Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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SYSD: Symposium SKM Dissertation-Prize 2014

SYSD 1: Symposium SKM Dissertation-Prize 2014

SYSD 1.2: Invited Talk

Monday, March 31, 2014, 11:25–11:50, CHE 89

Fingerprints of Geometry and Topology on Low Dimensional Mesoscopic Systems — •Jan Carl Budich — Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

Triggered by the discovery of the quantum spin Hall effect in two dimensional time reversal symmetric insulators, the impact of topology on the physics of Bloch bands has been systematically studied in recent years culminating in the formulation of a periodic table of topological insulators. We demonstrate the close analogy between geometric phases occurring in quantum systems that adiabatically depend on time via external control parameters and the formal description of topological insulators. While geometric phases may have immediate observable consequences, the experimental implications of the intrinsic topological features of band structures can be much more subtle. As for the mentioned quantum spin Hall state, the salient experimental signature of bulk topology is the necessity of metallic edge states characterized by the locking of spin and momentum. This peculiar constraint leads to novel quantum transport effects relating to the field of spintronics. We discuss how these phenomena are influenced by the presence of electronic correlations and by a finite bias voltage driving the edge channels out of thermal equilibrium, respectively.