The geometric phase of an electronic wave function, also known as Berry phase, is the fundamental basis of the topological properties in solids. This phase can be tuned by modulating the band structure of a material, providing a way to drive a topological phase transition. However, despite significant efforts in designing and understanding topological materials, it remains still challenging to tune a given material across different topological phases while tracing the impact of the Berry phase on its quantum transport properties. Here, we report these two effects in a magnetotransport study of ZrTe5. By tuning the band structure with uniaxial strain, we use quantum oscillations to directly map a weak-to-strong topological insulator phase transition through a gapless Dirac semimetal phase. Moreover, we demonstrate the impact of the strain-tunable spin-dependent Berry phase on the Zeeman effect through the amplitude of the quantum oscillations. We show that such a spin-dependent Berry phase, largely neglected in solid-state systems, is critical in modeling quantum oscillations in Dirac bands of topological materials.
Topological to magnetically ordered quantum phase transition in antiferromagnetic spin ladders with long-range interactions
We study a generalized quantum spin ladder with staggered long rangeinteractions that decay as a power-law with exponent \alpha α .Using large scale quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) and density matrixrenormalization group (DMRG) simulations, we show that this modelundergoes a transition from a rung-dimer phase characterized by anon-local string order parameter, to a symmetry broken N'eel phase. Wefind evidence that the transition is second order. In the magneticallyordered phase, the spectrum exhibits gapless modes, while excitations inthe gapped phase are well described in terms of triplons – bound statesof spinons across the legs. We obtain the momentum resolved spin dynamicstructure factor numerically and find a well defined triplon band thatevolves into a gapless magnon dispersion across the transition. Wefurther discuss the possibility of deconfined criticality in thismodel.
- Award ID(s):
- 2120501
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10413831
- Journal Name:
- SciPost Physics
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 2542-4653
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Publisher's Version of Record
- https://doi.org/10.21468/SciPostPhys.13.3.060
