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arXiv:1409.0168 · Physical Review B

Symmetry-protected topological states of interacting fermions and bosons

Yi‐Zhuang You, Cenke Xu

Published Dec 12, 2014• 112 citations
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Abstract

We study the classification for a large class of interacting fermionic and bosonic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) states, focusing on the cases where interaction reduces the classification of free-fermion SPT states. We define a SPT state as whether it is separated from the trivial state through a bulk phase transition, which is a general definition applicable to SPT states with or without spatial symmetries. We show that in all dimensions short-range interactions can reduce the classification of free-fermion SPT states, and we demonstrate these results by making a connection between the fermionic and bosonic SPT states. We first demonstrate that our formalism gives the correct classification for several known SPT states, with or without interaction, and then we generalize our method to SPT states that involve the spatial inversion symmetry.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.90.245120

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We study the classification for a large class of interacting fermionic and bosonic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) states, focusing on the cases where interaction reduces the classification of free-fermion SPT states. We define a SPT state as whether it is separated from the trivial state through a bulk phase transition, which is a general definition applicable to SPT states with or without spatial symmetries. We show that in all dimensions short-range interactions can reduce the classification of free-fermion SPT states, and we demonstrate these results by making a connection between the fermionic and bosonic SPT states. We first demonstrate that our formalism gives the correct classification for several known SPT states, with or without interaction, and then we generalize our method to SPT states that involve the spatial inversion symmetry.
Symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases are a minimal generalization of the concept of topological insulators to interacting systems. In this paper, we describe the classification and properties of such phases for three-dimensional (3D) electronic systems with a number of different symmetries. For symmetries representative of all classes in the famous 10-fold way of free-fermion topological insulators/superconductors, we determine the stability to interactions. By combining with results on bosonic SPT phases, we obtain a classification of electronic 3D SPT phases for these symmetries. In cases with a normal U(1)U(1)U(1) subgroup we show that this classification is complete. We describe the nontrivial surface and bulk properties of these states. In particular, we discuss interesting correlated surface states that are not captured in a free-fermion description. We show that in many, but not all, cases, the surface can be gapped while preserving symmetry if it develops intrinsic topological order.
Symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases are gapped short-range-entangled quantum phases with a symmetry GGG, which can all be smoothly connected to the trivial product states if we break the symmetry. It has been shown that a large class of interacting bosonic SPT phases can be systematically described by group cohomology theory. In this paper, we introduce a (special) group supercohomology theory which is a generalization of the standard group cohomology theory. We show that a large class of short-range interacting fermionic SPT phases can be described by the group supercohomology theory. Using the data of supercocycles, we can obtain the ideal ground state wave function for the corresponding fermionic SPT phase. We can also obtain the bulk Hamiltonian that realizes the SPT phase, as well as the anomalous (i.e., non-onsite) symmetry for the boundary effective Hamiltonian. The anomalous symmetry on the boundary implies that the symmetric boundary must be gapless for (1+1)-dimensional [(1+1)D] boundary, and must be gapless or topologically ordered beyond (1+1)D. As an application of this general result, we construct a new SPT phase in three dimensions, for interacting fermionic superconductors with coplanar spin order (which have T2=1{T}^{2}=1T2=1 time-reversal Z2T{Z}_{2}^{T}Z2T​ and fermion-number-parity Z2f{Z}_{2}^{f}Z2f​ symmetries described by a full symmetry group ${Z}_{2}^{T}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{2}^{f}$). Such a fermionic SPT state can neither be realized by free fermions nor by interacting bosons (formed by fermion pairs), and thus are not included in the KKK-theory classification for free fermions or group cohomology description for interacting bosons. We also construct three interacting fermionic SPT phases in two dimensions (2D) with a full symmetry group ${Z}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{2}^{f}$. Those 2D fermionic SPT phases all have central-charge c=1c=1c=1 gapless edge excitations, if the symmetry is not broken.
We give a brief overview on interacting symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. In particular, we will focus on various cases where the classification of non-interacting fermionic systems breaks down in the presence of interactions. The examples include topological (and trivial) superconductors in one, two and three spatial dimensions, protected by various symmetries such as time-reversal, spin parity, and reflection symmetries. Common to these examples is the ‘collapse’ of the non-interacting classification, where an integer classification (‘’) at non-interacting level reduces to or in the presence of interactions. We make use of these examples to illustrate various approaches to interacting SPT phases.
We give a brief overview on interacting symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. In particular, we will focus on various cases where the classification of non-interacting fermionic systems breaks down in the presence of interactions. The examples include topological (and trivial) superconductors in one, two and three spatial dimensions, protected by various symmetries such as time-reversal, spin parity, and reflection symmetries. Common to these examples is the ‘collapse’ of the non-interacting classification, where an integer classification (‘ ’) at non-interacting level reduces to or in the presence of interactions. We make use of these examples to illustrate various approaches to interacting SPT phases.
Symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases are bulk-gapped quantum phases with symmetries, which have gapless or degenerate boundary states as long as the symmetries are not broken. The SPT phases in free fermion systems, such as topological insulators, can be classified; however, it is not known what SPT phases exist in general interacting systems. We present a systematic way to construct SPT phases in interacting bosonic systems. Just as group theory allows us to construct 230 crystal structures in three-dimensional space, we use group cohomology theory to systematically construct different interacting bosonic SPT phases in any dimension and with any symmetry, leading to the discovery of bosonic topological insulators and superconductors.
The construction and classification of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases in interacting bosonic and fermionic systems have been intensively studied in the past few years. Very recently, a complete classification and construction of space-group SPT phases were also proposed for interacting bosonic systems. In this Rapid Communication, we attempt to generalize this classification and construction scheme systematically into interacting fermion systems. In particular, we construct and classify point-group SPT phases for two-dimensional (2D) interacting fermion systems via lower-dimensional block-state decorations. We discover several intriguing fermionic SPT states that can only be realized in interacting fermion systems (i.e., not in free-fermion or bosonic SPT systems). Moreover, we also verify the recently conjectured crystalline equivalence principle for 2D interacting fermion systems. Finally, the potential experimental realization of these different classes of point-group SPT phases in 2D correlated superconductors is addressed.