Finite-size corrections to quantized particle transport in topological charge pumps

Abstract

We investigate the quantization of adiabatic charge transport in the insulating ground state of finite systems. Topological charge pumps are used in experiments as an indicator of topological order. In the thermodynamic limit the transport can be related to a topological Berry phase and is thus strictly quantized. This is no longer true for finite systems. We derive finite-size corrections to the transport both for non-interacting and interacting systems and relate them to analytic properties of the single- and many-body Berry curvature. We find that they depend on the details of experimental realizations of the pumps. While they can be non-negligible even in large systems, a proper choice of the pumping protocol can suppress these corrections.