Domain Formation Driven by the Entropy of Topological Edge Modes

In this Letter we study interacting systems with spontaneous discrete symmetry breaking, where the degenerate symmetry-broken states are topologically distinct gapped phases. Edge modes appear at domain walls between the two topological phases. In the presence of a weak disorder field conjugate to t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Oreg, Y. (Author), Shavit, G. (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2022
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Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
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Summary:In this Letter we study interacting systems with spontaneous discrete symmetry breaking, where the degenerate symmetry-broken states are topologically distinct gapped phases. Edge modes appear at domain walls between the two topological phases. In the presence of a weak disorder field conjugate to the order parameter, we find that the entropy of the edge modes drives a thermal transition between a gapped uniform phase and a phase with a disorder-induced domain structure. We characterize this transition using a phenomenological Landau functional, and corroborate our conclusions with a concrete microscopic model. Finally, we discuss the possibilities of experimental signatures of this phase transition, and propose graphene-based moiré heterostructures as candidate materials in which such a phase transition can be detected. © 2022 American Physical Society.
ISBN:00319007 (ISSN)
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.156801