Space group constraints on weak indices in topological crystalline insulators

In this work we derive constraints on weak indices of topological insulators and superconductors coming from space group symmetry. Weak indices are topological invariants of lower dimensional slices of the Brillouin zone, notable examples are the Chern numbers in class A and weak $\mathbbm{Z}_2$ indices in class AII in 3D. The components of the weak indices form a momentum space vector that transforms in a simple fashion under space group symmetries, using results of momentum space crystallography we find the allowed values for each Bravais lattice. Nonsymmorphic symmetries, such as screw axes and glide planes pose additional constraints. Accounting for both of these we find that most space groups experience some restriction, to the extent that some cannot support nontrivial weak topological insulators and superconductors at all. This result puts a strong constraint on candidates in the experimental and numerical search for topological materials based on the lattice structure alone.