Wave-packet propagation in a finite topological insulator and the spectral localizer index

DOI10.2140/INVOLVE.2021.14.209zbMATH Open1467.82089arXiv2001.05008OpenAlexW3000258029MaRDI QIDQ2037270FDOQ2037270

Authors: Jonathan Michala, Alexander Pierson, Terry A. Loring, Alexander Watson 

Publication date: 30 June 2021

Published in: Involve (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We consider a model of electrons in a finite topological insulator. We numerically study the propagation of electronic wave-packets localized near edges of the structure in the presence of defects and random disorder. We compare the propagation with computations of the emph{spectral localizer index}: a spatially local topological index. We find that without disorder, wave-packets propagate along boundaries between regions of differing spectral localizer index with minimal loss, even in the presence of strong defects. With disorder, wave-packets still propagate along boundaries between regions of differing localizer index, but lose significant mass as they propagate. We also find that with disorder, the emph{localizer gap}, a measure of the localizer index "strength", is generally smaller away from the boundary than without disorder. Based on this result, we conjecture that wave-packets propagating along boundaries between regions of differing spectral localizer index do not lose significant mass whenever the localizer gap is sufficiently large on both sides of the boundary.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.05008

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zbMATH Keywords

quantum mechanicstopological insulatorscondensed matter physicsmaterials scienceedge stateswave-packet propagationlocalizer index

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Disordered systems (random Ising models, random Schrödinger operators, etc.) in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B44) Statistical mechanics in condensed matter (general) (82D03)

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Cited In (5)

• Wiener-Hopf factorization approach to a bulk-boundary correspondence and stability conditions for topological zero-energy modes
• Unfitted Nitsche's method for computing wave modes in topological materials
• Quadratic pseudospectrum for identifying localized states
• Dispersionless wave packets in Dirac materials
• Estimating bulk and edge topological indices in finite open chiral chains

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