Related papers: What makes an insulator different from a metal?
External-field driven energy-level discretization, such as Landau quantization or Stark localization, is one of the most intriguing phenomena in quantum systems. We investigate the emergence of the Wannier-Stark ladder coming from the…
Paramagnetic solutions of the ionic Hubbard model at half-filling in dimensions $D>2$ indicate that the band and the Mott insulator phases are separated by a metallic phase. We present zero-temperature dynamical mean-field theory solutions,…
When electron-electron interaction dominates over other electronic energy scales, exotic, collective phenomena often emerge out of seemingly ordinary matter. The strongly correlated phenomena, such as quantum spin liquid and unconventional…
Topological insulators represent unique phases of matter with insulating bulk and conducting edge or surface states, immune to small perturbations such as backscattering due to disorder. This stems from their peculiar band structure, which…
In this overview we provide a general introduction to metal-insulator transitions, with focus on specific mechanisms that can localize the electrons in absence of magnetic or charge ordering, and produce well defined quantum critical…
A conducting 1D chain or 2D film inside (or on the surface of) an insulator is considered. Impurities displace the charges inside the insulator. This results in a long-range fluctuating electric field acting on the conducting line (plane).…
We demonstrate a thermodynamic formulation to quantify defect formation energetics in an insulator under high electric field. As a model system, we analyzed neutral oxygen vacancies (color centers) in alkaline-earth-metal binary oxides…
The modern expressions for polarization $\P$ and orbital magnetization $\M$ are $\k$-space integrals. But a genuine bulk property should also be expressible in $\r$-space, as unambiguous function of the ground-state density matrix,…
We study the Anderson localization in a weakly coupled multilayer system with a strong magnetic field perpendicular to the layers. The phase diagram of 1/3 flux quanta per plaquette is obtained. The phase diagram shows that a…
We characterize paramagnetic Mott insulators by their response to static, non-magnetic impurities. States with spinon deconfinement (or spin-charge separation) are distinguished from those with spinon confinement by distinct impurity…
Nonlinear response of a Mott insulator to external electric field, corresponding to dielectric breakdown phenomenon, is studied within of a one-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model. It is shown that in the limit of nearly spin polarized…
Doping of a Mott insulator gives rise to a wide variety of exotic emergent states, from high-temperature superconductivity to charge, spin, and orbital orders. The physics underpinning their evolution is, however, poorly understood. A major…
Topology in condensed matter physics manifests itself in the emergence of edge or surface states protected by underlying symmetries. We review two-dimensional topological insulators whose one-dimensional edge states are characterized by…
The discovery of the quantum spin Hall effect and topological insulators more than a decade ago has revolutionized modern condensed matter physics. Today, the field of topological states of matter is one of the most active and fruitful…
The half-filled ground state of the Hubbard model in one dimension is studied by Kondo-lattice theory. Because of the Kondo effect, any insulating ground state with a complete gap open is unstable in the presence of an infinitesimal…
The electronic properties of cuprate high temperature superconductors in their normal state are very two-dimensional: while transport in the ab plane is perfectly metallic, it is insulating along the c-axis, with ratios between the two…
Narrow-band conductors may turn insulating and magnetic as a consequence of strong electron-electron correlation. In molecular conductors, the concomitance of a strong Jahn-Teller coupling may give rise to the alternative possibility of a…
Topological insulators [1-6] is a new quantum phase of matter with exotic properties such as dissipationless transport and protection against Anderson localization [7]. These new states of quantum matter could be one of the missing links…
We have studied the zero magnetic field resistivity of unique high- mobility two-dimensional electron system in silicon. At very low electron density (but higher than some sample-dependent critical value, $n_{cr}\sim 10^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$),…
Ternary semiconducting or metallic half-Heusler compounds with an atomic composition 1:1:1 are widely studied for their flexible electronic properties and functionalities. Recently, a new material property of half-Heusler compounds was…