Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 29, 2025

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Topological Weaire-Thorpe models of amorphous matter
Quentin Marsal1, Dániel Varjas2,3, Adolfo G Grushin4
1Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institut Néel, 38000 Grenoble, France.
Abstract:
Amorphous solids remain outside of the classification and systematic discovery of new topological materials, partially due to the lack of realistic models that are analytically tractable. Here we introduce the topological Weaire-Thorpe class of models, which are defined on amorphous lattices with fixed coordination number, a realistic feature of covalently bonded amorphous solids. Their short-range properties allow us to analytically predict spectral gaps. Their symmetry under permutation of orbitals allows us to analytically compute topological phase diagrams, which determine quantized observables like circular dichroism, by introducing symmetry indicators in amorphous systems. These models and our procedures to define invariants are generalizable to higher coordination number and dimensions, opening a route toward a complete classification of amorphous topological states in real space using quasilocal properties.
More Related Videos
08:04Excitonic Hamiltonians for Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra and Optoelectronic Properties of Molecular Aggregates and Solids
Published on: May 27, 2020
09:06Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Ampere's Law in Matter
The differential form of Ampere's law in vacuum states that the curl of the magnetic field equals the permeability times the current density. In a magnetized material, the law is modified to incorporate the free and bound current...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Structures of Solids
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
First Law: Particles in Two-dimensional Equilibrium
Newton's first law tells us about...
The Fluid Mosaic Model