Topological insulators and superconductors from D-brane

Shinsei Ryu, Tadashi Takayanagi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Realization of topological insulators (TIs) and superconductors (TSCs), such as the quantum spin Hall effect and the Z2 topological insulator, in terms of D-branes in string theory is proposed. We establish a one-to-one correspondence between the K-theory classification of TIs/TSCs and D-brane charges. The string theory realization of TIs and TSCs comes naturally with gauge interactions, and the Wess-Zumino term of the D-branes gives rise to a gauge field theory of topological nature. This sheds light on TIs and TSCs beyond non-interacting systems, and the underlying topological field theory description thereof.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)175-179
Number of pages5
JournalPhysics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
Volume693
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2010
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Keywords

  • AdS/CFT
  • D-branes
  • Topological insulators

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