Physical Review B 88, 165132 (2013)

SCI

Correlation-driven phase transition in a Chern insulator

Hong-Son Nguyen and Minh-Tien Tran

The phase transition driven by electron correlations in a Chern insulator is investigated within the dynamical mean-field theory. The Chern insulator is described by the Haldane model and the electron correlations are incorporated by introducing the short-range interaction between the itinerant electrons and localized fermions. In the preservation of the inversion symmetry, the electron correlations drive the system from the Chern insulator to a renormalized pseudogap metal, and then to the topologically trivial Mott insulator. When the inversion symmetry is broken, a charge ordering and a nontrivial Chern topological invariant coexist.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.88.165132

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