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Symplectic large-N theory of topological heavy-fermion semiconductors

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Abstract

I present a theory of topological heavy-fermion semiconductors based on the large-N symplectic representation for the electron spin. The theory is exact in the limit when the number of spin flavors N = 2k is infinite. I find that both weak and strong topological insulating phases exist for k < 3. Furthermore, for k ≥ 3 the weak topological insulating state is fully suppressed while only strong topological and trivial insulator states survive. In addition, using the mean-field theory results, I consider the tunneling into topologically trivial and non-trivial phases of a generic heavy-fermion insulators by calculating the differential tunneling conductance. The implications of the presented results for the existing heavy-fermion semiconductors are discussed.

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  1. Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44240, USA

    M. O. Dzero

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Dzero, M.O. Symplectic large-N theory of topological heavy-fermion semiconductors. Eur. Phys. J. B 85, 297 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2012-30318-5

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