Topological invariant for holographic Weyl-$\mathrm Z_2$ semimetal

Abstract

The occurrence of a topological phase transition can be demonstrated by a direct observation of a change in the topological invariant. For holographic topological semimetals, a topological Hamiltonian method needs to be employed to calculate the topological invariants due to the strong coupling nature of the system. We calculate the topological invariants for the holographic Weyl semimetal and the holographic Weyl-$\mathrm Z_2$ semimetal, which correspond to the chiral charge and the spin-Chern number, respectively. This is achieved by probing fermions within the system and deriving the topological Hamiltonian from the zero-frequency Green's function. In both cases, we have identified an effective band structure characterized by an infinite number of Weyl or $\mathrm Z_2$ nodes, a distinctive feature of holographic systems different from weakly coupled systems. The topological invariants of these nodes are computed numerically and found to be nonzero, thereby confirming the topologically nontrivial nature of these nodes.