What's the meaning of "topological" in "symmetry protected topological phase"

Question

I am trying to understand the symmetry protected topological phase. Most papers only explain the symmetry but none of them explain the meaning of "topological". My question is : What's the meaning of "topological" in "symmetry protected topological phase"?

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:39

6

The follow article directly address your question (which is a very good question):

Reconciling topological insulators and topological order

The article explains the different meaning of "topological" in "topological insulators" and "topological order".

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:39

Community

1

answered Oct 06 '13 at 14:48

Xiao-Gang Wen

13,725

What's the meaning of "topological" in "symmetry protected topological phase"

1 Answers1