Chen, Mengsu2019-02-052019-02-052019-02-04vt_gsexam:18417http://hdl.handle.net/10919/87436A rich variety of phases can exist in quantum systems. For example, the fractional quantum Hall states have persistent topological characteristics that derive from strong interaction. This thesis uses the exact diagonalization method to investigate quantum lattice models with strong interaction. Our research topics revolve around quantum phase transitions between novel phases. The goal is to find the best schemes for realizing these novel phases in experiments. We studied the fractional Chern insulator and its transition to uni-directional stripes of particles. In addition, we studied topological Mott insulators with spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking induced by interaction. We also studied emergent kinetics in one-dimensional lattices with spin-orbital coupling. The exact diagonalization method and its implementation for studying these systems can easily be applied to study other strongly correlated systems.ETDIn Copyrightexact diagonalizationfractional Chern insulatorstopological Mott insulatorscharge density waveoptical latticeemergent kineticDissertation