Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Paoletti, Francesca, Fanfarillo, Laura, Capone, Massimo, Amaricci, Adriano
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.10024
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866918087938277376
author Paoletti, Francesca
Fanfarillo, Laura
Capone, Massimo
Amaricci, Adriano
author_facet Paoletti, Francesca
Fanfarillo, Laura
Capone, Massimo
Amaricci, Adriano
contents Topological phase transitions are typically associated with the formation of gapless states. Spontaneous symmetry breaking can lead to a gap opening thereby obliterating the topological nature of the system. Here we highlight a completely different destiny for a topological transition in presence of interaction. Solving a Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model with local interaction, we show that dynamical quantum fluctuations can lead to the opening of a gap without any symmetry breaking. As we vary the interaction and the bare mass of the model, the continuous gapless topological transition turns into a first-order one, associated with the presence of massive Dirac fermion at the transition point showing a Gross-Neveu critical behaviour near the quantum critical endpoint. We identify the gap opening as a condensed matter analog of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism of mass generation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2311_10024
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Topological Gap Opening without Symmetry Breaking from Dynamical Quantum Correlations
Paoletti, Francesca
Fanfarillo, Laura
Capone, Massimo
Amaricci, Adriano
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Topological phase transitions are typically associated with the formation of gapless states. Spontaneous symmetry breaking can lead to a gap opening thereby obliterating the topological nature of the system. Here we highlight a completely different destiny for a topological transition in presence of interaction. Solving a Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model with local interaction, we show that dynamical quantum fluctuations can lead to the opening of a gap without any symmetry breaking. As we vary the interaction and the bare mass of the model, the continuous gapless topological transition turns into a first-order one, associated with the presence of massive Dirac fermion at the transition point showing a Gross-Neveu critical behaviour near the quantum critical endpoint. We identify the gap opening as a condensed matter analog of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism of mass generation.
title Topological Gap Opening without Symmetry Breaking from Dynamical Quantum Correlations
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.10024