Constraints on Order and Disorder Parameters in Quantum Spin Chains

Abstract

We derive general constraints on order and disorder parameters in Ising symmetric spin chains. Our main result is a theorem showing that every gapped, translationally invariant, Ising symmetric spin chain has either a nonzero order parameter or a nonzero disorder parameter. We also prove two more constraints on order and disorder parameters: (i) it is not possible for a gapped, Ising symmetric spin chain to have both a nonzero order parameter and a nonzero disorder parameter; and (ii) it is not possible for a spin chain of this kind to have a nonzero disorder parameter that is odd under the symmetry. These constraints have an interesting implication for self-dual Ising symmetric spin chains: every self-dual spin chain is either gapless or has a degenerate ground state in the thermodynamic limit. All of these constraints generalize to spin chains without translational symmetry. Our proofs rely on previously known bounds on entanglement and correlations in one dimensional systems, as well as the Fuchs-van de Graaf inequality from quantum information theory.