Separate Surface and Bulk Topological Anderson Localization Transitions in Disordered Axion Insulators
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In topological phases of matter for which the bulk and boundary support distinct electronic gaps, there exists the possibility of decoupled mobility gaps in the presence of disorder. This is in analogy with the well-studied problem of realizing separate or concomitant bulk-boundary criticality in conventional Landau theory. Using a three-dimensional axion insulator having clean, gapped surfaces with e^{2}/2h quantized Hall conductance, we show that the bulk and surface mobility gap evolve differently in the presence of disorder. The decoupling of the bulk and surface topology yields a regime that realizes a two-dimensional, unquantized anomalous Hall metal in the Gaussian unitary ensemble on each surface, which shares some spectral and response properties akin to the surface states of a conventional 3D topological insulator. The generality of these results, as well as extensions to other insulators and superconductors, is discussed.
Source: Physical Review Letters
DOI: 10.1103/v7x8-ghfy
Institutions: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Connecticut, Stockholm University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Anthony J. Leggett Institute for Condensed Matter Theory, Flatiron Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,750
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Vanderbilt University, Aspen Center for Physics, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Vetenskapsrådet, NordForsk, Office of Science, National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Advanced Research Computing, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Division of Materials Research, Laboratory Directed Research and Development
Awards: G1017065088, G1527848044, G2595738051, Partnership to Advance Throughput Computing (PATh), G3094441217, S2I2: Institute for Research and Innovation in Software for High Energy Physics (IRIS-HEP), G556563932, G560771542, CAREER: The Fate of Topology in Disordered Three-Dimensional Materials, G638484911, G6410514744, G6563880843, G70659677, G7631180099, Programs on Critical Problems in Physics, Astrophysics and Biophysics at the Aspen Center for Physics, G7977574923, NAISS
OpenAlex ID: W4416649230