Gauge Dynamics and Topological Insulators
High Energy Physics - Theory
2015-06-15 v4 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Abstract
A non-abelian magnetic field in Yang-Mills theory induces the formation of a "W-boson" vortex lattice. We study the propagation of fundamental fermions in the presence of this lattice in 2+1 dimensions. We show that the spectrum for massless fermions contains four topologically-protected Dirac points with non-zero Bloch momentum. For massive fermions, we compute topological invariants of the band structure and show that it is possible to realise a Z2 topological insulator within Yang-Mills theory.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1305.2414,
title = {Gauge Dynamics and Topological Insulators},
author = {Benjamin Béri and David Tong and Kenny Wong},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1305.2414},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
28 pages + appendices, 5 figures. v2: Added comments on stability of lattice. Emphasised role of Higgs field. Added references v3: Further reference added. v4: Version to appear in JHEP