Comment on ``Scaling in Plateau-Plateau Transition: A Direct Connection of Quantum Hall Systems with Anderson Localization Model'' [Wanli Li et al., Phys.Rev.Lett. 102, 216801 (2009)]
In a recent Comment, Kolf et al. (cond-mat/0503669) state that our analysis of the Fano resonance for Anderson impurity systems [Luo et al., Phys. Rev. Lett 92, 256602 (2004)] is incorrect. Here we want to point out that their comments are not based on firm physical results and their criticisms are unjustified and invalid.
I present briefly some facts about nonequilibrium renormalized perturbation theory, correcting recent misleading statements in [E. Muñoz, F. Zamani, L. Merker, T. A. Costi, and S. Kirchner, Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 807, 092001 (2017)], and discuss some results of this work using rSPT at equilibrium.
The quantum Hall plateau transition was studied at temperatures down to 1 mK in a random alloy disordered high mobility two-dimensional electron gas. A perfect power-law scaling with κ=0.42 was observed from 1.2K down to 12mK. This perfect scaling terminates sharply at a saturation temperature of T_s~10mK. The saturation is identified as a finite-size effect when the quantum phase coherence length (L_ϕ ~ T^{-p/2}) reaches the sample size (W) of millimeter scale. From a size dependent study, T_s \propto W^{-1} was observed and p=2 was obtained. The exponent of the localization length, determine…
In the recent review article, P.Markos admits that practically all numerical results on the critical behavior near the Anderson transition are in conflict with analytical expectations, but no serious discussion of this fact is given. The aim of the present comment is to give an analysis of the arising situation.
The generalized Lyapunov exponents describe the growth of the second moments for a particular solution of the quasi-1D Schroedinger equation with initial conditions on the left end. Their possible application in the Anderson transition theory became recently a subject for controversy in the literature. The approach to the problem of the second moments advanced by Markos et al (cond-mat/0402068) is shown to be trivially incorrect. The difference of approaches by Kuzovkov et al (cond-mat/0212036, cond-mat/0501446) and the present author (cond-mat/0504557, cond-mat/0512708) is discussed.
In a recent publication, J. Phys.: Condens. Matt. 14 13777 (2002), Kuzovkov et. al. announced an analytical solution of the two-dimensional Anderson localisation problem via the calculation of a generalised Lyapunov exponent using signal theory. Surprisingly, for certain energies and small disorder strength they observed delocalised states. We study the transmission properties of the same model using well-known transfer matrix methods. Our results disagree with the findings obtained using signal theory. We point to the possible origin of this discrepancy and comment on the general strategy to …
We reply to comments by P.Marko$\breve{s}$, L.Schweitzer and M.Weyrauch [preceding paper] on our recent paper [J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 63, 13777 (2002)]. We demonstrate that our quite different viewpoints stem for the different physical assumptions made prior to the choice of the mathematical formalism. The authors of the Comment expect \emph{a priori} to see a single thermodynamic phase while our approach is capable of detecting co-existence of distinct pure phases. The limitations of the transfer matrix techniques for the multi-dimensional Anderson localization problem are discussed.
We study the disorder effect on the transport properties in the HgTe/CdTe semiconductor quantum wells. We confirm that at a moderate disorder strength, the initially un-quantized two terminal conductance becomes quantized, and the system makes a transition to the novel topological Anderson insulator (TAI). Conductances calculated for the stripe and cylinder samples reveal the topological feature of TAI and supports the idea that the helical edge states may cause the anomalous quantized plateaus. The influence of disorder is studied by calculating the distributions of local currents. Base on th…
The recently discovered topological Dirac semimetal represents a new exotic quantum state of matter. Topological Dirac semimetals can be viewed as three dimensional analogues of graphene, in which the Dirac nodes are protected by crystalline symmetry. It has been found that quantum confinement effect can gap out Dirac nodes and convert Dirac semimetal to a band insulator. The band insulator is either normal insulator or quantum spin Hall insulator depending on the thin film thickness. We present the study of disorder effects in thin film of Dirac semimetals. It is found that moderate Anderson …
We review recent numerical studies of two-dimensional (2D) Dirac fermion theories that exhibit an unusual mechanism of topological protection against Anderson localization. These describe surface-state quasiparticles of time-reversal invariant, three-dimensional (3D) topological superconductors (TSCs), subject to the effects of quenched disorder. Numerics reveal a surprising connection between 3D TSCs in classes AIII, CI, and DIII, and 2D quantum Hall effects in classes A, C, and D. Conventional arguments derived from the non-linear $σ$-model picture imply that most TSC surface states should A…
In a recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 187203 (2011)], Fujii et al. reported Mn 2p photoelectron emission spectra for (Ga,Mn)As recorded using hard x-rays. Due to the enhanced bulk sensitivity, hard-x-ray spectra reveal an extra "low-binding-energy peak", which is absent in surface-sensitive spectra recorded using soft x-rays. Based on Anderson-impurity-model calculations, Fujii et al. assigned the low-binding-energy peak to a cd6L2 final state, and related the variations in its intensity to variations in the As 4p-Mn 3d hybridization strength V. We show here that the definition of the char…
One-dimensional quantum wires are considered as prospective elements for spin transport and manipulation in spintronics. We study spin dynamics in semiconductor GaAs-like nanowires with disorder and spin-orbit interaction by using a rotation in the spin subspace gauging away the spin-orbit field. If the disorder is sufficiently strong, the spin density after a relatively short relaxation time reaches a plateau. This effect is a manifestation of the Anderson localization and depends in a universal way on the disorder and the spin-orbit coupling strength. As a result, at a given disorder, semico…
Recently, A. Jerez, P. Vitushinsky and M. Lavagna [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 127203 (2005)] claimed that the transmission phase through a quantum fot, as measured via the Aharonov-Bohm interferometer, differs from the phase which determines the corresponding conductance. Here we show that this claim is wrong for the single level Anderson model, which is usually used to describe the quantum dot. So far, there exists no derivation of this claim from any explicit theoretical model.
We generalize universal relations between the multifractal exponent α_0 for the scaling of the typical wave function magnitude at a (Anderson) localization-delocalization transition in two dimensions and the corresponding critical finite size scaling (FSS) amplitude Λ_c of the typical localization length in quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) geometry: (i) When open boundary conditions are imposed in the transverse direction of Q1D samples (strip geometry), we show that the corresponding critical FSS amplitude Λ_c^o is universally related to the boundary multifractal exponent α_0^s for the typical wav…
We investigate the emergence of both quantum anomalous Hall and disorder-induced Anderson Chern insulating phases in two dimensional hexagonal lattices, with antiferromagnetically ordered 3Q state and in the absence of spin-orbit coupling. Using tight-binding modeling, we show that such systems display not only a spin-polarized edge-localized current, the chirality of which is energy dependent but also an impurity-induced transition from trivial metallic to topological insulating regimes, through one edge mode plateau. We compute the gaps' phase diagrams, and demonstrate the robustness of the …
We discuss a model of random segmented wire, with linear segments of 2D wires joined by circular bends. The joining vertices act as scatterers on the propagating electron waves. The model leads to resonant Anderson localization when all segments are of similar length. The resonant behavior is present with one and also with several propagating modes. The probability distributions evolve from diffusive to localized regimes when increasing the number of segments in a similar way for long and short localization lengths. As a function of the energy a finite segmented wire typically evolves from loc…
Quantum point contact devices are indispensable tools for probing the edge structure of the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states. Recent observations of quantized conductance plateaus accompanied by shot noise in such devices, as well as suppression of Mach-Zehnder interference, call for theoretical explanations. In this paper, we develop a theory of FQH edge state transport through quantum point contacts, which allows for a generic Abelian edge structure and assumes strong equilibration between edge modes (incoherent transport regime). We find that conductance plateaus are found whenever the …
We calculate conductance through a quantum dot weakly coupled to metallic contacts by means of Keldysh out of equilibrium formalism. We model the quantum dot with the SU(2) Anderson model and consider the limit of infinite Coulomb repulsion. We solve the interacting system with the numerical diagrammatic Non-Crossing Approximation (NCA). We calculate the conductance as a function of temperature and gate voltage, from differential conductance (dI/dV) curves. We discuss these results in comparison with those from the linear response approach which can be performed directly in equilibrium conditi…
I reply to the new arguments of Muñoz et al. (arXiv:1308.0638) regarding our controversy on non-equilibrium Green functions of the impurity Anderson model, and to new unfounded criticism to my paper Ref. 1 (arXiv:1110.0816). In particular, I show that the lesser self energy given in Ref. 1 does satisfy a Ward identity. References are updated.
In a recent work [L. Merker, S. Kirchner, E. Munoz, and T. A. Costi, Phys. Rev. B 87, 165132 (2013)], the authors compared results of numerical renormalization group and a perturbative approach for the dependence on temperature T and magnetic field B of the conductance through a quantum dot described by the impurity Anderson model, for small T and B. We show that the equation used to extract the dependence on B from NRG results is incorrect out of the particle-hole symmetric case. As a consequence, in the Kondo regime, the correct NRG results have a weaker dependence on B and the disagreement …
Quantum transport properties of disordered graphene with structural defects (Stone-Wales and divacancies) are investigated using a realistic π-π* tight-binding model elaborated from ab initio calculations. Mean free paths and semiclassical conductivities are then computed as a function of the nature and density of defects (using an order-N real-space Kubo-Greenwood method). By increasing of the defect density, the decay of the semiclassical conductivities is predicted to saturate to a minimum value of 4e^2/πh over a large range (plateau) of carrier density (> 0.5 10^{14}cm^{-2}). Additionally,…
Fundamental insight into the nature of the quantum phase transition from a superconductor to an insulator in two dimensions, or from one plateau to the next or to an insulator in quantum Hall effect, has been revealed through the study of its scaling behavior. Here, we report on the experimental observation of a quantum phase transition from a quantum-anomalous-Hall (QAH) insulator to an Anderson insulator in a magnetic topological insulator by tuning the chemical potential. Our experiment demonstrates the existence of scaling behavior from which we extract the critical exponent for this quant…
In a recent work Zhang and coworkers (PRB 82, 075111 (2010)) studied the Zeeman splitting of the Kondo resonance for the single impurity Anderson model in a finite magnetic field $B$ with the numerical renormalization group (NRG) method. There, it was found that with increasing magnetic field $B$ the position of the Kondo resonance in the total spectral function \textit{does not} approach its position in the spin resolved spectral function. Additionally, the position of the Kondo maximum exceeded the Zeeman energy for $B/ T_K\gtrsim 5-10$, where $T_K$ is the low energy Kondo scale of the model…
In their comment, Aharony, Entin-Wohlman, Oreg and von Delft claimed that the expression we obtained for the phase of the S-matrix does not give back the correct result notably in the U=0 limit of the single level Anderson model (SLAM). Their comment, however, misses the point of our argument, namely, that the SLAM is insufficient to describe the interferometry experiment. Instead, the quantum dot needs to be viewed as a multi-level artificial atom, and the interferometry experiment as a scattering experiment off the atom. The description is subject, in particular, to such scattering theorems …
We study the quantum Hall plateau transition on rectangular tori. As the aspect ratio of the torus is increased, the two-dimensional critical behavior, characterized by a subthermodynamic number of topological states in a vanishing energy window around a critical energy, changes drastically. In the thin-torus limit, the entire spectrum is Anderson-localized; however, an extensive number of states retain a Chern number $C\neq 0$. We resolve this apparent paradox by mapping the thin-torus quantum Hall system onto a disordered Thouless pump, where the Chern number corresponds to the winding numbe…
Periodically driven quantum systems provide a novel and versatile platform for realizing topological phenomena. Among these are analogs of topological insulators and superconductors, attainable in static systems; however, some of these phenomena are unique to the periodically driven case. Here, we show that disordered, periodically driven systems admit an "anomalous" two dimensional phase, whose quasi-energy spectrum consists of chiral edge modes that coexist with a fully localized bulk - an impossibility for static Hamiltonians. This unique situation serves as the basis for a new topologicall…
We present numerical evidence that most two-dimensional surface states of a bulk topological superconductor (TSC) sit at an integer quantum Hall plateau transition. We study TSC surface states in class CI with quenched disorder. Low-energy (finite-energy) surface states were expected to be critically delocalized (Anderson localized). We confirm the low-energy picture, but find instead that finite-energy states are also delocalized, with universal statistics that are independent of the TSC winding number, and consistent with the spin quantum Hall plateau transition (percolation).
We report complex magnetotransport patterns of the $ν=1$ integer quantum Hall state in a GaAs/AlGaAs sample from the newest generation with a record high electron mobility. The reentrant integer quantum Hall effect in the flanks of the $ν=1$ plateau indicates the formation of the integer quantum Hall Wigner solid, a collective insulator. Moreover, at a fixed filling factor, the longitudinal resistance versus temperature in the region of the integer quantum Hall Wigner solid exhibits a sharp peak. Such sharp peaks in the longitudinal resistance versus temperature so far were only detected for b…
We report on a finite-size Hartree-Fock study of the competition between disorder and interactions in a two-dimensional electron gas near Landau level filling factor $ν=1$. The ground state at $ν=1$ evolves with increasing disorder from a fully spin-polarized ferromagnet with a charge gap, to a partially spin-polarized ferromagnetic Anderson insulator, to a quasi-metallic paramagnet at the critical point between $i=0$ and $i=2$ quantum Hall plateaus. Away from $ν=1$, the ground state evolves from a ferromagnetic Skyrmion quasiparticle glass, to a conventional quasiparticle glass, and finally t…
The quantum Hall effect in ultra-high mobility GaAs/AlGaAs has been measured and plateaus are found at many different fractions. The resistivity is quantized as ρ=h/ie^2 where i exhibits many different values. The fractions 5/3, 8/5, 11/7, 14/9, 17/11 fit the formula, i=3p\pm 2/(2p \pm 1) and it is claimed that 2p flux quanta are attached to the electron. The fractions 4/11, 7/11, 12/7, 13/8 and 15/11 do not fit the expression for i, even then the authors insist that flux quanta are attached to the electron and hence composite fermions (CF) are formed. We report that the interpretation of the …
We study the disordered topological Anderson insulator in a 2-D (square not strip) geometry. We first report the phase diagram of finite systems and then study the evolution of phase boundaries when the system size is increased to a very large $1120 \times 1120$ area. We establish that conductance quantization can occur without a bulk band gap, and that there are two distinct scaling regions with quantized conductance: TAI-I with a bulk band gap, and TAI-II with localized bulk states. We show that there is no intervening insulating phase between the bulk conduction phase and the TAI-I and TAI-…
In the absence of spin-orbit coupling, the conventional dogma of Anderson localization asserts that all states localize in two dimensions, with a glaring exception: the quantum Hall plateau transition (QHPT). In that case, the localization length diverges and interference-induced quantum-critical spatial fluctuations appear at all length scales. Normally QHPT states occur only at isolated energies; accessing them therefore requires fine-tuning of the electron density or magnetic field. In this paper we show that QHPT states can be realized throughout an energy continuum, i.e. as an "energy sta…
Thermoelectric transport and current noise through a multilevel Anderson impurity: Three-body Fermi-liquid corrections in quantum dots and magnetic alloys
In most cases, to observe quantized Hall plateaux, an external magnetic field is applied in intrinsic magnetic topological insulators $\mathrm{MnBi_2Te_4}$. Nevertheless, whether the nonzero Chern number ($C\neq 0$) phase is a quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state, or a quantum Hall (QH) state, or a mixing state of both is still a puzzle, especially for the recently observed $C=2$ phase [Deng \textit{et al}., Science \textbf{367}, 895 (2020)]. In this Letter, we propose a physical picture based on the Anderson localization to understand the observed Hall plateaux in disordered $\mathrm{MnBi_2Te_4…
We study the evolutions of the nonmagnetic disorder-induced edge states with the disorder strength in the HgTe/CdTe quantum wells. From the supercell band structures and wave-functions, it is clearly shown that the conducting helical edge states, which are responsible for the reported quantized conductance plateau, appear above a critical disorder strength after a gap-closing phase transition. These edge states are then found to decline with the increase of disorder strength in a stepwise pattern due to the finite-width effect, where the opposite edges couple with each other through the locali…
We demonstrate a universal scaling form of longitudinal resistance in the quantum critical region of metal-insulator transitions, based on numerical results of three-dimensional Anderson transitions (with and without magnetic field), two-dimensional quantum Hall plateau to insulator transition, as well as experimental data of the recently discovered two-dimensional metal-insulator transition. The associated reflection symmetry and a peculiar logarithmic form of the beta function exist over a wide range in which the resistance can change by more than one order of magnitude. Interesting implicat…
Multifractal scaling of critical wave functions at a disorder-driven (Anderson) localization transition is modified near boundaries of a sample. Here this effect is studied for the example of the spin quantum Hall plateau transition using the supersymmetry technique for disorder averaging. Upon mapping of the spin quantum Hall transition to the classical percolation problem with reflecting boundaries, a number of multifractal exponents governing wave function scaling near a boundary are obtained exactly. Moreover, additional exact boundary scaling exponents of the localization problem are extr…
The von Neumann entanglement entropy is a useful measure to characterize a quantum phase transition. We investigate the non-analyticity of this entropy at disorder-dominated quantum phase transitions in non-interacting electronic systems. At these critical points, the von Neumann entropy is determined by the single particle wave function intensity which exhibits complex scale invariant fluctuations. We find that the concept of multifractality is naturally suited for studying von Neumann entropy of the critical wave functions. Our numerical simulations of the three dimensional Anderson localiza…
Quantum phase transitions of three-dimensional (3D) Weyl semimetals (WSMs) subject to uncorrelated on-site disorder are investigated through quantum conductance calculations and finite-size scaling of localization length. Contrary to previous claims that a direct transition from a WSM to a diffusive metal (DM) occurs, an intermediate phase of Chern insulator (CI) between the two distinct metallic phases should exist due to internode scattering that is comparable to intranode scattering. The critical exponent of localization length is $ν\simeq 1.3$ for both the WSM-CI and CI-DM transitions, in …
The quantum anomalous Hall system with Chern number 2 can be destroyed by sufficiently strong disorder. During its process towards localization, it was found that the electronic states will be directly localized to an Anderson insulator (with Chern number 0), without an intermediate Hall plateau with Chern number 1. Here we investigate the topological origin of this phenomenon, by calculating the band structures and Chern numbers for disordered supercells. We find that on the route towards localization, there exists a hidden state with Chern number 1, but it is too short and too fluctuating to…
We study the electronic properties of the confined honeycomb lattice in the presence of the intrinsic spin-orbit (ISO) interaction and perpendicular magnetic field, and report on uncommon aspects of the quantum spin Hall conductance corroborated by peculiar properties of the edge states. The ISO interaction induces two specific gaps in the Hofstadter spectrum, namely the 'weak' topological gap defined by Beugeling et al [Phys. Rev. B 86, 075118 (2012)], and spin-imbalanced gaps in the relativistic range of the energy spectrum. We analyze the evolution of the helical states with the magnetic fi…
Bosonic Integer Quantum Hall (IQH) phases are a class of symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases that, similar to the fermionic IQH states, support a quantized Hall conductance. They, however, require interactions for their realization. Here we study quantum Hall plateau transitions between a trivial insulator and a bosonic IQH phase, in a clean system. Generically, we find an intervening superfluid phase. The presence of additional symmetries, however, can potentially lead to a direct transition between these phases. We employ a fermionic parton description that captures both the insulati…
We discuss the onset of many body localisation in a one-dimensional system composed of a XXZ quantum spin chain and a Bose-Hubbard model linearly coupled together. We consider two complementary setups depending whether spatial disorder is initially imprinted on spins or on bosons; in both cases, we explore the conditions for the disordered portion of the system to localise by proximity of the other clean half. Assuming that the dynamics of one of the two parts develops on shorter time scales than the other, we can adiabatically eliminate the fast degrees of freedom, and derive an effective ham…