Proposed Detection of Time Reversal Symmetry in Topological Surface States

By employing T-matrix approach, we investigate a nonmagnetic impurity located on the surface of three-dimensional topological insulators, where the time reversal symmetry is preserved. It is shown that the images of the local density of states (LDOS) around the single impurity have the dip-hump structures with six-fold symmetry at different bias voltages. The peaks are produced by quasiparticle interference while the local minima at the backscattering wave vectors are due to the absence of backscatterings. With increasing the bias voltage, the peaks and dips move forward to the location of the impurity. These dips at the backscattering wave vectors in the LDOS spectra can be regarded as a signature of the time reversal symmetry in the topological surface states, which could be observed by scanning tunneling microscopy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

States of Local Moment Induced by Nonmagnetic Impurities in Cuprate Superconductors

By using a model Hamiltonian with d-wave superconductivity and competing antiferromagnetic (AF) orders, the local staggered magnetization distribution due to nonmagnetic impurities in cuprate superconductors is investigated. From this, the net magnetic moment induced by a single or double impurities can be obtained. We show that the net moment induced by a single impurity corresponds to a local spin with S_z=0, or 1/2 depending on the strength of the AF interaction and the impurity scattering. When two impurities are placed at the nearest neighboring sites, the net moment is always zero. For two unitary impurities at the next nearest neighboring sites, and at sites separated by a Cu-ion site, the induced net moment has S_z=0, or 1/2, or 1. The consequence of these results on experiments will be discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Absence of broken inversion symmetry phase of electrons in bilayer graphene under charge density fluctuations

On a lattice model, we study the possibility of existence of gapped broken inversion symmetry phase (GBISP) of electrons with long-range Coulomb interaction in bilayer graphene using both self-consistent Hartree-Fock approximation (SCHFA) and the renormalized-ring-diagram approximation (RRDA). RRDA takes into account the charge-density fluctuations beyond the mean field. While GBISP at low temperature and low carrier concentration is predicted by SCHFA, we show here the state can be destroyed by the charge-density fluctuations. We also present a numerical algorithm for calculating the self-energy of electrons with the singular long-range Coulomb interaction on the lattice model.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure