We demonstrate theoretically that the electronic ground state of the potassium-covered Si(111)-B surface is a Mott insulator, explicitly contradicting band theory but in good agreement with recent experiments. We determine the physical structure by standard density-functional methods, and obtain the electronic ground state by exact diagonalization of a many-body Hamiltonian. The many-body conductivity reveals a Brinkman-Rice metal-insulator transition at a critical interaction strength; the calculated interaction strength is well above this critical value.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/9812061,
title = {Strongly Correlated Electrons on a Silicon Surface: Theory of a Mott Insulator},
author = {C. Stephen Hellberg and Steven C. Erwin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/9812061},
year = {2009}
}