• Letter

Characterization of topological insulators based on the electronic polarization with spiral boundary conditions

Masaaki Nakamura, Shohei Masuda, and Satoshi Nishimoto
Phys. Rev. B 104, L121114 – Published 23 September 2021
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Abstract

We introduce the electronic polarization originally defined in one-dimensional lattice systems to characterize two-dimensional topological insulators. The main idea is to use spiral boundary conditions which sweep all lattice sites in one-dimensional order. We find that the sign of the polarization changes at topological transition points of the two-dimensional Wilson-Dirac model (the lattice version of the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model) in the same way as in one-dimensional systems. Thus the polarization plays the role of “order parameter” to characterize the topological insulating state and enables us to study topological phases in different dimensions in a unified way.

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  • Received 19 May 2021
  • Accepted 2 September 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.104.L121114

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Masaaki Nakamura1, Shohei Masuda1, and Satoshi Nishimoto2,3

  • 1Department of Physics, Ehime University Bunkyo-cho 2-5, Matsuyama, Ehime 790-8577, Japan
  • 2Department of Physics, Technical University Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
  • 3Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics, IFW Dresden, 01171 Dresden, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 104, Iss. 12 — 15 September 2021

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