Quantum gyro-electric effect: Photon spin-1 quantization in continuum topological bosonic phases

TL;DR

This paper develops a continuum electromagnetic theory for 2+1D topological bosons, revealing photon spin-1 quantization and predicting novel bosonic phases with unique edge states, advancing understanding of topological matter beyond fermions.

Contribution

It introduces a complete theory for topological bosons, demonstrating spin-1 quantization, and predicts new phases with unique edge photon states, bridging a gap in topological matter research.

Findings

Photon spin-1 quantization in topological bosonic phases

Prediction of two new bosonic phases with distinct Chern numbers

Existence of a unidirectional, spin-1 helical photon at the boundary

Abstract

Topological phases of matter arise in distinct fermionic and bosonic flavors. The fundamental differences between them are encapsulated in their rotational symmetries - the spin. Although spin quantization is routinely encountered in fermionic topological edge states, analogous quantization for bosons has proven elusive. To this end, we develop the complete electromagnetic continuum theory characterizing 2+1D topological bosons, taking into account their intrinsic spin and orbital angular momentum degrees of freedom. We demonstrate that spatiotemporal dispersion (momentum and frequency dependence of linear response) captures the matter-mediated interactions between bosons and is a necessary ingredient for topological phases. We prove that the bulk topology of these 2+1D phases is manifested in transverse spin-1 quantization of the photon. From this insight, we predict two unique bosonic phases - one with even parity $C=\pm 2$ and one with odd $C=\pm 1$. To understand the even parity phase $C=\pm 2$, we introduce an exactly solvable model utilizing non-local optical Hall conductivity and reveal a single gapless photon at the edge. This unidirectional photon is spin-1 helically quantized, immune to backscattering, defects, and exists at the boundary of the $C=\pm 2$ bosonic phase and any interface - even vacuum. The contrasting phenomena of transverse quantization in the bulk, but longitudinal (helical) quantization on the edge is addressed as the quantum gyro-electric effect (QGEE). We also validate our bosonic Maxwell theory by direct comparison with the supersymmetric Dirac theory of fermions. To accelerate the discovery of such bosonic phases, we suggest two new probes of topological matter with broken time-reversal symmetry: momentum-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy and cold atom near-field measurement of non-local optical Hall conductivity.