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The existence of topological hinge states is a key signature for a newly proposed class of topological matter, the second-order topological insulators. In the present paper, a universal mechanism to generate chiral hinge states in the ferromagnetic axion insulator phase is introduced, which leads to an exotic transport phenomenon, the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) on some particular surfaces determined by both the crystalline symmetry and the magnetization direction. A realistic material system, Sm-doped Bi2Se3, is then proposed to realize such exotic hinge states by combining first-principles calculations and Green’s function techniques. A physically accessible way to manipulate the surface QAHE is also proposed, which makes it very different from the QAHE in ordinary 2D systems.

Recently published discoveries of acoustic- and optical-mode inversion in the phonon spectrum of certain metals became the first realistic example of noninteracting topological bosonic excitations in existing materials. However, the observable physical and technological use of such topological phonon phases remained unclear. In this paper, we provide strong theoretical and numerical evidence that for a class of metallic compounds (known as triple-point topological metals), the points in the phonon spectrum, at which three (two optical and one acoustic) phonon modes (bands) cross, represent a well-defined topological material phase, in which the hosting metals have very strong thermoelectric response. The triple-point bosonic collective excitations appearing due to these topological phonon band-crossing points significantly suppress the lattice thermal conductivity, making such metals phonon glasslike. At the same time, the topological triple-point and Weyl fermionic quasiparticle excitations present in these metals yield good electrical transport (electron crystal) and cause a local enhancement in the electronic density of states near the Fermi level, which considerably improves the thermopower. This combination of phonon glass and electron crystal is the key for high thermoelectric performance in metals. We call these materials topological thermoelectric metals and propose several compounds for this phase (TaSb and TaBi). We hope that this work will lead researchers in physics and materials science to the detailed study of topological phonon phases in electronic materials, and the possibility of these phases to introduce more efficient use of thermoelectric materials in many everyday technological applications.

A new type of topological state in strongly correlated condensed matter systems, the heavyWeyl fermion state, has been found in a heavy fermion material, CeRu4Sn6, which has no inversion symmetry. Two different types of Weyl points, types I and II, can be found in the quasiparticle band structure obtained by the LDA + Gutzwiller calculations, which can treat the strong correlation effects among the f electrons from cerium atoms. The surface calculations indicate that the topologically protected Fermi arc states exist on the (010) but not on the (001) surface.

An antiferromagnetic Hund coupling in multiorbital Hubbard systems induces orbital freezing and an associated superconducting instability, as well as unique composite orders in the case of an odd number of orbitals. While the rich phase diagram of the half-filled three-orbital model has recently been explored in detail, the properties of the doped system remain to be clarified. Here, we complement the previous studies by computing the entropy of the half-filled model, which exhibits an increase in the orbital-frozen region and a suppression in the composite ordered phase. The doping- dependent phase diagram shows that the composite ordered state can be stabilized in the doped Mott regime, if conventional electronic orders are suppressed by frustration. While antiferro-orbital order dominates the filling range 2≲n≤3 and ferro-orbital order dominates the strongly interacting region for 1≲n<2, we find superconductivity with a remarkably high Tc around n=1.5 (quarter filling). Also in the doped system, there is a close connection between the orbital-freezing crossover and superconductivity.

Black phosphorus is a quasi-two-dimensional layered semiconductor with a narrow direct band gap of 0.3 eV. A giant surface Stark effect can be produced by the potassium doping of black phosphorus, leading to a semiconductor to semimetal phase transition originating from the creation of a strong surface dipole and associated band bending. By using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we report the partial photoinduced screening of this band bending by the creation of a compensating surface photovoltage. We further resolve the detailed dynamics of this effect at the pertinent timescales and the related evolution of the band structure near the Fermi level. We demonstrate that after a fast rise time, the surface photovoltage exhibits a plateau over a few tens of picoseconds before decaying on the nanosecond timescale. We support our experimental results with simulations based on drift-diffusion equations.

The Hund's coupling in multiorbital Hubbard systems induces spin freezing and associated Hund metal behavior. Using dynamical mean-field theory, we explore the effect of local moment formation, spin, and charge excitations on the entropy and specific heat of the three-orbital model. For fillings 2≲n<3 and low temperature, we demonstrate a substantial enhancement of the entropy in the spin-frozen metal phase to values comparable to the half-filled Mott insulator. We also discuss the appearance of entropy plateaus and peaks in the specific heat associated with the activation of spin and charge fluctuations at high temperature. The temperature scale for charge excitations is almost independent of filling and given by ≈0.2U, with U the intraorbital repulsion. Local spin excitations become relevant for filling n>1 and their characteristic temperature is proportional to the Hund coupling J, with a filling-dependent prefactor. The analysis of the specific heat in the atomic limit yields accurate predictions for these features in the strong-coupling regime.