English

Local formula for the $Z_2$ invariant of topological insulators

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2019-11-07 v3 Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

We proposed a formula for the Z2Z_2 invariant for topological insulators, which remains valid without translational invariance. Our formula is a local expression, in the sense that the contributions mainly come from quantities near a point. Using almost commute matrices, we proposed a method to approximate this invariant with local information. The validity of the formula and the approximation method is proved.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1905.12649,
  title  = {Local formula for the $Z_2$ invariant of topological insulators},
  author = {Zhi Li and Roger S. K. Mong},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.12649},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

Final version published on PRB