Quantized charge polarization as a many-body invariant in (2+1)D crystalline topological states and Hofstadter butterflies

Abstract

We show how to define a quantized many-body charge polarization $\vec{\mathscr{P}}$ for (2+1)D topological phases of matter, even in the presence of non-zero Chern number and magnetic field. For invertible topological states, $\vec{\mathscr{P}}$ is a $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$, $\mathbb{Z}_3$, $\mathbb{Z}_2$, or $\mathbb{Z}_1$ topological invariant in the presence of $M = 2$, $3$, $4$, or $6$-fold rotational symmetry, lattice (magnetic) translational symmetry, and charge conservation. $\vec{\mathscr{P}}$ manifests in the bulk of the system as (i) a fractional quantized contribution of $\vec{\mathscr{P}} \cdot \vec{b} \text{ mod 1}$ to the charge bound to lattice disclinations and dislocations with Burgers vector $\vec{b}$, (ii) a linear momentum for magnetic flux, and (iii) an oscillatory system size dependent contribution to the effective 1d polarization on a cylinder. We study $\vec{\mathscr{P}}$ in lattice models of spinless free fermions in a magnetic field. We derive predictions from topological field theory, which we match to numerical calculations for the effects (i)-(iii), demonstrating that these can be used to extract $\vec{\mathscr{P}}$ from microscopic models in an intrinsically many-body way. We show how, given a high symmetry point $\text{o}$, there is a topological invariant, the discrete shift $\mathscr{S}_{\text{o}}$, such that $\vec{\mathscr{P}}$ specifies the dependence of $\mathscr{S}_{\text{o}}$ on $\text{o}$. We derive colored Hofstadter butterflies, corresponding to the quantized value of $\vec{\mathscr{P}}$, which further refine the colored butterflies from the Chern number and discrete shift.