Topological characterization of delocalization in a spin-orbit coupling system

1996/09/17 by D. N. Sheng, Zheng-Yu Weng, Z. Y. Weng · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum many-body systems #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.54.r11070

RevTex, 12 pages; Two PostScript figures

arxiv created 1996/09/17 · openalex publication_date 1996/10/15 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We show that wave functions in a two-dimensional (2D) electron system with spin-orbit coupling can be characterized by a topological quantity---the Chern integer due to the existence of the intrinsic Kramers degeneracy. The localization-delocalization transition in such a system is studied in terms of such a Chern number description, which reproduces the known metal-insulator transition point. The present work suggests a unified picture for various known 2D delocalization phenomena based on the same topological characterization.

Citations

• Scaling Theory of Localization: Absence of Quantum Diffusion in Two Dimensions
• Quantal phase factors accompanying adiabatic changes
• Spin-Orbit Interaction and Magnetoresistance in the Two Dimensional Random System

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• Mobility gap in fractional quantum Hall liquids: Effects of disorder and layer thickness