Topology and Condensed Matter Physics

By Prof. Saurabh Basu | IIT Guwahati

Learners enrolled: 220 | Exam registration: 3

ABOUT THE COURSE : The study of Condensed Matter Physics is no longer the same after a series of important discoveries in the eighties of the earlier century. It has digressed from conventional topics to the emergence of a topological order that is found to be responsible for a number of exotic features, such as Quantum Hall effect, electronic and transport properties of Graphene and Weyl semi-metals etc. This course gives an overview of topological implications in the field of condensed matter and material science and will be very crucial to students who wish to join PhD in the field. Also, for the enthusiastic teachers, who teach solid state physics at the undergraduate or the graduate level, this course will render a novel viewpoint to the experiments and theory.

INTENDED AUDIENCE : M.Sc, PhD Students and researchers from institutes and universities. Faculty members intending to teach Condensed Matter Physics at the graduate or post graduate level.

PREREQUISITES : Quantum mechanics, Solid State Physics.

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	8 weeks
Category :	Physics
Credit Points :	2
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	17 Feb 2025
End Date :	11 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends :	17 Feb 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	24 Feb 2025
Exam Date :	04 May 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction to Topology, Relevance of topology in Condensed Matter Physics, symmetry and topology

Week 2: Ten-fold way, periodic table of topological insulators, overview of topological materials.

Week 3: Topological invariants, Berry curvature, Chern number, Quantum Hall effect, Hofstadter model

Week 4: SSH Model, Kitaev model, Majorana fermions, Bulk boundary correspondence

Week 5: Two dimensional topological materials, Graphene, Haldane model, Half-BHZ Model, Kane Mele model, edge modes

Week 6: Quantum spin Hall effect, experimental discovery of strained semiconductors, band inversion

Week 7: Three dimensional topological insulators, Weyl semi metals

Week 8: Experimental discovery and progress of Topological insulators

Books and references

1. F. Ortmann, Topological Insulators: Fundamentals and Perspectives, Wiley-VCH (2015), 1st Ed.

2. Ed. by G. Tkachov, Topological Insulators: The Physics of Spin Helicity in Quantum Transport, CRC press (2016), 1st Ed.

3. János K. Asbóth, László Oroszlány, András Pályi, A Short Course on Topological Insulators: Band Structure and Edge States in one and two dimensions, Springer (2016), 1st Ed.

4. B. Andrei Bernevig, Topological Insulators and Topological Superconductors, Princeton University Press (2013) 1st Ed.

5. A.M. Turner, V. Ashwin, Beyond band insulators: Topology of semi-metals and interacting phases, (arXiv 1301.0330(V2))

Instructor bio

Prof. Saurabh Basu

IIT Guwahati

Prof. Saurabh Basu is currently a professor at the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. Saurabh does research in theoretical Condensed Matter Physics with a focus on graphene, Quantum Hall effect, topological insulators and ultracold atoms. The current projects include Edge states in adatom decorated graphene and other two dimensional Dirac materials, transmission through spin-orbit coupled Nano-junctions, phase diagram and tunneling dynamics of bosons in optical lattices, non-Hermitian systems, higher order topology, skyrmions etc. He has offered several courses in MOOCS, such as, Advanced Condensed Matter Physics, Advanced Quantum Mechanics with Applications, A brief course on Superconductivity, Numerical Methods and Simulation Technique in Science and Engineering, Quantum Hall effect etc. which have received tremendous attention from the students, teachers and researchers.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: May 4, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 6 assignments out of the total 8 assignments given in the course.

Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Guwahati .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team