Recent progress on disorder-induced topological phases

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Authors: Dan-Wei Zhang, Ling-Zhi Tang
Cited by: 1
References: 297

Abstract

Topological states of matter in disordered systems without translation symmetry have attracted great interest in recent years. These states with topological characters are not only robust against certain disorders, but also can be counterintuitively induced by disorders from a topologically trivial phase in the clean limit. In this review, we summarize the current theoretical and experimental progress on disorder-induced topological phases in both condensed-matter and artificial systems. We first introduce the topological Anderson insulators (TAIs) induced by random disorders and their topological characterizations and experimental realizations. We then discuss various extensions of TAIs with unique localization phenomena in quasiperiodic and non-Hermitian systems. We also review the theoretical and experimental studies on the disorder-induced topology in dynamical and many-body systems, including topological Anderson-Thouless pumps, disordered correlated topological insulators and average-symmetry protected topological orders acting as interacting TAI phases. Finally, we conclude the review by highlighting potential directions for future explorations.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Topological Materials and Phenomena Quantum Mechanics and Non-Hermitian Physics Quantum many-body systems

Publication details

Journal / source
Journal of Physics Condensed Matter
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Volume
38
Issue
25
Pages
253003–253003
Publication date
12 June 2026
Language
EN