Quantized electric multipole insulators
07 Jul 2017-Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science)-Vol. 357, Iss: 6346, pp 61-66
TL;DR: This work introduces a paradigm in which “nested” Wilson loops give rise to topological invariants that have been overlooked and opens a venue for the expansion of the classification of topological phases of matter.
Abstract: The Berry phase provides a modern formulation of electric polarization in crystals. We extend this concept to higher electric multipole moments and determine the necessary conditions and minimal models for which the quadrupole and octupole moments are topologically quantized electromagnetic observables. Such systems exhibit gapped boundaries that are themselves lower-dimensional topological phases. Furthermore, they host topologically protected corner states carrying fractional charge, exhibiting fractionalization at the boundary of the boundary. To characterize these insulating phases of matter, we introduce a paradigm in which “nested” Wilson loops give rise to topological invariants that have been overlooked. We propose three realistic experimental implementations of this topological behavior that can be immediately tested. Our work opens a venue for the expansion of the classification of topological phases of matter.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: A complete electronic band theory is proposed, which builds on the conventional band theory of electrons, highlighting the link between the topology and local chemical bonding and can be used to predict many more topological insulators.
Abstract: Since the discovery of topological insulators and semimetals, there has been much research into predicting and experimentally discovering distinct classes of these materials, in which the topology of electronic states leads to robust surface states and electromagnetic responses. This apparent success, however, masks a fundamental shortcoming: topological insulators represent only a few hundred of the 200,000 stoichiometric compounds in material databases. However, it is unclear whether this low number is indicative of the esoteric nature of topological insulators or of a fundamental problem with the current approaches to finding them. Here we propose a complete electronic band theory, which builds on the conventional band theory of electrons, highlighting the link between the topology and local chemical bonding. This theory of topological quantum chemistry provides a description of the universal (across materials), global properties of all possible band structures and (weakly correlated) materials, consisting of a graph-theoretic description of momentum (reciprocal) space and a complementary group-theoretic description in real space. For all 230 crystal symmetry groups, we classify the possible band structures that arise from local atomic orbitals, and show which are topologically non-trivial. Our electronic band theory sheds new light on known topological insulators, and can be used to predict many more.
1,150 citations
TL;DR: This work provides a comprehensive framework for generalized bulk-boundary correspondence and a quantized biorthogonal polarization that is formulated directly in systems with open boundaries, including exactly solvable non-Hermitian extensions of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and Chern insulators.
Abstract: Non-Hermitian systems exhibit striking exceptions from the paradigmatic bulk-boundary correspondence, including the failure of bulk Bloch band invariants in predicting boundary states and the (dis)appearance of boundary states at parameter values far from those corresponding to gap closings in periodic systems without boundaries. Here, we provide a comprehensive framework to unravel this disparity based on the notion of biorthogonal quantum mechanics: While the properties of the left and right eigenstates corresponding to boundary modes are individually decoupled from the bulk physics in non-Hermitian systems, their combined biorthogonal density penetrates the bulk precisely when phase transitions occur. This leads to generalized bulk-boundary correspondence and a quantized biorthogonal polarization that is formulated directly in systems with open boundaries. We illustrate our general insights by deriving the phase diagram for several microscopic open boundary models, including exactly solvable non-Hermitian extensions of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and Chern insulators.
916 citations
TL;DR: The notion of three-dimensional topological insulators is extended to systems that host no gapless surface states but exhibit topologically protected gapless hinge states and it is shown that SnTe as well as surface-modified Bi2TeI, BiSe, and BiTe are helical higher-order topology insulators.
Abstract: Three-dimensional topological (crystalline) insulators are materials with an insulating bulk, but conducting surface states which are topologically protected by time-reversal (or spatial) symmetries. Here, we extend the notion of three-dimensional topological insulators to systems that host no gapless surface states, but exhibit topologically protected gapless hinge states. Their topological character is protected by spatio-temporal symmetries, of which we present two cases: (1) Chiral higher-order topological insulators protected by the combination of time-reversal and a four-fold rotation symmetry. Their hinge states are chiral modes and the bulk topology is $\mathbb{Z}_2$-classified. (2) Helical higher-order topological insulators protected by time-reversal and mirror symmetries. Their hinge states come in Kramers pairs and the bulk topology is $\mathbb{Z}$-classified. We provide the topological invariants for both cases. Furthermore we show that SnTe as well as surface-modified Bi$_2$TeI, BiSe, and BiTe are helical higher-order topological insulators and propose a realistic experimental setup to detect the hinge states.
864 citations
Cites background from "Quantized electric multipole insula..."
...There, we also provide two further topological characterizations, one based on so-called nested Wilson loop (4) and entanglement spectra (21–23) and one applicable to systems that are in addition invariant under the product Î T̂ of inversion symmetry Î and T̂ (3)....
[...]
...(4) has introduced second-order 2D TIs and third-order 3D TIs....
[...]
...(4) generalize this bulk-boundary correspondence: In two and three dimensions, these insulators exhibit no edge or surface states, respectively, but feature gapless, topological corner excitations corresponding to quantized higher electric multipole moments....
[...]
TL;DR: Fourfold rotation-invariant gapped topological systems with time-reversal symmetry in two and three dimensions with strongly interacting systems through the explicit construction of microscopic models having robust (d-2)-dimensional edge states are studied.
Abstract: Theorists have discovered topological insulators that are insulating in their interior and on their surfaces but have conducting channels at corners or along edges.
826 citations
TL;DR: Measurements of a phononic quadrupole topological insulator are reported and topological corner states are found that are an important stepping stone to the experimental realization of topologically protected wave guides in higher dimensions, and thereby open up a new path for the design of metamaterials.
Abstract: The modern theory of charge polarization in solids is based on a generalization of Berry’s phase. The possibility of the quantization of this phase arising from parallel transport in momentum space is essential to our understanding of systems with topological band structures. Although based on the concept of charge polarization, this same theory can also be used to characterize the Bloch bands of neutral bosonic systems such as photonic or phononic crystals. The theory of this quantized polarization has recently been extended from the dipole moment to higher multipole moments. In particular, a two-dimensional quantized quadrupole insulator is predicted to have gapped yet topological one-dimensional edge modes, which stabilize zero-dimensional in-gap corner states. However, such a state of matter has not previously been observed experimentally. Here we report measurements of a phononic quadrupole topological insulator. We experimentally characterize the bulk, edge and corner physics of a mechanical metamaterial (a material with tailored mechanical properties) and find the predicted gapped edge and in-gap corner states. We corroborate our findings by comparing the mechanical properties of a topologically non-trivial system to samples in other phases that are predicted by the quadrupole theory. These topological corner states are an important stepping stone to the experimental realization of topologically protected wave guides in higher dimensions, and thereby open up a new path for the design of metamaterials.
818 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the importance of exact multipole analysis in macroscopic electromagnetics, and argue that if the inclusion of magnetic dipole terms is not complemented with electric quadrupoles, there is a risk of losing the translational invariance of certain important quantities.
Abstract: `Good reasons must, of force, give place to better', observes Brutus to Cassius, according to William Shakespeare in Julius Caesar. Roger Raab and Owen de Lange seem to agree, as they cite this sentence in the concluding chapter of their new book on the importance of exact multipole analysis in macroscopic electromagnetics. Very true and essential to remember in our daily research work. The two scientists from the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (presently University of KwaZulu-Natal) have been working for a very long time on the accurate description of electric and magnetic response of matter and have published much of their findings in various physics journals. The present book gives us a clear and coherent exposition of many of these results. The important message of Raab and de Lange is that in the macroscopic description of matter, a correct balance between the various orders of electric and magnetic multipole terms has to be respected. If the inclusion of magnetic dipole terms is not complemented with electric quadrupoles, there is a risk of losing the translational invariance of certain important quantities. This means that the values of these quantities depend on the choice of the origin! `It can't be Nature, for it is not sense' is another of the apt literary citations in the book. Often monographs written by researchers look like they have been produced using a cut-and-paste technique; earlier published articles are included in the same book but, unfortunately, too little additional effort is expended into moulding the totality into a unified story. This is not the case with Raab and de Lange. The structure and the text flow of the book serve perfectly its important message. After the obligatory introduction of material response to electromagnetic fields, constitutive relations, basic quantum theory and spacetime properties, a chapter follows with transmission and scattering effects where everything seems to work well with the `old' multipole theory. But then the focus is shifted to observables associated with the reflection of waves from a surface. And there the classical analysis fails. This gives the motivation for the following chapters where the transformed multipole theory is represented. As expected, the correct multipole balance restores the physicality of the results in the reflection problem. One of the healthy reminders for an electrical engineer-scientist reading the book is the fact that E and B are the primary electric and magnetic fields. The other two field quantities, D and H, are the response fields (which, by the way, are also shown to be origin-dependent and poorly\endcolumn defined in the framework of classical multipole theory). In defence, however, for these poor latter quantities one can mention the many advantages of the engineering-type constitutive relations where D and B are expressed as responses to E and H. An example is the beautiful symmetry and complete analogy between the electric and magnetic quantities (voltage becomes current and vice versa in the duality transformation) which helps us write down solutions to electromagnetic problems from other known cases. From a pragmatic point of view we would also favour the use of quantities like Poynting vector and energy density (which require the H field). Another discussion-provoking question to the authors of the book might be whether their new multipole balance could be broken in the analysis of artificial materials. New nanotechnological discoveries and devices make it look like engineers can do anything. Perhaps in the design of complex media and metamaterials, a hot topic in today's materials science, such macroscopic responses can be tailored where a certain high-order multipole contribution dominates over other, more basic ones. Multiple Theory in Electromagnetism is suitable for a broad spectrum of readers: solid-state physicists, molecular chemists, theoretical and experimental optics scientists, radiophysics experts, electromagnetists and other electrical engineers, students and working scientists alike. This is a wonderful book. It certainly should appeal to them all.
59 citations
Additional excerpts
...Classically, the primitive dipole, quadrupole, and octupole moments of a continuum, volume charge density r(r) are defined as pi 1⁄4 ∫d(3)rrðrÞri , qij 1⁄4 ∫d(3)rrðrÞrirj , and oijk 1⁄4 ∫d(3)rrðrÞrirjrk (9)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a simple experimental scheme based on standard atom-optics techniques to design highly versatile model systems for the study of single-particle quantum transport phenomena.
Abstract: We present a simple experimental scheme, based on standard atom-optics techniques, to design highly versatile model systems for the study of single-particle quantum transport phenomena. The scheme is based on a discrete set of free-particle momentum states that are coupled via momentum-changing two-photon Bragg transitions, driven by pairs of interfering laser beams. In the effective lattice models that are accessible, this scheme allows for single-site detection, as well as site-resolved and dynamical control over all system parameters. We discuss two possible implementations, based on state-preserving Bragg transitions and on state-changing Raman transitions, which, respectively, allow for the study of nearly arbitrary single-particle Abelian U(1) and non-Abelian U(2) lattice models.
59 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors extend the Berry-phase concept of polarization to insulators having a nonzero value of the Chern invariant, and show how the integrated bulk current arising from an adiabatic evolution can be related to a difference of bulk polarizations.
Abstract: We extend the Berry-phase concept of polarization to insulators having a nonzero value of the Chern invariant. The generalization to such Chern insulators requires special care because of the partial occupation of chiral edge states. We show how the integrated bulk current arising from an adiabatic evolution can be related to a difference of bulk polarizations. We also show how the surface charge can be related to the bulk polarization, but only with a knowledge of the wave vector at which the occupancy of the edge state is discontinuous. Furthermore, we present numerical calculations on a model Hamiltonian to provide additional support for our analytic arguments.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the surface polarization is formulated in terms of a Berry phase, with the hybrid Wannier representation providing a natural basis for study of the effect of surface polarization.
Abstract: The term ``surface polarization'' is introduced to describe the in-plane polarization existing at the surface of an insulating crystal when the in-plane surface inversion symmetry is broken. Here, the surface polarization is formulated in terms of a Berry phase, with the hybrid Wannier representation providing a natural basis for study of this effect. Tight-binding models are used to demonstrate how the surface polarization reveals itself via the accumulation of charges at the corners and edges for a two dimensional rectangular lattice and for GaAs respectively.
26 citations