Topological metals

拓扑金属

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-03822
• 负责人: Burkov, Anton
• 金额: $ 8.89万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=762947
• 关键词: Topological; metals

Quantum materials are solids in which quantum mechanics, normally associated with the atomic and subatomic scales, directly manifests in their macroscopic scale observable properties. Such "macroscopic quantum phenomena" are not just interesting fundamentally but are also of great practical importance. It is certain we will be using quantum mechanics in much more creative ways than we are now in future technologies, and the ongoing fundamental study of quantum materials is currently laying the foundation for this. Macroscopic quantum phenomena arise when electrons in solids act coherently. Such coherent behavior may result from electron-electron interactions, superconductivity being perhaps the most well-known macroscopic quantum effect that arises from this source. Another, more subtle, and uncovered only recently, source of quantum coherence, is the electronic structure topology, whose growing importance in physics was recognized by the 2016 Physics Nobel Prize. While it was initially thought that the notions of nontrivial electronic structure topology and the associated observable phenomena may only exist in insulators, it has very recently been established that metals may also be "topological". The focus of the field has thus shifted from Topological Insulators to Topological Metals and Semimetals. The goal of the proposed research is to develop a complete theory of Topological Metals. The standard paradigm for understanding the physical properties of a metallic solid is the Landau Fermi liquid theory. This needs to be modified to describe new phenomena that arise in Topological Metals. The understanding that is currently emerging is that these new phenomena may be understood as Quantum Anomalies. Quantum anomaly is a concept, which originated in high energy physics, and describes violation of a classical symmetry by quantum effects. This concept is of crucial importance within the Standard Model of particle physics. Amazingly, it has now found its way into non-relativistic condensed matter physics: just one example of a remarkable convergence between condensed matter and particle physics, which is starting to materialize. The proposed research will seek to develop a complete understanding of the observable manifestations of quantum anomalies in topological metals, which represent an entirely new class of macroscopic quantum phenomena, and which are likely to significantly impact future quantum technology.

量子材料是固体，其中量子力学，通常与原子和亚原子尺度相关，直接体现在它们的宏观尺度上可观察的性质。这种“宏观量子现象”不仅从根本上令人感兴趣，而且具有重大的实际意义。可以肯定的是，在未来的技术中，我们将以比现在更具创造性的方式使用量子力学，而目前正在进行的量子材料基础研究正在为此奠定基础。 当固体中的电子相干作用时，宏观量子现象就出现了。这种相干行为可能是由电子-电子相互作用引起的，超导性可能是由这个来源产生的最著名的宏观量子效应。另一个更微妙的，最近才发现的量子相干性的来源是电子结构拓扑，其在物理学中日益增长的重要性得到了2016年诺贝尔物理学奖的认可。虽然最初认为非平凡电子结构拓扑的概念和相关的可观察现象可能只存在于绝缘体中，但最近已经确定金属也可能是“拓扑”的。因此，该领域的重点已经从拓扑绝缘体转移到拓扑金属和半金属。 本研究的目标是发展一套完整的拓扑金属理论。理解金属固体物理性质的标准范例是朗道费米液体理论。这需要修改，以描述拓扑金属中出现的新现象。目前出现的理解是，这些新现象可以被理解为量子异常。量子反常是一个起源于高能物理的概念，描述了量子效应对经典对称性的破坏。这个概念在粒子物理学的标准模型中是至关重要的。令人惊讶的是，它现在已经进入了非相对论性凝聚态物理学：这只是凝聚态物理学和粒子物理学之间显着趋同的一个例子，它正在开始实现。拟议的研究将寻求全面了解拓扑金属中量子异常的可观察表现，这代表了一种全新的宏观量子现象，可能会对未来的量子技术产生重大影响。