Z2Z_2 Topological Order and the Quantum Spin Hall Effect

The quantum spin Hall (QSH) phase is a time reversal invariant electronic state with a bulk electronic band gap that supports the transport of charge and spin in gapless edge states. We show that this phase is associated with a novel $Z_2$ topological invariant, which distinguishes it from an ordinary insulator. The $Z_2$ classification, which is defined for time reversal invariant Hamiltonians, is analogous to the Chern number classification of the quantum Hall effect. We establish the $Z_2$ order of the QSH phase in the two band model of graphene and propose a generalization of the formalism applicable to multi band and interacting systems.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX. Added reference, minor correction

A path integral derivation of χy\chi_y-genus

The formula for the Hirzebruch $\chi_y$-genus of complex manifolds is a consequence of the Hirzebruch-Riemann-Roch formula. The classical index formulae for Todd genus, Euler number, and Signature correspond to the case when the complex variable $y=$ 0, -1, and 1 respectively. Here we give a {\it direct} derivation of this nice formula based on supersymmetric quantum mechanics.Comment: 5 page

The Index Theorem and Universality Properties of the Low-lying Eigenvalues of Improved Staggered Quarks

We study various improved staggered quark Dirac operators on quenched gluon backgrounds in lattice QCD generated using a Symanzik-improved gluon action. We find a clear separation of the spectrum into would-be zero modes and others. The number of would-be zero modes depends on the topological charge as expected from the Index Theorem, and their chirality expectation value is large (approximately 0.7). The remaining modes have low chirality and show clear signs of clustering into quartets and approaching the random matrix theory predictions for all topological charge sectors. We conclude that improvement of the fermionic and gauge actions moves the staggered quarks closer to the continuum limit where they respond correctly to QCD topology.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

3D N = 1 SYM Chern-Simons theory on the Lattice

We present a method to implement 3-dimensional N = 1 SUSY Yang-Mills theory (a theory with two real supercharges containing gauge fields and an adjoint Majorana fermion) on the lattice, including a way to implement the Chern-Simons term present in this theory. At nonzero Chern-Simons number our implementation suffers from a sign problem which will make the numerical effort grow exponentially with volume. We also show that the theory with vanishing Chern-Simons number is anomalous; its partition function identically vanishes.Comment: v2, minor changes: expanded discussion in section III c, typos corrected, 17 pages, 9 figure

Equivariance, BRST and Superspace

The structure of equivariant cohomology in non-abelian localization formulas and topological field theories is discussed. Equivariance is formulated in terms of a nilpotent BRST symmetry, and another nilpotent operator which restricts the BRST cohomology onto the equivariant, or basic sector. A superfield formulation is presented and connections to reducible (BFV) quantization of topological Yang-Mills theory are discussed.Comment: (24 pages, report UU-ITP and HU-TFT-93-65

The unified Skyrmion profiles and Static Properties of Nucleons

An unified approximated solution for symmetric Skyrmions was proposed for the SU(2) Skyrme model for baryon numbers up to 8,which take the hybrid form of a kink-like solution and that given by the instanton method. The Skyrmion profiles are examined by computing lowest soliton energy as well as the static properties of nucleons within the framework of collective quantization, with a good agreement with the exact numeric results. The comparisons with the previous computations as well as the experimental data are also given.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, Created by LaTex Syste

Two-dimensional topological gravity and equivariant cohomology

In this paper, we examine the analogy between topological string theory and equivariant cohomology. We also show that the equivariant cohomology of a topological conformal field theory carries a certain algebraic structure, which we call a gravity algebra. (Error on page 9 corrected: BRS current contains total derivatives.)Comment: 18 page

Quantum cohomology of flag manifolds and Toda lattices

We discuss relations of Vafa's quantum cohomology with Floer's homology theory, introduce equivariant quantum cohomology, formulate some conjectures about its general properties and, on the basis of these conjectures, compute quantum cohomology algebras of the flag manifolds. The answer turns out to coincide with the algebra of regular functions on an invariant lagrangian variety of a Toda lattice.Comment: 35 page

Theory of Anomalous Quantum Hall Effects in Graphene

Recent successes in manufacturing of atomically thin graphite samples (graphene) have stimulated intense experimental and theoretical activity. The key feature of graphene is the massless Dirac type of low-energy electron excitations. This gives rise to a number of unusual physical properties of this system distinguishing it from conventional two-dimensional metals. One of the most remarkable properties of graphene is the anomalous quantum Hall effect. It is extremely sensitive to the structure of the system; in particular, it clearly distinguishes single- and double-layer samples. In spite of the impressive experimental progress, the theory of quantum Hall effect in graphene has not been established. This theory is a subject of the present paper. We demonstrate that the Landau level structure by itself is not sufficient to determine the form of the quantum Hall effect. The Hall quantization is due to Anderson localization which, in graphene, is very peculiar and depends strongly on the character of disorder. It is only a special symmetry of disorder that may give rise to anomalous quantum Hall effects in graphene. We analyze the symmetries of disordered single- and double-layer graphene in magnetic field and identify the conditions for anomalous Hall quantization.Comment: 13 pages (article + supplementary material), 5 figure

Toric moment mappings and Riemannian structures

Coadjoint orbits for the group SO(6) parametrize Riemannian G-reductions in six dimensions, and we use this correspondence to interpret symplectic fibrations between these orbits, and to analyse moment polytopes associated to the standard Hamiltonian torus action on the coadjoint orbits. The theory is then applied to describe so-called intrinsic torsion varieties of Riemannian structures on the Iwasawa manifold.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures; Geometriae Dedicata 2012, Toric moment mappings and Riemannian structures, available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/yn86k22mv18p8ku2