De Lisle, J, De, S, Alba, E et al. (4 more authors) (2014) Detection of Chern numbers and entanglement in topological two-species systems through subsystem winding numbers. New Journal of Physics, 16. 083022. ISSN 1367-2630
Abstract
Topological invariants, such as the Chern number, characterize topological phases of matter. Here we provide a method to detect Chern numbers in systems with two distinct species of fermion, such as spins, orbitals or several atomic states. We analytically show that the Chern number can be decomposed as a sum of component specific winding numbers, which are themselves physically observable. We apply this method to two systems, the quantum spin Hall insulator and a staggered topological superconductor, and show that (spin) Chern numbers are accurately reproduced. The measurements required for constructing the component winding numbers also enable one to probe the entanglement spectrum with respect to component partitions. Our method is particularly suited to experiments with cold atoms in optical lattices where time-of-flight images can give direct access to the relevant observables.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
Keywords: | topological; Chern; entanglement; superconductor; insulator; quantum |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Theoretical Physics (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 Jun 2016 14:04 |
Last Modified: | 16 Jun 2016 14:04 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/16/8/083022 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | IOP Publishing |
Identification Number: | 10.1088/1367-2630/16/8/083022 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:99998 |