Topological Edge States with Zero Hall Conductivity in a Dimerized Hofstadter Model

Phys Rev Lett. 2015 Nov 20;115(21):216805. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.216805. Epub 2015 Nov 20.

Abstract

The Hofstadter model is a simple yet powerful Hamiltonian to study quantum Hall physics in a lattice system, manifesting its essential topological states. Lattice dimerization in the Hofstadter model opens an energy gap at half filling. Here we show that even if the ensuing insulator has a Chern number equal to zero, concomitantly a doublet of edge states appear that are pinned at specific momenta. We demonstrate that these states are topologically protected by inversion symmetry in specific one-dimensional cuts in momentum space, define and calculate the corresponding invariants, and identify a platform for the experimental detection of these novel topological states.