The $Z_2$ Classification of Dimensional Reduced Hopf Insulators

Abstract

The Hopf insulators are characterized by a topological invariant called Hopf index which classifies maps from three-sphere to two-sphere, instead of a Chern number or a Chern parity. In contrast to topological insulator, the Hopf insulator is not protected by any kind of symmetry. By dimensional reduction, we argue that there exists a new type of ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ index for 2D Hamiltonian with vanishing Chern number. Specific model Hamiltonian with this nontrivial ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ index is constructed. We also numerically calculate the topological protected edge modes of this dimensional reduced Hopf insulator and show that they are consistent with the ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ classification.

6 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Topological Field Theory of Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators
• k.p theory for two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors
• Topological surface states in three-dimensional magnetic insulators