2026/01/02 by R. Johanna Zijderveld, Adam Yanis Chaou, Isidora Araya Day +1 · 1 voice
#cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.dis-nn
The standard approach to characterizing topological matter, computing topological invariants, fails when the symmetry protecting the topological phase is preserved only on average in a disordered system. Because topological invariants rely on enforcing the symmetry exactly, they can overcount phases by incorrectly identifying certain non-robust features as robust. Moreover, in intrinsic statistical topological insulators, enforcing the symmetry exactly is guaranteed to destroy the topological phase. We define a mapping that addresses both issues and provides a unified framework for describing disordered topological matter.