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arXiv:2512.15041

Fractional quantization by interaction of arbitrary strength in gapless flat bands with divergent quantum geometry

Yang, Wenqi, Zhai, Dawei, Wang Yao

Published Dec 17, 2025• 0 citations

Abstract

Fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) effect, a lattice analogue of fractional quantum Hall effect, offers a unique pathway toward fault-tolerant quantum computation and deep insights into the interplay of topology and strong correlations. The exploration has been successfully guided by the paradigm of ideal flat Chern bands, which mimic Landau levels in both band topology and local quantum geometry. Yet, given the boundless potential for Bloch bands in lattice systems, it remains a significant open question whether FQAH states can arise in scenarios fundamentally distinct from this paradigm. Here we turn to a class of gapless flat bands, featuring (i) ill-defined band topology, (ii) non-quantized Berry flux, (iii) divergent quantum geometry at singular band touchings, (iv) highly fluctuating and far-from-ideal quantum geometry across the Brillouin zone (BZ). Our exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group calculations unambiguously demonstrate FQAH phase that is virtually independent of the interaction strength, persisting from the weak-interaction to the strong-interaction limit. We find the stability of the FQAH states does not uniquely correlate with the singularity strength or the BZ-averaged quantum geometric fluctuations. Instead, the many-body topological order can adapt to the singular and fluctuating quantum geometric landscape by spontaneously developing an inhomogeneous carrier distribution, while its quenching accompanies the drop in the occupation-weighted Berry flux. Our work reveals a profound interplay between local quantum geometry and many-body correlation, and significantly expands the exploration space for FQAH effect and correlated phenomena in general.

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2512.15041

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With recent developments in fractional quantum mechanics, we introduce a fractional generalization of the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang (BHZ) model to investigate the effects of fractional dispersion on band topology and quantum geometry. In the low-energy limit, the model reduces to a fractional Dirac Hamiltonian while preserving momentum-space periodicity, thereby ensuring a compact Brillouin zone and a well-defined topological invariant. We further show that the corresponding real-space tight-binding model can be constructed directly through a Fourier-series transformation, providing a simpler and more general alternative to the methods typically employed for fractional lattice systems. This approach readily extends beyond the generalized BHZ model considered here. Using the Bloch eigenstates, we compute the quantum geometric tensor and analyze its components, namely the Berry curvature and quantum metric. We find that fractional tuning redistributes these quantities throughout the Brillouin zone as the dispersion exponent becomes fractional, leading to pronounced modifications of the local band geometry. In contrast, the Chern number remains invariant, demonstrating the robustness of the global topological phase against fractional deformation. We further argue that this invariance persists for a broad class of fractional models.

We study

N

-component interacting particles (hardcore bosons and fermions) loaded in topological lattice models with

\mathrm{SU}(N)

-invariant interactions based on exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group method. By tuning the interplay of interspecies and intraspecies interactions, we demonstrate that a class of

\mathrm{SU}(N)

fractional quantum Hall states can emerge at fractional filling factors $\ensuremath{\nu}=N/(N+1)$ for bosons [$\ensuremath{\nu}=N/(2N+1)$ for fermions] in the lowest Chern band, characterized by the nontrivial fractional Hall responses and the fractional charge pumping. Moreover, we establish a topological characterization based on the

\mathbf{K}

matrix and discuss the close relationship to the fractional quantum Hall physics in topological flat bands with Chern number

N

.