Abstract Systems hosting flat bands offer a powerful platform for exploring strong correlation physics. Theoretically, topological degeneracy arising in systems with non-trivial topological orders on periodic manifolds of non-zero genus can generate ideal flat bands. However, experimental realization of such geometrically engineered systems is very difficult. In this work, we demonstrate that flat planes with strategically patterned hole defects can engineer ideal flat bands. We construct two families of models: singular flat band systems where degeneracy is stabilized by non-contractible loop excitations tied to hole defects and perfectly nested van Hove systems where degeneracy arises from line excitations in momentum space. These models circumvent the need for exotic manifolds while retaining the essential features of topological flat bands. By directly linking defect engineering to degeneracy mechanisms, our results establish a scalable framework for experimentally accessible flat band design.
Abstract Systems hosting flat bands offer a powerful platform for exploring strong correlation physics. Theoretically, topological degeneracy arising in systems with non-trivial topological orders on periodic manifolds of non-zero genus can generate ideal flat bands. However, experimental realization of such geometrically engineered systems is very difficult. In this work, we demonstrate that flat planes with strategically patterned hole defects can engineer ideal flat bands. We construct two families of models: singular flat band systems where degeneracy is stabilized by non-contractible loop excitations tied to hole defects and perfectly nested van Hove systems where degeneracy arises from line excitations in momentum space. These models circumvent the need for exotic manifolds while retaining the essential features of topological flat bands. By directly linking defect engineering to degeneracy mechanisms, our results establish a scalable framework for experimentally accessible flat band design.
The quest for non-Abelian anyons, exotic quasiparticles fundamental to topological quantum computing, remains a forefront challenge in condensed matter physics. This paper explores the universal topological signatures that characterize non-Abelian anyons when hosted within engineered flat band systems. Flat bands, distinguished by their quenched kinetic energy, dramatically enhance interaction effects, providing a unique platform for stabilizing exotic many-body phases and fostering the emergence of non-Abelian statistics. We theoretically investigate how specific lattice geometries and tuning parameters in various engineered platforms, such as Moiré superlattices, photonic crystals, and ultracold atomic gases, can lead to the formation of topological flat bands conducive to non-Abelian anyonic excitations. Our analysis identifies several universal signatures, including robust ground state degeneracy sensitive to system topology, characteristic patterns in topological entanglement entropy, and distinct braiding statistics manifested through non-Abelian holonomies and fractional quantum numbers. These signatures are shown to be robust against local perturbations and largely independent of microscopic details, providing reliable indicators for experimental detection. We discuss the implications for developing fault-tolerant quantum computation and outline potential experimental methodologies for probing these predicted signatures, emphasizing the transformative potential of engineered flat bands in advancing topological quantum science.
We investigate extrinsic wormholelike twist defects that effectively increase the genus of space in lattice versions of multicomponent fractional quantum Hall systems. Although the original band structure is distorted by these defects, leading to localized midgap states, we find that a new lowest flat band representing a higher genus system can be engineered by tuning local single-particle potentials. Remarkably, once local many-body interactions in this new band are switched on, we identify various Abelian and non-Abelian fractional quantum Hall states, whose ground-state degeneracy increases with the number of defects, i.e, with the genus of space. This sensitivity of topological degeneracy to defects provides a "proof of concept" demonstration that genons, predicted by topological field theory as exotic non-Abelian defects tied to a varying topology of space, do exist in realistic microscopic models. Specifically, our results indicate that genons could be created in the laboratory by combining the physics of artificial gauge fields in cold atom systems with already existing holographic beam shaping methods for creating twist defects.
Strongly correlated quantum matter is fundamentally defined by the tension between non-commuting quantum operators. Hamiltonians exhibiting macroscopic degeneracies are of general interest in this field because they imply an infinite susceptibility to any non-commuting perturbation. In moiré heterostructures, engineering such extensive degeneracies in the kinetic Hamiltonian creates a fertile garden for exotic strongly correlated phases of matter to emerge from the resulting flat bands. Here, we introduce a prescription to construct an infinite family of exact flat band Hamiltonians supported on the faces of arbitrary graphs. We demonstrate this algorithm on the faces of four Bravais lattices. Using a discrete graph generalization of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem, we prove that the extensive degeneracies of such face-graph Hamiltonians are protected by the local topology of the face-graph connectivity. The resulting macroscopic null spaces yield compact localised states that remain localised over time due to frustration in hopping pathways. We discuss the broad implications of such non-dispersing quantum modes in diverse settings, from arrested dynamics in quantum networks and quantum machine learning algorithms to Majorana-free topological quantum computation.
Topological flat bands (FBs) offer an ideal platform for realizing exotic topological phases and exploring quantum geometric effects, yet their realization with both exact flatness and stable topology in local lattice models has been hindered by fundamental no-go theorems. The obstruction is also manifested as the absence of exact Gaussian TNS representations for topological insulators and superconductors. Here, we overcome this barrier by demonstrating the existence of critical topological FBs (CTFBs) in finite-range hopping models. They saturate the no-go theorems via a unique structure of Bloch wavefunctions: While continuous over the whole Brillouin zone, the projector P(k) onto FBs is non-analytic at isolated band touching points. Filling such CTFBs yields short-range entangled topological states with power-law correlations due to the non-analyticity. We then establish a general symmetry-based principle to systematically construct CTFBs that carry desired topological invariants in given space groups. It utilizes the bipartite structure and requires no further fine-tuning, and the topology is robust against arbitrary symmetry-preserving gap-opening perturbations. Remarkably, independent tuning of the quantum geometry is allowed. Examples exhibiting Chern numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, in 2D, and strong Z2 indices in 2D and 3D are demonstrated for concreteness. An automated algorithm further identifies more than 50,000 symmetry-indicated CTFBs, including crystalline and higher-order topological ones. In the end, we show that the bipartite structure naturally endows the filled CTFB states with exact TNS representations with finite bond dimensions. By bridging the topological band theory to TNS methods, CTFB provides a novel tractable starting point for exploring strongly correlated topological matter, with potential relevance to realistic material realizations.
Symmetry-protected ideal flat bands in one-dimensional (1D) Hermitian lattices are populated by compact localized states (CLS) - a special class of localization with wavefunctions confined within a small region. In this work, we discover that the non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE) can appear in a flat band. Unlike conventional NHSEs for dispersive bands that are protected by nontrivial point-gap topology, the flat band remains a point on the complex-energy plane and is therefore always topologically trivial. We found that, intriguingly, the flat-band skin effect (FBSE) is associated with the non-trivial spectral topology of the dispersive bands enclosing the flat band on the complex-energy plane, so it only emerges within a finite range of non-Hermitian parameters and can counterintuitively disappear at large non-Hermiticity. Moreover, the gaps between the flat and the dispersive bands can close at higher-order exceptional points under both periodic and open boundary conditions. The flat-band wavefunctions are discontinuous in quantum distance across these exceptional points, signifying that the gap-closing is singular. The FBSE was experimentally observed in a non-Hermitian mechanical lattice. Our work reveals flat-band phenomena unique to non-Hermitian systems and highlights new possibilities in quantum geometry and localization control.
We investigate extrinsic wormholelike twist defects that effectively increase the genus of space in lattice versions of multicomponent fractional quantum Hall systems. Although the original band structure is distorted by these defects, leading to localized midgap states, we find that a new lowest flat band representing a higher genus system can be engineered by tuning local single-particle potentials. Remarkably, once local many-body interactions in this new band are switched on, we identify various Abelian and non-Abelian fractional quantum Hall states, whose ground-state degeneracy increases with the number of defects, i.e, with the genus of space. This sensitivity of topological degeneracy to defects provides a proof of concept demonstration that genons, predicted by topological field theory as exotic non-Abelian defects tied to a varying topology of space, do exist in realistic microscopic models. Specifically, our results indicate that genons could be created in the laboratory by combining the physics of artificial gauge fields in cold atom systems with already existing holographic beam shaping methods for creating twist defects.