Nature: Formation of a topological non-Fermi liquid in MnSi

The authors study a topological spin texture, so-called skyrmions, in manganese silicide (MnSi) using electronic transport measurements under increasing pressure. They find that the skyrmions are remarkably stable, driving a breakdown of Fermi liquid behaviour.

Fermi liquid theory, which describes the behaviour of conduction electrons, is one of the most successful theories in condensed matter physics as it explains a wide range of phenomena, including superconductivity and ferromagnetism. Cases where Fermi liquid theory breaks down are of fundamental interest, and an intriguing question has been how a currently popular class of ordering phenomena, topologically protected spin configurations, results in non-Fermi liquid behaviour.

source: dx.doi.org/doi:10.1038/nature12023

Original Publications:

R. Ritz, M. Halder, M. Wagner, C. Franz, A. Bauer and C. Pfleiderer (2013). Formation of a topological non-Fermi liquid in MnSi Nature 497 231--234

R. Ritz, M. Halder, C. Franz, A. Bauer, M. Wagner, R. Bamler, A. Rosch and C. Pfleiderer (2013). Giant generic topological Hall resistivity of MnSi under pressure Phys. Rev. B 87134424

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