Nonlocal String Order Research Articles

Twice hidden string order and competing phases in the spin-1/2 Kitaev–Gamma ladder

Finding the Kitaev spin liquid in candidate materials involves understanding the entire phase diagram, including other allowed interactions. One of these interactions, called the Gamma (Γ) interaction, causes magnetic frustration and its interplay with the Kitaev (K) interaction is crucial to comprehend Kitaev materials. Due to the complexity of the combined KΓ model, quasi-one-dimensional models have been investigated. While several disordered phases are found in the 2-leg ladder, the nature of the phases are yet to be determined. Here we focus on the disordered phase near the antiferromagnetic Γ limit (denoted by AΓ phase) next to the ferromagnetic Kitaev phase. We report a distinct non-local string order parameter characterizing the AΓ phase, different from the string order parameter in the Kitaev phase. This string order parameter becomes evident only after two unitary transformation, referred to as a twice hidden string order parameter. The related entanglement spectrum, edge states, magnetic field responses, and the symmetry protecting the phase are presented, and its relevance to the two-dimensional Kitaev materials is discussed. Two newly identified disordered phases in the phase diagram of KΓ ladder is also reported.

Exploring topological phase transition in Pt2Hg1−xTlxSe3

The transition from trivial to non-trivial phase in two-dimensional materials are called a topological phase transition (TPT). The Berry phase, non-local string order parameter, and edge states define the topological nature of the system. A newly discovered jacutingaite ma- terial Pt2HgSe3 is a layered material which occurs naturally in the form of minerals. The material can be exfoliated and was predicted as a quantum spin Hall insulator. Here, on the basis of density functional theory and tight-binding calculations, we explore Pt2Hg1−xTlxSe3 (x = 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1) to understand the electronic and topological properties. We start with the parent material Pt2HgSe3 wherein Hg is replaced partially with x amount of Tl, to tune the topological phases. From the electronic structure calculations, Pt2HgSe3 is found to be a non-trivial semimetal in it’s bulk. Upon electron doping, the material transforms to strong topological metallic phase. The topological Z2 invariant calculation shows TPT in Pt2Hg1−xTlxSe3 with weak topological insulating state (0;001) for x=0, to strong topological metal (1;000) for x=1, respectively.

Variational approach to quantum spin liquid in a Rydberg atom simulator

Recently the Rydberg blockade effect has been utilized to realize quantum spin liquid (QSL) on a kagome lattice. Evidence of QSL has been obtained experimentally by directly measuring non-local string order. In this paper, we report a Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS)-type variational wave function study of the spin liquid state in this model. This wave function is motivated by mapping the Rydberg blockade model to a lattice gauge theory, where the local gauge conservations replace the role of constraints from the Rydberg blockade. We determine the variational parameter from the experimental measurement of the Rydberg atom population. Then we compare the predictions of this deterministic wave function with the experimental measurements of non-local string order. Combining the measurements on both open and closed strings, we extract the fluctuations only associated with the closed-loop as an indicator of the topological order. The prediction from our wave function agrees reasonably well with the experimental data, with only one fitting parameter determined by measurement of Rydberg atom population. Our variational wave function provides a simple and intuitive picture of the QSL in this system that can be generalized to similar spin liquid phases in other lattice geometry.

Driven one-dimensional noisy Kitaev chain

We study a one-dimensional Kitaev chain driven by the anisotropy parameter ${J}_{\ensuremath{-}}=t/{\ensuremath{\tau}}_{Q}$, in the presence of weak Gaussian noise in the parameter ${J}_{+}$. The system is prepared in the ground state of the Hamiltonian at the initial time $t\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\infty}$. The defect density and the residual energy at the end of the drive protocol reveals anti-Kibble Zurek (AKZ) behavior which deviates from the earlier reported linear in quench time dependence for the defect density. The entropy density at the end of the protocol is found to exhibit the signature of the AKZ behavior. In the context of the Kitaev chain, the two-point spin correlators are short ranged. The hidden topological order across the quantum phase transition point is probed via the nonlocal string order parameters. The two-point Majorana correlator and the hidden string correlator calculated in the final decohered state at the end of the noisy drive protocol is consistent with the AKZ picture. We have analyzed the kink statistics in the dual spin space, the first three cumulants at the end of the noisy drive also exhibit the AKZ scaling behavior for slower sweeps similar to the defect density. The kink distribution function is well approximated with the normal distribution with nonuniversal noise dependent mean and variance.

Realizing a symmetry protected topological phase through dimerized interactions

We show that in a system of one dimensional spinless fermions a topological phase and phase transition can emerge only through interaction. By allowing a dimerized or bond-alternating nearest neighbour interaction we show that the system exhibits a symmetry protected topological phase while its non-interacting limit is a gapless state. The non-trivial topological character appears due to the onset of two degenerate bond-order phases as a function of dimerized interaction which are found to be topologically distinct from each other. As a result a topological phase transition occurs between these bond order phases through a gap closing point. However, in the limit of strong interaction, the bond order phases are connected through a gapped charge density wave phase possessing local antiferromagnetic order. The topological nature is characterized by the edge states, Berry phase and non-local string order parameter. At the end we provide possible experimental signatures of the emergent symmetry protected topological phase transition in terms of Thouless charge pumping and density-density correlation.

Phase diagram of an interacting staggered Su-Schrieffer-Heeger two-chain ladder close to a quantum critical point

We study the ground-state phase diagram of an interacting staggered Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) ladder in the vicinity of the Gaussian quantum critical point. The corresponding effective field theory is a double-frequency sine-Gordon (DSG) model which involves two perturbations at the Gaussian fixed point: the deviation from criticality and Umklapp scattering processes. A topological distinction between thermodynamically equivalent phases becomes only feasible when nonlocal fermionic fields, parity and string order parameter, are included into consideration. We prove that a noninteracting fermionic staggered SSH ladder is exactly equivalent to a O(2)-symmetric model of two decoupled Kitaev-Majorana chains, or two 1D p-wave superconductors. Close to the Gaussian fixed point the SSH ladder maps to an Ashkin-Teller like system when interactions are included. Thus, the topological order in the SSH ladder is related to broken-symmetry phases of the associated quantum spin-chain degrees of freedom. The obtained phase diagram includes a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid state which, due to Umklapp processes, can become unstable against either spontaneous dimerization or the onset of a charge-density wave (CDW). In these gapped phases elementary bulk excitations are quantum kinks carrying the charge QF = 1/2. For sufficiently strong, long-range interactions, the phase diagram of the model exhibits a bifurcation of the Gaussian critical point into two outgoing Ising criticalities. The latter sandwich a mixed phase in which dimerization coexists with a site-diagonal CDW. In this phase elementary bulk excitations are represented by two types of topological solitons carrying different fermionic charges, which continuously interpolate between 0 and 1. This phase has also mixed topological properties with coexisting parity and string order parameters.

Homogeneous and domain-wall topological Haldane conductors with dressed Rydberg atoms

The interplay between antiferromagnetic interaction and hole motion is capable of inducing intriguing conducting topological Haldane phases described by a finite non-local string order parameter. Here we show that these states of matter are captured by the one dimensional $t-J_z$ model which can be experimentally realized with dressed Rydberg atoms trapped onto a one dimensional optical lattice. In the sector with vanishing total magnetization exact Bethe ansatz calculations associated to bosonization technique allow to predict that both metallic and superconducting topological Haldane states can be achieved. With the addition of an appropriate magnetic field the system enters in a domain wall structure with finite total magnetization. In this regime conducting topological Haldane states are confined in domains separated by regions where fully polarized Luttinger liquid occurs. A procedure to dynamically stabilize such Haldane topological phases starting from a confined Ising state is also described

Quantum phase transition and topological order scaling in spin-1 bond-alternating Heisenberg model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

<sec>Quantum phase transitions are driven by quantum fluctuations due to the uncertainty principle in many-body physics. In quantum phase transitions, the ground-state changes dramatically. The quantum entanglement, specific heat, magnetization and other physical quantities diverge according to certain functions, and show specific scaling behaviors. In addition, there is a topological quantum phase transition beyond the conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm, which is relevant to emergent phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems, with topological nonlocal order parameters as a salient feature. Thus, topological order is a new paradigm in the study of topological quantum phase transitions.</sec><sec>To investigate competition mechanism of the different quantum spin interactions, in this paper, the one-dimensional spin-1 bond-alternating Heisenberg model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction is considered. The DM interaction drives the quantum fluctuations resulting in a phase transition. By using the one-dimensional infinite matrix product state algorithm in tensor network representation, the quantum entanglement entropy and order parameters are calculated from the ground-state function. The numerical result shows that with the change of bond alternating strength, there is a quantum phase transition from the topological ordered Haldane phase to the local ordered dimer phase. Based on the von Neumann entropy and order parameter, the phase diagram of this model is obtained. There is a critical line that separates the Haldane and the dimer phase. The DM interaction inhibits the dimerization of the quantum spin system and finally breaks the fully dimerization. Due to the fact that the structurally symmetry of system is broken, the local dimer order exists in the whole parameter range when the bond-alternative strength parameter changes. The first derivative of the local dimer order behaves as a peak corresponding to the critical point. Furthermore, from the numerical scaling of the first derivative of dimer order and the non-local string order near the phase transition point, the characteristic critical exponents <i>α</i> and <i>β</i> are obtained, respectively. It shows that the characteristic critical exponent <i>α</i> decreases, and <i>β</i> increases gradually with the interaction strength of DM increasing. The resulting state i.e. the anti-symmetric anisotropic DM interaction produced by spin-orbit coupling, affects the critical properties of the system in the phase transition. This reveals that the competition mechanism of the quantum spin interaction, also provides some guidance for the future study of the critical behavior in topological quantum phase transition with the DM interaction.</sec>

Simulation and measurement of topological phase transitions with alkaline-earth-metal atoms in optical lattices

We present a proposal to realize and detect topological phase transition in optical lattices with alkaline-earth-metal atoms. Using state-dependent lattices and laser-assisted tunneling, we realize a dimerized spin-$1/2$ antiferromagnetic chain with next-nearest-neighbor coupling. We show that the spin chain hosts two symmetric topological phases and undergoes the topological phase transition when we change the alternating strength of nearest-neighbor couplings. We propose to measure the topological phase transition by detecting the entanglement spectrum and nonlocal string order with a quantum gas microscope. Furthermore, from measurement results, we demonstrate the difference of statistical properties between two topological phases. Our proposal can be a promising platform for simulation of topological phase transition.

String and conventional order parameters in the solvable modulated quantum chain

The phase diagram and the order parameters of the exactly solvable quantum 1D model are analysed. The model in its spin representation is the dimerized XY spin chain in the presence of uniform and staggered transverse fields. In the fermionic representation this model is the dimerized non-interacting Kitaev chain with a modulated chemical potential. The model has a rich phase diagram which contains phases with local and non-local (string) orders. We have calculated within the same systematic framework the local order parameters (spontaneous magnetization) and the non-local string order parameters, along with the topological winding numbers for all domains of the phase diagram. The topologically nontrivial phase is shown to have a peculiar oscillating string order with the wavenumber $q=\pi/2$, awaiting for its experimental confirmation.

Nonlocal string order parameter in the S=12 Kitaev-Heisenberg ladder

We study the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Kitaev-Heisenberg (KJ) model in a two-leg ladder. Without a Heisenberg interaction, the Kitaev phase in the ladder model has Majorana fermions with local Z$_2$ gauge fields, and is usually described as a disordered phase without any order parameter. Here we prove the existence of a non-local string order parameter (SOP) in the Kitaev phase which survives with a finite Heisenberg interaction. The SOP is obtained by relating the Kitaev ladder, through a non-local unitary transformation, to a one-dimensional $XY$ chain with an Ising coupling to a dangling spin at every site. This differentiates the Kitaev phases from other nearby phases including a rung singlet. Two phases with non-zero SOP corresponding to ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic Kitaev interactions are identified. The full phase diagram of the KJ ladder is determined using exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group methods, which shows a striking similarity to the KJ model on a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice.

Asymptotic Correlations in Gapped and Critical Topological Phases of 1D Quantum Systems

Topological phases protected by symmetry can occur in gapped and—surprisingly—in critical systems. We consider non-interacting fermions in one dimension with spinless time-reversal symmetry. It is known that the phases are classified by a topological invariant omega and a central charge c. We investigate the correlations of string operators, giving insight into the interplay between topology and criticality. In the gapped phases, these non-local string order parameters allow us to extract omega . Remarkably, ratios of correlation lengths are universal. In the critical phases, the scaling dimensions of these operators serve as an order parameter, encoding omega and c. We derive exact asymptotics of these correlation functions using Toeplitz determinant theory. We include physical discussion, e.g., relating lattice operators to the conformal field theory. Moreover, we discuss the dual spin chains. Using the aforementioned universality, the topological invariant of the spin chain can be obtained from correlations of local observables.

Bosonic Haldane insulator in the presence of local disorder: A quantum Monte Carlo study

The Haldane phase (HP) is a paradigmatic example of symmetry protected topological phase. We explore how the bosonic HP behaves in the presence of local disorder, employing quantum Monte Carlo simulations of an extended Bose-Hubbard model subject to uncorrelated, quenched disorders. We find that the HP is robust against a weak disorder and the non-local string order of HP exhibits a reentrant behavior. Besides, a direct transition between the HP and superfluid phase is uncovered. A significant part of the ground-state phase diagram is established for the model, unveiling the location of HP surrounded by Bose glass, charge-density-wave–like and superfluid phases. We also mention a possible experimental scheme with optical lattice emulator to realize the present findings.

String order parameters for one-dimensional Floquet symmetry protected topological phases

Floquet symmetry protected topological (FSPT) phases are non-equilibrium topological phases enabled by time-periodic driving. FSPT phases of 1d chains of bosons, spins, or qubits host dynamically protected edge states that can store quantum information without decoherence, making them promising for use as quantum memories. While FSPT order cannot be detected by any local measurement, here we construct non-local string order parameters that directly measure general 1d FSPT order. We propose a superconducting-qubit array based realization of the simplest Ising-FSPT, which can be implemented with existing quantum computing hardware. We devise an interferometric scheme to directly measure the non-local string order using only simple one- and two- qubit operations and single-qubit measurements.

Realizing the Haldane Phase with Bosons in Optical Lattices.

We analyze an experimentally realizable model of bosons in a zigzag optical lattice, showing that, by rapidly modulating the magnetic field, one can tune interaction parameters and realize an analog of the Haldane phase. We explain how quantum gas microscopy can be used to detect this phase's nonlocal string order and its topological edge states. We model the detection process. We also find that this model can display supersolid correlations, but argue that they only occur at parameter values which would be challenging to realize in an experiment.

Resilience of hidden order to symmetry-preserving disorder

We study the robustness of non-local string order in two paradigmatic disordered spin-chain models, a spin-1/2 cluster-Ising and a spin-1 XXZ Heisenberg chain. In the clean case, they both display a transition from antiferromagnetic to string order. Applying a disorder which preserves the Hamiltonian symmetries, we find that the transition persists in both models. In the disordered cluster-Ising model we can study the transition analytically -- by applying the strongest coupling renormalization group -- and numerically -- by exploiting integrability to study the antiferromagnetic and string order parameters. We map the model into a quadratic fermion chain, where the transition appears as a change in the number of zero-energy edge modes. We also explore its zero-temperature-singularity behavior and find a transition from a non-singular to a singular region, at a point that is different from the one separating non-local and local ordering.} The disordered Heisenberg chain can be treated only numerically: by means of MPS-based simulations, we are able to locate the existence of a transition between antiferromagnetic and string-ordered phase, through the study of order parameters. Finally we discuss possible connections of our findings with many body localization.

Constructing Landau framework for topological order: quantum chains and ladders

We studied quantum phase transitions in the antiferromagnetic dimerized spin- XY chain and two-leg ladders. From analysis of several spin models we present our main result: the framework to deal with topological orders and hidden symmetries within the Landau paradigm. After mapping of the spin Hamiltonians onto the tight-binding models with Dirac or Majorana fermions and, when necessary, the mean-field approximation, the analysis can be done analytically. By utilizing duality transformations the calculation of nonlocal string order parameters is mapped onto the local order problem in some dual representation and done without further approximations. Calculated phase diagrams, phase boundaries, order parameters and their symmetries for each of the phases provide a comprehensive quantitative Landau description of the quantum critical properties of the models considered. Complementarily, the phases with hidden orders can also be distinguished by the Pontryagin (winding) numbers which we have calculated as well. This unified framework can be straightforwardly applied for various spin chains and ladders, topological insulators and superconductors. Applications to other systems are under way.

Gaussian phase transition and critical exponents in spin-1 bond-alternative Heisenberg chains

The quantum Gaussian phase transition is investigated for the infinite spin-1 bond-alternative Heisenberg model in one spatial dimension. By using a tensor network representation with an infinite matrix product state approach, the ground state energy, bipartite entanglement entropy, non-local string order, and fidelity per lattice site are calculated to characterize the phase transition. At the quantum phase transition point, the scaling behavior of various physical observables with respect to the finite truncation dimension are discussed for the ground state wavefunctions. In addition, the central charge is extracted from the finite entanglement entropies and the finite correlation lengths. Furthermore, the various critical exponents of the string order are calculated. The characteristic critical exponents and the central charge determine the universality class of the phase transition.

Characterization of topological phases in the compass ladder model

The phase diagram of the quantum compass ladder model is investigated through numerical density matrix renormalization group based on infinite matrix product state algorithm and analytic effective perturbation theory. For this model we obtain two symmetry-protected topological phases, protected by a symmetry, and a topologically-trivial Z2-symmetry-breaking phase. The symmetry-protected topological phases—labeled by symmetry fractionalization—belong to different topological classes, where the complex-conjugate symmetry uniquely distinguishes them. An important result of this classification is that, as revealed by the nature of the Z2-symmetry-breaking phase, the associated quantum phase transitions are accompanied by an explicit symmetry breaking, and thus a local-order parameter conclusively identifies the phase diagram of the underlying model. This is in stark contrast to previous studies which require a non-local string order parameter to distinguish the corresponding quantum phase transitions. We numerically examine our results and show that the local-order parameter is related to the magnetization exponent .

Quantum phase transitions in spin-1 compass chains

The ground-state phase diagram and quantum phase transitions (QPTs) in a spin-1 compass chain are investigated by the infinite time-evolving block decimation (iTEBD) method. Various phases are discerned by energy densities, spin correlations and entanglement entropy. A generalized string correlator is found to be capable of describing the nonlocal string order in the disordered phase. Furthermore, in the noncritical disordered phase, the spin-spin correlations are found to decay exponentially. Except for a multicritical point ($J_{1}=0$, $J_{2}=0$), the QPTs are determined to have second-order characters. In addition, the central charges on these critical phase boundaries are determined to be $c$=1/2, therefore these QPTs belong to the Ising universality class.