Chern-textured exciton insulators with valley spiral order in moiré materials
Physical Review B American Physical Society (APS) 112:3 (2025) 35130
Abstract:
We explore the phase diagrams of moiré materials in search of a class of intervalley-coherent correlated insulating state: the Chern texture insulator (CTI). This phase of matter, proposed in a companion paper [Kwan , .], breaks valley <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mrow> <mi>U</mi> <mo>(</mo> <mn>1</mn> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> </math> symmetry in a nontrivial fashion wherein the valley order parameter is forced to texture in momentum space as a consequence of band topology. Using detailed Hartree-Fock studies, we establish that the CTI emerges as an energetically competitive intermediate-coupling ground state in several moiré systems that lack a twofold rotation symmetry that forbids the single-particle topology essential to the formation of the CTI valley texture. Published by the American Physical Society 2025Chern-textured exciton insulators with valley spiral order in moiré materials
Physical Review B American Physical Society (APS) 112:3 (2025) 35130
Abstract:
We explore the phase diagrams of moiré materials in search of a class of intervalley-coherent correlated insulating state: the Chern texture insulator (CTI). This phase of matter, proposed in a companion paper [Kwan , .], breaks valley <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mrow> <mi>U</mi> <mo>(</mo> <mn>1</mn> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> </math> symmetry in a nontrivial fashion wherein the valley order parameter is forced to texture in momentum space as a consequence of band topology. Using detailed Hartree-Fock studies, we establish that the CTI emerges as an energetically competitive intermediate-coupling ground state in several moiré systems that lack a twofold rotation symmetry that forbids the single-particle topology essential to the formation of the CTI valley texture. Published by the American Physical Society 2025Textured exciton insulators
Physical Review B (condensed matter and materials physics) American Physical Society 112:3 (2025) 35129
Abstract:
We introduce and study interacting topological states that arise in time-reversal symmetric bands with an underlying obstruction to forming localized states. If the U(1) valley symmetry linked to independent charge conservation in each time-reversal sector is spontaneously broken, the corresponding “excitonic” order parameter is forced to form a topologically nontrivial texture across the Brillouin zone. We show that the resulting phase, which we dub a textured exciton insulator, cannot be given a local-moment description because of a form of delicate topology. Using toy models of bands with Chern or Euler obstructions to localization, we construct explicit examples of the Chern or Euler texture insulators (CTIs or ETIs) they support, and demonstrate that these are generically competitive ground states at intermediate coupling. We construct field theories that capture the response properties of these new states. Finally, we identify the incommensurate Kekulé spiral phase observed in magic-angle bi- and trilayer graphene as a concrete realization of an ETI.Textured exciton insulators
Physical Review B (condensed matter and materials physics) American Physical Society 112:3 (2025) 035129
Abstract:
We introduce and study interacting topological states that arise in time-reversal symmetric bands with an underlying obstruction to forming localized states. If the U(1) valley symmetry linked to independent charge conservation in each time-reversal sector is spontaneously broken, the corresponding “excitonic” order parameter is forced to form a topologically nontrivial texture across the Brillouin zone. We show that the resulting phase, which we dub a textured exciton insulator, cannot be given a local-moment description because of a form of delicate topology. Using toy models of bands with Chern or Euler obstructions to localization, we construct explicit examples of the Chern or Euler texture insulators (CTIs or ETIs) they support, and demonstrate that these are generically competitive ground states at intermediate coupling. We construct field theories that capture the response properties of these new states. Finally, we identify the incommensurate Kekulé spiral phase observed in magic-angle bi- and trilayer graphene as a concrete realization of an ETI.
Majorana edge reconstruction and the ν=5/2 non-Abelian thermal Hall puzzle
preprint, arXiv:2507.07161
Abstract:
Pioneering thermal transport measurements on two-dimensional electron gases in high magnetic fields have demonstrated that the quantized Hall state at filling factor ν=5/2 has a thermal Hall conductance κ quantized in half-integer multiples of κ0=π2k2BT/3h. Half-integer κ/κ0 is a signature of neutral Majorana edge modes, in turn linked to the presence of non-Abelian anyon excitations in the bulk. However, the experimentally observed value of κ corresponds to the 'PH-Pfaffian' state, in tension with numerical studies which instead favor either the Pfaffian or the AntiPfaffian. A variety of mechanisms have been invoked to explain this discrepancy, but have been either ruled out by further experiments or else involve fine-tuning. Building on density-matrix-renormalization group studies of physically realistic edges and analytic calculations of edge structure, we propose an alternative resolution of this puzzle involving an 'edge reconstruction' solely involving the neutral Majorana sector of the theory. Such a Majorana edge reconstruction can "screen'' a Pfaffian or AntiPfaffian bulk, so that transport signatures become indistinguishable from those of the PH-Pfaffian. We argue that this physically natural scenario is consistent with experiment.