Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Equipotential Surfaces and Conductors

Equipotential Surfaces and Conductors

For a conductor in which all charges are at rest, the conductor's surface is equipotential. The electric field is always perpendicular to equipotential surfaces. Therefore, in a conductor with static charges, the electric field just outside the conductor is always perpendicular to the conductor's surface. Any tangential component of the electric field will cause charges to move inside the conductor, which will violate the electrostatic nature of the system. In an electrostatic situation, if a...

Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions

Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions

An electric field suffers a discontinuity at a surface charge. Similarly, a magnetic field is discontinuous at a surface current. The perpendicular component of a magnetic field is continuous across the interface of two magnetic mediums. In contrast, its parallel component, perpendicular to the current, is discontinuous by the amount equal to the product of the vacuum permeability and the surface current. Like the scalar potential in electrostatics, the vector potential is also continuous...

Theory of Metallic Conduction

Theory of Metallic Conduction

The conduction of free electrons inside a conductor is best described by quantum mechanics. However, a classical model makes predictions close to the results of quantum mechanics. It is called the theory of metallic conduction.
In this theory, Newton's second law of motion is used to determine the acceleration of an electron in the presence of an applied electric field. Then, its velocity is expressed via this acceleration.
An electron moves through the crystal, containing positive ions,...

Inductance: Solid Cylindrical Conductor

Inductance: Solid Cylindrical Conductor

To calculate the inductance of a solid cylindrical conductor, consider a 1-meter section of a non-magnetic, current-carrying conductor with radius r. Disregarding end effects and assuming uniform current density, Ampere's law helps determine the magnetic field inside the conductor. This law states that the magnetic field intensity H is concentric and constant within the conductor.
Given the uniform current distribution, the magnetic field Hx and flux density Bx inside the conductor are...

Types Of Superconductors

Types Of Superconductors

A superconductor is a substance that offers zero resistance to the electric current when it drops below a critical temperature. Zero resistance is not the only interesting phenomenon as materials reach their transition temperatures. A second effect is the exclusion of magnetic fields. This is known as the Meissner effect. A light, permanent magnet placed over a superconducting sample will levitate in a stable position above the superconductor. High-speed trains that levitate on strong...

Conductors and Insulators

Conductors and Insulators

Some materials may easily let electrical charges pass through them, while others obstruct their flow. The former are called conductors and the latter insulators. The atomic structures of materials determine whether they are conductors or insulators of electricity.
Most metals are conductors. Their atomic configuration is such that one or more electron(s) are loosely bound to the nucleus in each atom. Thus, a sea of mobile electrons are available in them, known as free electrons. Their easy...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Emergent Gauge Field in Composite-Fermion Metals: A Large-Scale Microscopic Study.

Physical review letters·2026

Same author

Molecular Anyons in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect.

Physical review letters·2025

Same author

Unlocking New Regimes in Fractional Quantum Hall Effect with Quaternions.

Physical review letters·2025

Same author

Splitting of the Girvin-MacDonald-Platzman Density Wave and the Nature of Chiral Gravitons in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect.

Physical review letters·2025

Same author

Erratum: Anderson Localization in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect [Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 116801 (2022)].

Physical review letters·2023

Same author

Composite Fermion Pairing Induced by Landau Level Mixing.

Physical review letters·2023

Same journal

Erratum: Bacterial Turbulence at Compressible Fluid Interfaces [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 138301 (2026)].

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Unveiling Light-Quark Yukawa Flavor Structure via Dihadron Fragmentation at Lepton Colliders.

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Adaptable Route to Fast Coherent State Transport via Bang-Bang-Bang Protocols.

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Topological Transition and Emergence of Elasticity of Dislocation in Skyrmion Lattice: Beyond Kittel's Magnetic-Polar Analogy.

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Pound-Drever-Hall Method for Superconducting-Qubit Readout.

Physical review letters·2026

Same journal

Coupling a ^{73}Ge Nuclear Spin to an Electrostatically Defined Quantum Dot in Silicon.

Physical review letters·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light

Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light

Published on: July 29, 2013

Topological Anderson insulator.

Jian Li¹, Rui-Lin Chu, J K Jain

¹Department of Physics and Center of Computational and Theoretical Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.

Physical Review Letters

|April 28, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Disorder creates a novel topological Anderson insulator phase. This phase, unlike typical insulators, features extended edge states crucial for quantum spin Hall effect applications.

More Related Videos

Experimental Methods for Spin- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Combined with Polarization-Variable Laser

Experimental Methods for Spin- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Combined with Polarization-Variable Laser

Published on: June 28, 2018

Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform

Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform

Published on: August 2, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light

Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light

Published on: July 29, 2013

Experimental Methods for Spin- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Combined with Polarization-Variable Laser

Experimental Methods for Spin- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Combined with Polarization-Variable Laser

Published on: June 28, 2018

Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform

Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform

Published on: August 2, 2019

Area of Science:

Condensed matter physics
Topological materials science

Background:

Disorder is key to phenomena like metal-insulator transitions and quantum Hall effects.
Topological insulators exhibit helical edge states and the quantum spin Hall effect.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate disorder's role in topological insulators.
Predict and characterize a new quantum phase: the topological Anderson insulator.

Main Methods:

Introducing impurities into a two-dimensional metal.
Analyzing the resulting metal-insulator transition and edge state behavior.

Main Results:

Disorder induces a metal-insulator transition.
Disorder is essential for creating extended edge states in the topological Anderson insulator.
The phase diagram for this new topological phase was determined.

Conclusions:

The topological Anderson insulator represents a novel quantum phase driven by disorder.
Disorder's role extends beyond simple transitions to actively creating topological states.
Experimental consequences of this phase were outlined for future research.