Quantum Anomalous Hall State in Bilayer Graphene

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the competition among gapped states in bilayer graphene, identifying a Quantum Anomalous Hall state that spontaneously breaks time reversal symmetry and exhibits quantum Hall effect without magnetic field, influenced by fluctuations.

Contribution

It classifies competing states in bilayer graphene using a hidden SU(4) symmetry and identifies conditions favoring the Quantum Anomalous Hall state through fluctuation analysis.

Findings

Zero point fluctuations favor the QAH state.

Thermal fluctuations favor SU(4) symmetry breaking states.

Proposes experimental signatures and methods to induce the QAH state.

Abstract

We present a symmetry-based analysis of competition between different gapped states that have been proposed in bilayer graphene (BLG), which are all degenerate on a mean field level. We classify the states in terms of a hidden SU(4) symmetry, and distinguish symmetry protected degeneracies from accidental degeneracies. One of the states, which spontaneously breaks discrete time reversal symmetry but no continuous symmetry, is identified as a Quantum Anomalous Hall (QAH) state, which exhibits quantum Hall effect at zero magnetic field. We investigate the lifting of the accidental degeneracies by thermal and zero point fluctuations, taking account of the modes softened under RG. Working in a 'saddle point plus quadratic fluctuations' approximation, we identify two types of RG- soft modes which have competing effects. Zero point fluctuations, dominated by 'transverse' modes which are unique to BLG, favor the QAH state. Thermal fluctuations, dominated by 'longitudinal' modes, favor a SU(4) symmetry breaking multiplet of states. We discuss the phenomenology and experimental signatures of the QAH state in BLG, and also propose a way to induce the QAH state using weak external magnetic fields.