Scientific article
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The Colored Hofstadter Butterfly for the Honeycomb Lattice

Published inJournal of statistical physics, vol. 156, no. 3, p. 417-426
Publication date2014-08
First online date2014-05-07
Abstract

We rely on a recent method for determining edge spectra and we use it to compute the Chern numbers for Hofstadter models on the honeycomb lattice having rational magnetic flux per unit cell. Based on the bulk-edge correspondence, the Chern number σH is given as the winding number of an eigenvector of a 2 × 2 transfer matrix, as a function of the quasi-momentum k ∈ (0, 2π). This method is computationally efficient (of order O(n4) in the resolution of the desired image). It also shows that for the honeycomb lattice the solution for σH for flux p/q in the r -th gap conforms with the Diophantine equation r = σH · p+s ·q, which determines σH mod q. A window such as σH ∈ (−q/2, q/2), or possibly shifted, provides a natural further condition for σH, which however turns out not to be met. Based on extensive numerical calculations, we conjecture that the solution conforms with the relaxed condition σH ∈ (−q, q).

Keywords
  • Graphene
  • Integer quantum Hall effect
  • Bulk-edge correspondence
  • Chern number
Citation (ISO format)
AGAZZI, Andréa, ECKMANN, Jean-Pierre, GRAF, G.M. The Colored Hofstadter Butterfly for the Honeycomb Lattice. In: Journal of statistical physics, 2014, vol. 156, n° 3, p. 417–426. doi: 10.1007/s10955-014-0992-0
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Additional URL for this publicationhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10955-014-0992-0
Journal ISSN0022-4715
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