Inequivalent Berry Phases for the Bulk Polarization*

We discuss the characterization of the polarization for insulators under the periodic boundary condition in terms of the Berry phase, clarifying confusing subtleties. For band insulators, the Berry phase can be formulated in terms of the Bloch function in momentum space. More generally, in the presence of interactions or disorders, one can instead use the many-body ground state as a function of the flux piercing the ring. However, the definition of the Bloch function and the way of describing the flux are not unique. As a result, the value of the Berry phase and its behavior depend on how precisely it is defined. In particular, identifying the Berry phase as a polarization, its change represents a polarization current, which also depends on the definition. We demonstrate this by elucidating mutual relations among different definitions of the Berry phase and showing that they correspond to currents measured differently in real space. Despite the nonuniqueness of the polarization current, the total charge transported during a Thouless pumping process is independent of the definition, reflecting its topological nature.
Ref: Phys. Rev. X 8, 021065 (2018)