English

Band-Structure-Independent Topology from Nonsymmorphic Wannier Complexes

Superconductivity 2026-01-06 v3

Abstract

Nonsymmorphic symmetries can enforce band connectivity that obstructs a single-band Wannier description. We show that a fractional translation L\mathcal{L} connecting distinct high-symmetry Wyckoff positions generically renders the Wannier center of an individual band gauge ill-defined, requiring a symmetry-enforced multiband object -- a Wannier complex. We formulate a real-space topological classification of Wannier complexes and show that, when L\mathcal{L} is combined with certain point-group symmetries (notably C4C_4 and C3C_3), all symmetry-allowed Wannier-complex configurations carry a nontrivial quantized total electric polarization. This yields boundary phenomena that persist across symmetry-preserving deformations of the Hamiltonian, including parameter regimes with and without bulk gaps. We demonstrate the mechanism in minimal tight-binding models exhibiting M{\"o}bius-twisted Wilson-loop structures and higher-order corner modes, and propose experimental signatures in a dielectric photonic crystal and a first-principles electronic platform octa-graphene, accompanied by a three-dimensional extension.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2405.14165,
  title  = {Band-Structure-Independent Topology from Nonsymmorphic Wannier Complexes},
  author = {Qinghua He and Jie Zhang and Shengdan Tao and Hai-yao Deng and Qifeng Liang and Wenlong Gao and Feng Liu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.14165},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

11 pages, 13 figures