The Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) Model

We take a hands-on approach and get to know the basic concepts of topological insulators via a concrete system: the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model of polyacetylene. This model describes spinless fermions hopping on a one-dimensional lattice with staggered hopping amplitudes. Using the SSH model, we introduce the concepts of the single-particle Hamiltonian, the difference between bulk and boundary, chiral symmetry, adiabatic equivalence, topological invariants, and bulk–boundary correspondence.

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