Chern numbers as half-signature of the spectral localizer

Abstract

Two recent papers proved that complex index pairings can be calculated as the half-signature of a finite dimensional matrix, called the spectral localizer. This paper contains a new proof of this connection for even index pairings based on a spectral flow argument. It also provides a numerical study of the spectral gap and the half-signature of the spectral localizer for a typical two-dimensional disordered topological insulator in the regime of a mobility gap at the Fermi energy. This regime is not covered by the above mathematical results (which suppose a bulk gap), but nevertheless the half-signature of the spectral localizer is a clear indicator of a topological phase.