A Cohomological Framework for Topological Phases from Momentum-Space Crystallographic Groups

TL;DR

This paper develops a cohomological framework based on momentum-space crystallographic groups to classify and analyze topological phases in crystalline materials, providing algebraic invariants that complement traditional differential form approaches.

Contribution

It introduces a cohomology-based classification scheme for crystalline topological insulators using momentum-space crystallographic groups, linking algebraic invariants to topological phases.

Findings

Cohomology groups classify Abelian crystalline topological insulators.

Third cohomology groups encode twistings of point-group actions.

Established isomorphisms relate cohomology to algebraic topological invariants.

Abstract

Crystallographic groups are conventionally studied in real space to characterize crystal symmetries. Recent work has recognized that when these symmetries are realized projectively, momentum space inherently accommodates nonsymmorphic symmetries, thereby evoking the concept of \textit{momentum-space crystallographic groups} (MCGs). Here, we reveal that the cohomology of MCGs encodes fundamental data of crystalline topological band structures. Specifically, the collection of second cohomology groups, $H^2(\Gamma_F,\mathbb{Z})$, for all MCGs $\Gamma_F$, provides an exhaustive classification of Abelian crystalline topological insulators, serving as an effective approximation to the full crystalline topological classification. Meanwhile, the third cohomology groups $H^3(\Gamma_F,\mathbb{Z})$ across all MCGs exhaustively classify all possible twistings of point-group actions on the Brillouin torus, essential data for twisted equivariant K-theory. Furthermore, we establish the isomorphism $H^{n+1}(\Gamma_F,\mathbb{Z})\cong H^n\big(\Gamma_F,\operatorname{\mathcal{F}}(\mathbb{R}^d_F,U(1))\big)$ for $ n\ge 1$, where $\operatorname{\mathcal{F}}(\mathbb{R}^d_F,U(1))$ denotes the space of continuous $U(1)$-valued functions on the $d$D momentum space $\mathbb{R}^d_F$. The case $n=1$ yields a complete set of topological invariants formulated in purely algebraic terms, which differs fundamentally from the conventional formulation in terms of differential forms. The case $n=2$, analogously, provides a fully algebraic description for all such twistings. Thus, the cohomological theory of MCGs serves as a key technical framework for analyzing crystalline topological phases within the general setting of projective symmetry.