Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2609.19060

Robust Topology and Tunable Geometry in Generalized BHZ Model with Fractional Dispersion

Coleen Adrianne Panganiban, Kristian Hauser Villegas

cond-mat.otherquant-phSubmitted Jul 22, 2026• Announced Jul 23, 2026
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

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.

Comments
9 pages, 3 figures

Related papers

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

Yang, Wenqi, Zhai, Dawei, Wang Yao

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.

arXiv:2512.15041•Dec 17, 2025•0 citations

Modeling quantum geometry for fractional Chern insulators with unsupervised learning

Ang-Kun Wu, Louis Primeau, Jingtao Zhang +3 more

Abstract: Fractional Chern insulators (FCIs) in moiré materials present a unique platform for exploring strongly correlated topological phases beyond the paradigm of ideal quantum geometry. While analytical approaches to FCIs and fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS) often rely on idealized Bloch wavefunctions, realistic moiré models lack direct tunability of quantum metric and Berry curvature, limiting theoretical and numerical exploration. Here, we introduce an unsupervised machine learning framework to model interacting Hamiltonians directly through the distribution of single-particle form factors. Using a variational autoencoder (VAE), we show that unsupervised learning can not only distinguish FCI and non-FCI states, but also generate new form factors with distinct topological character, not present in the training set. This latent space enables the generation and interpolation of form factors for topological flatbands with Chern number ∣ C ∣ = 1, enabling the discovery of unobserved many-body states such as charge density waves. Principal component analysis (PCA) further reveals that the dominant patterns in the form factors—reflecting correlations across the Brillouin zone—can be decomposed into components with approximately quantized Chern numbers, providing new insights into the global and topological structure of quantum geometry. Our results highlight the ability of machine learning to generalize and model topological quantum systems, paving the way for the inverse design of form factors with tailored quantum geometry and many-body phases in flatband materials.

arXiv:2510.03018•npj Computational Materials•May 27, 2026•0 citations

Topological lattice models with constant Berry curvature

Dániel Varjas, Ahmed Abouelkomsan, Kang Yang +1 more

Band geometry plays a substantial role in topological lattice models. The Berry curvature, which resembles the effect of magnetic field in reciprocal space, usually fluctuates throughout the Brillouin zone. Motivated by the analogy with Landau levels, constant Berry curvature has been suggested as an ideal condition for realizing fractional Chern insulators. Here we show that while the Berry curvature cannot be made constant in a topological two-band model, lattice models with three or more degrees of freedom per unit cell can support exactly constant Berry curvature. However, contrary to the intuitive expectation, we find that making the Berry curvature constant does not always improve the properties of fractional Chern insulator states. In fact, we show that an ``ideal flatband'' cannot have constant Berry curvature, equivalently, we show that the density algebra of Landau levels cannot be realised in any tight-binding lattice system.

arXiv:2107.06902•SciPost Physics•Apr 6, 2022•50 citations

Topological Matter and Fractional Entangled Geometry

Karyn Le Hur

Here, we review our progress on a geometrical approach of quantum physics and topological crystals starting from nature, electrodynamics of planets and linking with Dirac magnetic monopoles and gauge fields. The Bloch sphere of a quantum spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particle can also acquire an integer topological charge in the presence of a radial magnetic field. We show that the global topological properties are revealed from the poles of the surface allowing a correspondence between smooth fields, metric and quantum distance. The information is transported from each pole to the equatorial plane on a thin Dirac string. We develop the theory, "the quantum topometry" in space and time, and present applications on transport from a Newtonian approach, on a quantized photo-electric effect from circular dichroism of light towards topological band structures of crystals. The occurrence of robust edge modes related to the topological lattice models are revealed analytically when deforming the sphere or ellipse onto a cylinder. The topological properties of the quantum Hall effect, the quantum anomalous Hall effect and the quantum spin Hall effect on the honeycomb lattice can be measured locally in the Brillouin zone from the light-matter coupling. The formalism allows us to include interaction effects from the momentum space. Interactions may also result in fractional entangled geometry within the curved space. We develop a relation between entangled wavefunction in quantum mechanics, coherent superposition of geometries, a way to one-half topological numbers and Majorana fermions. We show realizations in topological matter. We present a relation between axion electrodynamics, topological insulators on a surface of a cube and the two-spheres' model via the meron.

•Jan 1, 2025•0 citations

Evaluating Chern Topology in Discretized Brillouin Zones Using Bargmann Invariants

Swarup Sangiri, A Taraphder

We develop a finite-state geometric framework based on third-order Bargmann invariants for evaluating Chern numbers and characterizing local quantum-state geometry. Using gauge-invariant state overlaps, the framework evaluates the Chern number directly on discretized parameter spaces while retaining local geometric information through the phase-derived density and the complementary amplitude density, as well as signatures associated with changes in topological character. We apply the construction to the Qi--Wu--Zhang, $1/3$- and $1/4$-flux Hofstadter, SSH, and Rice--Mele models, including a rank-$2$ extension for isolated composite subspaces and applications to closed-loop and parameter-space topology. The resulting framework organizes Chern topology and local geometric information directly from finite-state data, providing a compact state-based description without relying on dynamical evolution.

cond-mat.mes-hallCross-listedarXiv:2610.03104•Oct 5, 2026•0 citations

Weyl-type topological phase transitions in fractional quantum Hall like systems

Stefanos Kourtis, Titus Neupert, Christopher Mudry +2 more

We develop a method to characterize topological phase transitions for strongly correlated Hamiltonians defined on two-dimensional lattices based on the many-body Berry curvature. Our goal is to identify a class of quantum critical points between topologically nontrivial phases with fractionally quantized Hall (FQH) conductivity and topologically trivial gapped phases through the discontinuities of the many-body Berry curvature in the so-called flux Brillouin zone (fBZ), the latter being defined by imposing all possible twisted boundary conditions. For this purpose, we study the finite-size signatures of several quantum phase transitions between fractional Chern insulators and charge-ordered phases for two-dimensional lattices by evaluating the many-body Berry curvature numerically using exact diagonalization. We observe degeneracy points (nodes) of many-body energy levels at high-symmetry points in the fBZ, accompanied by diverging Berry curvature. We find a correspondence between the number and order of these nodal points, and the change of the topological invariants of the many-body ground states across the transition, in close analogy with Weyl nodes in noninteracting band structures. This motivates us to apply a scaling procedure, originally developed for noninteracting systems, for the Berry curvature at the nodal points. This procedure offers a useful tool for the classification of topological phase transitions in interacting systems harboring FQH like topological order.

arXiv:1708.04244•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Nov 10, 2017•26 citations
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.
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.
Abstract: Fractional Chern insulators (FCIs) in moiré materials present a unique platform for exploring strongly correlated topological phases beyond the paradigm of ideal quantum geometry. While analytical approaches to FCIs and fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS) often rely on idealized Bloch wavefunctions, realistic moiré models lack direct tunability of quantum metric and Berry curvature, limiting theoretical and numerical exploration. Here, we introduce an unsupervised machine learning framework to model interacting Hamiltonians directly through the distribution of single-particle form factors. Using a variational autoencoder (VAE), we show that unsupervised learning can not only distinguish FCI and non-FCI states, but also generate new form factors with distinct topological character, not present in the training set. This latent space enables the generation and interpolation of form factors for topological flatbands with Chern number ∣ C ∣ = 1, enabling the discovery of unobserved many-body states such as charge density waves. Principal component analysis (PCA) further reveals that the dominant patterns in the form factors—reflecting correlations across the Brillouin zone—can be decomposed into components with approximately quantized Chern numbers, providing new insights into the global and topological structure of quantum geometry. Our results highlight the ability of machine learning to generalize and model topological quantum systems, paving the way for the inverse design of form factors with tailored quantum geometry and many-body phases in flatband materials.
Band geometry plays a substantial role in topological lattice models. The Berry curvature, which resembles the effect of magnetic field in reciprocal space, usually fluctuates throughout the Brillouin zone. Motivated by the analogy with Landau levels, constant Berry curvature has been suggested as an ideal condition for realizing fractional Chern insulators. Here we show that while the Berry curvature cannot be made constant in a topological two-band model, lattice models with three or more degrees of freedom per unit cell can support exactly constant Berry curvature. However, contrary to the intuitive expectation, we find that making the Berry curvature constant does not always improve the properties of fractional Chern insulator states. In fact, we show that an ``ideal flatband'' cannot have constant Berry curvature, equivalently, we show that the density algebra of Landau levels cannot be realised in any tight-binding lattice system.
Here, we review our progress on a geometrical approach of quantum physics and topological crystals starting from nature, electrodynamics of planets and linking with Dirac magnetic monopoles and gauge fields. The Bloch sphere of a quantum spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ particle can also acquire an integer topological charge in the presence of a radial magnetic field. We show that the global topological properties are revealed from the poles of the surface allowing a correspondence between smooth fields, metric and quantum distance. The information is transported from each pole to the equatorial plane on a thin Dirac string. We develop the theory, "the quantum topometry" in space and time, and present applications on transport from a Newtonian approach, on a quantized photo-electric effect from circular dichroism of light towards topological band structures of crystals. The occurrence of robust edge modes related to the topological lattice models are revealed analytically when deforming the sphere or ellipse onto a cylinder. The topological properties of the quantum Hall effect, the quantum anomalous Hall effect and the quantum spin Hall effect on the honeycomb lattice can be measured locally in the Brillouin zone from the light-matter coupling. The formalism allows us to include interaction effects from the momentum space. Interactions may also result in fractional entangled geometry within the curved space. We develop a relation between entangled wavefunction in quantum mechanics, coherent superposition of geometries, a way to one-half topological numbers and Majorana fermions. We show realizations in topological matter. We present a relation between axion electrodynamics, topological insulators on a surface of a cube and the two-spheres' model via the meron.
We develop a finite-state geometric framework based on third-order Bargmann invariants for evaluating Chern numbers and characterizing local quantum-state geometry. Using gauge-invariant state overlaps, the framework evaluates the Chern number directly on discretized parameter spaces while retaining local geometric information through the phase-derived density and the complementary amplitude density, as well as signatures associated with changes in topological character. We apply the construction to the Qi--Wu--Zhang, 1/31/31/3- and 1/41/41/4-flux Hofstadter, SSH, and Rice--Mele models, including a rank-222 extension for isolated composite subspaces and applications to closed-loop and parameter-space topology. The resulting framework organizes Chern topology and local geometric information directly from finite-state data, providing a compact state-based description without relying on dynamical evolution.
We develop a method to characterize topological phase transitions for strongly correlated Hamiltonians defined on two-dimensional lattices based on the many-body Berry curvature. Our goal is to identify a class of quantum critical points between topologically nontrivial phases with fractionally quantized Hall (FQH) conductivity and topologically trivial gapped phases through the discontinuities of the many-body Berry curvature in the so-called flux Brillouin zone (fBZ), the latter being defined by imposing all possible twisted boundary conditions. For this purpose, we study the finite-size signatures of several quantum phase transitions between fractional Chern insulators and charge-ordered phases for two-dimensional lattices by evaluating the many-body Berry curvature numerically using exact diagonalization. We observe degeneracy points (nodes) of many-body energy levels at high-symmetry points in the fBZ, accompanied by diverging Berry curvature. We find a correspondence between the number and order of these nodal points, and the change of the topological invariants of the many-body ground states across the transition, in close analogy with Weyl nodes in noninteracting band structures. This motivates us to apply a scaling procedure, originally developed for noninteracting systems, for the Berry curvature at the nodal points. This procedure offers a useful tool for the classification of topological phase transitions in interacting systems harboring FQH like topological order.