Interaction-induced crystalline topology of excitons
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Davenport, Henry
Knolle, Johannes
Schindler, Frank
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We apply the topological theory of symmetry indicators to interaction-induced exciton band structures in centrosymmetric semiconductors. Crucially, we distinguish between the topological invariants inherited from the underlying electron and hole bands and those that are intrinsic to the exciton wave function itself. Focusing on the latter, we show that there exists a class of exciton bands for which the maximally localized exciton Wannier states are shifted with respect to the electronic Wannier states by a quantized amount; we call these excitons shift excitons. Our analysis explains how the exciton spectrum can be topologically nontrivial and sustain exciton edge states in open boundary conditions even when the underlying noninteracting bands have a trivial atomic limit. We demonstrate the presence of shift excitons as the lowest energy neutral excitations of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model in its trivial phase when supplemented by local two-body interactions.
Date Issued
2024-10-25
Date Acceptance
2024-09-18
Citation
Physical Review Letters, 2024, 133 (17)
ISSN
0031-9007
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Journal / Book Title
Physical Review Letters
Volume
133
Issue
17
Copyright Statement
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to
the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation,
and DOI.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to
the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation,
and DOI.
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.133.176601
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
176601
Date Publish Online
2024-10-21