Work

Stability of Fermi Surfaces and K Theory

Year: 2005

Type: article

Abstract: Nonrelativistic Fermi liquids in d+1 dimensions exhibit generalized Fermi surfaces: (d-p)-dimensional submanifolds in the (k,omega)-space supporting gapless excitations. We show that the universality classes of stable Fermi surfaces are classified by K theory, with the pattern of stability determined by Bott periodicity. The Atiyah-Bott-Shapiro construction implies that the low-energy modes near a Fermi surface exhibit relativistic invariance in the transverse p+1 dimensions. This suggests an intriguing parallel between nonrelativistic Fermi liquids and D-branes of string theory.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.95.016405

Author: Petr Hořava

Institutions: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Topological Materials and Phenomena

Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy

Awards: G1643223109, G193590374, Research in String Theory