Kadanoff Seminar: Topology of the Fermi Sea. - Charles Kane, University of Pennsylvania

1:30 pm MCP 201

Topology of the Fermi Sea.

The Fermi sea in a metal is a topological object characterized by an integer topological invariant called the Euler characteristic, \chi_F.  In this talk we will argue that for a 2D fermi gas \chi_F is reflected in a quantized frequency dependent non-linear 3 terminal conductance that generalizes the Landauer conductance in D=1.  We will critically address the roles of electrical contacts and Fermi liquid interactions, and we will propose experiments on 2D Dirac materials, such as graphene, using a triple point contact geometry.  We will go on to show that for a D dimensional Fermi gas, \chi_F is also reflected in the multipartite entanglement characterizing D+1 regions that meet at a point.  This generalizes a well-known result that relates the bipartite entanglement entropy of a 1+1D conformal field theory to its central charge c.   We will argue that for an interacting 3D Fermi liquid, \chi_F distinguishes distinct topological Fermi liquid phases.

Event Type

Seminars

May 23