a new method for manipulating the spin degrees of freedom of electrons.

Emergence of novel quantum ground states in correlated electron systems with strong spin-orbit coupling has been a recent subject of intensive studies. While it has been realized that spin-orbit coupling can provide non-trivial band topology in weakly interacting electron systems, as in topological insulators and semi-metals, the role of electron-electron interaction in strongly spin-orbit coupled systems has not been fully understood. The availability of new materials with significant electron correlation and strong spin-orbit coupling now makes such investigations possible. Many of these materials contain 5d or 4d transition metal elements; the prominent examples are iridium oxides or iridates. In this review, we succinctly discuss recent theoretical and experimental progress on this subject. After providing a brief overview, we focus on pyrochlore iridates and three-dimensional honeycomb iridates. In pyrochlore iridates, we discuss the quantum criticality of the bulk and surface states, and the relevance of the surface/boundary states in a number of topological and magnetic ground states, both in the bulk and thin film configurations. Experimental signatures of these boundary and bulk states are discussed. Domain wall formation and strongly-direction-dependent magneto-transport are also discussed. Regarding the three-dimensional honeycomb iridates, we consider possible quantum spin liquid phases and unusual magnetic orders in theoretical models with strongly bond-dependent interactions. These theoretical ideas and results are discussed in light of recent resonant X-ray scattering experiments on three-dimensional honeycomb iridates. We also contrast these results with the situation in two-dimensional honeycomb iridates. We conclude with the outlook on other related systems., Comment: 19 pages plus references, submitted to Reports on Progress in Physics

The spin-orbit interaction affects the electronic structure of solids in various ways. Topological insulators are one example where the spin-orbit interaction leads the bulk bands to have a non-trivial topology, observable as gapless surface or edge states. Another example is the Rashba effect, which lifts the electron-spin degeneracy as a consequence of spin-orbit interaction under broken inversion symmetry. It is of particular importance to know how these two effects, i.e. the non-trivial topology of electronic states and Rashba spin splitting, interplay with each other. Here we show, through sophisticated first-principles calculations, that BiTeI, a giant bulk Rashba semiconductor, turns into a topological insulator under a reasonable pressure. This material is shown to exhibit several unique features such as, a highly pressure-tunable giant Rashba spin splitting, an unusual pressure-induced quantum phase transition, and more importantly the formation of strikingly different Dirac surface states at opposite sides of the material., Comment: 5 figures are included

We investigate the general conditions to achieve the adiabatic charge and spin polarizations and quantized pumping in 2D magnetic insulators possessing inhomogeneous spin structures. In particular, we focus on the chiral ferrimagnetic insulators which are generated via spontaneous symmetry breaking from correlated two dimensional topological insulators. Adiabatic deformation of the inhomogeneous spin structure generates the spin gauge flux, which induces adiabatic charge and spin polarization currents. The unit pumped charge/spin are determined by the product of two topological invariants which are defined in momentum and real spaces, respectively. The same topological invariants determine the charge and spin quantum numbers of skyrmion textures. It is found that in noncentrosymmetric systems, a new topological phase, dubbed the topological chiral magnetic insulator, exists in which a skyrmion defect is a spin-1/2 fermion with electric charge $e$. Considering the adiabatic current responses of generic inhomogeneous systems, it is shown that the quantized topological response of chiral magnetic insulators is endowed with the second Chern number., Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures

We study topological properties of density wave states with broken translational symmetry in two-dimensional multi-orbital systems with a particular focus on t$_{2g}$ orbitals in square lattice. Due to distinct symmetry properties of d-orbitals, a nodal charge or spin density wave state with Dirac points protected by lattice symmetries can be achieved. When an additional order parameter with opposite reflection symmetry is introduced to a nodal density wave state, the system can be fully gapped leading to a band insulator. Among those, topological density wave (TDW) insulators can be realized, when an effective staggered on-site potential generates a gap to a pair of Dirac points connected by the inversion symmetry which have the same topological winding numbers. We also present a mean-field phase diagram for various density wave states, and discuss experimental implications of our results., 15 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables

Motivated by recent experiments on ${\text{Ba}}_{3}{\text{Cr}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{8}$, a new spin-dimer compound with spin-1/2 moments of ${\text{Cr}}^{5+}$ ions, we theoretically investigate the field-induced magnetic ordering in this material in view of the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of triplet excitations (triplons). We apply the self-consistent Hartree-Fock-Popov (HFP) approach to a microscopic Hamiltonian, using the realistic triplon dispersion measured in an inelastic neutron-scattering experiment. In particular, we ask to what extent the BEC of dilute triplons near the critical field can explain the magnetic ordering in this material. For example, we investigate the temperature range where the BEC picture of triplons can be applied via the HFP approach. We also determine the temperature regime where a quadratic approximation of the triplon dispersion works. It is found that the strength of the effective repulsive interaction between triplons is much weaker in ${\text{Ba}}_{3}{\text{Cr}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{8}$ than in the canonical spin-dimer compound ${\text{TlCuCl}}_{3}$. Small effective repulsive interaction in combination with the narrow band of triplons leads to higher density of triplons ${n}_{\text{cr}}$ at the critical point. The combined effect points to a bigger HFP correction $U{n}_{\text{cr}}$ in ${\text{Ba}}_{3}{\text{Cr}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{8}$ than in ${\text{TlCuCl}}_{3}$. Nonetheless, the HFP approach provides a reasonable explanation of the transverse magnetization and the specific-heat data of ${\text{Ba}}_{3}{\text{Cr}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{8}$.

The possible existence of topological insulators in cubic pyrochlore iridates A$_{2}$Ir$_{2}$O$_{7}$ (A = Y or rare-earth elements) is investigated by taking into account the strong spin-orbit coupling and trigonal crystal field effect. It is found that the trigonal crystal field effect, which is always present in real systems, may destabilize the topological insulator proposed for the ideal cubic crystal field, leading to a metallic ground state. Thus the trigonal crystal field is an important control parameter for the metal-insulator changeover. We propose that this could be one of the reasons why distinct low temperature ground states may arise for the pyrochlore iridates with different A-site ions. On the other hand, examining the electron-lattice coupling, we find that softening of the $\textbf{q}$=0 modes corresponding to trigonal or tetragonal distortions of the Ir pyrochlore lattice leads to the resurrection of the strong topological insulator. Thus, in principle, a finite temperature transition to a low-temperature topological insulator can occur via structural changes. We also suggest that the application of the external pressure along [111] or its equivalent directions would be the most efficient way of generating strong topological insulators in pyrochlore iridates., Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables

We investigate various competing paramagnetic ground states of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the two dimensional star lattice which exhibits geometric frustration. Using slave particle mean field theory combined with a projective symmetry group analysis, we examine a variety of candidate spin liquid states on this lattice, including chiral spin liquids, spin liquids with Fermi surfaces of spinons, and nematic spin liquids which break lattice rotational symmetry. Motivated by connection to large-N SU(N) theory as well as numerical exact diagonalization studies, we also examine various valence bond solid (VBS) states on this lattice. Based on a study of energetics using Gutzwiller projected states, we find that a fully gapped spin liquid state is the lowest energy spin liquid candidate for this model. We also find, from a study of energetics using Gutzwiller projected wave functions and bond operator approaches, that this spin liquid is unstable towards two different VBS states -- a VBS state which respects all the Hamitonian symmetries and a VBS state which exhibits $\sqrt{3}\times\sqrt{3}$ order -- depending on the ratio of the Heisenberg exchange couplings on the two inequivalent bonds of the lattice. We compute the triplon dispersion in both VBS states within the bond operator approach and discuss possible implications of our work for future experiments on candidate materials., 23 pages, 21 figures, 2 tables

Motivated by a recent experiment on ${\text{Rb}}_{2}{\text{Cu}}_{3}{\text{SnF}}_{12}$, where spin-1/2 ${\text{Cu}}^{2+}$ moments reside on the layers of kagome-like lattices, we investigate quantum ground states of the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a series of deformed kagome lattices. The deformation is characterized by a weaker exchange coupling $\ensuremath{\alpha}J$ on certain lattice links appropriate for ${\text{Rb}}_{2}{\text{Cu}}_{3}{\text{SnF}}_{12}$ with $\ensuremath{\alpha}=1$ corresponding to the ideal kagome lattice. In particular, we study possible valence bond solid phases using the perturbation theory around isolated dimer limits, dimer series expansion, and self-consistent bond operator mean-field theory. It is shown that the valence bond solid phase with a 36-site unit cell of the ideal kagome lattice is quite sensitive to a small lattice distortion as the kind discovered in ${\text{Rb}}_{2}{\text{Cu}}_{3}{\text{SnF}}_{12}$. As a result, we find that a more likely quantum ground state in ${\text{Rb}}_{2}{\text{Cu}}_{3}{\text{SnF}}_{12}$ is the valence bond solid phase with a 12-site unit cell, where six dimers form a pinwheel structure, leading to strong modification of the elementary triplet and singlet excitation spectra in the deformed kagome lattices.

One of the most promising candidate ground states for the quantum antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the Kagome lattice is the valence bond solid (VBS) with a 36-site unit cell. We present a theory of triplet excitation spectra about this ground state using bond operator formalism. In particular we obtain dispersions of all 18 triplet modes in the reduced Brillouin zone. In the bond operator mean-field theory, it is found that a large number of triplet modes are non-dispersive. In particular, the lowest triplet excitation is non-dispersive and degenerate with a dispersive mode at the zone center. Away from the zone center, the lowest triplet is separated from two other flat modes by a small energy gap. Quantum fluctuations are considered by taking into account scattering processes of two triplets and their bound state formation, which leads to a downward renormalization of the lowest spin triplet gap. The dispersion of the lowest triplet excitation in the VBS state is compared with the dispersive lower bound of the triplet continuum expected in competing spin liquid phases. Implications to future neutron scattering experiments are discussed., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 table

Motivated by recent experiments on SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$, we investigate the ground states of the doped Mott insulator on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice. To provide a unified theoretical framework for both the valence-bond solid state found in undoped SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$ and the doped counterpart being pursued in on-going experiments, we analyze the t-J-$V$ model via the bond operator formulation. It is found that novel superconducting states emerge upon doping with their properties crucially depending on the underlying valence bond order. Implications to future experiments are discussed., 10 pages, 6 figures

We have investigated the optical conductivity spectra of La2-2xSr1+2xMn2O7 (0.3

Optical spectra of a double-layered perovskite ruthenate ${\mathrm{Ca}}_{3}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ show a pseudogap opening around $200\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ below 50 K, which is attributable to the partial $k$-space gap opening due to the density wave instability. Unlike most other density wave materials, ${\mathrm{Ca}}_{3}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ has spectral weight redistributions, not near the energy gap region, but at a much higher energy region around $800\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. As a possible origin of these intriguing features, we discuss the orbital flip excitation in the density wave ground state.