TKNN formula for general Hamiltonian

Abstract

Topological insulators in odd dimensions are characterized by topological numbers. We prove the well-known relation between the topological number given by the Chern character of the Berry curvature and the Chern-Simons level of the low energy effective action for a general class of Hamiltonians bilinear in the fermion with general U(1) gauge interactions including non-minimal couplings by an explicit calculation. A series of Ward-Takahashi identities are crucial to relate the Chern-Simons level to a winding number, which could then be directly reduced to Chern character of Berry curvature by carrying out the integral over the temporal momenta.

revised version, 23 pages