Summary
Topological insulators (TI) are a novel class of materials with insulating bulk and conducting surface. The conduction of the surface is protected by the topological properties of the bulk, as long as a fundamental symmetry is present (for instance time-reversal symmetry). My goal is to investigate to what limits does the protection hold in cases where the protecting symmetry is broken, and only present in statistical sense, after averaging over the disordered ensemble. In a pilot study I showed that materials that are protected by such average symmetry, which I have called “statistical topological insulators” (STI) significantly extend the classification of topological phases of matter and promise new methods to robustly control the conducting surface properties. I plan to develop a general theory of STI for physically relevant symmetries, describe the observable properties of their protected surface states, invent ways to predict whether materials are expected to be STI, and explore the generalization of STIs to strongly interacting topological phases of matter. I expect that the outcome of my research will significantly extend our understanding of topological phases of matter, and provide new ways to design materials with robust properties.
Unfold all
/
Fold all
More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/638760 |
| Start date: | 01-03-2015 |
| End date: | 29-02-2020 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 1 355 103,00 Euro - 1 355 103,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
Topological insulators (TI) are a novel class of materials with insulating bulk and conducting surface. The conduction of the surface is protected by the topological properties of the bulk, as long as a fundamental symmetry is present (for instance time-reversal symmetry). My goal is to investigate to what limits does the protection hold in cases where the protecting symmetry is broken, and only present in statistical sense, after averaging over the disordered ensemble. In a pilot study I showed that materials that are protected by such average symmetry, which I have called “statistical topological insulators” (STI) significantly extend the classification of topological phases of matter and promise new methods to robustly control the conducting surface properties. I plan to develop a general theory of STI for physically relevant symmetries, describe the observable properties of their protected surface states, invent ways to predict whether materials are expected to be STI, and explore the generalization of STIs to strongly interacting topological phases of matter. I expect that the outcome of my research will significantly extend our understanding of topological phases of matter, and provide new ways to design materials with robust properties.Status
CLOSEDCall topic
ERC-StG-2014Update Date
27-04-2024
Geographical location(s)
