1,720,965 research outputs found

    Localization of Generalized Wannier Bases Implies Chern Triviality in Non-periodic Insulators

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    We investigate the relation between the localization of generalized Wannier bases and the topological properties of two-dimensional gapped quantum systems of independent electrons in a disordered background, including magnetic fields, as in the case of Chern insulators and quantum Hall systems. We prove that the existence of a well-localized generalized Wannier basis for the Fermi projection implies the vanishing of the Chern character, which is proportional to the Hall conductivity in the linear response regime. Moreover, we state a localization dichotomy conjecture for general non-periodic gapped quantum systems

    The Haldane model and its localization dichotomy

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    Gapped periodic quantum systems exhibit an interesting Localization Dichotomy, which emerges when one looks at the localization of the optimally localized Wannier functions associated to the Bloch bands below the gap. As recently proved, either these Wannier functions are exponentially localized, as it happens whenever the Hamiltonian operator is time-reversal symmetric, or they are delocalized in the sense that the expectation value of |x|^2 diverges. Intermediate regimes are forbidden. Following the lesson of our Maestro, to whom this contribution is gratefully dedicated, we find useful to explain this subtle mathematical phenomenon in the simplest possible model, namely the discrete model proposed by Haldane (Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2017 (1988)). We include a pedagogical introduction to the model and we explain its Localization Dichotomy by explicit analytical arguments. We then introduce the reader to the more general, model-independent version of the dichotomy proved in (Commun. Math. Phys. 359, 61-100 (2018)), and finally we announce further generalizations to non-periodic models

    The Haldane model and its localization dichotomy

    No full text
    Gapped periodic quantum systems exhibit an interesting Localization Dichotomy, which emerges when one looks at the localization of the optimally localized Wannier functions associated to the Bloch bands below the gap. As recently proved, either these Wannier functions are exponentially localized, as it happens whenever the Hamiltonian operator is time-reversal symmetric, or they are delocalized in the sense that the expectation value of |x| 2 diverges. Intermediate regimes are forbidden. Following the lesson of our Maestro, to whom this contribution is gratefully dedicated, we find useful to explain this subtle mathematical phenomenon in the simplest possible model, namely the discrete model proposed by Haldane [10]. We include a pedagogical introduction to the model and we explain its Localization Dichotomy by explicit analytical arguments. We then introduce the reader to the more general, model-independent version of the dichotomy proved in [19]

    A new approach to transport coefficients in the quantum spin Hall effect

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    We investigate some foundational issues in the quantum theory of spin transport, in the general case when the unperturbed Hamiltonian operator H0H_0 does not commute with the spin operator in view of Rashba interactions, as in the typical models for the Quantum Spin Hall effect. A gapped periodic one-particle Hamiltonian H0H_0 is perturbed by adding a constant electric field of intensity ε1\varepsilon \ll 1 in the jj-th direction, and the linear response in terms of a SS-current in the ii-th direction is computed, where SS is a generalized spin operator. We derive a general formula for the spin conductivity that covers both the choice of the conventional and of the proper spin current operator. We investigate the independence of the spin conductivity from the choice of the fundamental cell (Unit Cell Consistency), and we isolate a subclass of discrete periodic models where the conventional and the proper SS-conductivity agree, thus showing that the controversy about the choice of the spin current operator is immaterial as far as models in this class are concerned. As a consequence of the general theory, we obtain that whenever the spin is (almost) conserved, the spin conductivity is (approximately) equal to the spin-Chern number. The method relies on the characterization of a non-equilibrium almost-stationary state (NEASS), which well approximates the physical state of the system (in the sense of space-adiabatic perturbation theory) and allows moreover to compute the response of the adiabatic SS-current as the trace per unit volume of the SS-current operator times the NEASS. This technique can be applied in a general framework, which includes both discrete and continuum models.49 pages, no figures. Keywords: quantum transport theory, spin conductivity, spin conductance, topological insulators, Spin Chern numbe
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