Superconductivity from the condensation of topological defects in a quantum spin-Hall insulator.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31201300.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-10372-0 and PMC identifier 6572839.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
The discovery of quantum spin-Hall (QSH) insulators has brought topology to the forefront of condensed matter physics. While a QSH state from spin-orbit coupling can be fully understood in terms of band theory, fascinating many-body effects are expected if it instead results from spontaneous symmetry breaking. Here, we introduce a model of interacting Dirac fermions where a QSH state is dynamically generated. Our tuning parameter further allows us to destabilize the QSH state in favour of a superconducting state through proliferation of charge-2e topological defects. This route to superconductivity put forward by Grover and Senthil is an instance of a deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP). Our model offers the possibility to study DQCPs without a second length scale associated with the reduced symmetry between field theory and lattice realization and, by construction, is amenable to large-scale fermion quantum Monte Carlo simulations.