An optimal topological spin pump

Abstract

We study the recently introduced ${\mathbb Z}_2$ pump consisting of a family of one-dimensional bulk insulators with time reversal restriction on the pumping cycle. We find that the scattering matrices of these pumps are dichotomized by a topological index. We show that the class of pumps characterized by a nontrivial topological index allows, in contrast to its topologically trivial counterpart, for the noiseless pumping of quantized spin, even in the absence of spin conservation. This distinction sheds light on the ${\mathbb Z}_2$ classification of two-dimensional time reversal invariant insulators.