Solvable Spin Research Articles

Multi-solitons of the half-wave maps equation and Calogero–Moser spin–pole dynamics

We consider the half-wave maps (HWM) equation which provides a continuum description of the classical Haldane–Shastry spin chain on the real line. We present exact multi-soliton solutions of this equation. Our solutions describe solitary spin excitations that can move with different velocities and interact in a non-trivial way. We make an ansatz for the solution allowing for an arbitrary number of solitons, each described by a pole in the complex plane and a complex spin variable, and we show that the HWM equation is satisfied if these poles and spins evolve according to the dynamics of an exactly solvable spin Calogero–Moser (CM) system with certain constraints on initial conditions. We also find first order equations providing a Bäcklund transformation of this spin CM system, generalize our results to the periodic HWM equation, and provide plots that visualize our soliton solutions.

Exact solution of a cluster model with next-nearest-neighbor interaction

Abstract A 1D cluster model with next-nearest-neighbor interactions and two additional composite interactions is solved; the free energy is obtained and a correlation function is derived exactly. The model is diagonalized by a transformation obtained automatically from its interactions, which is an algebraic generalization of the Jordan–Wigner transformation. The gapless condition is expressed as a condition on the roots of a cubic equation, and the phase diagram is obtained exactly. We find that the distribution of roots for this algebraic equation determines the existence of long-range order, and we again obtain the ground-state phase diagram. We also derive the central charges of the corresponding conformal field theory. Finally, we note that our results are universally valid for an infinite number of solvable spin chains whose interactions obey the same algebraic relations.

Performance evaluation of adiabatic quantum computation via quantum speed limits and possible applications to many-body systems

The quantum speed limit specifies a universal bound of the fidelity between the initial state and the time-evolved state. We apply this method to find a bound of the fidelity between the adiabatic state and the time-evolved state. The bound is characterized by the counterdiabatic Hamiltonian and can be used to evaluate the worst case performance of the adiabatic quantum computation. The result is improved by imposing additional conditions and we examine several models to find a tight bound. We also derive a different type of quantum speed limits that is meaningful even when we take the thermodynamic limit. By using solvable spin models, we study how the performance and the bound are affected by phase transitions.

Characterization of solvable spin models via graph invariants

Exactly solvable models are essential in physics. For many-body spin-1/2systems, an important class of such models consists of those that can be mapped to free fermions hopping on a graph. We provide a complete characterization of models which can be solved this way. Specifically, we reduce the problem of recognizing such spin models to the graph-theoretic problem of recognizing line graphs, which has been solved optimally. A corollary of our result is a complete set of constant-sized commutation structures that constitute the obstructions to a free-fermion solution. We find that symmetries are tightly constrained in these models. Pauli symmetries correspond to either: (i) cycles on the fermion hopping graph, (ii) the fermion parity operator, or (iii) logically encoded qubits. Clifford symmetries within one of these symmetry sectors, with three exceptions, must be symmetries of the free-fermion model itself. We demonstrate how several exact free-fermion solutions from the literature fit into our formalism and give an explicit example of a new model previously unknown to be solvable by free fermions.

Theory of Two-Dimensional Nonlinear Spectroscopy for the Kitaev Spin Liquid.

Unambiguous identification of fractionalized excitations in quantum spin liquids has been a long-standing issue in correlated topological phases. Conventional spectroscopic probes, such as the dynamical spin structure factor, can only detect composites of fractionalized excitations, leading to a broad continuum in energy. Lacking a clear signature in conventional probes has been the biggest obstacle in the field. In this work, we theoretically investigate what kinds of distinctive signatures of fractionalized excitations can be probed in two-dimensional nonlinear spectroscopy by considering the exactly solvable Kitaev spin liquids. We demonstrate the existence of a number of salient features of the Majorana fermions and fluxes in two-dimensional nonlinear spectroscopy, which provide crucial information about such excitations.

Generalizations of exactly solvable quantum spin models

Several generalizations of one-dimensional and two-dimensional exactly solvable low-dimensional quantum spin-1/2 models, some of which contain off-diagonal terms of the exchange tensor, are proposed. It is shown that off-diagonal terms of the exchange (symmetric or nonsymmetric with respect to the exchange of spins) yield renormalization of the diagonal ones and phase shifts. The latter can be moved to eigenfunctions of the models and do not affect eigenvalues for open geometries of the lattices. For closed geometries of the lattices the phase shifts manifest themselves in the finite size corrections. The advantage of the proposed models is in their simplicity and in possible realizations of the models in a number of applications, e.g., for the description of the wide variety of correlated electron systems, ultracold atoms, and in the theory of topological quantum computation.

Non-Abelian chiral spin liquid on a simple non-Archimedean lattice

We extend the scope of Kitaev spin liquids to non-Archimedean lattices. For the pentaheptite lattice, which results from the proliferation of Stone-Wales defects on the honeycomb lattice, we find an exactly solvable non-Abelian chiral spin liquid with spontaneous time reversal symmetry breaking due to lattice loops of odd length. Our findings call for potential extensions of exact results for Kitaev models which are based on reflection positivity, which is not fulfilled by the pentaheptite lattice. We further elaborate on potential realizations of our chiral spin liquid proposal in strained $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$.

Exact solution to a class of generalized Kitaev spin-1/2 models in arbitrary dimensions

We construct a class of exactly solvable generalized Kitaev spin-1/2 models in arbitrary dimensions, which is beyond the category of quantum compass models. The Jordan-Wigner transformation is employed to prove the exact solvability. An exactly solvable quantum spin-1/2 model can be mapped to a gas of free Majorana fermions coupled to static Z2 gauge fields. We classify these exactly solvable models according to their parent models. Any model belonging to this class can be generated by one of the parent models. For illustration, a two dimensional (2D) tetragon-octagon model and a three dimensional (3D) xy bond model are studied.

Intrinsic jump character of first-order quantum phase transitions

We find that the first-order quantum phase transitions~(QPTs) are characterized by intrinsic jumps of relevant operators while the continuous ones are not. Based on such an observation, we propose a bond reversal method where a quantity $\mathcal{D}$, the difference of bond strength~(DBS), is introduced to judge whether a QPT is of first order or not. This method is firstly applied to an exactly solvable spin-$1/2$ \textit{XXZ} Heisenberg chain and a quantum Ising chain with longitudinal field where distinct jumps of $\mathcal{D}$ appear at the first-order transition points for both cases. We then use it to study the topological QPT of a cross-coupled~($J_{\times}$) spin ladder where the Haldane--rung-singlet transition switches from being continuous to exhibiting a first-order character at $J_{\times, I} \simeq$ 0.30(2). Finally, we study a recently proposed one-dimensional analogy of deconfined quantum critical point connecting two ordered phases in a spin-$1/2$ chain. We rule out the possibility of weakly first-order QPT because the DBS is smooth when crossing the transition point. Moreover, we affirm that such transition belongs to the Gaussian universality class with the central charge $c$ = 1.

Frustration phenomenon in the spin-1/2 Ising–Heisenberg planar model of inter-connected trigonal bipyramid structures

Ground-state and finite-temperature properties of the exactly solvable mixed spin-1/2 Ising–Heisenberg planar model composed of identical trigonal bipyramids that are arranged into a regular archimedean lattice are examined with the aim to clarify the frustration phenomenon at zero and finite temperatures. It is shown that the ground-state spin frustration persists even far above the second-order phase transition. If the interaction ratio between the Heisenberg and Ising exchange interactions is close enough to the ground-state boundaries between the neighboring phases, a remarkable re-entrance of the (non-)frustrated spin arrangement of the Heisenberg spins can be observed around the critical temperature of the model. It is also evidenced that entropy and specific heat show pronounced temperature variations not only around the critical temperature, but also in low-temperature regime if values of the interaction parameters are taken from neighborhood of the ground-state phase transitions, where energies of the neighboring phases are very close.

Consequences of residual-entropy hierarchy violation for behavior of the specific heat capacity in frustrated magnetic systems: An exact theoretical analysis.

We investigate in detail the influence of the violation of the strict residual-entropy hierarchy among the neighboring ground states of different orders on the low-temperature behavior of the specific heat capacity in the magnetic frustrated systems in the framework of the exactly solvable antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Ising model with the multisite interaction in the presence of the external magnetic field on the zigzag ladder. The exact expressions for the residual entropies of all ground states of the model are found, and it is shown that when the strength of the multisite interaction is strong enough then the model exhibits a quite interesting specific situation, namely, that there exist neighboring plateau ground states together with the single-point ground state that separates them, such that the magnetization properties of all of them are different but their entropy per site is the same and equal to zero. It is shown that this fact of the violation of the strict residual-entropy hierarchy between neighboring ground states of different orders leads to the reduction of the possible number of peaks that can appear in the low-temperature behavior of the specific heat capacity in the corresponding regions of the model parametric space. In addition, it is also shown that the absence of the strict residual-entropy hierarchy among neighboring ground states of different orders changes qualitatively the behavior of the specific heat capacity as a function of the external magnetic field, namely, that the typical field-induced sharp double-peak structure in the low-temperature behavior of the specific heat capacity, which is directly related to the very existence of the highly macroscopically degenerated single-point ground states, disappears already for relatively large values of the temperature.

Pristine Mott insulator from an exactly solvable spin- 12 Kitaev model

We propose an exactly solvable quantum spin-1/2 model with time reversal invariance on a two dimensional brick-wall lattice, where each unit cell consists of three sites. We find that the ground states are algebraic quantum spin liquid states. The spinon excitations are gapless and the energy dispersion is linear around two Dirac points. The ground states are of three-fold topological degeneracy on a torus. Breaking the time reversal symmetry opens a bulk energy gap and the $Z_2$ vortices obey non-Abelian statistics.

Fractons

Fracton phases constitute a new class of quantum state of matter. They are characterized by excitations that exhibit restricted mobility, being either immobile under local Hamiltonian dynamics or mobile only in certain directions. These phases do not wholly fit into any of the existing paradigms but connect to areas including glassy quantum dynamics, topological order, spin liquids, elasticity theory, quantum information theory, and gravity. We begin by discussing gapped fracton phases, which may be described using exactly solvable lattice spin models. We then introduce the framework of tensor gauge theory, which provides a powerful complementary perspective and allows us to access gapless fracton phases. We discuss the basic properties of gapless fracton phases and their connections to elasticity theory and gravity. We also discuss what is known about the dynamics and thermodynamics of fractons at nonzero density before concluding with a brief survey of some open problems.

Quantum correlations and entanglement in a Kitaev-type spin chain

The entanglement and quantum correlation measures have been investigated for the ground state of a spin chain with a Kitaev-type exchange interactions on alternating bonds, along with a transverse magnetic field. There is a macroscopic degeneracy in the ground state for zero magnetic field, implying a quantum critical point. But peculiarly in this model, the entanglement measures do not show any singular behavior in the vicinity of the critical point, as seen in the transverse Ising model ground state and related models. We have investigated different correlation measures analytically, that have been used for many solvable spin systems to track a quantum critical point. We compute the pair concurrence measure of entanglement, the pair quantum discord to track the quantum correlations, and a global entanglement measure and a multi-species entanglement measure to investigate multi-party entanglement, both analytically and numerically. The nearest-neighbor concurrence shows a peak structure as a function of magnetic field, near the critical point, for various values of the ratio of interaction strengths, but its derivative does not show a singular behavior close to the critical point. A similar behavior is shown by the quantum discord and the global entanglement. The multi-species entanglement shows the most-pronounced signature of the critical point, in its first-order derivative, though the entanglement and its derivatives have a smooth behavior in the critical region.

Macroscopic ground-state degeneracy and magnetocaloric effect in the exactly solvable spin-1/2 Ising–Heisenberg double-tetrahedral chain

The ground-state degeneracy and magnetocaloric effect in the spin-1/2 Ising–Heisenberg double-tetrahedral chain are exactly investigated. It is demonstrated that the zero-temperature phase diagram involves two classical and two quantum chiral phases with distinct degrees of the macroscopic degeneracy. Different macroscopic degeneracies observed in the latter phases and at individual ground-state phase transitions are confirmed by multiple-peak dependencies of the specific heat and entropy on the magnetic field. The cooling capability of the model is well illustrated by the magnetic-field variations of the isothermal entropy change, temperature isotherms and the magnetic Grüneisen parameter.

Multipeak low-temperature behavior of specific heat capacity in frustrated magnetic systems: An exact theoretical analysis.

We investigate in detail the process of formation of the multipeak low-temperature structure in the behavior of the specific heat capacity in frustrated magnetic systems in the framework of the exactly solvable antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Ising model with the multisite interaction in the presence of the external magnetic field on the kagome-like Husimi lattice. The behavior of the entropy of the model is studied and exact values of the residual entropies of all ground states are found. It is shown that the multipeak structure in the behavior of the specific heat capacity is related to the formation of the multilevel hierarchical ordering in the system of all ground states of the model. Direct relation between the maximal number of peaks in the specific heat capacity behavior and the number of independent interactions in studied frustrated magnetic system is identified. The mechanism of the formation of the multipeak structure in the specific heat capacity is described and studied in detail, and it is generalized to frustrated magnetic systems with arbitrary numbers of independent interactions.

Antiferromagnetic geometric frustration under the influence of the next-nearest-neighbor interaction. An exactly solvable model

The influence of the next-nearest-neighbor interaction on the properties of the geometrically frustrated antiferromagnetic systems is investigated in the framework of the exactly solvable antiferromagnetic spin-1∕2 Ising model in the external magnetic field on the square-kagome recursive lattice, where the next-nearest-neighbor interaction is supposed between sites within each elementary square of the lattice. The thermodynamic properties of the model are investigated in detail and it is shown that the competition between the nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interaction and the next-nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic interaction changes properties of the single-point ground states but does not change the frustrated character of the basic model. On the other hand, the presence of the antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor interaction leads to the enhancement of the frustration effects with the formation of additional plateau and single-point ground states at low temperatures. Exact expressions for magnetizations and residual entropies of all ground states of the model are found. It is shown that the model exhibits various ground states with the same value of magnetization but different macroscopic degeneracies as well as the ground states with different values of magnetization but the same value of the residual entropy. The specific heat capacity is investigated and it is shown that the model exhibits the Schottky-type anomaly behavior in the vicinity of each single-point ground state value of the magnetic field. The formation of the field-induced double-peak structure of the specific heat capacity at low temperatures is demonstrated and it is shown that its very existence is directly related to the presence of highly macroscopically degenerated single-point ground states in the model.

Adiabatic cooling processes in frustrated magnetic systems with pyrochlore structure.

We investigate in detail the process of adiabatic cooling in the framework of the exactly solvable antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Ising model in the presence of the external magnetic field on an approximate lattice with pyrochlore structure. The behavior of the entropy of the model is studied and exact values of the residual entropies of all ground states are found. The temperature variation of the system under adiabatic (de)magnetization is investigated and the central role of the macroscopically degenerated ground states in cooling processes is explicitly demonstrated. It is shown that the model parameter space of the studied geometrically frustrated system is divided into five disjunct regions with qualitatively different processes of the adiabatic cooling. The effectiveness of the adiabatic (de)magnetization cooling in the studied model is compared to the corresponding processes in paramagnetic salts. It is shown that the processes of the adiabatic cooling in the antiferromagnetic frustrated systems are much more effective especially in nonzero external magnetic fields. It means that the frustrated magnetic materials with pyrochlore structure can be considered as very promising refrigerants mainly in the situations with nonzero final values of the magnetic field.

Highly macroscopically degenerated single-point ground states as source of specific heat capacity anomalies in magnetic frustrated systems

Anomalies of the specific heat capacity are investigated in the framework of the exactly solvable antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Ising model in the external magnetic field on the geometrically frustrated tetrahedron recursive lattice. It is shown that the Schottky-type anomaly in the behavior of the specific heat capacity is related to the existence of unique highly macroscopically degenerated single-point ground states which are formed on the borders between neighboring plateau-like ground states. It is also shown that the very existence of these single-point ground states with large residual entropies predicts the appearance of another anomaly in the behavior of the specific heat capacity for low temperatures, namely, the field-induced double-peak structure, which exists, and should be observed experimentally, along with the Schottky-type anomaly in various frustrated magnetic system.

The gap of the area-weighted Motzkin spin chain is exponentially small

We prove that the energy gap of the model proposed by Zhang et al (2016 arXiv:1606.07795) is exponentially small in the square of the system size. In Movassagh and Shor (2016 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA) a class of exactly solvable quantum spin chain models was proposed that have integer spins (s), with a nearest neighbors Hamiltonian, and a unique ground state. The ground state can be seen as a uniform superposition of all s-colored Motzkin walks. The half-chain entanglement entropy provably violates the area law by a square root factor in the system’s size (∼) for s > 1. For s = 1, the violation is logarithmic (Bravyi et al 2012 Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 207202). Moreover in Movassagh and Shor (2016 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA) it was proved that the gap vanishes polynomially and is O(n−c) with .Recently, a deformation of Movassagh and Shor (2016 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA), which we call ‘weighted Motzkin quantum spin chain’ was proposed Zhang et al (2016 arXiv:1606.07795). This model has a unique ground state that is a superposition of the s-colored Motzkin walks weighted by with t > 1. The most surprising feature of this model is that it violates the area law by a factor of n. Here we prove that the gap of this model is upper bounded by for t > 1 and s > 1.