Topological quantum phase transition in 5d transition metal oxide Na2IrO3

We predict a quantum phase transition from normal to topological insulators in the 5d transition metal oxide Na2IrO3, where the transition can be driven by the change of the long-range hopping and trigonal crystal field terms. From the first-principles-derived tight-binding Hamiltonian, we determine the phase boundary through the parity analysis. In addition, our first-principles calculations for Na2IrO3 model structures show that the interlayer distance can be an important parameter for the existence of a three-dimensional strong topological insulator phase. Na2IrO3 is suggested to be a candidate material which can have both a nontrivial topology of bands and strong electron correlations.     

基于伊辛模型的Fe0.5Mn0.1Al0.4 合金磁化强度和磁熵变蒙特卡洛模拟

基于伊辛模型的单自旋反转蒙特卡洛算法,考虑了粒子间的最近邻以及次近邻相互作用,研究了无序 合金的磁化强度和磁熵变。首先,强调了粒子间的次近邻相关作用对体系的磁性和热力学性质的影响,明确了次近邻相互作用系数,证实了低温合金阻挫的存在;其次,研究了在相变温度处(不同磁场下)磁化强度随外加磁场（温度）的变化情况以及磁性粒子对磁化强度的贡献,发现反铁磁性粒子Mn在低温区对 合金的相变起了主要作用,而高温区体系的相变是由铁磁性粒子Fe贡献的;最后,分析了体系在相变温度处磁熵变数值随外加磁场的变化情况以及磁熵变在不同的外磁场下随温度的变化情况,当外加磁场h=0.14时,Mn粒子在冻结温度处的平均磁化强度为零,体系处于最无序的状态,对应的磁熵变 达到了正向最大值,极值的位置对应于体系的相变温度。     

基于伊辛模型的Fe_(0.5)Mn_(0.1)Al_(0.4)合金磁化强度和磁熵变蒙特卡洛模拟

基于伊辛模型的单自旋反转蒙特卡洛算法,考虑了粒子间的最近邻以及次近邻相互作用,研究了无序Fe0.5Mn0.1Al0.4合金的磁化强度和磁熵变.首先,强调了粒子间的次近邻相关作用对体系的磁性和热力学性质的影响,明确了次近邻相互作用系数,证实了低温合金阻挫的存在;其次,研究了在相变温度处(不同磁场下)磁化强度随外加磁场(温度)的变化情况以及磁性粒子对磁化强度的贡献,发现反铁磁性粒子Mn在低温区对Fe0.5Mn0.1Al0.4合金的相变起了主要作用,而高温区体系的相变是由铁磁性粒子Fe贡献的;最后,分析了体系在相变温度处磁熵变数值随外加磁场的变化情况以及磁熵变在不同的外磁场下随温度的变化情况,当外加磁场H=0.14(a.u.)时,Mn粒子在冻结温度处的平均磁化强度为零,体系处于最无序的状态,对应的磁熵变ΔS(0.1,0.14)达到了正向最大值,极值的位置对应于体系的相变温度.     

Non-nearest-neighbor interactions in nonlinear dynamical lattices

We revisit the theme of non-nearest-neighbor interactions in nonlinear dynamical lattices, in the prototypical setting of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Our approach offers a systematic way of analyzing the existence and stability of solutions of the system near the so-called anti-continuum limit of zero coupling. This affords us a number of analytical insights such as the fact that, for instance, next-nearest-neighbor interactions allow for solutions with nontrivial phase structure in infinite one-dimensional lattices; in the case of purely nearest-neighbor interactions, such phase structure is disallowed. On the other hand, such non-nearest-neighbor interactions can critically affect the stability of unstable structures, such as topological charge S=2 discrete vortices. These analytical predictions are corroborated by numerical bifurcation and stability computations.     

Competition Between the SDW and CDW in Quasi-One-Dimensional Organic Polymer Ferromagnet

The next-nearest-neighbor hopping interactions of ρ-electrons in quasi-onedimensional organic polymer ferromagnet are considered by Peierls-Hubbard model, and a set of self-consistent equations are established to optimize the system. The competition between the SDW and CDW states, which is determined by the interplay between the electron-electron correlation and the next-nearest-neighbor hopping interaction, is studied. At the CDW state,the SDW along the main chain will be tuned by the CDW. Consequently the ferromagnetic state, in which all the spins of the unpaired electrons at side freeradicals are arranged parallelly,will be no longer a stable ground state of the system.     

Non-Hermitian quasicrystal in dimerized lattices

Non-Hermitian quasicrystals possess PT and metal–insulator transitions induced by gain and loss or nonreciprocal effects. In this work, we uncover the nature of localization transitions in a generalized Aubry–André–Harper model with dimerized hopping amplitudes and complex onsite potential. By investigating the spectrum, adjacent gap ratios and inverse participation ratios, we find an extended phase, a localized phase and a mobility edge phase, which are originated from the interplay between hopping dimerizations and non-Hermitian onsite potential. The lower and upper bounds of the mobility edge are further characterized by a pair of topological winding numbers, which undergo quantized jumps at the boundaries between different phases. Our discoveries thus unveil the richness of topological and transport phenomena in dimerized non-Hermitian quasicrystals.     

Phase separation in a lattice model of a superconductor with pair hopping

We have studied the extended Hubbard model with pair hopping in the atomic limit for arbitrary electron density and chemical potential. The Hamiltonian considered consists of (i) the effective on-site interaction U and (ii) the intersite charge exchange interactions I, determining the hopping of electron pairs between nearest-neighbour sites. The model can be treated as a simple effective model of a superconductor with very short coherence length in which electrons are localized and only electron pairs have a possibility of transferring. The phase diagrams and thermodynamic properties of this model have been determined within the variational approach, which treats the on-site interaction term exactly and the intersite interactions within the mean-field approximation. We have also obtained rigorous results for a linear chain (d = 1) in the ground state. Moreover, at T = 0 some results derived within the random phase approximation (and the spin-wave approximation) for d = 2 and 3 lattices and within the low-density expansions for d = 3 lattices are presented. Our investigation of the general case (as a function of the electron concentration n and as a function of the chemical potential μ) shows that, depending on the values of interaction parameters, the system can exhibit not only the homogeneous phases, superconducting (SS) and nonordered (NO), but also the phase separated states (PS: SS-NO). The system considered exhibits interesting multicritical behaviour including tricritical points.     

TWO-DIMENSIONAL LOCALIZED VIBRATIONAL MODES AROUND A POLARON WITH THE NEXT-NEAREST-NEIGHBOR HOPPING INTERACTIONS

We have calculated the vibrational modes around a polaron to test the effects of the next-nearest-neighbor hopping interactions on the localized medes within a framework of the two-dimensional mode. The results show that: (1) For a negative polaron, eleven localized modes have been found, compared with ten modes obtained on a previous work without non-nearest neighbor hopping. (2) For a positive polaron, two additional localized modes occur. (3) The localization of localized modes are strengthened and their frequencies move after turning on the next-nearest-neighbor hopping interactions.     

扩展Su-Schrieffer-Heeger模型在周期性边界条件下的相变

文章计算了含有三种跃迁项(最近邻(NN)、次近邻(NNN)、次次近邻(NNNN)跃迁项)的扩展Su-Schrieffer-Heeger(SSH)模型(模型ⅰ)的热力学特性.对仅含有二种跃迁项(NN、NNN跃迁项)的扩展SSH模型(模型ⅱ)、仅含有一种跃迁项(NN跃迁项)的SSH模型(模型ⅲ)也作了类似的计算.在低温下,每个模型都有相变且跃迁项的存在会降低相变温度.由于NNN跃迁项的存在,在极低温条件下,关于热容量与温度比(HCOTR)随温度变化的单调性,模型i与其它两个模型存在差异.在低温下,模型ⅰ的HCOTR的单调性,会受NN或NNN或NNNN跃迁项的影响并且NN或NNN跃迁项会影响其相变.     

Model Hamiltonian for the Quantum Anomalous Hall State in Iron-Halogenide

We examine quantum anomalous Hall(QAH) insulators with intrinsic magnetism displaying quantized Hall conductance at zero magnetic fields.The spin-momentum locking of the topological edge stats promises QAH insulators with great potential in device applications in the field of spintronics.Here,we generalize Haldane's model on the honeycomb lattice to a more realistic two-orbital case without the artificial real-space complex hopping.Instead,we introduce an intraorbital coupling,stemming directly from the local spin-orbit coupling(SOC).Our d_(xy)/d_(x~2-y~2) model may be viewed as a generalization of the bismuthene p_x/p_y-model for correlated d-orbitals.It promises a large SOC gap,featuring a high operating temperature.This two-orbital model nicely explains the low-energy excitation and the topology of two-dimensional ferromagnetic iron-halogenides.Furthermore,we find that electronic correlations can drive the QAH states to a c=0 phase,in which every band carries a nonzero Chern number.Our work not only provides a realistic QAH model,but also generalizes the nontrivial band topology to correlated orbitals,which demonstrates an exciting topological phase transition driven by Coulomb repulsions.Both the model and the material candidates provide excellent platforms for future study of the interplay between electronic correlations and nontrivial band topology.     

Topological and dynamical phase transitions in the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model with quasiperiodic and long-range hoppings

Disorders and long-range hoppings can induce exotic phenomena in condensed matter and artificial systems. We study the topological and dynamical properties of the quasiperiodic Su–Schrier–Heeger model with long-range hoppings. It is found that the interplay of quasiperiodic disorder and long-range hopping can induce topological Anderson insulator phases with non-zero winding numbers $\omega =1,2,$ and the phase boundaries can be consistently revealed by the divergence of zero-energy mode localization length. We also investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics by ramping the long-range hopping along two different paths. The critical exponents extracted from the dynamical behavior agree with the Kibble–Zurek mechanic prediction for the path with $W=0.90.$ In particular, the dynamical exponent of the path crossing the multicritical point is numerical obtained as $1/6{\rm{\sim }}0.167,$ which agrees with the unconventional finding in the previously studied XY spin model. Besides, we discuss the anomalous and non-universal scaling of the defect density dynamics of topological edge states in this disordered system under open boundary condictions.     

Trivial and non-trivial superconductivity in dsDNA

A double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is modeled by two coupled one-dimensional Kitaev's chain and the topological superconductivity is studied. It is shown that the zero energy mode exists under some specific conditions. The wave function of zero mode is calculated and it is shown that the Majorana quasi-particles exist on the ends of each strand. By calculating the winding number, we show that the topological phase transition can happen if the hopping integral between two strands is very smaller than the pairing potential between the Cooper pairs. It means that the dsDNA behaves as a trivial superconductor, commonly, but single-stranded DNA (or two coupled ssDNA with very small hopping between them) may behave as a non-trivial superconductor. Finally, we suggest an experimental setup for probable detection of Majorana quasi-particle in DNA.     

Phase diagram of the fcc(1 1 0) surfaces with adsorbate-induced missing-row reconstructions

The phase diagram of the fcc(1 1 0) surfaces with missing-row reconstructions induced by adatoms, is calculated by use of the Blume–Emmery–Griffiths model. In the model, we introduce adatom–adatom interactions to determine surface structures and dipole–dipole interactions to describe the effect of zigzag adsorption. The interactions between nearest-neighbor (NN) and next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) rows are considered. The calculation of the temperature versus adatom chemical potential phase diagram is performed using mean-field approximation. It is indicated that if NN and NNN interactions are competitive, there appear either dipole or coverage modulated (incommensurate) phases at high temperatures for a wide range of the interactions.     

Spectral Weight Function and Charge-Excitation Gap of the Half-Filled 2D Hubbard Model

Using the combination of the quantum Monte-Carlo and the maximum entropy methods, we study the singleparticle spectral weight function for the half-fiUed two-dimensional Hubbard model including the next-nearest-neighbor hopping. In both the weak- and strong-coupling regimes, it is found that a gap persists as the next-nearest-neighbor hopping is turned on. This indicates that a well-defined chargeexcitation gap is a universal nature of the model, irrespective of its band structure.     

Edge magnetization in Bernal-stacked trilayer zigzag graphene nanoribbons

We have used a tight-binding Hamiltonian of an ABA-stacked trilayer zigzag graphene nanoribbon with β-alignment edges to study the edge magnetizations. Our model includes the effect of the intralayer next-nearest-neighbor hopping, the interlayer hopping responsible for the trigonal warping and the interaction between electrons, which is considered by a single band Hubbard model in the mean field approximation. Firstly, in the neutral system we analyzed the two magnetic states in which both edge magnetizations reach their maximum value; the first one is characterized by an intralayer ferromagnetic coupling between the magnetizations at opposite edges, whereas in the second state that coupling is antiferromagnetic. The band structure, the location of the edge-state bands and the local density of states resolved in spin are calculated in order to understand the origins of the edge magnetizations. We have also introduced an electron doping so that the number of electrons in the ribbon unit cell is higher than in neutral case. As a consequence, we have obtained magnetization steps and charge accumulation at the edges of the sample, which are caused by the edge-state flat bands.     

Quantum Breathers in Anisotropy Ferromagnetic Chains with Second-Order Coupling

Under considering the next-nearest-neighbor interaction, quantum breathers in one-dimensional anisotropy ferromagnetic chains are theortically studied. By introducing the Dyson-Maleev transformation for spin operators, a map to a Heisenberg ferromagnetic spin lattice into an extended Bose–Hubbard model can be established. In the case of a small number of bosons, by means of the numerical diagonalization technique, the energy spectrum of the corresponding extended Bose–Hubbard model containing two bosons is calculated. When the strength of the single-ion anisotropy is enough large, a isolated single band appears. This isolated single band corresponds to two-boson bound state, which is the simplest quantum breather state. It is shown that the introduction of the next-nearest-neighbor interaction will lead to interesting band structures. In the case of a large number of bosons, by applying the time-dependent Hartree approximation, quantum breather states for the system is constructed. In this case, the effect of the next-nearest-neighbor interaction on quantum breathers is also analyzed.     

Interaction-induced collapse of a section of the Fermi sea in the zigzag Hubbard ladder

Using the next-nearest-neighbor (zigzag) Hubbard chain as a one-dimensional model, we investigate the influence of interactions on the position of the Fermi wave vectors with the density-matrix renormalization-group technique. For suitable choices of the hopping parameters we observe that electron-electron correlations induce very different renormalizations for the two different Fermi wave vectors, which ultimately lead to a complete destruction of one section of the Fermi sea in a quantum critical point.     

Magnetic and topological transitions in three-dimensional topological Kondo insulator

Using an extended slave-boson method,we draw a global phase diagram summarizing both magnetic phases and paramagnetic(PM) topological insulators(TIs) in a three-dimensional topological Kondo insulator(TKI). By including electron hopping(EH) up to the third neighbors, we identify four strong TI(STI) phases and two weak TI(WTI) phases. Then, the PM phase diagrams characterizing topological transitions between these TIs are depicted as functions of EH,f-electron energy level,and hybridization constant. We also find an insulator-metal transition from an STI phase that has surface Fermi rings and spin textures in qualitative agreement with the TKI candidate SmBs. In the weak hybridization regime, antiferromagnetic(AF) order naturally arises in the phase diagrams. Depending on how the magnetic boundary crosses the PM topological transition lines,AF phases are classified into the AF topological insulator(AFTI) and the non-topological AF insulator, according to their Z_2 indices. In two small regions of parameter space, two distinct topological transition processes between AF phases occur, leading to two types of AFTIs showing distinguishable surface dispersions around their Dirac points.     

Controllable simulation of topological phases and edge states with quantum walk

We simulate various topological phenomena in condense matter, such as formation of different topological phases, boundary and edge states, through two types of quantum walk with step-dependent coins. Particularly, we show that one-dimensional quantum walk with step-dependent coin simulates all types of topological phases in BDI family, as well as all types of boundary and edge states. In addition, we show that step-dependent coins provide the number of steps as a controlling factor over the simulations. In fact, with tuning number of steps, we can determine the occurrences of boundary, edge states and topological phases, their types and where they should be located. These two features make quantum walks versatile and highly controllable simulators of topological phases, boundary, edge states, and topological phase transitions. We also report on emergences of cell-like structures for simulated topological phenomena. Each cell contains all types of boundary (edge) states and topological phases of BDI family.     

On the phase structure of QCD in a finite volume

The chiral phase transition in QCD at finite chemical potential and temperature can be characterized for small chemical potential by its curvature and the transition temperature. The curvature is accessible to QCD lattice simulations, which are always performed at finite pion masses and in finite simulation volumes. We investigate the effect of a finite volume on the curvature of the chiral phase transition line. We use functional renormalization group methods with a two flavor quark-meson model to obtain the effective action in a finite volume, including both quark and meson fluctuation effects. Depending on the chosen boundary conditions and the pion mass, we find pronounced finite-volume effects. For periodic quark boundary conditions in spatial directions, we observe a decrease in the curvature in intermediate volume sizes, which we interpret in terms of finite-volume quark effects. Our results have implications for the phase structure of QCD in a finite volume, where the location of a possible critical endpoint might be shifted compared to the infinite-volume case.