CPM Seminar

Interacting surface states of topological insulators

Joseph Maciejko

University of Alberta

The standard theory of topological insulators ignores electron-electron interactions, which are nevertheless present to some degree in all topological insulator materials. In this talk I will discuss extensions of this theory to describe the effects of electron-electron interactions on the topological surface states of 3D topological insulators. First, I will describe an extension of the phenomenological Landau theory of Fermi liquids to the surface states of 3D topological insulators, leading to the concept of helical Fermi liquid. Second, I will present exact results for certain transport properties of the topological surface states at a strongly interacting quantum critical point for a continuous transition between a Dirac semimetal and a superconductor.