Entanglement Chern number for an extensive partition of a topological ground state

Abstract

If an extensive partition in two dimensions yields a gapful entanglement spectrum of the reduced density matrix, the Berry curvature based on the corresponding entanglement eigenfunction defines the Chern number. We propose such an entanglement Chern number as a useful, natural, and calculable topological invariant, which is potentially relevant to various topological ground states. We show that it serves as an alternative topological invariant for time-reversal invariant systems and as a new topological invariant for a weak topological phase of a superlattice Wilson-Dirac model. In principle, the entanglement Chern number can also be effective for interacting systems such as topological insulators in contrast to $Z_2$ invariants.

4 pages, 2 figures, final version. (Open Access)