期刊
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
卷 114, 期 18, 页码 -出版社
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.185701
关键词
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资金
- European Union under FP7 ERC Starting Grant [240524]
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [FOR 1346, FOR 1162]
- ERC Synergy Grant UQUAM
- DFG-JST research unit Topotronics
- DFG priority program [SPP1666]
- Helmholtz Foundation (VITI)
- ENB graduate school on Topological Insulators
- European Research Council (ERC) [240524] Funding Source: European Research Council (ERC)
Topological quantum phase transitions are characterized by changes in global topological invariants. These invariants classify many-body systems beyond the conventional paradigm of local order parameters describing spontaneous symmetry breaking. For noninteracting electrons, it is well understood that such transitions are continuous and always accompanied by a gap closing in the energy spectrum, given that the symmetries protecting the topological phase are maintained. Here, we demonstrate that a sufficiently strong electron-electron interaction can fundamentally change the situation: we discover a topological quantum phase transition of first-order character in the genuine thermodynamic sense that occurs without a gap closing. Our theoretical study reveals the existence of a quantum critical endpoint associated with an orbital instability on the transition line between a 2D topological insulator and a trivial band insulator. Remarkably, this phenomenon entails unambiguous signatures related to the orbital occupations that can be detected experimentally.
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