Correlation effects on a topological insulator at finite temperatures

Abstract

We analyze the effects of the local Coulomb interaction on a topological band insulator (TBI) by applying the dynamical mean-field theory to a generalized Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model having electron correlations. It is elucidated how the correlation effects modify electronic properties in the TBI phase at finite temperatures. In particular, the band inversion character of the TBI inevitably leads to the large reduction of the spectral gap via the renormalization effect, which results in the strong temperature dependence of the spin Hall conductivity. We clarify that a quantum phase transition from the TBI to a trivial Mott insulator, if it is nonmagnetic, is of first order with a hysteresis. This is confirmed via the interaction dependence of the double occupancy and the spectral function. A magnetic instability is also addressed. All these results imply that the spectral gap does not close at the transition.