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Topological Phase Transitions in Disordered Electric Quadrupole Insulators.
Chang-An Li1,2, Bo Fu3, Zi-Ang Hu3
1School of Science, Westlake University, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou 310024, Zhejiang Province, China.
Physical Review Letters
|October 30, 2020
Summary
Disorder can drive topological phase transitions in electric quadrupole insulators. Chiral symmetry protects topological invariants, enabling corner modes even with broken symmetries.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Topological matter
- Quantum insulators
Background:
- Quantized electric quadrupole insulators are a class of higher-order topological insulators.
- Topological phase transitions are typically sensitive to symmetry breaking and disorder.
- Chiral symmetry plays a crucial role in protecting topological properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate disorder-driven topological phase transitions in 2D quantized electric quadrupole insulators.
- To explore the role of chiral symmetry in protecting topological invariants under disorder.
- To understand the emergence of corner modes and boundary states in disordered systems.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of 2D electric quadrupole insulators.
- Investigation of the effects of disorder on topological invariants.
- Characterization of bulk and boundary properties across phase transitions.
Main Results:
- Chiral symmetry protects the quadrupole moment (qxy) quantization against disorder.
- Disorder preserving chiral symmetry can induce topological phase transitions and corner modes from trivial phases.
- Extended boundary states appear at critical points even under strong disorder.
Conclusions:
- Disorder can be a key ingredient for realizing topological phase transitions in quantized electric quadrupole insulators.
- Chiral symmetry is a robust protection mechanism for higher-order topological invariants.
- The findings offer new pathways for designing topological materials and devices.
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