Evaluation of an algebraic model for the vibrations of water,effects of a discrete symmetry

We evaluate the dynamics of an algebraic model Hamiltonian for the vibrational motion of the water molecule. We pay special attention to the effects of the discrete symmetry of order 2 of the model. For a comparison between the quantum dynamics and the classical dynamics it is necessary to desymmetrize such quantum states which are based on types of motion which come in symmetry related pairs. For the other states based on motion invariant under the symmetry operation a desymmetrization would be meaningless. The desymmetrized quantum states show a simple connection to the guiding motions of the classical dynamics which can be used for a complete assignment of the states even though the system is not integrable in the sense of Liouville and shows chaotic behaviour in large parts of the classical phase space.     

Model characterization of gapless edge modes of topological insulators using intermediate Brillouin-zone functions

We characterize gapless edge modes in translation invariant topological insulators. We show that the edge mode spectrum is a continuous deformation of the spectrum of a certain gluing function defining the occupied state bundle over the Brillouin zone. Topologically nontrivial gluing functions, corresponding to nontrivial bundles, then yield edge modes exhibiting spectral flow. We illustrate our results for the case of chiral edge states in two-dimensional Chern insulators, as well as helical edges in quantum spin Hall states.     

Topology of a <Superscript>3</Superscript>He-A Film on a Corrugated Graphene Substrate

A thin film of superfluid ³He on a corrugated graphene substrate represents topological matter with a smooth disorder. It is possible that the atomically smooth disorder produced by the corrugated graphene does not destroy the superfluidity even in a very thin film, where the system can be considered as quasi two-dimensional topological material. This will allow us to study the effect of disorder on different classes of the 2 + 1 topological materials: the chiral ³He-A with intrinsic quantum Hall effect and the time reversal invariant planar phase with intrinsic spin quantum Hall effect. In the limit of smooth disorder, the system can be considered as a Chern mosaic, i.e., a collection of domains with different values of Chern numbers. In this limit, the quantization of the Hall conductance is determined by the percolated domain, while the density of the fermionic states is determined by the edge modes on the boundaries of the finite domains. This system can be useful for the general consideration of disorder in the topological matter.     

Topological Properties of the Born–Oppenheimer Approximation and Implications for the Exact Spectrum

The Born–Oppenheimer approximation can generally be applied when a quantum system is coupled with another comparatively slower system which is treated classically: for a fixed classical state, one considers a stationary quantum vector of the quantum system. Geometrically, this gives a vector bundle over the classical phase space of the slow motion. The topology of this bundle is characterized by integral Chern classes. In the case where the whole system is isolated with a discrete energy spectrum, we show that these integers have a direct manifestation in the qualitative structure of this spectrum: the spectrum is formed by groups of levels and these integers determine the precise number of levels in each group.     

Saddle points and rare collisions under scaling approach in a Fermi accelerator with two nonlinear terms

Rare collisions of a classical particle bouncing between two walls are studied. The dynamics is described by a two-dimensional, nonlinear and area-preserving mapping in the variables velocity and time at the instant that the particle collides with the moving wall. The phase space is of mixed type preventing diffusion of the particle to high energy. Successive and therefore rare collisions are shown to have a histogram of frequency which is scaling invariant with respect to the control parameters. The saddle fixed points are studied and shown to be scaling invariant with respect to the control parameters too.     

Qualitative features of the rearrangement of molecular energy spectra from a “wall-crossing” perspective

Qualitatively different systems of molecular energy bands are studied on example of a parametric family of effective Hamiltonians describing rotational structure of triply degenerate vibrational state of a cubic symmetry molecule. The modification of band structure under variation of control parameters is associated with a topological invariant “delta-Chern”. This invariant is evaluated by using a local Hamiltonian for the control parameter values assigned at the boundary between adjacent parameter domains which correspond to qualitatively different band structures.     

$$\,$$ Fu–Kane–Mele invariant as Wess–Zumino action of the sewing matrix

We show that the Fu–Kane–Mele invariant of the 2d time-reversal invariant crystalline insulators is equal to the properly normalized Wess–Zumino action of the so-called sewing-matrix field defined on the Brillouin torus. Applied to 3d, the result permits a direct proof of the known relation between the strong Fu–Kane–Mele invariant and the Chern–Simons action of the non-Abelian Berry connection on the bundle of valence states.     

Rashba自旋轨道耦合下square-octagon晶格的拓扑相变

本文研究了各向同性square-octagon晶格在内禀自旋轨道耦合、Rashba自旋轨道耦合和交换场作用下的拓扑相变,同时引入陈数和自旋陈数对系统进行拓扑分类.系统在自旋轨道耦合和交换场的影响下会出现许多拓扑非平庸态,包括时间反演对称破缺的量子自旋霍尔态和量子反常霍尔态.特别的是,在时间反演对称破缺的量子自旋霍尔效应中,无能隙螺旋边缘态依然能够完好存在.调节交换场或者填充因子的大小会导致系统发生从时间反演对称破缺的量子自旋霍尔态到自旋过滤的量子反常霍尔态的拓扑相变.边缘态能谱和自旋谱的性质与陈数和自旋陈数的拓扑刻画完全一致.这些研究成果为自旋量子操控提供了一个有趣的途径.     

Chern-Weil Construction for Twisted K-Theory

We give a finite-dimensional and geometric construction of a Chern character for twisted K-theory, introducing a notion of connection on a twisted vectorial bundle which can be considered as a finite-dimensional approximation of a twisted family of Fredholm operators. Our construction is applicable to the case of any classes giving the twisting, and agrees with the Chern character of bundle gerbe modules in the case of torsion classes.     

Periodicity and the Determinant Bundle

The infinite matrix ‘Schwartz’ group G ^−∞ is a classifying group for odd K-theory and carries Chern classes in each odd dimension, generating the cohomology. These classes are closely related to the Fredholm determinant on G ^−∞. We show that while the higher (even, Schwartz) loop groups of G ^−∞, again classifying for odd K-theory, do not carry multiplicative determinants generating the first Chern class, ‘dressed’ extensions, corresponding to a star product, do carry such functions. We use these to discuss Bott periodicity for the determinant bundle and the eta invariant. In so doing we relate two distinct extensions of the eta invariant to self-adjoint elliptic operators and to elliptic invertible suspended families and show that the corresponding τ invariant is a determinant in this sense. The first author acknowledges the support of the National Science Foundation under grant DMS0408993, the second author acknowledges support of the Fonds québécois sur la nature et les technologies and NSERC while part of this work was conducted.     

SU(2)-multi-instantons over S 2×S 2

Making use of the general theory of connections invariant under a symmetry group which acts transitively on fibers, explicit solutions are derived for SU(2)×SU(2)-symmetric multi-instantons over S ²×S ², with SU(2) structure group. These multi-instantons correspond to a principal fiber bundle characterized by a second Chern number given by 2m ², with m an integer.     

Blackbody Radiation and the Scaling Symmetry of Relativistic Classical Electron Theory with Classical Electromagnetic Zero-Point Radiation

It is pointed out that relativistic classical electron theory with classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation has a scaling symmetry which is suitable for understanding the equilibrium behavior of classical thermal radiation at a spectrum other than the Rayleigh-Jeans spectrum. In relativistic classical electron theory, the masses of the particles are the only scale-giving parameters associated with mechanics while the action-angle variables are scale invariant. The theory thus separates the interaction of the action variables of matter and radiation from the scale-giving parameters. Due to this separation, classical zero-point radiation is invariant under scattering by the charged particles of relativistic classical electron theory. The basic ideas of the matter-radiation interaction are illustrated in a simple relativistic classical electromagnetic example.     

Separation of variables and symmetry operators for the conformally invariant Klein-Gordon equation on curved spacetime

The separability of the conformally invariant Klein-Gordon equation and the Laplace-Beltrami equation are contrasted on two classes of Petrov type D curved spacetimes, showing that neither implies the other. The second-order symmetry operators corresponding to the separation of variables of the conformally invariant Klein-Gordon equation are constructed in both classes and the most general second-order symmetry operator for the conformally invariant Klein-Gordon operator on a general curved background is characterized tensorially in terms of a valence two-symmetric tensor satisfying the conformal Killing tensor equation and further constraints.     

The Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states in s and d-wave superconductor with spin-dependent bandwidth imbalance on square lattice

We study numerically the phase diagram for s and d-wave fermionic superfluidity/superconductivity with spin-dependent bandwidth imbalance on a two-dimensional square-lattice. We also investigate the spontaneous space symmetry breaking states at low temperatures by solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. It is found that, the spatial configuration of the order parameter,both the uni-directional Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov(FFLO) states and the two-dimensional FFLO state may show up in the presence of finite spin-dependent bandwidth imbalance. Moreover, we calculate the spectra of local density of states, and the experimental proposals of observing such FFLO states are therefore suggested.     

Decoherence induced spontaneous symmetry breaking

We study time dependence of exchange symmetry properties of Bell states when two-qubits interact with local baths having identical parameters. In case of classical noise, we consider a decoherence Hamiltonian which is invariant under swapping the first and second qubits. We find that as the system evolves in time, two of the three symmetric Bell states preserve their qubit exchange symmetry with unit probability, whereas the symmetry of the remaining state survives with a maximum probability of 0.5 at the asymptotic limit. Next, we examine the exchange symmetry properties of the same states under local, quantum mechanical noise which is modeled by two identical spin baths. Results turn out to be very similar to the classical case. We identify decoherence as the main mechanism leading to breaking of qubit exchange symmetry.     

Global Gauge Anomalies in Two-Dimensional Bosonic Sigma Models

We revisit the gauging of rigid symmetries in two-dimensional bosonic sigma models with a Wess-Zumino term in the action. Such a term is related to a background closed 3-form H on the target space. More exactly, the sigma-model Feynman amplitudes of classical fields are associated to a bundle gerbe with connection of curvature H over the target space. Under conditions that were unraveled more than twenty years ago, the classical amplitudes may be coupled to the topologically trivial gauge fields of the symmetry group in a way which assures infinitesimal gauge invariance. We show that the resulting gauged Wess-Zumino amplitudes may, nevertheless, exhibit global gauge anomalies that we fully classify. The general results are illustrated on the example of the WZW and the coset models of conformal field theory. The latter are shown to be inconsistent in the presence of global anomalies. We introduce a notion of equivariant gerbes that allow an anomaly-free coupling of the Wess-Zumino amplitudes to all gauge fields, including the ones in non-trivial principal bundles. Obstructions to the existence of equivariant gerbes and their classification are discussed. The choice of different equivariant structures on the same bundle gerbe gives rise to a new type of discrete-torsion ambiguities in the gauged amplitudes. An explicit construction of gerbes equivariant with respect to the adjoint symmetries over compact simply connected simple Lie groups is given.     

Novel topological insulators from crystalline symmetries

We discuss recent advances in the study of topological insulators protected by spatial symmetries by reviewing three representative, theoretical examples. In three dimensions (3D), these states of matter are generally characterized by the presence of gapless boundary states at surfaces that respect the protecting spatial symmetry. We discuss the appearance of these topological states in both crystals with negligible spin–orbit coupling and a fourfold rotational symmetry, as well as in mirror-symmetric crystals with sizable spin–orbit interaction characterized by the so-called mirror Chern number. Finally, we also discuss similar topological crystalline states in one-dimensional (1D) insulators, such as nanowires or atomic chains, with mirror symmetry. There, the prime physical consequence of the non-trivial topology is the presence of quantized end charges.     

2T Physics, Scale Invariance and Topological Vector Fields

We construct, in classical two-time physics, the necessary structure for the most general configuration space formulation of quantum mechanics containing gravity in d+2 dimensions. This structure is composed of a symmetric Riemannian metric tensor and of a vector field that defines a section of a flat U(1) bundle over space-time. This construction is possible because of the existence of a finite local scale invariance of the Hamiltonian and because two-time physics contains, at the classical level, a local generalization of the discrete duality symmetry between position and momentum that underlies the structure of quantum mechanics.     

声子晶体中的多重拓扑相

研究了圆环型波导依照蜂窝结构排列的声子晶体系统中的拓扑相变.利用晶格结构的点群对称性实现赝自旋,并在圆环中引入旋转气流来打破时间反演对称性.通过紧束缚近似模型计算的解析结果表明,没有引入气流时,调节几何参数,系统存在普通绝缘体和量子自旋霍尔效应绝缘体两个相;引入气流后,可以实现新的时间反演对称性破缺的量子自旋霍尔效应相,而增大气流强度,则可以实现量子反常霍尔效应相.这三个拓扑相可以通过自旋陈数来分类.通过有限元软件模拟了多个系统中边界态的传播,发现不同于量子自旋霍尔效应相,量子反常霍尔相系统的表面只支持一种自旋的边界态,并且它无需时间反演对称性保护.