6,843 research outputs found
Magnetotransport in disordered two-dimensional topological insulators: signatures of charge puddles
In this numerical study we investigate the influence and interplay of
disorder, spin-orbit coupling and magnetic field on the edge-transport in
HgTe/CdTe quantum wells in the framework of coherent elastic scattering. We
show that the edge states remain unaffected by the combined effect of moderate
disorder and a weak magnetic field at realistic spin-orbit coupling strengths.
Agreement with the experimentally observed linear magnetic field dependence for
the conductance of long samples is obtained when considering the existence of
charge puddles.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure
Stability of Chiral Luttinger Liquids and Abelian Quantum Hall States.
A criterion is given for topological stability of Abelian quantum Hall
states, and of Luttinger liquids at the boundaries between such states; this
suggests a selection rule on states in the quantum Hall hierarchy theory. The
linear response of Luttinger liquids to electromagnetic fields is described:
the Hall conductance is quantized, irrespective of whether edge modes propagate
in different directions.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX (RevTeX 3.0
Topological Defects in the Random-Field XY Model and the Pinned Vortex Lattice to Vortex Glass Transition in Type-II Superconductors
As a simplified model of randomly pinned vortex lattices or charge-density
waves, we study the random-field XY model on square () and simple cubic
() lattices. We verify in Monte Carlo simulations, that the average
spacing between topological defects (vortices) diverges more strongly than the
Imry-Ma pinning length as the random field strength, , is reduced. We
suggest that for the simulation data are consistent with a topological
phase transition at a nonzero critical field, , to a pinned phase that is
defect-free at large length-scales. We also discuss the connection between the
possible existence of this phase transition in the random-field XY model and
the magnetic field driven transition from pinned vortex lattice to vortex glass
in weakly disordered type-II superconductors.Comment: LATEX file; 5 Postscript figures are available from [email protected]
Field-driven topological glass transition in a model flux line lattice
We show that the flux line lattice in a model layered HTSC becomes unstable
above a critical magnetic field with respect to a plastic deformation via
penetration of pairs of point-like disclination defects. The instability is
characterized by the competition between the elastic and the pinning energies
and is essentially assisted by softening of the lattice induced by a
dimensional crossover of the fluctuations as field increases. We confirm
through a computer simulation that this indeed may lead to a phase transition
from crystalline order at low fields to a topologically disordered phase at
higher fields. We propose that this mechanism provides a model of the low
temperature field--driven disordering transition observed in neutron
diffraction experiments on single crystals.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures available upon request via snail mail from
[email protected]
Pinning-induced transition to disordered vortex phase in layered superconductors
Destruction of the vortex lattice by random point pinning is considered as a
mechanism of the ``second peak'' transition observed experimentally in weakly
coupled layered high temperature superconductors. The transition field
separating the topologically ordered quasilattice from the amorphous vortex
configuration is strongly influenced by the layered structure and by the
nonlocal nature of the vortex tilt energy due to the magnetic interlayer
coupling. We found three different regimes of transition depending on the
relative strength of the Josephson and magnetic couplings. The regimes can be
distinguished by the dependence of the transition fieldComment: 8 pages, 3 Postscript figures. Accepted to Phys. Rev.B. (regular
article
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