Topological Bose-Mott Insulators in a One-Dimensional Optical Superlattice

We study topological properties of the Bose-Hubbard model with repulsive interactions in a one-dimensional optical superlattice. We find that the Mott insulator states of the single-component (two-component) Bose-Hubbard model under fractional fillings are topological insulators characterized by a nonzero charge (or spin) Chern number with nontrivial edge states. For ultracold atomic experiments, we show that the topological Chern number can be detected through measuring the density profiles of the bosonic atoms in a harmonic trap.Comment: 5 pages, published versio

Winding number transitions at finite temperature in the Abelian-Higgs model

Following our earlier investigations we examine the quantum-classical winding number transition in the Abelian-Higgs system. It is demonstrated that the sphaleron transition in this system is of the smooth second order type in the full range of parameter space. Comparison of the action of classical vortices with that of the sphaleron supports our finding.Comment: final version, to appear in J. Phys.

Effects of topological edge states on the thermoelectric properties of Bi nanoribbons

Using first-principles calculations combined with Boltzmann transport theory, we investigate the effects of topological edge states on the thermoelectric properties of Bi nanoribbons. It is found that there is a competition between the edge and bulk contributions to the Seebeck coefficients. However, the electronic transport of the system is dominated by the edge states because of its much larger electrical conductivity. As a consequence, a room temperature value exceeding 3.0 could be achieved for both p- and n-type systems when the relaxation time ratio between the edge and the bulk states is tuned to be 1000. Our theoretical study suggests that the utilization of topological edge states might be a promising approach to cross the threshold of the industrial application of thermoelectricity