Simplified topological invariants for interacting insulators

Abstract

We propose general topological order parameters for interacting insulators in terms of the Green's function at zero frequency. They provide a unified description of various interacting topological insulators including the quantum anomalous Hall insulators and the time-reversal-invariant insulators in four, three, and two dimensions. Since only the Green's function at zero frequency is used, these topological order parameters can be evaluated efficiently by most numerical and analytical algorithms for strongly interacting systems.