A 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. / PHD / Topological quantum states are a new type of quantum state that have properties that cannot be described by local order parameters. These types of states were first discovered in the 1980s with the integer quantum Hall effect and the fractional quantum Hall effect. In the 2000s, the predicted and experimentally discovered topological insulators triggered studies of new topological quantum states. Studies of strongly correlated systems have been a parallel research topic in condensed matter physics. When combining topological systems with strong correlation, the resulting systems can have novel properties that emerge, such as fractional charge. This thesis summarizes our work that uses the exact diagonalization method to study topological states with strong interaction.