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arXiv · 1601.06154

Half vortex and fractional electrical charge in two dimensions

Bitan Roy·Igor F. Herbut
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Abstract

Despite fermion doubling, a two-dimensional quasi-relativistic spin-1/2 system can still lead to true fractionalization of electrical charge, when a massive ordered phase supports a "half-vortex". Such topological defect is possible when the order parameter in form of Dirac mass is described by two $U(1)$ angles, and each of them winds by an angle $\pi$ around a point. We demonstrate that such a mass configuration in an eight-dimensional Dirac Hamiltonian exhibits only a single bound zero mode, and therefore binds the charge of $e/2$. In graphene, for example, such an ordered phase is provided by the easy-plane spin-triplet Kekule valence bond solid. We argue that an application of an in-plane magnetic field can cause an excitonic instability toward such ordered phase, even for weak repulsion, when the on-site, nearest-neighbor and second neighbor components of it are of comparable strengths.

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Bitan Roy, Igor F. Herbut. 2016-01-22. Half vortex and fractional electrical charge in two dimensions. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.93.155415

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