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      Magnetoelectric Polarizability and Axion Electrodynamics in Crystalline Insulators

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      Physical Review Letters
      American Physical Society (APS)

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          Abstract

          The orbital motion of electrons in a three-dimensional solid can generate a pseudoscalar magnetoelectric coupling theta, a fact we derive for the single-particle case using a recent theory of polarization in weakly inhomogeneous materials. This polarizability theta is the same parameter that appears in the "axion electrodynamics" Lagrangian DeltaL_{EM}=(thetae;{2}/2pih)E.B, which is known to describe the unusual magnetoelectric properties of the three-dimensional topological insulator (theta=pi). We compute theta for a simple model that accesses the topological insulator and discuss its connection to the surface Hall conductivity. The orbital magnetoelectric polarizability can be generalized to the many-particle wave function and defines the 3D topological insulator, like the integer quantum Hall effect, in terms of a topological ground-state response function.

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          Quantum Spin Hall Effect in Graphene

          We study the effects of spin orbit interactions on the low energy electronic structure of a single plane of graphene. We find that in an experimentally accessible low temperature regime the symmetry allowed spin orbit potential converts graphene from an ideal two-dimensional semimetallic state to a quantum spin Hall insulator. This novel electronic state of matter is gapped in the bulk and supports the transport of spin and charge in gapless edge states that propagate at the sample boundaries. The edge states are nonchiral, but they are insensitive to disorder because their directionality is correlated with spin. The spin and charge conductances in these edge states are calculated and the effects of temperature, chemical potential, Rashba coupling, disorder, and symmetry breaking fields are discussed.
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            Topological invariants of time-reversal-invariant band structures

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              Materials science. The renaissance of magnetoelectric multiferroics.

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                PRLTAO
                Physical Review Letters
                Phys. Rev. Lett.
                American Physical Society (APS)
                0031-9007
                1079-7114
                April 2009
                April 10 2009
                : 102
                : 14
                Article
                10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.146805
                19392469
                e8de78e0-361a-419a-8144-5a92cfcd7d95
                © 2009

                http://link.aps.org/licenses/aps-default-license

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