Boundary edge networks induced by bulk topology

Abstract

We introduce an effective edge network theory to characterize the boundary topology of coupled edge states generated from various types of topological insulators. Two examples studied are a two-dimensional second-order topological insulator and three-dimensional topological fullerenes, which involve multi-leg junctions. As a consequence of bulk-edge correspondence, these edge networks can faithfully predict properties such as the energy and fractional charge related to the bound states (edge solitons) in the aforementioned systems, including several aspects that were previously complicated or obscure.