Inverse participation ratio and localization in topological insulator phase transitions

Abstract

Fluctuations of Hamiltonian eigenfunctions, measured by the inverse participation ratio (IPR), turn out to characterize topological-band insulator transitions occurring in 2D Dirac materials like silicene, which is isostructural with graphene but with a strong spin–orbit interaction. Using monotonic properties of the IPR, as a function of a perpendicular electric field (which provides a tunable band gap), we define topological-like quantum numbers that take different values in the topological-insulator and band-insulator phases.