Electrified magnetic catalysis in three-dimensional topological insulators
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
2016-09-29 v2 High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract
The gap equations for the surface quasiparticle propagators in a slab of three-dimensional topological insulator in external electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to the slab surfaces are analyzed and solved. A different type of magnetic catalysis is revealed with the dynamical generation of both Haldane and Dirac gaps. Its characteristic feature manifests itself in the crucial role that the electric field plays in dynamical symmetry breaking and the generation of a Dirac gap in the slab. It is argued that, for a sufficiently large external electric field, the ground state of the system is a phase with a homogeneous surface charge density.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1607.04649,
title = {Electrified magnetic catalysis in three-dimensional topological insulators},
author = {E. V. Gorbar and V. A. Miransky and I. A. Shovkovy and P. O. Sukhachov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1607.04649},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
19 pages, 6 multipanel figures; published version