Back to Search
Start Over
Gapped symmetry preserving surface state for the electron topological insulator.
- Source :
-
Physical Review B: Condensed Matter & Materials Physics . Sep2013, Vol. 88 Issue 11, p115137-1-115137-10. 10p. - Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- It is well known that the three-dimensional (3D) electronic topological insulator (TI) with charge-conservation and time-reversal symmetry cannot have a trivial insulating surface that preserves symmetry. It is often implicitly assumed that if the TI surface preserves both symmetries then it must be gapless. Here we show that it is possible for the TI surface to be both gapped and symmetry preserving, at the expense of having surface-topological order. In contrast to analogous bosonic topological insulators, this symmetric surface topological order is intrinsically non-Abelian. We show that the surface-topological order provides a complete nonperturbative definition of the electron TI that transcends a free-particle band-structure picture, and could provide a useful perspective for studying strongly correlated topological Mott insulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10980121
- Volume :
- 88
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Physical Review B: Condensed Matter & Materials Physics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 91837615
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.115137