Metal-Insulator Transition and Beyond in the Pyrochlore Iridates

Abstract

Iridates are interesting materials in which Coulomb repulsion, kinetic energy, and spin-orbit coupling all are comparable. In particular the latter suggests they may be good candidates to observe topological phenomena. The pyrochlore family, with chemical formula A2Ir2O7 (A is a trivalent rare earth), displays both magnetic ordering and a metal-insulator transition. I will discuss theoretical and experimental studies of these materials, focusing on aspects related to topology and correlations, highlighting recent results.