Surface state spin textures and mirror chern numbers in topological kondo insultor
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The recent discovery of topological Kondo insulators has triggered renewed interest in the well-known Kondo insulator samarium hexaboride, which is hypothesized to belong to this family. In this Letter, we study the spin texture of the topologically protected surface states in such a topological Kondo insulator. In particular, we derive close relationships between (i) the form of the hybridization matrix at certain high-symmetry points, (ii) the mirror Chern numbers of the system, and (iii) the observable spin texture of the topological surface states. In this way, a robust classification of topological Kondo insulators and their surface-state spin texture is achieved. We underpin our findings with numerical calculations of several simplified and realistic models for systems like samarium hexaboride.