Short Summary
In the focus of this project are electron systems that are characterized by competing local orders or by topological order. The first is controlled by strong electronic correlations, the latter is conventionally induced by spin-orbit coupling. The transition to a state, which is topologically non-trivial, will be examined in dependence on dimensional reduction, on the geometry of the system, and on electronic correlations. In particular, we will explore the momentum-space spin texture at finite temperatures in order to specify characteristic and measurable physical properties of the bulk materials close to the transition. Since chiral edge currents signal the topological state, we will determine their emergence through a topological transition.