Topological Insulators: the Observation of Quantum Hall-like Effects without Magnetic Field M. Zahid Hasan, Associate Professor of Physics, Princeton University

The remarkable discovery of quantum Hall effects (1980s) revealed that there exists an organizational principle of matter based not on the spontaneously broken symmetry but only on the topological distinctions in the presence of time-reversal symmetry breaking. In the past few years, theoretical developments suggest that new classes of topological states of quantum matter might exist that are purely topological in nature in the sense that they do not break time-reversal symmetry hence can be realized without any applied magnetic field : "Quantum Hall-like effects without magnetic field". In this presentation, I report a series of experimental results documenting and demonstrating our discovery of such a topologically ordered time-reversal-invariant state of matter dubbed a “Topological Insulator” in several different materials and discuss the non-Maxwellian electromagnetics and high temperature protected quantum properties this novel phase of matter exhibits.