Intrinsic Topological Order Research Articles

Separability Transitions in Topological States Induced by Local Decoherence.

We study states with intrinsic topological order subjected to local decoherence from the perspective of separability, i.e., whether a decohered mixed state can be expressed as an ensemble of short-range entangled pure states. We focus on toric codes and the X-cube fracton state and provide evidence for the existence of decoherence-induced separability transitions that precisely coincide with the threshold for the feasibility of active error correction. A key insight is that local decoherence acting on the "parent" cluster states of these models results in a Gibbs state. As an example, for the 2D (3D) toric code subjected to bit-flip errors, we show that the decohered density matrix can be written as a convex sum of short-range entangled states for p>p_{c}, where p_{c} is related to the paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition in the 2D (3D) random bond Ising model along the Nishimori line.

Learning of error statistics for the detection of quantum phases

We present a binary classifier based on neural networks to detect gapped quantum phases. By considering the errors on top of a suitable reference state describing the gapped phase, we show that a neural network trained on the errors can capture the correlation between the errors and can be used to detect the phase boundaries of the gapped quantum phase. We demonstrate the application of the method for matrix product state calculations for different quantum phases exhibiting local symmetry-breaking order, symmetry-protected topological order, and intrinsic topological order.

Emergent topological orders and phase transitions in lattice Chern-Simons theory of quantum magnets

Based on the Chern-Simons fermionization of spin-1/2 operators, we propose a systematic framework to investigate the competition between emergent phases in frustrated two-dimensional XY quantum magnets. Application of the method to the antiferromagnetic honeycomb spin-1/2 $J_1$-$J_2$ XY model reveals an unconventional phase transition between two Chern-Simons orders: the Chern-Simons superconductor and the exciton insulator of Chern-Simons fermions. We show that in the spin language, this transition translates to the transition from the planar N\'{e}el state to the non-uniform chiral spin-liquid that was proposed earlier in the literature. Namely, the Chern-Simons superconductor describes the planar N\'{e}el state, while the Chern-Simons exciton insulator corresponds to the non-uniform chiral spin-liquid. These results are further confirmed by our high-precision tensor network calculation, which provides the first numerical evidence for the transition from N\'{e}el order to a non-uniform chiral spin-liquid. We argue that the developed method can be applied to other frustrated quantum magnets of XXZ type and can detect unconventional phase transitions.

Non-Pauli topological stabilizer codes from twisted quantum doubles

It has long been known that long-ranged entangled topological phases can be exploited to protect quantum information against unwanted local errors. Indeed, conditions for intrinsic topological order are reminiscent of criteria for faithful quantum error correction. At the same time, the promise of using general topological orders for practical error correction remains largely unfulfilled to date. In this work, we significantly contribute to establishing such a connection by showing that Abelian twisted quantum double models can be used for quantum error correction. By exploiting the group cohomological data sitting at the heart of these lattice models, we transmute the terms of these Hamiltonians into full-rank, pairwise commuting operators, defining commuting stabilizers. The resulting codes are defined by non-Pauli commuting stabilizers, with local systems that can either be qubits or higher dimensional quantum systems. Thus, this work establishes a new connection between condensed matter physics and quantum information theory, and constructs tools to systematically devise new topological quantum error correcting codes beyond toric or surface code models.

Abelian Topological Order on Lattice Enriched with Electromagnetic Background

In topological phases of matter, the interplay between intrinsic topological order and global symmetry is an interesting task. In the study of topological orders with discrete global symmetry, an important systematic approach is the construction of exactly soluble lattice models. However, for continuous global symmetry, in particular the electromagnetic U(1), the lattice approach has been less systematically developed. In this paper, we introduce a systematic construction of effective theories for a large class of abelian topological orders on three-dimensional spacetime lattice with electromagnetic background. We discuss the associated topological properties, including the Hall conductivity and the spin-c nature of the electromagnetic background. Some of these effective spacetime lattice theories can be readily mapped to microscopic Hamiltonians on spatial lattice; others may also shed light on their possible microscopic Hamiltonian realizations. Our approach is based on the gauging of 1-form \(\mathbb {Z}\) symmetries. Our construction is naturally related to the continuum path integral of (doubled) U(1) Chern–Simons theory, through the latter’s formal description in terms of Deligne–Beilinson cohomology; when the global symmetry is dropped, our construction can be reduced to the Dijkgraaf–Witten model of associated abelian topological orders, as expected.

Superuniversality from disorder at two-dimensional topological phase transitions

We investigate the effects of quenched randomness on topological quantum phase transitions in strongly interacting two-dimensional systems. We focus first on transitions driven by the condensation of a subset of fractionalized quasiparticles (`anyons') identified with `electric charge' excitations of a phase with intrinsic topological order. All other anyons have nontrivial mutual statistics with the condensed subset and hence become confined at the anyon condensation transition. Using a combination of microscopically exact duality transformations and asymptotically exact real-space renormalization group techniques applied to these two-dimensional disordered gauge theories, we argue that the resulting critical scaling behavior is `superuniversal' across a wide range of such condensation transitions, and is controlled by the same infinite-randomness fixed point as that of the 2D random transverse-field Ising model. We validate this claim using large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations that allow us to extract zero-temperature critical exponents and correlation functions in (2+1)D disordered interacting systems. We discuss generalizations of these results to a large class of ground-state and excited-state topological transitions in systems with intrinsic topological order as well as those where topological order is either protected or enriched by global symmetries. When the underlying topological order and the symmetry group are Abelian, our results provide prototypes for topological phase transitions between distinct many-body localized phases.

Quantum critical phase transition between two topologically ordered phases in the Ising toric code bilayer

We demonstrate that two toric code layers on the square lattice coupled by an Ising interaction display two distinct phases with intrinsic topological order. The second-order quantum phase transition between the weakly-coupled $\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_2$ and the strongly-coupled $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order can be described by the condensation of bosonic quasiparticles from both sides and belongs to the 3d Ising$^*$ universality class. This can be shown by an exact duality transformation to the transverse-field Ising model on the square lattice, which builds on the existence of an extensive number of local $\mathbb{Z}_2$ conserved parities. These conserved quantities correspond to the product of two adjacent star operators on different layers. Notably, we show that the low-energy effective model derived about the limit of large Ising coupling is given by an effective single-layer toric code in terms of the conserved quantities of the Ising toric code bilayer. The two topological phases are further characterized by the topological entanglement entropy which serves as a non-local order parameter.

Non-Hermitian avalanche effect: Non-perturbative effect induced by local non-Hermitian perturbation on a Z2topological order

In this paper, based on a non-Hermitian toric-code model we found the fragileness of intrinsic topological orders under non-Hermitian perturbations. The effect of non-Hermitian avalanche for a designed toric-code model is uncovered: for the designed toric-code model with special external fields, a tiny non-Hermitian perturbation (local imaginary state-selective dissipation) leads to anomalous topological degeneracy and breaks down the bulk-degeneracy correspondence (a correspondence between bulk quasi-particles and topologically protected degenerate ground states). To support our theoretical predictions, we calculated the ground-state degeneracy and fidelity susceptibility of the ground states based on the non-Hermitian toric-code model on lattice and that on lattice. The numerical results are consistent with theoretical prediction.

Quantum statistics and spacetime surgery

It is known that quantum statistics of quasiparticles in 2+1 spacetime dimensions beget anyons, beyond the familiar statistics of bosons and fermions, while Verlinde formula dictates the consistent anyon statistics. In 3+1 dimensions, although quasiparticles cannot be anyonic, extended quasi-excitations like strings can have anyonic string statistics. In this work, we first introduce the fusion and braiding data of particle and string excitations creatable from the operators of (world-) lines/sheets, and all are well-defined in gapped states of matter with intrinsic topological orders. We then apply the geometric-topology surgery theory to derive a set of quantum surgery formulas analogous to Verlinde's constraining the fusion and braiding quantum statistics of anyonic particle and anyonic string excitations in 2+1 and 3+1 dimensions, essential for the theory of bulk topological orders and potentially correlated to bootstrap boundary physics.

Intrinsic quantum anomalous Hall phase induced by proximity in the van der Waals heterostructure germanene/ Cr2Ge2Te6

A van der Waals heterostructure combined with intrinsic magnetism and topological orders have recently paved attractive avenues to realize quantum anomalous Hall effects. In this work, using first-principles calculations and effective model analysis, we propose that the robust quantum anomalous Hall states with sizable band gaps emerge in the van der Waals heterostructure of germanene/Cr$_2$Ge$_2$Te$_6$. This heterostructure possesses high thermodynamic stability, thus facilitating its experimental fabrication. Furthermore, we uncover that the proximity effect enhances the coupling between the germanene and Cr$_2$Ge$_2$Te$_6$ layers, inducing the nontrivial band gaps in a wide range from 29 meV to 72 meV. The chiral edge states inside the band gap, leading to Hall conductance quantized to $-e^2/h$, are clearly visible. This findings provide an ideal candidate to detect the quantum anomalous Hall states and realize further applications to nontrivial quantum transport at a high temperature.

Gauge theory of strongly-correlated symmetric topological Phases

In the presence of symmetry-protection, topological invariants of topological phases of matter in free fermion systems, e.g., topological band insulators, can be directly computed via the properties of band structure. Nevertheless, it is usually difficult to extract topological invariants in strongly-correlated topological phases of matter in which band structure is not well-defined. One typical example is the fractional quantum Hall effect whose low-energy physics is governed by Chern-Simons topological gauge theory and Hall conductivity plateaus involve extremely fruitful physics of strong correlation. In this article, we focus on intrinsic topological order (iTO), symmetry-protected topological phases (SPT), and symmetry-enriched topological phases (SET) in boson and spin systems. Through gauge field-theoretical approach, we review some research progress on these topological phases of matter from the aspects of projective construction, low-energy effective theory and topological response theory.

Quantum statistics and spacetime topology: Quantum surgery formulas

To formulate the universal constraints of quantum statistics data of generic long-range entangled quantum systems, we introduce the geometric-topology surgery theory on spacetime manifolds where quantum systems reside, cutting and gluing the associated quantum amplitudes, specifically in 2+1 and 3+1 spacetime dimensions. First, we introduce the fusion data for worldline and worldsheet operators capable of creating anyonic excitations of particles and strings, well-defined in gapped states of matter with intrinsic topological orders. Second, we introduce the braiding statistics data of particles and strings, such as the geometric Berry matrices for particle–string Aharonov–Bohm, 3-string, 4-string, or multi-string adiabatic loop braiding process, encoded by submanifold links, in the closed spacetime 3-manifolds and 4-manifolds. Third, we derive new “quantum surgery” formulas and constraints, analogous to Verlinde formula associating fusion and braiding statistics data via spacetime surgery, essential for defining the theory of topological orders, 3d and 4d TQFTs and potentially correlated to bootstrap boundary physics such as gapless modes, extended defects, 2d and 3d conformal field theories or quantum anomalies.This article is meant to be an extended and further detailed elaboration of our previous work Wang, Wen and Yau (2016) [1] and Chapter 6 of Wang (2015) [2]. Our theory applies to general quantum theories and quantum mechanical systems, also applicable to, but not necessarily requiring the quantum field theory description.

Noise-tolerant signature of ZN topological order in quantum many-body states

Topologically ordered states are fundamentally important in theoretical physics, which are also suggested as promising candidates to build fault-tolerant quantum devices. However, it is still elusive how topological orders can be affected or detected under noises. In this work, we find a quantity, termed as the ring degeneracy $\mathcal{D}$, which is robust under pure noise to detect both trivial and intrinsic topological orders. The ring degeneracy is defined as the degeneracy of the solutions of the self-consistent equations that encode the contraction of the corresponding tensor network(TN). For the $Z_N$ orders, we find that the ring degeneracy satisfies a simple relation $\mathcal{D} = (N + 1)/2 + d$, with $d = 0$ for odd $N$ and $d = 1/2$ for even $N$. Simulations on several non-trivial states (two-dimensional Ising model, $Z_N$ topological states, and resonating valence bond states) show that the ring degeneracy can tolerate noises up to a strength associated to the gap of the TN boundary theory.

Superconductivity from valley fluctuations and approximate SO(4) symmetry in a weak coupling theory of twisted bilayer graphene

AbstarctThe recent discovery of the Mott insulating and superconducting phases in twisted bilayer graphene has generated tremendous research interest. Here, we develop a weak coupling approach to the superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene, starting from the Fermi liquid regime. A key observation is that near half filling, the fermiology consists of well nested Fermi pockets derived from opposite valleys, leading to enhanced valley fluctuation, which in turn can mediate superconductivity. This scenario is studied within the random phase approximation. We find that inter-valley electron pairing with either chiral (d + id mixed with p−ip) or helical form factor is the dominant instability. An approximate SO(4) spin-valley symmetry implies a near degeneracy of spin-singlet and triplet pairing. On increasing interactions, commensurate inter-valley coherence wave (IVCW) order can arise, with simultaneous condensation at the three M points in the Brillouin Zone, and a 2 × 2 pattern in real space. In simple treatments though, this leads to a full gap at fillings ± (1/2 + 1/8), slightly away from half-filling. The selection of spin-singlet or spin triplet orders, both for the IVCW and the superconductor, arise fcase corresponds to the Hundsrom SO(4) symmetry breaking terms. Mott insulators derived from phase fluctuating superconductors are also discussed, which exhibit both symmetry protected and intrinsic topological orders.

Efficient representation of topologically ordered states with restricted Boltzmann machines

Representation by neural networks, in particular by restricted Boltzmann machines (RBM), has provided a powerful computational tool to solve quantum many-body problems. An important open question is how to characterize which class of quantum states can be efficiently represented with the RBM. Here, we show that the RBM can efficiently represent a wide class of many-body entangled states with rich exotic topological orders. This includes: (1) ground states of double semion and twisted quantum double models with intrinsic topological orders; (2) states of the AKLT model and 2D CZX model with symmetry protected topological order; (3) states of Haah code model with fracton topological order; (4) generalized stabilizer states and hypergraph states that are important for quantum information protocols. One twisted quantum double model state considered here harbors non-abelian anyon excitations. Our result shows that it is possible to study a variety of quantum models with exotic topological orders and rich physics using the RBM computational toolbox.

Bosonic Gaussian states from conformal field theory

We study nonchiral wave functions for systems with continuous spins obtained from the conformal field theory (CFT) of a free, massless boson. In contrast to the case of discrete spins, these can be treated as bosonic Gaussian states, which allows us to efficiently compute correlations and entanglement properties both in one (1D) and in two spatial dimensions (2D). In 1D, the computed entanglement entropy and spectra are in agreement with the underlying CFT. Furthermore, we construct a 1D parent Hamiltonian with a low-energy spectrum corresponding to that of a free, massless boson. In 2D, we find edge excitations in the entanglement spectrum, although the states do not have intrinsic topological order, as revealed by a determination of the topological entanglement entropy.

Quantum spin liquid in the semiclassical regime

Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) have been at the forefront of correlated electron research ever since their proposal in 1973, and the realization that they belong to the broader class of intrinsic topological orders. According to received wisdom, QSLs can arise in frustrated magnets with low spin S, where strong quantum fluctuations act to destabilize conventional, magnetically ordered states. Here, we present a Z2 QSL ground state that appears already in the semiclassical, large-S limit. This state has both topological and symmetry-related ground-state degeneracy, and two types of gaps, a “magnetic flux” gap that scales linearly with S and an “electric charge” gap that drops exponentially in S. The magnet is the spin-S version of the spin-1/2 Kitaev honeycomb model, which has been the subject of intense studies in correlated electron systems with strong spin–orbit coupling, and in optical lattice realizations with ultracold atoms.

Fermionic projected entangled-pair states and topological phases

We study fermionic matrix product operator algebras and identify the associated algebraic data. Using this algebraic data we construct fermionic tensor network states in two dimensions that have non-trivial symmetry-protected or intrinsic topological order. The tensor network states allow us to relate physical properties of the topological phases to the underlying algebraic data. We illustrate this by calculating defect properties and modular matrices of supercohomology phases. Our formalism also captures Majorana defects as we show explicitly for a class of symmetry-protected and intrinsic topological phases. The tensor networks states presented here are well-suited for numerical applications and hence open up new possibilities for studying interacting fermionic topological phases.

Machine learning topological states

Artificial neural networks and machine learning have now reached a new era after several decades of improvement where applications are to explode in many fields of science, industry, and technology. Here, we use artificial neural networks to study an intriguing phenomenon in quantum physics--- the topological phases of matter. We find that certain topological states, either symmetry-protected or with intrinsic topological order, can be represented with classical artificial neural networks. This is demonstrated by using three concrete spin systems, the one-dimensional (1D) symmetry-protected topological cluster state and the 2D and 3D toric code states with intrinsic topological orders. For all three cases we show rigorously that the topological ground states can be represented by short-range neural networks in an \textit{exact} and \textit{efficient} fashion---the required number of hidden neurons is as small as the number of physical spins and the number of parameters scales only \textit{linearly} with the system size. For the 2D toric-code model, we find that the proposed short-range neural networks can describe the excited states with abelain anyons and their nontrivial mutual statistics as well. In addition, by using reinforcement learning we show that neural networks are capable of finding the topological ground states of non-integrable Hamiltonians with strong interactions and studying their topological phase transitions. Our results demonstrate explicitly the exceptional power of neural networks in describing topological quantum states, and at the same time provide valuable guidance to machine learning of topological phases in generic lattice models.

Thermal and electrical transport in metals and superconductors across antiferromagnetic and topological quantum transitions

We study thermal and electrical transport in metals and superconductors near a quantum phase transition where antiferromagnetic order disappears. The same theory can also be applied to quantum phase transitions involving the loss of certain classes of intrinsic topological order. For a clean superconductor, we recover and extend the well-known universal results. The heat conductivity for commensurate and incommensurate antiferromagnetism coexisting with superconductivity shows a markedly different doping dependence near the quantum critical point, thus allowing to distinguish the states. In the dirty limit, the results for the conductivities are qualitatively similar for the metal and the superconductor. In this regime, the geometric properties of the Fermi surface allow for a very good phenomenological understanding of the numerical results on the conductivities. In the simplest model, we find that the conductivities do not track the doping evolution of the Hall coefficient, in contrast to recent experimental findings. We propose a doping dependent scattering rate, possibly due to quenched short-range charge fluctuations below optimal doping, to consistently describe both the Hall data and the longitudinal conductivities.