Topological insulators and superconductors from D-brane

Realization of topological insulators (TIs) and superconductors (TSCs), such as the quantum spin Hall effect and the Z(2) topological insulator, in terms of D-branes in string theory is proposed. We establish a one-to-one correspondence between the K-theory classification of TIs/TSCs and D-brane charges. The string theory realization of TIs and TSCs comes naturally with gauge interactions, and the Wess-Zumino term of the D-branes gives rise to a gauge field theory of topological nature. This sheds light on TIs and TSCs beyond non-interacting systems, and the underlying topological field theory description thereof. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.