Tuning the Many-body Interactions in a Helical Luttinger Liquid

In one-dimensional (1D) systems, electronic interactions lead to a breakdown of Fermi liquid theory and the formation of a Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquid (TLL). The strength of its many-body correlations can be quantified by a single dimensionless parameter, the Luttinger parameter $K$, characterising the competition between the electrons' kinetic and electrostatic energies. Recently, signatures of a TLL have been reported for the topological edge states of quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators, strictly 1D electronic structures with linear (Dirac) dispersion and spin-momentum locking. Here we show that the many-body interactions in such helical Luttinger Liquid can be effectively controlled by the edge state's dielectric environment. This is reflected in a tunability of the Luttinger parameter $K$, distinct on different edges of the crystal, and extracted to high accuracy from the statistics of tunnelling spectra at tens of tunneling points. The interplay of topology and many-body correlations in 1D helical systems has been suggested as a potential avenue towards realising non-Abelian parafermions.