Topological invariants of time-reversal-invariant band structures

The topological invariants of a time-reversal-invariant band structure in two dimensions are multiple copies of the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariant found by Kane and Mele. Such invariants protect the topological insulator and give rise to a spin Hall effect carried by edge states. Each pair of bands related by time reversal is described by a single $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariant, up to one less than half the dimension of the Bloch Hamiltonians. In three dimensions, there are four such invariants per band. The $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariants of a crystal determine the transitions between ordinary and topological insulators as its bands are occupied by electrons. We derive these invariants using maps from the Brillouin zone to the space of Bloch Hamiltonians and clarify the connections between $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariants, the integer invariants that underlie the integer quantum Hall effect, and previous invariants of ${\cal T}$-invariant Fermi systems.Comment: 4 page

Transversely Driven Charge Density Waves and Striped Phases of High-Tc_c Superconductors: The Current Effect Transistor

We show that a normal (single particle) current density $J_x$ {\em transverse} to the ordering wavevector $2k_F{\bf\hat{z}}$ of a charge density wave (CDW) has dramatic effects both above and {\em below} the CDW depinning transition. It exponentially (in $J_x$) enhances CDW correlations, and exponentially suppresses the longitudinal depinning field. The intermediate longitudinal I-V relation also changes, acquiring a {\em linear} regime. We propose a novel ``current effect transistor'' whose CDW channel is turned on by a transverse current. Our results also have important implications for the recently proposed ``striped phase'' of the high-T$_c$ superconductors.Comment: change of title and minor corrections, 4 RevTeX pgs, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 81, 3711 (1998

Momentum-resolved tunneling between Luttinger liquids

We study tunneling between two nearby cleaved edge quantum wires in a perpendicular magnetic field. Due to Coulomb forces between electrons, the wires form a strongly-interacting pair of Luttinger liquids. We calculate the low-temperature differential tunneling conductance, in which singular features map out the dispersion relations of the fractionalized quasiparticles of the system. The velocities of several such spin-charge separated excitations can be explicitly observed. Moreover, the proposed measurement directly demonstrates the splintering of the tunneling electrons into a multi-particle continuum of these quasiparticles, carrying separately charge from spin. A variety of corrections to the simple Luttinger model are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures (1 in color

Bosonic model with Z3Z_3 fractionalization

Bosonic model with unfrustrated hopping and short-range repulsive interaction is constructed that realizes $Z_3$ fractionalized insulator phase in two dimensions and in zero magnetic field. Such phase is characterized as having gapped charged excitations that carry fractional electrical charge 1/3 and also gapped $Z_3$ vortices above the topologically ordered ground state.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Semiclassical dynamics and long time asymptotics of the central-spin problem in a quantum dot

The spin of an electron trapped in a quantum dot is a promising candidate implementation of a qubit for quantum information processing. We study the central spin problem of the effect of the hyperfine interaction between such an electron and a large number of nuclear moments. Using a spin coherent path integral, we show that in this limit the electron spin evolution is well described by classical dynamics of both the nuclear and electron spins. We then introduce approximate yet systematic methods to analyze aspects of the classical dynamics, and discuss the importance of the exact integrability of the central spin Hamiltonian. This is compared with numerical simulation. Finally, we obtain the asymptotic long time decay of the electron spin polarization. We show that this is insensitive to integrability, and determined instead by the transfer of angular momentum to very weakly coupled spins far from the center of the quantum dot. The specific form of the decay is shown to depend sensitively on the form of the electronic wavefunction.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted by PR

Spatially Ordered Fractional Quantum Hall States

Fractional quantum Hall liquids can accomodate various degrees of spatial ordering. The most likely scenarios are a Hall hexatic, Hall smectic, and Hall crystal, in which respectively orientational, one--dimensional translational, and two--dimensional translational symmetries are broken. I derive the long--wavelength properties of these phases and the transitions between them using the Chern--Simons Landau--Ginzburg mapping, which relates them to spatially ordered superfluids. The effects of coupling to a periodic or anisotropic ``substrate'' (e.g. a gate array) are also discussed.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX twocolumn format, no figures. Postscript file available on the WWW at http://rheims.itp.ucsb.edu/~balents

Degenerate perturbation theory of quantum fluctuations in a pyrochlore antiferromagnet

We study the effect of quantum fluctuations on the half-polarized magnetization plateau of a pyrochlore antiferromagnet. We argue that an expansion around the easy axis limit is appropriate for discussing the ground state selection amongst the classically degenerate manifold of collinear states with a 3:1 ratio of spins parallel/anti-parallel to the magnetization axis. A general approach to the necessary degenerate perturbation theory is presented, and an effective quantum dimer model within this degenerate manifold is derived for arbitrary spin $s$. We also generalize the existing semiclassical analysis of Hizi and Henley [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 73}, 054403 (2006)] to the easy axis limit, and show that both approaches agree at large $s$. We show that under rather general conditions, the first non-constant terms in the effective Hamiltonian for $s\geq 1$ occur only at {\sl sixth} order in the transverse exchange coupling. For $s\geq 3/2$, the effective Hamiltonian predicts a magnetically ordered state. For $s\leq 1$ more exotic possibilities may be realized, though an analytical solution of the resulting quantum dimer model is not possible

Fractionalization and confinement in the U(1) and Z2Z_2 gauge theories of strongly correlated systems

Recently, we have elucidated the physics of electron fractionalization in strongly interacting electron systems using a $Z_2$ gauge theory formulation. Here we discuss the connection with the earlier U(1) gauge theory approaches based on the slave boson mean field theory. In particular, we identify the relationship between the holons and Spinons of the slave-boson theory and the true physical excitations of the fractionalized phases that are readily described in the $Z_2$ approach.Comment: 4 page

Transport of Surface States in the Bulk Quantum Hall Effect

The two-dimensional surface of a coupled multilayer integer quantum Hall system consists of an anisotropic chiral metal. This unusual metal is characterized by ballistic motion transverse and diffusive motion parallel (\hat{z}) to the magnetic field. Employing a network model, we calculate numerically the phase coherent two-terminal z-axis conductance and its mesoscopic fluctuations. Quasi-1d localization effects are evident in the limit of many layers. We consider the role of inelastic de-phasing effects in modifying the transport of the chiral surface sheath, discussing their importance in the recent experiments of Druist et al.Comment: 9 pages LaTex, 9 postscript figures included using eps