Bloch Bundle Research Articles

Topology vs localization in synthetic dimensions

Motivated by recent developments in quantum simulation of synthetic dimensions, e.g., in optical lattices of ultracold atoms, we discuss here d-dimensional periodic, gapped quantum systems for d ≤ 4, with a focus on the topology of the occupied energy states. We perform this analysis by asking whether the spectral subspace below the gap can be spanned by smooth and periodic Bloch functions, corresponding to localized Wannier functions in position space. By constructing these Bloch functions inductively in the dimension, we show that if they are required to be orthonormal, then, in general, their existence is obstructed by the first two Chern classes of the underlying Bloch bundle, with the second Chern class characterizing, in particular, the four-dimensional situation. If the orthonormality constraint is relaxed, we show how m occupied energy bands can be spanned by a Parseval frame comprising at most m + 2 Bloch functions.

Strong correlation, Bloch bundle topology, and spinless Haldane–Hubbard model

Different realizations of the Hubbard operators in different Hilbert spaces give rise to various microscopic lattice electron models driven by strong correlations. In terms of the Gutzwiller projected electron operators, the most familiar examples are the conventional t−J model and the BCS-Hubbard model at strong coupling. Here we focus on the spin-dopon representation of the Hubbard operators. In this case the no double occupancy (NDO) constraint can be reexpressed as a Kondo interaction. As an explicit example, the effective low-energy action is derived in terms of itinerant spinless fermions (dopons) strongly interacting with localized lattice spins. The spontaneous breaking of the time-reversal symmetry reduces that action to one describing a spinless version of the Haldane–Hubbard topological theory. This result suggests that the topologically nontrivial U(1) Bloch bundle associated with this model can be realized dynamically due to the presence of strong correlations even in the absence of any external local or global fluxes.

Topological phase transitions driven by non-Hermiticity in quantum spin Hall insulators

The interplay between non-Hermiticity and topology opens an exciting avenue for engineering novel topological matter with unprecedented properties. While previous studies have mainly focused on one-dimensional systems or Chern insulators, here we investigate topological phase transitions to/from quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators driven by non-Hermiticity. We show that a trivial to QSH insulator phase transition can be induced by solely varying non-Hermitian terms, and there exists exceptional edge arcs in QSH phases. We establish two topological invariants for characterizing the non-Hermitian phase transitions: i) with time-reversal symmetry, the biorthogonal $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariant based on non-Hermitian Wilson loops, and ii) without time-reversal symmetry, a biorthogonal spin Chern number through biorthogonal decompositions of the Bloch bundle of the occupied bands. These topological invariants can be applied to a wide class of non-Hermitian topological phases beyond Chern classes, and provides a powerful tool for exploring novel non-Hermitian topological matter and their device applications.

Optimal Decay of Wannier functions in Chern and Quantum Hall Insulators

We investigate the localization properties of independent electrons in a periodic background, possibly including a periodic magnetic field, as e.g. in Chern insulators and in Quantum Hall systems. Since, generically, the spectrum of the Hamiltonian is absolutely continuous, localization is characterized by the decay, as $|x| \rightarrow \infty$, of the composite (magnetic) Wannier functions associated to the Bloch bands below the Fermi energy, which is supposed to be in a spectral gap. We prove the validity of a localization dichotomy, in the following sense: either there exist exponentially localized composite Wannier functions, and correspondingly the system is in a trivial topological phase with vanishing Hall conductivity, or the decay of any composite Wannier function is such that the expectation value of the squared position operator, or equivalently of the Marzari-Vanderbilt localization functional, is $+ \infty$. In the latter case, the Bloch bundle is topologically non-trivial, and one expects a non-zero Hall conductivity.

Gauge-theoretic invariants for topological insulators: a bridge between Berry, Wess–Zumino, and Fu–Kane–Mele

We establish a connection between two recently-proposed approaches to the understanding of the geometric origin of the Fu-Kane-Mele invariant $\mathrm{FKM} \in \mathbb{Z}_2$, arising in the context of 2-dimensional time-reversal symmetric topological insulators. On the one hand, the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariant can be formulated in terms of the Berry connection and the Berry curvature of the Bloch bundle of occupied states over the Brillouin torus. On the other, using techniques from the theory of bundle gerbes it is possible to provide an expression for $\mathrm{FKM}$ containing the square root of the Wess-Zumino amplitude for a certain $U(N)$-valued field over the Brillouin torus. We link the two formulas by showing directly the equality between the above mentioned Wess-Zumino amplitude and the Berry phase, as well as between their square roots. An essential tool of independent interest is an equivariant version of the adjoint Polyakov-Wiegmann formula for fields $\mathbb{T}^2 \to U(N)$, of which we provide a proof employing only basic homotopy theory and circumventing the language of bundle gerbes.

Kagome lattice from an exciton-polariton perspective

We study a system of microcavity pillars arranged into a kagome lattice. We show that polarization-dependent tunnel coupling of microcavity pillars leads to the emergence of the effective spin-orbit interaction consisting of the Dresselhaus and Rashba terms, similar to the case of polaritonic graphene studied earlier. Appearance of the effective spin-orbit interaction combined with the time-reversal symmetry-breaking resulting from the application of the magnetic field leads to the nontrivial topological properties of the Bloch bundles of polaritonic wavefunction. These are manifested in opening of the gap in the band structure and topological edge states localized on the boundary. Such states are analogs of the edge states arising in topological insulators. Our study of polarization properties of the edge states clearly demonstrate that opening of the gap is associated with the band inversion in the region of the Dirac points of the Brillouin zone where the two bands corresponding to polaritons of opposite polarizations meet. For one particular type of boundary we observe a highly nonlinear energy dispersion of the edge state which makes polaritonic kagome lattice a promising system for observation of edge state solitons.

Peierls substitution for magnetic Bloch bands

We consider the Schr\"odinger operator in two dimensions with a periodic potential and a strong constant magnetic field perturbed by slowly varying non-periodic scalar and vector potentials, $\phi(\epsilon x)$ and $A(\epsilon x)$, for $\epsilon\ll 1$. For each isolated family of magnetic Bloch bands we derive an effective Hamiltonian that is unitarily equivalent to the restriction of the Schr\"odinger operator to a corresponding almost invariant subspace. At leading order, our effective Hamiltonian can be interpreted as the Peierls substitution Hamiltonian widely used in physics for non-magnetic Bloch bands. However, while for non-magnetic Bloch bands the corresponding result is well understood, for magnetic Bloch bands it is not clear how to even define a Peierls substitution Hamiltonian beyond a formal expression. The source of the difficulty is a topological obstruction: magnetic Bloch bundles are generically not trivializable. As a consequence, Peierls substitution Hamiltonians for magnetic Bloch bands turn out to be pseudodifferential operators acting on sections of non-trivial vector bundles over a two-torus, the reduced Brillouin zone. Part of our contribution is the construction of a suitable Weyl calculus for such pseudos. As an application of our results we construct a new family of canonical one-band Hamiltonians $H^B_{\theta,q}$ for magnetic Bloch bands with Chern number $\theta\in \mathbb{Z}$ that generalizes the Hofstadter model $H^B_{\rm Hof} = H^B_{0,1}$ for a single non-magnetic Bloch band. It turns out that $H^B_{\theta,q}$ is isospectral to $H^{q^2B}_{\rm Hof}$ for any $\theta$ and all spectra agree with the Hofstadter spectrum depicted in his famous black and white butterfly. However, the resulting Chern numbers of subbands, corresponding to Hall conductivities, depend on $\theta$ and $q$, and thus the models lead to different colored butterflies.

Symmetry and Localization in Periodic Crystals: Triviality of Bloch Bundles with a Fermionic Time-Reversal Symmetry

We describe some applications of group- and bundle-theoretic methods in solid state physics, showing how symmetries lead to a proof of the localization of electrons in gapped crystalline solids, as e.g. insulators and semiconductors.We shortly review the Bloch-Floquet decomposition of periodic operators, and the related concepts of Bloch frames and composite Wannier functions. We show that the latter are almost-exponentially localized if and only if there exists a smooth periodic Bloch frame, and that the obstruction to the latter condition is the triviality of a Hermitian vector bundle, called the Bloch bundle. The rôle of additional \(\mathbb{Z}_{2}\)-symmetries, as time-reversal and space-reflection symmetry, is discussed, showing how time-reversal symmetry implies the triviality of the Bloch bundle, both in the bosonic and in the fermionic case. Moreover, the same \(\mathbb{Z}_{2}\)-symmetry allows to define a finer notion of isomorphism and, consequently, to define new topological invariants, which agree with the indices introduced by Fu, Kane and Mele in the context of topological insulators.

Bloch Bundles, Marzari-Vanderbilt Functional and Maximally Localized Wannier Functions

We consider a periodic Schrödinger operator and the composite Wannier functions corresponding to a relevant family of its Bloch bands, separated by a gap from the rest of the spectrum. We study the associated localization functional introduced in Marzari and Vanderbilt (Phys Rev B 56:12847–12865, 1997) and we prove some results about the existence and exponential localization of its minimizers, in dimension $${d \leq 3}$$ . The proof exploits ideas and methods from the theory of harmonic maps between Riemannian manifolds.

Exponentially localized Wannier functions in periodic zero flux magnetic fields

In this work, we investigate conditions which ensure the existence of an exponentially localized Wannier basis for a given periodic hamiltonian. We extend previous results [Panati, G., Ann. Henri Poincare 8, 995–1011 (2007)10.1007/s00023-007-0326-8] to include periodic zero flux magnetic fields which is the setting also investigated by Kuchment [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 42, 025203 (2009)10.1088/1751-8113/42/2/025203]. The new notion of magnetic symmetry plays a crucial rôle; to a large class of symmetries for a non-magnetic system, one can associate “magnetic” symmetries of the related magnetic system. Observing that the existence of an exponentially localized Wannier basis is equivalent to the triviality of the so-called Bloch bundle, a rank m hermitian vector bundle over the Brillouin zone, we prove that magnetic time-reversal symmetry is sufficient to ensure the triviality of the Bloch bundle in spatial dimension d = 1, 2, 3. For d = 4, an exponentially localized Wannier basis exists provided that the trace per unit volume of a suitable function of the Fermi projection vanishes. For d > 4 and d ⩽ 2m (stable rank regime) only the exponential localization of a subset of Wannier functions is shown; this improves part of the analysis of Kuchment [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 42, 025203 (2009)10.1088/1751-8113/42/2/025203]. Finally, for d > 4 and d > 2m (unstable rank regime) we show that the mere analysis of Chern classes does not suffice in order to prove triviality and thus exponential localization.

Geometric Currents in Piezoelectricity

As a simple model for piezoelectricity we consider a gas of infinitely many non-interacting electrons subject to a slowly time-dependent periodic potential. We show that in the adiabatic limit the macroscopic current is determined by the geometry of the Bloch bundle. As a consequence we obtain the King-Smith and Vanderbilt formula up to errors smaller than any power of the adiabatic parameter.

Triviality of Bloch and Bloch–Dirac Bundles

In the framework of the theory of an electron in a periodic potential, we reconsider the longstanding problem of the existence of smooth and periodic quasi-Bloch functions, which is shown to be equivalent to the triviality of the Bloch bundle. By exploiting the time-reversal symmetry of the Hamiltonian and some bundle-theoretic methods, we show that the problem has a positive answer for any d < 4, thus generalizing a previous result by G. Nenciu. We provide a general formulation of the result, aiming at the application to the Dirac equation with a periodic potential and to piezoelectricity.