2024/12/11 by F. Crasto de Lima, R. H. Miwa, de Lima, Felipe Crasto +5
Chemistry · Materials Science · #Aerogels and thermal insulation #Graphene research and applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2412.08607
We investigate the robustness of \it virtual topological states -- topological phases away from the Fermi energy -- against the electron-electron interaction and band filling. As a case study, we employ a realistic model to investigate the properties of vacancy-driven topological phases in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and establish a connection between the degree of localization of topological wave functions, the vacancy density, and the electron-electron interaction strength with the topological phase robustness. We demonstrate that electron-electron interactions play a crucial role in degrading topological phases thereby determining the validity of single-particle approximations for topological insulator phases. Our findings can be naturally extended to \it virtual topological phases of a wide range of materials.