Topological magnetic crystalline insulators and corepresentation theory

Rui Xing Zhang, Chao Xing Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gapless surface states of time reversal invariant topological insulators are protected by the antiunitary nature of the time-reversal operation. Very recently, this idea was generalized to magnetic structures, in which time-reversal symmetry is explicitly broken, but there is still an antiunitary symmetry operation combining time-reversal symmetry and crystalline symmetry. These topological phases in magnetic structures are dubbed "topological magnetic crystalline insulators." In this work, we present a general theory of topological magnetic crystalline insulators in different types of magnetic crystals based on the corepresentation theory of magnetic crystalline symmetry groups. We construct two concrete tight-binding models of topological magnetic crystalline insulators, the ɤ4Θ model and the τΘ model, in which topological surface states and topological invariants are calculated explicitly. Moreover, we check different types of antiunitary operators in magnetic systems and find that the systems with ɤ4Θ,ɤ6Θ, and τΘ symmetry are able to protect gapless surface states. Our work will pave the way to search for topological magnetic crystalline insulators in realistic magnetic materials.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number115317
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume91
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 26 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Topological magnetic crystalline insulators and corepresentation theory'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this