Many-body higher-order topological invariant for $C_n$-symmetric insulators

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Jahin, Ammar, Lu, Yuan-Ming, Wang, Yuxuan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Jahin, Ammar
Lu, Yuan-Ming
Wang, Yuxuan
author_facet Jahin, Ammar
Lu, Yuan-Ming
Wang, Yuxuan
contents Higher-order topological insulators in two spatial dimensions display fractional corner charges. While fractional charges in one dimension are known to be captured by a many-body bulk invariant, computed by the Resta formula, a many-body bulk invariant for higher-order topology and the corresponding fractional corner charges remains elusive despite several attempts. Inspired by recent work by Tada and Oshikawa, we propose a well-defined many-body bulk invariant for $C_n$ symmetric higher-order topological insulators, which is valid for both non-interacting and interacting systems. Instead of relating them to the bulk quadrupole moment as was previously done, we show that in the presence of $C_n$ rotational symmetry, this bulk invariant can be directly identified with quantized fractional corner charges. In particular, we prove that the corner charge is quantized as $e/n$ with $C_n$ symmetry, leading to a $\mathbb{Z}_n$ classification for higher-order topological insulators in two dimensions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_00050
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Many-body higher-order topological invariant for $C_n$-symmetric insulators
Jahin, Ammar
Lu, Yuan-Ming
Wang, Yuxuan
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Higher-order topological insulators in two spatial dimensions display fractional corner charges. While fractional charges in one dimension are known to be captured by a many-body bulk invariant, computed by the Resta formula, a many-body bulk invariant for higher-order topology and the corresponding fractional corner charges remains elusive despite several attempts. Inspired by recent work by Tada and Oshikawa, we propose a well-defined many-body bulk invariant for $C_n$ symmetric higher-order topological insulators, which is valid for both non-interacting and interacting systems. Instead of relating them to the bulk quadrupole moment as was previously done, we show that in the presence of $C_n$ rotational symmetry, this bulk invariant can be directly identified with quantized fractional corner charges. In particular, we prove that the corner charge is quantized as $e/n$ with $C_n$ symmetry, leading to a $\mathbb{Z}_n$ classification for higher-order topological insulators in two dimensions.
title Many-body higher-order topological invariant for $C_n$-symmetric insulators
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.00050