Akira Furusaki

Bio: Akira Furusaki is an academic researcher from Global Alliance in Management Education. The author has contributed to research in topics: Topological insulator & Quantum spin Hall effect. The author has an hindex of 48, co-authored 156 publications receiving 10485 citations. Previous affiliations of Akira Furusaki include University of Tokyo & Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Classification of topological insulators and superconductors in three spatial dimensions

Abstract: We systematically study topological phases of insulators and superconductors (or superfluids) in three spatial dimensions. We find that there exist three-dimensional (3D) topologically nontrivial insulators or superconductors in five out of ten symmetry classes introduced in seminal work by Altland and Zirnbauer within the context of random matrix theory, more than a decade ago. One of these is the recently introduced ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ topological insulator in the symplectic (or spin-orbit) symmetry class. We show that there exist precisely four more topological insulators. For these systems, all of which are time-reversal invariant in three dimensions, the space of insulating ground states satisfying certain discrete symmetry properties is partitioned into topological sectors that are separated by quantum phase transitions. Three of the above five topologically nontrivial phases can be realized as time-reversal invariant superconductors. In these the different topological sectors are characterized by an integer winding number defined in momentum space. When such 3D topological insulators are terminated by a two-dimensional surface, they support a number (which may be an arbitrary nonvanishing even number for singlet pairing) of Dirac fermion (Majorana fermion when spin-rotation symmetry is completely broken) surface modes which remain gapless under arbitrary perturbations of the Hamiltonian that preserve the characteristic discrete symmetries, including disorder. In particular, these surface modes completely evade Anderson localization from random impurities. These topological phases can be thought of as three-dimensional analogs of well-known paired topological phases in two spatial dimensions such as the spinless chiral $({p}_{x}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}i{p}_{y})$-wave superconductor (or Moore-Read Pfaffian state). In the corresponding topologically nontrivial (analogous to ``weak pairing'') and topologically trivial (analogous to ``strong pairing'') 3D phases, the wave functions exhibit markedly distinct behavior. When an electromagnetic U(1) gauge field and fluctuations of the gap functions are included in the dynamics, the superconducting phases with nonvanishing winding number possess nontrivial topological ground-state degeneracies.

Topological insulators and superconductors: Tenfold way and dimensional hierarchy

Abstract: It has recently been shown that in every spatial dimension there exist precisely five distinct classes of topological insulators or superconductors. Within a given class, the different topological sectors can be distinguished, depending on the case, by a or a topological invariant. This is an exhaustive classification. Here we construct representatives of topological insulators and superconductors for all five classes and in arbitrary spatial dimension d, in terms of Dirac Hamiltonians. Using these representatives we demonstrate how topological insulators (superconductors) in different dimensions and different classes can be related via 'dimensional reduction' by compactifying one or more spatial dimensions (in 'Kaluza–Klein'-like fashion). For -topological insulators (superconductors) this proceeds by descending by one dimension at a time into a different class. The -topological insulators (superconductors), on the other hand, are shown to be lower-dimensional descendants of parent -topological insulators in the same class, from which they inherit their topological properties. The eightfold periodicity in dimension d that exists for topological insulators (superconductors) with Hamiltonians satisfying at least one reality condition (arising from time-reversal or charge-conjugation/particle–hole symmetries) is a reflection of the eightfold periodicity of the spinor representations of the orthogonal groups SO(N) (a form of Bott periodicity). Furthermore, we derive for general spatial dimensions a relation between the topological invariant that characterizes topological insulators and superconductors with chiral symmetry (i.e., the winding number) and the Chern–Simons invariant. For lower-dimensional cases, this formula relates the winding number to the electric polarization (d=1 spatial dimensions) or to the magnetoelectric polarizability (d=3 spatial dimensions). Finally, we also discuss topological field theories describing the spacetime theory of linear responses in topological insulators (superconductors) and study how the presence of inversion symmetry modifies the classification of topological insulators (superconductors).

Topological insulators and superconductors: ten-fold way and dimensional hierarchy

Abstract: It has recently been shown that in every spatial dimension there exist precisely five distinct classes of topological insulators or superconductors. Within a given class, the different topological sectors can be distinguished, depending on the case, by a Z or a Z_2 topological invariant. This is an exhaustive classification. Here we construct representatives of topological insulators and superconductors for all five classes and in arbitrary spatial dimension d, in terms of Dirac Hamiltonians. Using these representatives we demonstrate how topological insulators (superconductors) in different dimensions and different classes can be related via dimensional reduction by compactifying one or more spatial dimensions (in Kaluza-Klein-like fashion). For Z-topological insulators (superconductors) this proceeds by descending by one dimension at a time into a different class. The Z_2-topological insulators (superconductors), on the other hand, are shown to be lower-dimensional descendants of parent Z-topological insulators in the same class, from which they inherit their topological properties. The 8-fold periodicity in dimension d that exists for topological insulators (superconductors) with Hamiltonians satisfying at least one reality condition (arising from time-reversal or charge-conjugation/particle-hole symmetries) is a reflection of the 8-fold periodicity of the spinor representations of the orthogonal groups SO(N) (a form of Bott periodicity). We derive a relation between the topological invariant that characterizes topological insulators/superconductors with chiral symmetry and the Chern-Simons invariant: it relates the invariant to the electric polarization (d=1), or to the magnetoelectric polarizability (d=3). Finally, we discuss topological field theories describing the space time theory of linear responses, and study how the presence of inversion symmetry modifies the classification.

Classification of Topological Insulators and Superconductors

Abstract: An exhaustive classification scheme of topological insulators and superconductors is presented. The key property of topological insulators (superconductors) is the appearance of gapless degrees of freedom at the interface/boundary between a topologically trivial and a topologically non‐trivial state. Our approach consists in reducing the problem of classifying topological insulators (superconductors) in d spatial dimensions to the problem of Anderson localization at a (d−1) dimensional boundary of the system. We find that in each spatial dimension there are precisely five distinct classes of topological insulators (superconductors). The different topological sectors within a given topological insulator (superconductor) can be labeled by an integer winding number or a Z2 quantity. One of the five topological insulators is the “quantum spin Hall” (or: Z2 topological) insulator in d = 2, and its generalization in d = 3 dimensions. For each dimension d, the five topological insulators correspond to a certain ...

Topological classification with additional symmetries from Clifford algebras

Abstract: We classify topological insulators and superconductors in the presence of additional symmetries such as reflection or mirror symmetries. For each member of the 10 Altland-Zirnbauer symmetry classes, we have a Clifford algebra defined by operators of the generic (time-reversal, particle-hole, or chiral) symmetries and additional symmetries, together with gamma matrices in Dirac Hamiltonians representing topological insulators and superconductors. Following Kitaev's approach, we classify gapped phases of noninteracting fermions under additional symmetries by examining all possible distinct Dirac mass terms which can be added to the set of generators of the Clifford algebra. We find that imposing additional symmetries in effect changes symmetry classes and causes shifts in the periodic table of topological insulators and superconductors. Our results are in agreement with the classification under reflection symmetry recently reported by Chiu, Yao, and Ryu [Phys. Rev. B 88, 075142 (2013)]. Several examples are discussed including a topological crystalline insulator with mirror Chern numbers and mirror superconductors.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

The electronic properties of graphene

Abstract: This article reviews the basic theoretical aspects of graphene, a one-atom-thick allotrope of carbon, with unusual two-dimensional Dirac-like electronic excitations. The Dirac electrons can be controlled by application of external electric and magnetic fields, or by altering sample geometry and/or topology. The Dirac electrons behave in unusual ways in tunneling, confinement, and the integer quantum Hall effect. The electronic properties of graphene stacks are discussed and vary with stacking order and number of layers. Edge (surface) states in graphene depend on the edge termination (zigzag or armchair) and affect the physical properties of nanoribbons. Different types of disorder modify the Dirac equation leading to unusual spectroscopic and transport properties. The effects of electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions in single layer and multilayer graphene are also presented.

Topological insulators and superconductors

Abstract: Topological insulators are new states of quantum matter which cannot be adiabatically connected to conventional insulators and semiconductors. They are characterized by a full insulating gap in the bulk and gapless edge or surface states which are protected by time-reversal symmetry. These topological materials have been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed in a variety of systems, including HgTe quantum wells, BiSb alloys, and Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 crystals. Theoretical models, materials properties, and experimental results on two-dimensional and three-dimensional topological insulators are reviewed, and both the topological band theory and the topological field theory are discussed. Topological superconductors have a full pairing gap in the bulk and gapless surface states consisting of Majorana fermions. The theory of topological superconductors is reviewed, in close analogy to the theory of topological insulators.

Weyl and Dirac semimetals in three-dimensional solids

Abstract: Weyl and Dirac semimetals are three-dimensional phases of matter with gapless electronic excitations that are protected by topology and symmetry. As three-dimensional analogs of graphene, they have generated much recent interest. Deep connections exist with particle physics models of relativistic chiral fermions, and, despite their gaplessness, to solid-state topological and Chern insulators. Their characteristic electronic properties lead to protected surface states and novel responses to applied electric and magnetic fields. The theoretical foundations of these phases, their proposed realizations in solid-state systems, and recent experiments on candidate materials as well as their relation to other states of matter are reviewed.