Interacting One-Dimensional Fermionic Symmetry-Protected Topological Phases

In free fermion systems with given symmetry and dimension, the possible topological phases are labeled by elements of only three types of Abelian groups, 0, Z(2), or Z. For example, noninteracting one-dimensional fermionic superconducting phases with S-z spin rotation and time-reversal symmetries are classified by Z. We show that with weak interactions, this classification reduces to Z(4). Using group cohomology, one can additionally show that there are only four distinct phases for such one-dimensional superconductors even with strong interactions. Comparing their projective representations, we find that all these four symmetry-protected topological phases can be realized with free fermions. Further, we show that one-dimensional fermionic superconducting phases with Z(n) discrete S-z spin rotation and time-reversal symmetries are classified by Z(4) when n is even and Z(2) when n is odd; again, all these strongly interacting topological phases can be realized by noninteracting fermions. Our approach can be applied to systems with other symmetries to see which one-dimensional topological phases can be realized with free fermions.