Response of two-band systems to a single-mode quantized field.

Abstract

The response of topological insulators (TIs) to an external weakly classical field can be expressed in terms of Kubo formula, which predicts quantized Hall conductivity of the quantum Hall family. The response of TIs to a single-mode quantized field, however, remains unexplored. In this work, we take the quantum nature of the external field into account and define a Hall conductance to characterize the linear response of a two-band system to the quantized field. The theory is then applied to topological insulators. Comparisons with the traditional Hall conductance are presented and discussed.