Excess charges as a probe of one-dimensional topological crystalline insulating phases

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that excess boundary charges in 1D insulators are linked to Berry phases and topological invariants, providing a practical way to probe crystalline topological phases.

Contribution

It establishes a direct connection between excess boundary charges and topological invariants in 1D crystalline insulators, offering a new method to detect topological phases.

Findings

Excess charges relate to Berry phases in 1D insulators.

Boundary charges serve as probes for topological crystalline phases.

Theoretical framework links excess charges to topological invariants.

Abstract

We show that in conventional one-dimensional insulators excess charges created close to the boundaries of the system can be expressed in terms of the Berry phases associated with the electronic Bloch wave functions. Using this correspondence, we uncover a link between excess charges and the topological invariants of the recently classified one-dimensional topological phases protected by spatial symmetries. Excess charges can be thus used as a probe of crystalline topologies.