Edge-following topological states (Q2197174)

Let \(\mathcal H = \ell^2(\mathbb Z^2) \otimes \mathbb C^2\) be the tight-binding Hilbert space with two degrees of freedom per lattice site and with the natural regular representation \(U_\gamma \otimes I$, $\gamma \in \mathbb Z^2\) by translations on \(\ell^2_{\mathrm {reg}}(\mathbb Z^2)\) and trivial action on the internal factor \(\mathbb C^2\). A tight-binding bulk Hamitonian is a bounded self-adjoint operator \(H = \sum_{\gamma\in \mathbb Z^2} U_\gamma\otimes W_\gamma \in \mathcal B(\ell^2(\mathbb Z^2) \otimes \mathbb C^2)$, $H^*= H\), where \(W_\gamma\) is a \(2\times 2\) hopping matrix, \(W_\gamma^* = W_{-\gamma}\). The Fourier transform \(\mathcal F: \ell^2(\mathbb Z^2) \otimes \mathbb C^2 \to L^2(\mathbb T^2) \otimes \mathbb C^2\) moves \(H\) into \(\mathcal F H \mathcal F^{-1} = \int_{\mathbb T^2}^{\otimes} H_k\,dk\). The spectrum \(\sigma(H)\) of \(H\) is the union of the spectra \(\sigma(H_k)\) of components \(H_k\). The spectral gap hypothesis is whether \(\sigma(H) = [a,b] \cup [c,d]$, $b<c\). The lower energy eigenspace \(\mathcal L^-_k$, $k\in K\) of \(H_k\) provides a line bundle \(\mathcal L^- \to \mathbb T^2\) of nontrivial valence, the \textit{Chern insulator} is a Hamiltonian operator \(H\), the Chern first class \(c_1(\mathcal L^-)\ne 0\) of which is nonvanishing or equivalently, the reduced \(K\)-theory class \([\mathcal L^-]-[1] \in \tilde{K}^0(\mathbb T^2)\) is nontrivial. Let \(\varphi\) be any continuous real-valued function, evaluating 1 on \((-\infty, b]\) and 0 on \([c,+\infty)\), then the valence bundle \(\mathcal L^-\) corresponding to some projector \(P_- = \varphi(H)\) in the \(2\times 2\)-matrix algebras \(M_2(C^*_r(\mathbb Z^2)) \cong M_2(C(\mathbb T^2))\) has \([P_-] = (1-k)[1] + k[b]\). The bulk Hamiltonian \(H\) for a Chern insulator has a spectral gap, the true Hamiltonian \(\hat H\) has extra ``chiral edge states'' filling up the spectral gap of \(H\). This can be modelled as the truncation \(\ell^2(\mathbb Z^2)\) to \(\ell^2(\mathbb N\times \mathbb Z)\). Let \(\mathcal T\) be the \textit{Toeplitz algebra}, \[0\to\mathcal K(\ell^2(\mathbb N))\mathcal T \overset{\pi}{\rightarrow} C^*_r(\mathbb Z) \overset{\text{Fourier}}{\cong}C(\mathbb{T}\to 0),\] with $K$-groups \(K_0(\mathcal T) = \mathbb Z$, $K_1(\mathcal T) = 0\), and the \textit{Toeplitz half-plane C*-algebra} \(C^*_r(\mathbb N \times \mathbb Z) \cong \mathcal T \otimes C^*_r(\mathbb Z))\), generated by the operators \(\hat{U}_\gamma$, $\gamma \in \mathbb N \times \mathbb Z\). There is a short exact squence of C*-algebras \[0\to J \cong \mathcal K(\ell^2(\mathbb N)) \otimes C^*_r(\mathbb Z)C^*_r(\mathbb N \times \mathbb Z)\cong \mathcal T \otimes C^*_r(\mathbb Z)) \overset{\pi}{\rightarrow}C^*_r(\mathbb Z^2)\to 0,\] where \(\pi\) is the projection of operators, \(\hat{U}_\gamma\in\mathcal B(\ell^2(\mathbb N \times \mathbb Z))\) on the corresponding \(U_\gamma\in \mathcal B(\ell^2(\mathbb Z^2))\). The bulk Hamiltonian \(H\) corresponds to the truncated half-plane Hamiltonian \(\hat{H}\), defined also on the boundary and acting on \(\ell^2(\mathbb N\times \mathbb Z) \otimes \mathbb C^2\). The author computes the Chern insultators in terms of connecting morphisms (the index maps and the exponential maps) of the associated hexagons in $K$-theory. The same is done also for the \textit{bumpy quarter-plane algebras} (\S3) (Theorem 3.14), the \textit{rational slope quarter-plane with imperfect boundary algebras} (\S4), and the \textit{cyclic 1-cocycles for boundary algebras} (\S5).