Differential topology of semimetals

Abstract

The subtle interplay between local and global charges for topological semimetals exactly parallels that for singular vector fields. Part of this story is the relationship between cohomological semimetal invariants, Euler structures, and ambiguities in the torsion of manifolds. Dually, a topological semimetal can be represented by Euler chains from which its surface Fermi arc connectivity can be deduced. These dual pictures, and the link to topological invariants of insulators, are organised using geometric exact sequences. We go beyond Dirac-type Hamiltonians and introduce new classes of semimetals whose local charges are subtle Atiyah-Dupont-Thomas invariants globally constrained by the Kervaire semicharacteristic, leading to the prediction of torsion Fermi arcs.