Fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states are examples of symmetry-enriched topological states (SETs): in addition to the intrinsic topological order, which is robust to symmetry breaking, they possess symmetry-protected topological invariants, such as fractional charge of anyons and fractional Hall conductivity. In this paper we develop a comprehensive theory of symmetry-protected topological invariants for FQH states with spatial symmetries, which applies to Abelian and non-Abelian topological states, by using a recently developed framework of
G-crossed braided tensor categories (
G×BTCs) for SETs. We consider systems with
U(1) charge conservation, magnetic translational, and spatial rotational symmetries, in the continuum and for all
5 orientation-preserving crystalline space groups in two dimensions, allowing arbitrary rational magnetic flux per unit cell, and assuming that symmetries do not permute anyons. In the crystalline setting, applicable to fractional Chern insulators and spin liquids, symmetry fractionalization is fully characterized by a generalization to non-Abelian states of the charge, spin, discrete torsion, and area vectors, which specify fractional charge, angular momentum, linear momentum, and fractionalization of the translation algebra for each anyon. The topological response theory contains
9 terms, which attach charge, linear momentum, and angular momentum to magnetic flux, lattice dislocations, disclinations, corners, and units of area. Using the
G×BTC formalism, we derive the formula relating charge filling to the Hall conductivity and flux per unit cell; in the continuum this relates the filling fraction and the Hall conductivity without assuming Galilean invariance. We provide systematic formulas for topological invariants within the
G×BTC framework; this gives, for example, a new categorical definition of the Hall conductivity.
Crystalline symmetries give rise to topological invariants that can distinguish quantum phases of matter. Understanding these in strongly interacting systems is an ongoing research direction requiring non-perturbative methods. Recent developments have demonstrated that even classic models, like the Harper-Hofstadter model of free fermions on a lattice in a magnetic field, yield a host of crystalline symmetry protected topological invariants. Here we review some of these developments, focusing mainly on how to characterize, classify, and detect invariants arising from lattice translation and rotation symmetries along with charge conservation in two-dimensional systems, including integer and fractional Chern insulators.
In this paper we construct fully symmetric wave functions for the spin-polarized fractional Chern insulators (FCIs) and time-reversal-invariant fractional topological insulators (FTIs) in two dimensions using the parton approach. We show that the lattice symmetry gives rise to many different FCI and FTI phases even with the same filling fraction $\ensuremath{\nu}$ (and the same quantized Hall conductance ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{xy}$ in the FCI case). They have different symmetry-protected topological orders, which are characterized by different projective symmetry groups. We mainly focus on FCI phases which are realized in a partially filled band with Chern number 1. The low-energy gauge groups of a generic ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{xy}=1/m\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}{e}^{2}/h$ FCI wave function can be either
SU(m) or the discrete group
Zm, and in the latter case the associated low-energy physics are described by Chern-Simons-Higgs theories. We use our construction to compute the ground-state degeneracy. Examples of FCI/FTI wave functions on honeycomb lattice and checkerboard lattice are explicitly given. Possible non-Abelian FCI phases which may be realized in a partially filled band with Chern number 2 are discussed. Generic FTI wave functions in the absence of spin conservation are also presented whose low-energy gauge groups can be either $\text{SU}(m)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\text{SU}(m)$ or ${Z}_{m}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{m}$. The constructed wave functions also set up the framework for future variational Monte Carlo simulations.
We devise local lattice models whose ground states are model fractional Chern insulators-Abelian and non-Abelian topologically ordered states characterized by exact ground state degeneracies at any finite size and infinite entanglement gaps. Most saliently, we construct exact parent Hamiltonians for two distinct families of bosonic lattice generalizations of the Z_{k} parafermion quantum Hall states: (i) color-entangled fractional Chern insulators at band filling fractions ν=k/(C+1) and (ii) nematic states at ν=k/2, where C is the Chern number of the lowest band. In spite of a fluctuating Berry curvature, our construction is partially frustration free: the ground states reside entirely within the lowest band and exactly minimize a local (k+1) body repulsion term by term. In addition to providing the first known models hosting intriguing states such as higher Chern number generalizations of the Fibonacci anyon quantum Hall states, the remarkable stability and finite-size properties make our models particularly well suited for the study of novel phenomena involving, e.g., twist defects and proximity induced superconductivity, as well as being a guide for designing experiments.
We devise local lattice models whose ground states are \emph{ideal fractional Chern insulators}---Abelian and non-Abelian topologically ordered states characterized by exact ground state degeneracies at any finite size and infinite entanglement gaps. Most saliently, we construct exact parent Hamiltonians for two distinct families of bosonic lattice generalizations of the
Zk parafermion quantum Hall states: (i) color-entangled fractional Chern insulators at band filling fractions
ν=k/(C+1) and (ii) nematic states at
ν=k/2, where
C is the Chern number of the lowest band in our models. In spite of a fluctuating Berry curvature, our construction is partially frustration free: the ground states reside entirely within the lowest band and exactly minimize a local
(k+1)-body repulsion term by term. In addition to providing the first known models hosting intriguing states such as higher Chern number generalizations of the Fibonacci anyon quantum Hall states, the remarkable stability and finite-size properties make our models particularly well-suited for the study of novel phenomena involving e.g. twist defects and proximity induced superconductivity, as well as being a guide for designing experiments.
Recently, it has been shown how topological phases of matter with crystalline symmetry and
U(1) charge conservation can be partially characterized by a set of many-body invariants, the discrete shift
So and electric polarization ${\stackrel{P\vec}{\mathcal{P}}}_{\mathrm{o}}$, where
o labels a high-symmetry point. Crucially, these can be defined even with nonzero Chern number and/or magnetic field. One manifestation of these invariants is through quantized fractional contributions to the charge in the vicinity of a lattice disclination or dislocation. In this paper, we show that these invariants can also be extracted from the length and corner dependence of the total charge (mod 1) on the boundary of the system. We provide a general formula in terms of
So and ${\stackrel{P\vec}{\mathcal{P}}}_{\mathrm{o}}$ for the total charge of any subregion of the system which can include full boundaries or bulk lattice defects, unifying boundary, corner, disclination, and dislocation charge responses into a single general theory. These results hold for Chern insulators, despite their gapless chiral edge modes, and for which an unambiguous definition of an intrinsically two-dimensional electric polarization has been unclear until recently. We also discuss how our theory can fully characterize the topological response of quadrupole insulators.