Thermodynamics of Topological Kondo Insulators

Abstract

We investigate the thermodynamic behavior of topological Kondo insulators using a mean-field slave boson approximation and Hill thermodynamics. In particular, we focus on SmB6 and consider the order of the topological Kondo insulator to band insulator phase transition, and the bulk and boundary contribution of the system to the heat capacity. We find that the order of the phase transition can be accurately predicted using the critical exponents of the system, and is consistent with the Josephson hyperscaling relation. Furthermore, we find that the anomalous heat capacity of SmB6 is probably not explained by edge states in the mean-field model.