Introduction to topological band structure

In this seminar, I give an introduction to topological band structures. Topological band structure is the fundamental idea to understand phenomena such as the quantum Hall effect, topological insulators, and topological superconductors. Although originally found in fermionic electron systems, topological band structure is essentially a single-particle property, and thus the same phenomenon can arise also in bosonic systems. In fact, topological band structure does not even need quantum mechanics; topological band structure can arise in classical waves inside a periodic medium, such as electromagnetic waves or classical mechanical waves. In this seminar, I first give a brief introduction to key concepts in topological band structures, such as Berry curvature, Chern number, bulk-edge correspondence, and ten-fold way classification of topological insulators. I then explain how topological band structure can arise in classical systems, giving a brief introduction to the field of topological photonics and topological mechanics.