Fermionic Symmetry-Protected Topological Phase in a Two-Dimensional Hubbard Model

Cheng-Chien Chen, Lukas Muechler, Roberto Car, Titus Neupert, Joseph Maciejko
2016 Physical Review Letters  
We study the two-dimensional (2D) Hubbard model using exact diagonalization for spin-1/2 fermions on the triangular and honeycomb lattices decorated with a single hexagon per site. In certain parameter ranges, the Hubbard model maps to a quantum compass model on those lattices. On the triangular lattice, the compass model exhibits collinear stripe antiferromagnetism, implying d-density wave charge order in the original Hubbard model. On the honeycomb lattice, the compass model has a unique,
more » ... tum disordered ground state that transforms nontrivially under lattice reflection. The ground state of the Hubbard model on the decorated honeycomb lattice is thus a 2D fermionic symmetry-protected topological phase. This state -- protected by time-reversal and reflection symmetries -- cannot be connected adiabatically to a free-fermion topological phase.
doi:10.1103/physrevlett.117.096405 pmid:27610869 fatcat:zibibdjtqvh6hj25dqvxkymq4y