Disordered topological metals

作者：Meyer Julia S^*; Refael Gil

来源：Physical Review B, 2013, 87(10): 104202.

DOI：10.1103/PhysRevB.87.104202

Topological behavior can be masked when disorder is present. A topological insulator, either intrinsic or interaction induced, may turn gapless when sufficiently disordered. Nevertheless, the metallic phase that emerges once a topological gap closes retains several topological characteristics. By considering the self-consistent disorder-averaged Green function of a topological insulator, we derive the condition for gaplessness. We show that the edge states survive in the gapless phase as edge resonances and that, similar to a doped topological insulator, the disordered topological metal also has a finite, but nonquantized topological index. We then consider the disordered Mott topological insulator. We show that within mean-field theory, the disordered Mott topological insulator admits a phase where the symmetry-breaking order parameter remains nonzero but the gap is closed, in complete analogy to %26quot;gapless superconductivity%26quot; due to magnetic disorder. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.87.104202

• 出版日期2013-3-26
• 单位中国地震局