Floquet Non-Abelian Topological Charges and Edge States

Abstract Non-Abelian topological insulators are characterized by matrix-valued, non-commuting topological charges with regard to more than one energy gap. Their descriptions go beyond the conventional topological band theory, in which an additive integer like the winding or Chern number is endowed separately with each (degenerate group of) energy band(s). In this work, we reveal that Floquet (time-periodic) driving could not only enrich the topology and phase transitions of non-Abelian topological matter, but also induce bulk-edge correspondence unique to nonequilibrium setups. Using a one-dimensional, three-band model as an illustrative example, we demonstrate that Floquet driving could reshuffle the phase diagram of the non-driven system, yielding both gapped and gapless Floquet band structures with non-Abelian topological charges. Moreover, by dynamically tuning the anomalous Floquet π -quasienergy gap, non-Abelian topological transitions inaccessible to static systems could arise, leading to much more complicated relations between non-Abelian topological charges and Floquet edge states. These discoveries put forth periodic driving as a powerful scheme of engineering non-Abelian topological phases and incubating unique non-Abelian band topology beyond equilibrium.