Topological quantization in units of the fine structure constant |
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Authors: | Maciejko Joseph Qi Xiao-Liang Drew H Dennis Zhang Shou-Cheng |
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Institution: | Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. |
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Abstract: | Fundamental topological phenomena in condensed matter physics are associated with a quantized electromagnetic response in units of fundamental constants. Recently, it has been predicted theoretically that the time-reversal invariant topological insulator in three dimensions exhibits a topological magnetoelectric effect quantized in units of the fine structure constant α=e2/?c. In this Letter, we propose an optical experiment to directly measure this topological quantization phenomenon, independent of material details. Our proposal also provides a way to measure the half-quantized Hall conductances on the two surfaces of the topological insulator independently of each other. |
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