Bulk Topological Invariants in Noninteracting Point Group Symmetric Insulators
Abstract
We survey various quantized bulk physical observables in two- and three-dimensional topological band insulators invariant under translational symmetry and crystallographic point group symmetries (PGS). In two-dimensional insulators, we show that: (i) the Chern number of a -invariant insulator can be determined, up to a multiple of , by evaluating the eigenvalues of symmetry operators at high-symmetry points in the Brillouin zone; (ii) the Chern number of a -invariant insulator is also determined, up to a multiple of , by the eigenvalue of the Slater determinant of a noninteracting many-body system and (iii) the Chern number vanishes in insulators with dihedral point groups , and the quantized electric polarization is a topological invariant for these insulators. In three-dimensional insulators, we show that: (i) only insulators with point groups , and PGS can have nonzero 3D quantum Hall coefficient and (ii) only insulators with improper rotation symmetries can have quantized magnetoelectric polarization in the term , the axion term in the electrodynamics of the insulator (medium).
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1207.5767,
title = {Bulk Topological Invariants in Noninteracting Point Group Symmetric Insulators},
author = {Chen Fang and Matthew J. Gilbert and B. Andrei Bernevig},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1207.5767},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
15 pages for main text, 5 pages for appendices, three figures and three tables