Reduction of topological $\mathbb{Z}$ classification in cold atomic systems

Abstract

One of the most challenging problems in correlated topological systems is a realization of the reduction of topological classification, but very few experimental platforms have been proposed so far. We here demonstrate that ultracold dipolar fermions (e.g., $^{167}$Er, $^{161}$Dy, and $^{53}$Cr) loaded in an optical lattice of two-leg ladder geometry can be the first promising testbed for the reduction $\mathbb{Z}\to\mathbb{Z}_4$, where solid evidence for the reduction is available thanks to their high controllability. We further give a detailed account of how to experimentally access this phenomenon; around the edges, the destruction of one-particle gapless excitations can be observed by the local radio frequency spectroscopy, while that of gapless spin excitations can be observed by a time-dependent spin expectation value of a superposed state of the ground state and the first excited state. We clarify that even when the reduction occurs, a gapless edge mode is recovered around a dislocation, which can be another piece of evidence for the reduction.