Unconventional Quantum Hall Effect and Tunable Spin Hall Effect in MoS2 Trilayers

We analyze the Landau level (LL) structure and spin Hall effect in a MoS2 trilayer. Due to orbital asymmetry, the low-energy Dirac fermions become heavily massive and the LL energies grow linearly with $B$, rather than with $\sqrt{B}$. Spin-orbital couplings break spin and valley degenerate LL's into two time reversal invariant groups, with LL crossing effects present in the valence bands. We find a field-dependent unconventional Hall plateau sequence $\nu=...$ $-2M-6$, $-2M-4$, $-2M-2$, $-2M-1$, ..., -5, -3, -1, 0, 2, 4 .... In a p-n junction, spin-resolved fractionally quantized conductance appears in two-terminal measurements with a controllable spin-polarized current that can be probed at the interface. We also show the tunability of zero-field spin Hall conductivity.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Hadronic Decays Involving Heavy Pentaquarks

Recently several experiments have reported evidences for pentaquark $\Theta^+$. H1 experiment at HERA-B has also reported evidence for $\Theta_c$. $\Theta^+$ is interpreted as a bound state of an $\bar s$ with other four light quarks $udud$ which is a member of the anti-decuplet under flavor $SU(3)_f$. While $\Theta_c$ is a state by replacing the $\bar s$ in $\Theta^+$ by a $\bar c$. One can also form $\Theta_b$ by replacing the $\bar s$ by a $\bar b$. The charmed and bottomed heavy pentaquarks form triplets and anti-sixtets under $SU(3)_f$. We study decay processes involving at least one heavy pentaquark using $SU(3)_f$ and estimate the decay widths for some decay modes. We find several relations for heavy pentaquarks decay into another heavy pentaquark and a $B (B^*)$ or a $D(D^*)$ which can be tested in the future. $B$ can decay through weak interaction to charmed heavy pentaquarks. We also study some $B$ decay modes with a heavy pebtaquark in the final states. Experiments at the current $B$ factories can provide important information about the heavy pentaquark properties.Comment: RevTex 20 pages. Revised version. Discussions on the recent H1 data and new references adde

Designer Topological Insulators in Superlattices

Gapless Dirac surface states are protected at the interface of topological and normal band insulators. In a binary superlattice bearing such interfaces, we establish that valley-dependent dimerization of symmetry-unrelated Dirac surface states can be exploited to induce topological quantum phase transitions. This mechanism leads to a rich phase diagram that allows us to design strong, weak, and crystalline topological insulators. Our ab initio simulations further demonstrate this mechanism in [111] and [110] superlattices of calcium and tin tellurides.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Giant and tunable valley degeneracy splitting in MoTe2

Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides possess a pair of degenerate helical valleys in the band structure that exhibit fascinating optical valley polarization. Optical valley polarization, however, is limited by carrier lifetimes of these materials. Lifting the valley degeneracy is therefore an attractive route for achieving valley polarization. It is very challenging to achieve appreciable valley degeneracy splitting with applied magnetic field. We propose a strategy to create giant splitting of the valley degeneracy by proximity-induced Zeeman effect. As a demonstration, our first principles calculations of monolayer MoTe$_2$ on a EuO substrate show that valley splitting over 300 meV can be generated. The proximity coupling also makes interband transition energies valley dependent, enabling valley selection by optical frequency tuning in addition to circular polarization. The valley splitting in the heterostructure is also continuously tunable by rotating substrate magnetization. The giant and tunable valley splitting adds a readily accessible dimension to the valley-spin physics with rich and interesting experimental consequences, and offers a practical avenue for exploring device paradigms based on the intrinsic degrees of freedom of electrons.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Effects of density-dependent quark mass on phase diagram of three-flavor quark matter

Considering the density dependence of quark mass, we investigate the phase transition between the (unpaired) strange quark matter and the color-flavor-locked matter, which are supposed to be two candidates for the ground state of strongly interacting matter. We find that if the current mass of strange quark $m_s$ is small, the strange quark matter remains stable unless the baryon density is very high. If $m_s$ is large, the phase transition from the strange quark matter to the color-flavor-locked matter in particular to its gapless phase is found to be different from the results predicted by previous works. A complicated phase diagram of three-flavor quark matter is presented, in which the color-flavor-locked phase region is suppressed for moderate densities.Comment: 4 figure