Fractional quantum spin Hall crystals from hidden density-wave order

Abstract: Broken symmetry and topology are distinct descriptions for how matter organizes itself. Here, we propose one gives rise to the other. A mixed singlet-triplet $d$-density wave, which is a particle-hole condensate, has a hidden bond order that breaks translation symmetry and generates a time-reversed pair of Chern bands, without producing conventional charge or spin density order. At fractional fillings with odd denominators, finite size exact diagonalization studies show how repulsive interactions can transform this symmetry-broken topological state into a fractional quantum spin Hall liquid. Its opposite chiralities produce a crossed response in which charge flux transports spin, and spin flux transports charge. The same setting also reveals what borders such a phase. Strong interspin coupling and increasingly dilute fillings favor charge order and make residual band dispersion decisive, while at half filling, the spin-decoupled limit gives a homogeneous correlated liquid with signatures consistent with the physics of a composite Fermi liquid.