2008/11/08 by Xiao-Liang Qi, Rundong Li, Jiadong Zang +1 · 7 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Charge (physics) #Condensed matter physics #Electric charge #Electric field #Geometry #Magnetic field #Magnetic monopole #Mathematics #Physics #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Surface (topology) #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topological quantum number #Topology (electrical circuits) #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.1167747
published as Science 323, 1184 (2009) · 5 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2008/11/08 · openalex publication_date 2009/01/30 · arxiv updated 2015/05/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Existence of the magnetic monopole is compatible with the fundamental laws of nature; however, this elusive particle has yet to be detected experimentally. We show theoretically that an electric charge near a topological surface state induces an image magnetic monopole charge due to the topological magneto-electric effect. The magnetic field generated by the image magnetic monopole may be experimentally measured, and the inverse square law of the field dependence can be determined quantitatively. We propose that this effect can be used to experimentally realize a gas of quantum particles carrying fractional statistics, consisting of the bound states of the electric charge and the image magnetic monopole charge.