Electromagnetic and thermal responses of Z topological insulators and superconductors in odd spatial dimensions

Abstract

The relation between bulk topological invariants and experimentally observable physical quantities is a fundamental property of topological insulators and superconductors. In the case of chiral symmetric systems in odd spatial dimensions such as time-reversal invariant topological superconductors and topological insulators with sublattice symmetry, this relation has not been well understood. We clarify that the winding number which characterizes the bulk Z non-triviality of these systems can appear in electromagnetic and thermal responses in a certain class of heterostructure systems. It is also found that the Z non-triviality can be detected in the bulk "chiral polarization", which is induced by magnetoelectric effects.

12 pages, 1 figure