118305489
Observation of a large-gap topological-insulator class with a single Dirac cone on the surface
Recent experiments and theories have suggested that strong spin–orbit coupling effects in certain band insulators can give rise to a new phase of quantum matter, the so-called topological insulator, which can show macroscopic quantum-entanglement effects. Such systems feature two-dimensional surface states whose electrodynamic properties are described not by the conventional Maxwell equations but rather by an attached axion field, originally proposed to describe interacting quarks. It has been proposed that a topological insulator with a single Dirac cone interfaced with a superconductor can form the most elementary unit for performing fault-tolerant quantum computation. Here we present an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study that reveals the first observation of such a topological state of matter featuring a single surface Dirac cone realized in the naturally occurring Bi_2Se_3 class of materials. Our results, supported by our theoretical calculations, demonstrate that undoped Bi_2Se_3 can serve as the parent matrix compound for the long-sought topological device where in-plane carrier transport would have a purely quantum topological origin. Our study further suggests that the undoped compound reached via n-to-p doping should show topological transport phenomena even at room temperature.
55602833
A new platform for topological quantum phenomena : Topological Insulator states in thermoelectric Heusler-related ternary compounds
Topological insulators (TI) realize a novel state of quantum matter that are distinguished by topological invariants of bulk band structure rather than spontaneously broken symmetries. A number of exotic quantum phenomena have been predicted to exist in multiply-connected geometries which require an enormous amount of materials flexibility. We have extended our previous search for TI materials from binary (Bi2X3 series) to the thermoelectric ternary compounds. We discover that the distorted LuPtSb is the first ternary compound harboring a 3D topological insulator state. We also show that the half-Heusler LuPtSb-type series is a natural platform that hosts a range of candidate compounds, alloys and artificial heterostructures (quantum-wells). We also discovered several different paradigms of trivial and non-trivial topological ordering in this class, including a metallic nontrivial topological state in YAuPb. Some of these materials are grown (results will be reported separately).
117989993
Magnetically induced spin reorientation on the surface of a topological insulator (a surface magnetic topological insulator MBE film)
The surface of topological insulators is proposed as a promising platform for spintronics and quantum information applications. In particular, when time- reversal symmetry is broken, topological surface states are expected to exhibit a wide range of exotic spin phenomena for potential implementation in electronics. Such devices need to be fabricated using nanoscale artificial thin films. It is of critical importance to study the spin behavior of artificial topological MBE thin films associated with magnetic dopants, and with regards to quantum size effects related to surface-to-surface tunneling as well as experimentally isolate time-reversal breaking from non-intrinsic surface electronic gaps. Here we present observation of the first (and thorough) study of magnetically induced spin reorientation phenomena on the surface of a topological insulator. Our results reveal dramatic rearrangements of the spin configuration upon magnetic doping contrasted with chemically similar nonmagnetic doping as well as with quantum tunneling phenomena in ultra-thin high quality MBE films. While we observe that the spin rearrangement induced by quantum tunneling occurs in a time-reversal invariant fashion, we present critical and systematic observation of an out-of-plane spin texture evolution correlated with magnetic interactions, which breaks time-reversal symmetry, demonstrating microscopic TRB at a Kramers' point on the surface.
206531826
Topological Phase Transition and Texture Inversion in a Tunable Topological Insulator
Two types of bulk insulator are realized in the same family of compounds through chemical doping. The recently discovered three-dimensional or bulk topological insulators are expected to exhibit exotic quantum phenomena. It is believed that a trivial insulator can be twisted into a topological state by modulating the spin-orbit interaction or the crystal lattice, driving the system through a topological quantum phase transition. By directly measuring the topological quantum numbers and invariants, we report the observation of a phase transition in a tunable spin-orbit system, BiTl(S1–δSeδ)2, in which the topological state formation is visualized. In the topological state, vortex-like polarization states are observed to exhibit three-dimensional vectorial textures, which collectively feature a chirality transition as the spin momentum–locked electrons on the surface go through the zero carrier density point. Such phase transition and texture inversion can be the physical basis for observing fractional charge (±e/2) and other fractional topological phenomena.
7503241
Kac-Moody extensions of 3-algebras and M2-branes
We study the 3-algebraic structure involved in the recently shown M2-branes worldvolume gauge theories. We first extend an arbitrary finite dimensional 3-algebra into an infinite dimensional 3-algebra by adding a mode number to each generator. A unique central charge in the algebra of gauge transformations appears naturally in this extension. We present an infinite dimensional extended 3-algebra with a general metric and also a different extension with a Lorentzian metric. We then study ordinary finite dimensional 3-algebras with different signatures of the metric, focusing on the cases with a negative eigenvalue and the cases with a zero eigenvalue. In the latter cases we present a new algebra, whose corresponding theory is a decoupled abelian gauge theory together with a free theory with global gauge symmetry, and there is no negative kinetic term from this algebra.
118812509
BPS geometry, AdS/CFT, and string theory
We first study BPS geometries dual to half-BPS states of field theories with 32 supercharges. These field theories are N = 4 SYM on R×S3, M2 brane theory and M5 brane theory. The dynamics of the half-BPS states in N = 4 SYM is reduced to a matrix quantum mechanics, and they are characterized by droplets on the two dimensional phase space. The geometries dual to these states are specified by boundary conditions on a two-plane, which are identified as the phase space. The phase space gives unified description of half-BPS perturbative and non-perturbative excitations aboveAdS5×S. The half-BPS geometries in the M theory case are described by a Toda equation with similar but more complicated boundary conditions on a two-plane. We then study BPS geometries dual to the vacua of field theories with 16 supercharges. The first class of theory has a bosonic U(1) × SO(4) × SO(4) symmetry, they include the mass deformed M2 brane theory, D4 or M5 brane theory on S3, and intersecting NS5 brane theory. Their vacua are characterized by droplets on a cylinder or torus. The second class of theory has a SU(2|4) symmetry, they include the 0+1d plane-wave matrix model, 2+1d super Yang-Mills theory on R×S2, N = 4 Super Yang-Mills on R×S/Zk, and NS5 brane theory on R× S5. The vacua of these theories are described by electrostatic configurations with many disks under external potential. The region between disks describe NS5 brane geometries. Finally we study instanton solutions and superpotentials for the vacua of the plane-wave matrix model and 2+1d super Yang-Mills theory and discuss the emergence of the vacuum geometries.
118985480
Finslerian MOND versus the strong gravitational lensing of the early-type galaxies
The gravitational lensing of Bullet Clusters and early-type galaxies pose serious challenges on the validity of MOND. Recently, Finslerian MOND, a generalization of MOND in the framework of Finsler gravity, has been proposed to explain the mass discrepancy problem of Bullet Cluster 1E0657-558. In this paper, we check the validity of the Finslerian MOND in describing the strong gravitational lensing of early-type galaxies. The investigation on ten strong lenses of the CASTLES samples shows that there is no strong evidence for the existence of dark matter.
118885274
The change of GRB polarization angles in the magnetic-dominated jet model
The polarimetric measurement on the prompt phase of GRB 100826A shows that the polarization angle changes similar to 90 degrees between two adjacent time intervals. We will show that this phenomenon can be naturally interpreted in the framework of the magnetic-dominated jet (MDJ) model. The MDJ model suggests that the bulk Lorentz factor of the outflow increases as Gamma proportional to r(1/3), until reaching a saturated value Gamma(sat). Electrons move in the globally ordered magnetic field advected by the jet from the central engine and produce synchrotron photons. The polarized synchrotron photons travel alone the jet direction and then collide with the cold electrons at the front of the jet. After the Compton scattering process, these photons escape from the jet and are detected by the observer locating slightly off-axis. If photons are emitted before the bulk Lorentz factor saturates, the change of polarization angle is a natural result of the acceleration of the outflow.
119367735
Instantons, supersymmetric vacua, and emergent geometries
We study instanton solutions and superpotentials for the large number of vacua of the plane-wave matrix model and a 2+1 dimensional Super Yang-Mills theory on RxS{sup 2} with 16 supercharges. We get the superpotential in the weak-coupling limit from the gauge theory description. We study the gravity description of these instantons. Perturbatively, with respect to a background, they are Euclidean branes wrapping cycles in the dual gravity background. Moreover, the superpotential can be given by the energy of the electric charge system characterizing each vacuum. These charges are interpreted as the eigenvalues of matrices from a reduction for the 1/8 BPS sector of the gauge theories. We also discuss qualitatively the emergence of the extra spatial dimensions appeared on the gravity side.