Register

Adv. Query

Q&A (4870)

Reviews (203)

Open problems (47)
Meta (439)

Site Statistics

205 submissions , 163 unreviewed
5,082 questions , 2,232 unanswered
5,353 answers , 22,789 comments
1,470 users with positive rep
820 active unimported users
More ...

Under what conditions are topological edge/interface states immune to random disorder?

1307 views

Recent studies classified "intrinsic", "symmetry protected", and other topological properties of matter. The paper (Topological states in photonic systems) claims that "The transport of many topological interfacial states is immune to fabrication imperfections".

This is a really strong statement. When are topological edge/interface states immune to what disorder? I'm reminded of the IQHE experiment, showing that disorder affects the plateaus of hall conductance.And if disorder is large enough, it may change the value of hall conductance.(Reference?)

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2017-03-05 22:13 (UTC), posted by SE-user Wilson Ko

asked Feb 23, 2017 in Experimental Physics by Wilson Ko (15 points) [ no revision ]
retagged Mar 5, 2017

Hi Wilson, I further edited your question to try to ensure it makes sense to more people. If you are able to, please verify that I have not altered it from your intended meaning.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2017-03-05 22:13 (UTC), posted by SE-user JeopardyTempest

commented Feb 23, 2017 by JeopardyTempest (0 points) [ no revision ]

Hi, JeopardyTempest, thanks for your editing. I quote directly from the reference in case I didn't express clearly.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2017-03-05 22:13 (UTC), posted by SE-user Wilson Ko

commented Feb 24, 2017 by Wilson Ko (15 points) [ no revision ]

Great! It's certainly something nowhere near my expertise/familiarity, but it sounds like a pretty solid question, so hopefully you'll find a few people who know enough about it to offer thoughts :-)

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2017-03-05 22:13 (UTC), posted by SE-user JeopardyTempest

commented Feb 24, 2017 by JeopardyTempest (0 points) [ no revision ]

Usually, symmetry protected states remains stable unless the symmetry is explicitly broken, or the gap closes for some reason or another. In particular, one has to be vigilant with respect to time-dependent interactions, since those ones may easily generate excitations above the gap. In that case, the problem becomes model dependent (as far as I know). A good symmetry for protection is time-reversal invariance (TRI), since it is relatively easy to experimentally protect against magnetic effect (the main cause of breaking the TRI). This is the reason why superconducting state is stable.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2017-03-05 22:13 (UTC), posted by SE-user FraSchelle

commented Feb 25, 2017 by FraSchelle (390 points) [ no revision ]

Hi, FraSchelle, superconducting state is not necessarily topological, could provide some reference related?

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2017-03-05 22:13 (UTC), posted by SE-user Wilson Ko

commented Feb 27, 2017 by Wilson Ko (15 points) [ no revision ]

Your comment on this question:

To answer, leave an answer instead. Comments are usually for non-answers.
To mask links under text, please type your text, highlight it, and click the "link" button. You can then enter your link URL.
To alert a user, please use the "@" command and remove spaces from the username, example, the user "John Doe" should be pinged as "@JohnDoe", while the user "Johndoe" should be pinged as "@Johndoe". The post author is always automatically pinged (unless you are the post author).
Please consult the FAQ for as to how to format your post.

Live preview (may slow down editor) Preview

Your name to display (optional):

Email me at this address if a comment is added after mine:

Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.

Anti-spam verification:

[captcha placeholder]

Please complete the anti-spam verification

Your answer

Please use answers only to (at least partly) answer questions. To comment, discuss, or ask for clarification, leave a comment instead.
To mask links under text, please type your text, highlight it, and click the "link" button. You can then enter your link URL.
Please consult the FAQ for as to how to format your post.
This is the answer box; if you want to write a comment instead, please use the 'add comment' button.

Live preview (may slow down editor) Preview

Your name to display (optional):

Email me at this address if my answer is selected or commented on:

Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.

Anti-spam verification:

If you are a human please identify the position of the character covered by the symbol $\varnothing$ in the following word:
p$\hbar$ysicsOve$\varnothing$flow
Then drag the red bullet below over the corresponding character of our banner. When you drop it there, the bullet changes to green (on slow internet connections after a few seconds).

Please complete the anti-spam verification

user contributions licensed under cc by-sa 3.0 with attribution required

Your rights

...