Generating quantum multicriticality in topological insulators by periodic driving

Paolo Molignini, Wei Chen, and R. Chitra
Phys. Rev. B 101, 165106 – Published 7 April 2020

Abstract

We demonstrate that the prototypical two-dimensional Chern insulator hosts exotic quantum multicriticality in the presence of an appropriate periodic driving: a linear Dirac-like transition coexists with a quadratic nodal looplike transition. This nodal loop gap closure is characterized by an enhanced chiral-mirror symmetry that is induced by the driving procedure. The existence of multiple universality classes can be unambiguously captured by extracting critical exponents and scaling laws with a single renormalization group approach based on the curvature function of the stroboscopic Floquet Hamiltonian. This procedure is effective regardless of whether the topological phase transitions are associated with anomalous edge modes or not. We comment on possible experimental realizations of the model and detection schemes for the curvature function.

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  • Received 23 June 2019
  • Accepted 6 March 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.165106

©2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Paolo Molignini1,*, Wei Chen1,2, and R. Chitra1

  • 1Institute for Theoretical Physics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
  • 2Department of Physics, PUC-Rio, 22451-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • *Present address: Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.

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Vol. 101, Iss. 16 — 15 April 2020

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