Topological Insulators and

Superconductors

Akira Furusaki
2012/2/8 1 YIPQS Symposium
Condensed matter physics
Diversity of materials
Understand their properties
Find new states of matter

Emergent behavior of electron systems at low energy
Spontaneous symmetry breaking
crystal, magnetism, superconductivity, .
Fermi liquids (non-Fermi liquids)
(high-Tc) superconductivity, quantum criticality,
Insulators
Mott insulators, quantum Hall effect, topological insulators,



More is different (P.W. Anderson)
Outline
Topological insulators: introduction
Examples:
Integer quantum Hall effect
Quantum spin Hall effect
3D Z
2
topological insulator
Topological superconductor
Classification
Summary and outlook

Introduction
Topological insulator
an insulator with nontrivial topological structure
massless excitations live at boundaries
bulk: insulating, surface: metallic

Many ideas from field theory are realized
in condensed matter systems
anomaly
domain wall fermions


Recent reviews:
Z. Hasan & C.L. Kane, RMP 82, 3045 (2010)
X.L. Qi & S.C. Zhang, RMP 83, 1057 (2011)
Recent developments 2005-
Insulators which are invariant under time reversal
can have topologically nontrivial electronic structure
2D: Quantum Spin Hall Effect
theory
C.L. Kane & E.J. Mele 2005; A. Bernevig, T. Hughes & S.C. Zhang 2006
experiment
L. Molenkamps group (Wurzburg) 2007 HgTe
3D: Topological Insulators in the narrow sense
theory
L. Fu, C.L. Kane & E.J. Mele 2007; J. Moore & L. Balents 2007; R. Roy 2007
experiment
Z. Hasans group (Princeton) 2008 Bi
1-x
Sb
x
Bi
2
Se
3
, Bi
2
Te
3
, Bi
2
Tl
2
Se, ..
Topological insulators
Examples: integer quantum Hall effect, polyacetylen,
quantum spin Hall effect, 3D topological insulator, .
band insulators
characterized by a topological number (Z or Z
2
)
Chern #, winding #,
gapless excitations at boundaries
stable
free fermions (ignore e-e int.)
6
in broader sense
Topological
insulator
non-topological
(vacuum)
Band insulators
An electron in a periodic potential (crystal)


Blochs theorem Brillouin zone




( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
2 2
2

2
d
x V x x E x V x a V x
m dx
+ = + =
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

ikx
k k k k
x e u x u x a u x k
a a
t t
= + = s s
E
k
a
t
a
t

empty
occupied
band gap
Band insulator
0
8
Energy band structure:
( ) ( ) ( ) k u k E k H k
n n

or , ,
a mapping
Topological equivalence (adiabatic continuity)
Band structures are equivalent if they can be continuously deformed
into one another without closing the energy gap
Topological distinction of ground states
m filled
bands
n empty
bands
x
k
y
k
map from BZ to Grassmannian
( ) ( ) ( ) | | Z = + n U m U n m U
2
t IQHE (2 dim.)
homotopy class
deformed Hamiltonian
( )
( )

1 0

0 1
n
m
Q k U U U U m n
| |
= e +
|

\ .
9
2
1, , tr Q Q Q Q m n = = =
( ) ( ) ( )
: Brillouin zone ( -space) Q k U m n U m U n +
Berry phase of Bloch wave function
10
Berry connection
( ) ( ) ( ) k u k u i k A
k

V =
Berry curvature
( ) ( ) k A k F
k

V =
Berry phase
( )
} }
= =
C S
C
k Fd k d k A
2

Example: 2-level Hamiltonian (spin in magnetic field)

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) k u k d k u k H

+ =
( ) ( )
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

= =
z y x
y x z
d id d
id d d
k d k H o

Integer QHE
11
Integer quantum Hall effect (von Klitzing 1980)
H xy
=
xx

Quantization of Hall conductance

2
: integer
xy
e
i i
h
o =
O = 807 . 25812
2
e
h
exact, robust against disorder etc.
12
Integer Quantum Hall Effect
C
h
e
xy
2
= o
Chern number
( )
2
1
,
2
k x y
C d k A k k
i t
= V
}
filled band
( )
( )
,
,
x y
x y k
k k k
A k k k k = V
V = c c
integer valued
13
(TKNN: Thouless, Kohmoto, Nightingale & den Nijs 1982)
B

H xy
=
xx

= number of edge modes crossing E

F
Berry connection
bulk-edge correspondence
x
eB
k y =
x
y
Lattice model for IQHE (Haldane 1988)
Graphene: a single layer of graphite
Relativistic electrons in a pencil
Geim & Novoselov: Nobel prize 2010


p
y
p
x
E

K
K
K
K
K
K
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
x y
x y
F
x y
x y
p ip
p ip
H v
p ip
p ip
| |
|
+
|
=
|
+
|
|

\ .
A
B
A
B
K K
B A
Matrix element for hopping
between nearest-neighbor sites: t
3
2 300
F
ta c
v = ~
Dirac masses
Staggered site energy (G. Semenoff 1984)


Complex 2
nd
-nearest-neighbor hopping (Haldane 1988)
No net magnetic flux through a unit cell

, on A sites
, on B sites
M
M
+

2
i
t e
|
( )
point:
K F x x y y z
K H v p p m o o o = + +
( )
'
' point: '
K F x x y y z
K H v p p m o o o = +
2
3 3 sin m M t | = +
2
' 3 3 sin m M t | =
2
xy
e
C
h
o = Hall conductivity
( ) ( )
1
sgn sgn '
2
C m m ( =

1 C = + 1 C =
0 C =
0 C =
Chern insulator
0 C =
Breaks inversion symmetry
Breaks time-reversal symmetry
( ) x m
x
Massive Dirac fermion: a minimal model for IQHE
( ) ( )
z y y x x
x m iv H o o o + c + c =
( )
z y y x x
m iv H o o o + c + c =
parity anomaly ( ) m
xy
sgn
2
1
= o
Domain wall fermion
( ) ( )
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
}
i
dx x m
v
iky y x
x
y
1
' '
1
exp ,
0
o
vk E =
0 > m 0 < m
16
(2+1)d Chern-Simons theory for EM
Quantum spin Hall effect
(2D Z
2
topological insulator)

17
2D Quantum spin Hall effect
time-reversal invariant band insulator
spin-orbit interaction
gapless helical edge mode (Kramers pair)

Kane & Mele (2005, 2006); Bernevig & Zhang (2006)
B

up-spin electrons
down-spin electrons
L S
E
x
k
S
z
is not conserved in general. Topological index: Z Z
2
18
valence band
conduction band
19
Quantum spin Hall insulator
Bulk energy gap & gapless edge states
Helical edge states:
(i) Half an ordinary 1D electron gas
(ii) Protected by time reversal symmetry
Kane-Mele model
Two copies of Haldanes model (spin up & down)
+ spin-flip term



Invariant under time-reversal transformation

Spin-flip term breaks symmetry
two copies of Chern insulators
a new topological number: Z
2
index
( ) ( )
Kane-Mele Haldane Haldane spin-flip
2 2 H H H H | t | t
| +
= = + + = +
up-spin electrons down-spin electrons

spin-flip
. .
( )
R i ij z j
n n
H i c s r c =

i i s s
2
K 1
y
is O= O =
(1) (1) U U
| +

0
R
=
1 C C
| +
= =
: electron spin s
0
R
=
0 C = 0, 1 v =
Effective Hamiltonian





: 1 A sublattice, 1 B sublattice
z z
o o o = + =
: 1 K point, 1 K' point
z z
t t t = + =
: s 1 up spin, s 1 down spin
z z
s = + =
( )
0 F x z x y y
H i v o t o = c + c
SO SO z z z
H s o t = A
( )
R R x z y y x
H s s o t o =
M z
H Mo =
complex 2
nd
nearest-neighbor hopping (Haldane)
spin-flip hopping
staggered site potential (Semenoff)
1
total total
H H

O O =
Time-reversal symmetry
2
K 1
x y
i s t O= O =
Chern # = 0
complex conjugation
Z
2
index Kane & Mele (2005); Fu & Kane (2006)
( )
n
u k
Bloch wave of occupied bands
( ) ( ) ( )
mn m n
w k u k u k = O
Time-reversal invariant momenta:
( )

a a a
G A A = A +
( ) ( )
a a
w w A = A
antisymmetric
Z
2
index
( )
( )
( )
4
1
Pf
1 1
det
a
a
a
w
w
v
=
(
A

= =
(
A

[
Quantum spin Hall insulator
E
k
valence band
conduction
band
0
t
1 v = 0 v =
an odd number
of crossing
Trivial insulator
E
k
valence band
conduction
band
0
an even number
of crossing
t
F
E
F
E
t
t
Time reversal symmetry
23
Time reversal operator
O
( )
( )
( )
( )
*
*
k k
k k


| +
+ |
| | | |

| |
O =
| |
| |

\ . \ .
2
1 O =
Kramers theorem
All states are doubly degenerate.
time-reversal pair
Z
2
: stability of gapless edge states
(1) A single Kramers doublet
(2) Two Kramers doublets
24
E
k
E
k
Kramers theorem
E
k
E
k
stable
Two pairs of edge states are unstable against perturbations that respect TRS.
Experiment
HgTe/(Hg,Cd)Te quantum wells
Konig et al. [Science 318, 766 (2007)]
CdTe HgCdTe CdTe
25
QSHI
Trivial Ins.
Z
2
topological insulator
in 3 spatial dimensions
26
3 dimensional Topological insulator
Band insulator

Metallic surface: massless Dirac fermions
(Weyl fermions)
x
y
x
k
y
k
E
Theoretical Predictions made by:
Fu, Kane, & Mele (2007)
Moore & Balents (2007)
Roy (2007)
Z
2
topologically nontrivial
an odd number of Dirac cones/surface
Surface Dirac fermions
1/4 of graphene







An odd number of Dirac fermions in 2 dimensions
cf. Nielsen-Ninomiyas no-go theorem

k
y
k
x
E

K
K
K
K
K
K
topological
insulator
28
surface y x x y
H i i o o = c + c
Experimental confirmation
Bi
1-x
Sb
x
0.09<x<0.18 theory: Fu & Kane (PRL 2007)
exp: Angle Resolved Photo Emission Spectroscopy
Princeton group (Hsieh et al., Nature 2008)

5 surface bands cross Fermi energy


Bi
2
Se
3
ARPES exp.: Xia et al., Nature Phys. 2009
a single Dirac cone

p, E
photon
Bi
2
Te
3
, Bi
2
Te
2
Se,
Other topological insulators:
Response to external EM field
ieA VV+
Integrate out electron fields to obtain effective action for the external EM field
2 2
3 3
eff
2 2
32 4
e e
S dtdx F F dtdx E B
c c
vk
v k
u u
c
t t
= =
} }
axion electrodynamics (Wilczek, )
Qi, Hughes & Zhang, 2008
Essin, Moore & Vanderbilt 2009
0
u
t

trivial insulators
topological insulators
2 u u t +
u u
time reversal

topological insulator
u t =
vacuum 0 u =
( )
FF d AdA =
2
surface
dtdx A A
v
v
c c
}
(2+1)d Chern-Simons theory
2
2
xy
e
h
o =
Topological magnetoelectric effect
2 2
3 3
eff
2 2
32 4
e e
S dtdx F F dtdx E B
c c
vk
v k
u u
c
t t
= =
} }
2
2
S e
M E
hc B
o u
t o
= =
Magnetization induced by electric field
Polarization induced by magnetic field
2
2
S e
P B
hc E
o u
t o
= =
Topological superconductors
Topological superconductors
BCS superconductors
Quasiparticles are massive inside the superconductor
Topological numbers
Majorana (Weyl) fermions at the boundaries
Examples: p+ip superconductor, fractional QHE at ,
3
He
topological
superconductor
vacuum
(topologically trivial)
stable
2
5
= v
Majorana fermion
Particle that is its own anti-particle
Neutrino ?
In superconductors:
condensation of Cooper pairs
particle
hole
nothing (vacuum)

uc vc = +

if u v = =
Quasiparticle operator
Ettore Majorana
mysteriously disappeared in 1938
This happens at E=0.
2D p+ip superconductor (similar to IQHE)
(p
x
+ip
y
)-wave Cooper pairing

Hamiltonian for Nambu spinor (spinless case)





Majorana Weyl fermion along the edge
( )
( )
( )
2
2
2
2
x y
F
p
x y
F
p
p ip
m p
H d p
p
p ip
p m

| | A
+
|
|
= =
|
A
|
|
\ .
angular momentum =
p
x
-ip
y
p
x
+ip
y

d d d =
( )
2
,
x y
p p S
2
S
wrapping # = 1
k
E
2A

p
p
c
c

| |
|
\ .

k k

=
( )
( )
( )

ikx ikx
k k
k
x e e dk
x

>
= +
=
}
*
x p x p
H H o o

=
Majorana zeromode in a quantum vortex
F n
E n / ,
2
0 0 0
A ~ = e e c
zero mode
0
0
= c
+
=
0 0

Majorana fermion
energy spectrum
near a vortex
If there are 2N vortices, then the ground-state degeneracy = 2
N
.




(p+ip) superconductor
vortex
e
hc
= |
Zero-energy Majorana bound state
E
A 0
interchanging vortices braid groups, non-Abelian statistics
1 +

i i

i i

+1
D.A. Ivanov, PRL (2001)



(p+ip) superconductor
i i+1
topological quantum computing ?
Majorana zeromode is insensitive to external disturbance (long coherence time).
Engineering topological superconductors
3D topological insulator + s-wave superconductor (Fu & Kane, 2008)





Quantum wire with strong spin-orbit coupling + B field + s-SC






Race is on for the search of elusive Majorana!
Z
2
TPI
s-SC
S-wave SC Dirac mass for the (2+1)d surface Dirac fermion
Similar to a spinless p+ip superconductor
Majorana zeromode in a vortex core (cf. Jakiw & Rossi 1981)
(Das Sarma et al, Alicea, von Oppen, Oreg, Sato-Fujimoto-Takahashi, .)
s-SC
B

2
0
2
x
x y x
p
H gp s Bs
m
= +
InAs, InSb wire
Classification of topological
insulators and superconductors
Q: How many classes of topological
insulators/superconductors exist in nature?
A: There are 5 classes of TPIs or TPSCs
in each spatial dimension.
Generic Symmetries:
time reversal
charge conjugation (particle hole) SC
40
Classification of free-fermion Hamiltonian
in terms of generic discrete symmetries
Time-reversal symmetry (TRS)


Particle-hole symmetry (PHS)
BdG Hamiltonian



TRS PHS = Chiral symmetry (CS)
H T TH =
1 *
H P PH =
1 *
2
2
0 no TRS
TRS 1 TRS with 1
1 TRS with 1

= + T = +

T =

2
2
0 no PHS
PHS 1 PHS with 1
1 PHS with 1

= + P = +

P =

spin 0
spin 1/2
( ) H TP TPH =
1
triplet
singlet
1 Ch 0, PHS TRS = = =
10 1 3 3 = +
j ij i
f H f
+
41
anti-unitary
anti-unitary
T T= K
P P = K
10 random matrix ensembles
(symmetric spaces) Altland & Zirnbauer (1997)
42
Wigner-
Dyson
chiral
super-
conductor
IQHE
Z
2
TPI
p
x
+ip
y
time evolution operator TRS PHS Ch
Wigner-Dyson (1951-1963): three-fold way complex nuclei
Verbaarschot & others (1992-1993) chiral phase transition in QCD
Altland-Zirnbauer (1997): ten-fold way mesoscopic SC systems
( )
exp iHt
10 random matrix ensembles
(symmetric spaces) Altland & Zirnbauer (1997)
43
Wigner-
Dyson
chiral
super-
conductor
IQHE
Z
2
TPI
p
x
+ip
y
time evolution operator TRS PHS Ch
Complex cases: A & AIII
Real cases: the remaining 8 classes
H P PH H T TH = =
1 * 1 *
or
( )
exp iHt
How to classify topological insulators and SCs
Gapless boundary modes are topologically protected.
They are stable against any local perturbation.
(respecting discrete symmetries)
They should never be Anderson localized by disorder.
Nonlinear sigma models for Anderson localization
of gapless boundary modes
+ topological term ( )
}
c =

2
1
tr Q r d S
d
M Qe
bulk: d dimensions
boundary: d -1 dimensions
( )
2 1
Z M
d
=

t
Z
2
top. term
WZW term ( ) Z M
d
= t
u-term
(with no adjustable parameter)
44
NLSM topological terms
( ) H G
d
t
Z
2
: Z
2
topological term can exist in d dimensions
Z: WZW term can exist in d-1 dimensions
d+1 dim. TI/TSC
d dim. TI/TSC
46
Standard
(Wigner-Dyson)
A (unitary)
AI (orthogonal)
AII (symplectic)
TRS PHS CS d=1 d=2 d=3
0 0 0
+1 0 0
1 0 0
-- Z --
-- -- --
-- Z
2
Z
2
AIII (chiral unitary)
BDI (chiral orthogonal)
CII (chiral symplectic)
Chiral
0 0 1
+1 +1 1
1 1 1
Z -- Z
Z -- --
Z -- Z
2

D (p-wave SC)
C (d-wave SC)
DIII (p-wave TRS SC)
CI (d-wave TRS SC)
0 +1 0
0 1 0
1 +1 1
+1 1 1
Z
2
Z --
-- Z --
Z
2
Z
2
Z
-- -- Z
BdG
IQHE
QSHE
Z
2
TPI
polyacetylene (SSH)
p+ip SC
d+id SC
3
He-B
Classification of topological insulators/superconductors
Schnyder, Ryu, AF, and Ludwig, PRB (2008)
p SC
(p+ip)x(p-ip) SC
A. Kitaev, AIP Conf. Proc. 1134, 22 (2009); arXiv:0901.2686 K-theory, Bott periodicity
Ryu, Schnyder, AF, Ludwig, NJP 12, 065010 (2010) massive Dirac Hamiltonian
period
d = 2
period
d = 8
Periodic table of topological insulators/superconductors
47
Ryu, Takayanagi, PRD 82, 086914 (2010) Dp-brane & Dq-brane system
Summary and outlook
Topological insulators/superconductors are new
states of matter!
There are many such states to be discovered.

Junctions: TI + SC, TI + Ferromagnets, .
Search for Majorana fermions

So far, free fermions. What about interactions?
Outlook
Effects of interactions among electrons
Topological insulators of strongly correlated electrons??
Fractional topological insulators ??

Topological order X.-G. Wen (no symmetry breaking)
Fractional QH states Chern-Simons theory
Low-energy physics described by topological field theory
Fractionalization
Symmetry protected topological states
(e.g., Haldane spin chain in 1+1d)


Strongly correlated many-body systems
have been (will remain to be) central problems
High-Tc SC, heavy fermion SC, spin liquids,
but, very difficult to solve

Theoretical approaches
Analytical
Application of new field theory techniques? AdS/CMT?
.
Numerical
Quantum Monte Carlo (fermion sign problem)
Density Matrix RG (only in 1+1 d)
New algorithms: tensor-network RG, .
Quantum information theory