The \(K\)-theoretic bulk-edge correspondence for topological insulators (Q529872)

The application of the Kasparov theory of topological insulator systems and the bulk-edge correspondence is studied. The authors give a short review of the unbounded (in particular, real) Kasparov theory. The fundamental \(K\)-cycles \(\lambda^{(d)}\) for (possibly twisted) \(\mathbb Z^d\) actions of unital \(C^*\)-algebras are constructed. It is shown that the fundamental \(K\)-cycle \(\lambda^{(d)}\) can be factorized into the product of the extension Kasparov module and \(\lambda^{(d-1)}\) up to a basis ordering of Clifford algebra elements, which may introduce a minus sign. Moreover, the results are applied to \(C^*\)-algebraic models of disordered or aperiodic media. The relations of the results about Kasparov modules and twisted \(\mathbb Z^d\) actions to topological phases and the bulk-edge correspondence are given.