Boundary Supersymmetry of (1+1)D Fermionic Symmetry-Protected Topological Phases

Phys Rev Lett. 2021 Jun 11;126(23):236802. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.236802.

Abstract

We prove that the boundaries of all nontrivial (1+1)-dimensional intrinsically fermionic symmetry-protected-topological phases, protected by finite on-site symmetries (unitary or antiunitary), are supersymmetric quantum mechanical systems. This supersymmetry does not require any fine-tuning of the underlying Hamiltonian, arises entirely as a consequence of the boundary 't Hooft anomaly that classifies the phase, and is related to a "Bose-Fermi" degeneracy different in nature from other well known degeneracies such as Kramers doublets.