Although topological artificial systems, like acoustic/photonic crystals and cold atoms in optical lattices were initially motivated by simulating topological phases of electronic systems, they have their own unique features such as the spinless time
-reversal symmetry and tunable $mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge fields. Hence, it is fundamentally important to explore new topological phases based on their unique features. Here, we point out that the $mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge field leads to two fundamental modifications of the conventional $kcdot p$ method: (i) The little co-group must include the translations with nontrivial algebraic relations; (ii) The algebraic relations of the little co-group are projectively represented. These give rise to higher-dimensional irreducible representations and therefore highly degenerate Fermi points. Breaking the primitive translations can transform the Fermi points to interesting topological phases. We demonstrate our theory by two models: a rectangular $pi$-flux model exhibiting graphene-like semimetal phases, and a graphite model with interlayer $pi$ flux that realizes the real second-order nodal-line semimetal phase with hinge helical modes. Their physical realizations with a general bright-dark mechanism are discussed. Our finding opens a new direction to explore novel topological phases unique to artificial systems and establishes the approach to analyze these phases.
Symmetry groups are projectively represented in quantum mechanics, and crystalline symmetries are fundamental in condensed matter physics. Here, we systematically present a unified theory of quantum mechanical space groups from two complementary aspe
cts. First, we provide a decomposition form for the space-group factor systems to characterize all quantum space groups. It consists of three factors, the factor system for the translation subgroup $L$, an in-homogeneous factor system for the point group $P$, and a factor connecting $L$ and $P$. The three factors satisfy three consistency equations, which are exactly solvable and can completely exhaust all factor systems for space groups. Second, since factors systems are classified by the second cohomology group, we show the (co)homology groups for space groups can be derived from Borels equivariant (co)homology theory, which leads to an algorithm that can compute all (co)homology groups for space groups. To demonstrate the general theory, we explicitly present quantum wallpaper groups with the $mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge group. Furthermore, as a primitive application, we find the time-reversal invariant quantum space groups with inversion symmetry can lead to a novel clifford band theory, where each band is fourfold degenerate to represent certain real Clifford algebras with topologically nontrivial pinor structures over the Brillouin zone. Our work serves as a foundation for exploring quantum mechanical space groups, and can find applications in spin liquids, unconventional superconductors, and artificial lattice systems, including cold atoms, photonic and phononic crystals, and even LC electric circuit networks.
For conventional topological phases, the boundary gapless modes are determined by bulk topological invariants. Based on developing an analytic method to solve higher-order boundary modes, we present $PT$-invariant $2$D topological insulators and $3$D
topological semimetals that go beyond this bulk-boundary correspondence framework. With unchanged bulk topological invariant, their first-order boundaries undergo transitions separating different phases with second-order-boundary zero-modes. For the $2$D topological insulator, the helical edge modes appear at the transition point for two second-order topological insulator phases with diagonal and off-diagonal corner zero-modes, respectively. Accordingly, for the $3$D topological semimetal, the criticality corresponds to surface helical Fermi arcs of a Dirac semimetal phase. Interestingly, we find that the $3$D system generically belongs to a novel second-order nodal-line semimetal phase, possessing gapped surfaces but a pair of diagonal or off-diagonal hinge Fermi arcs.
We design an ingenious scheme to realize the Haldanes quantum Hall model without Landau level by using ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice. Three standing-wave laser beams are used to construct a wanted honeycomb lattice, where different on
-site energies in two sublattices required in the Haldanes model can be implemented through tuning the phase of one of the laser beams. The staggered magnetic field is generated from the Berry phase associated with the atom moving in a region with other three standing-wave laser beams. Moreover, we establish a relation between the Hall conductivity and the equilibrium atomic density upon turning on a stimulated uniform magnetic field, which enables us to detect the topological Chern number with the density profile measurement technique that is typically used in ultracold atoms experiments.
