Topology of the $^3$He-A film on corrugated graphene substrate

TL;DR

This paper explores how a superfluid $^3$He-A film on corrugated graphene can serve as a model for studying disorder effects in two-dimensional topological materials, revealing insights into Chern mosaics and edge states.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of a Chern mosaic in superfluid $^3$He-A on corrugated graphene, providing a new platform to study disorder in 2+1 topological phases.

Findings

Disorder does not necessarily destroy superfluidity in thin films.

Quantized Hall conductance depends on percolated domains.

Edge modes determine the density of states in the Chern mosaic.

Abstract

Thin film of superfluid $^3$He on a corrugated graphene substrate represents topological matter with a smooth disorder. It is possible that the atomically smooth disorder produced by the corrugated graphene does not destroy the superfluidity even in a very thin film, where the system can be considered as quasi two-dimensional topological material. This will allow us to study the effect of disorder on different classes of the $2+1$ topological materials: the chiral $^3$He-A with intrinsic quantum Hall effect and the time reversal invariant planar phase with intrinsic spin quantum Hall effect. In the limit of smooth disorder, the system can be considered as a Chern mosaic -- a collection of domains with different values of Chern numbers. In this limit, the quantization of the Hall conductance is determined by the percolated domain, while the density of the fermionic states is determined by the edge modes on the boundaries of the finite domains. This system can be useful for the general consideration of disorder in the topological matter.