Finite temperature physics of 1D topological Kondo insulator: Stable Haldane phase, emergent energy scale and beyond

In recent years, interacting topological insulators have emerged as new frontiers in condensed matter physics, and the hotly studied topological Kondo insulator (TKI) is one of such prototypes. Although its zero-temperature ground-state has been widely investigated, the finite temperature physics on TKI is largely unknown. Here, we explore the finite temperature properties in a simplified model for TKI, namely the one-dimensional p-wave periodic Anderson model, with numerically exact determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulation. It is found that the topological Haldane phase established for groundstate is still stable against small thermal fluctuation and its characteristic edge magnetization develops at low temperature. Such facts emphasize the robustness of (symmetry-protected) topological order against temperature effect, which always exists at real physical world. Moreover, we use the saturated low-T spin structure factor and the 1/T - law of susceptibility to detect the free edge spin moment, interestingly the low-temperature upturn behavior of the latter one is similar to experimental finding in SmB6 at T < 50 K. It implies that similar physical mechanism may work both for idealized models and realistic correlated electron materials. We have also identified an emergent energy scale Tcr, which signals a crossover into interesting low-T regime and seems to be the expected Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida coupling. Finally, the collective Kondo screening effect has been examined and it is heavily reduced at boundary, which may give a fruitful playground for novel physics beyond the wellestablished Haldane phase and topological band insulators.