Almost commuting unitary matrices related to time reversal (Q380048)

The behavior of fermionic systems depends on the geometry of the system and the symmetry class of the Hamiltonian and observables. Almost commuting matrices arise from band-projected position observables in such systems. In this paper, the authors consider the approximation of almost commuting matrices by commuting matrices under certain symmetry conditions. The potential obstructions correspond to either the Chern numbers or the spin Chern numbers in physics. It is proved that such approximation is valid if the corresponding obstruction is trivial in \(K\)-theory.