Time-evolving Block Decimation Research Articles

Symmetry-protected topological phase transitions and robust chiral order on a tunable zigzag lattice

Symmetry fractionalization, generating a large amount of symmetry-protected topological phases, provides scenarios for continuous phase transitions different from spontaneous symmetry breaking. However, it is hard to detect these symmetry-protected topological phase transitions experimentally. Motivated by the recent development of highly tunable ultracold polar molecules, we show that the setup in a zigzag optical lattice of this system provides a perfect platform to realize symmetry-protected topological phase transitions. By using infinite time-evolving block decimation, we obtain the phase diagram in a large parameter regions and find another scheme to realize the long-sought vector chiral phase, which is robust from quantum fluctuations. We discuss the existence of the chiral phase by an effective field analysis.

Ultrafast nonequilibrium evolution of excitonic modes in semiconductors

We study the time evolution of excitonic states after photo-excitation in the one-dimensional spin-less extended Falicov-Kimball model. Several numerical methods are employed and benchmarked against each other: time-dependent mean-field simulations, the second-Born approximation (2BA) within the Kadanoff-Baym formalism, the generalized Kadanoff-Baym Ansatz (GKBA) implemented with the 2BA and the infinite time-evolving block decimation (iTEBD) method. It is found that the GKBA gives the best agreement with iTEBD and captures the relevant physics. We find that excitations to the particle-hole continuum and resonant excitations of the equilibrium exciton result in a qualitatively different dynamics. In the former case, the exciton binding energy remains positive and the frequency of the corresponding coherent oscillations is smaller than the band gap. On the other hand, resonant excitations trigger a collective mode whose frequency is larger than the band gap. We discuss the origin of these different behaviors by evaluating the nonequilibrium susceptibility using the nonthermal distribution and a random phase approximation. The peculiar mode with frequency larger than the band gap is associated with a partial population inversion with a sharp energy cutoff. We also discuss the effects of the cooling by a phonon bath. We demonstrate the real-time development of coherence in the polarization, which indicates excitonic condensation out of equilibrium.

Isometric Tensor Network States in Two Dimensions.

Tensor-network states (TNS) are a promising but numerically challenging tool for simulating two-dimensional (2D) quantum many-body problems. We introduce an isometric restriction of the TNS ansatz that allows for highly efficient contraction of the network. We consider two concrete applications using this ansatz. First, we show that a matrix-product state representation of a 2D quantum state can be iteratively transformed into an isometric 2D TNS. Second, we introduce a 2D version of the time-evolving block decimation algorithm for approximating of the ground state of a Hamiltonian as an isometric TNS-which we demonstrate for the 2D transverse field Ising model.

Charge-density-wave melting in the one-dimensional Holstein model

We study the Holstein model of spinless fermions, which at half-filling exhibits a quantum phase transition from a metallic Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid phase to an insulating charge-density-wave (CDW) phase at a critical electron-phonon coupling strength. In our work, we focus on the real-time evolution starting from two different types of initial states that are CDW ordered: (i) ideal CDW states with and without additional phonons in the system and (ii) correlated ground states in the CDW phase. We identify the mechanism for CDW melting in the ensuing real-time dynamics and show that it strongly depends on the type of initial state. We focus on the far-from-equilibrium regime and emphasize the role of electron-phonon coupling rather than dominant electronic correlations, thus complementing a previous study of photo-induced CDW melting [H. Hashimoto and S. Ishihara, Phys. Rev. B 96, 035154 (2017)]. The numerical simulations are performed by means of matrix-product-state based methods with a local basis optimization (LBO). Within these techniques, one rotates the local (bosonic) Hilbert spaces adaptively into an optimized basis that can then be truncated while still maintaining a high precision. In this work, we extend the time-evolving block decimation (TEBD) algorithm with LBO, previously applied to single-polaron dynamics, to a half-filled system. We demonstrate that in some parameter regimes, a conventional TEBD method without LBO would fail. Furthermore, we introduce and use a ground-state density-matrix renormalization group method for electron-phonon systems using local basis optimization. In our examples, we account for up to $M_{\rm ph} = 40$ bare phonons per site by working with $O(10)$ optimal phonon modes.

Measurement-induced phase transition: A case study in the nonintegrable model by density-matrix renormalization group calculations

We study the effect of local projective measurements on the quantum quench dynamics. As a concrete example, a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model is simulated by the matrix product state and time-evolving block decimation. We map out a global phase diagram in terms of the measurement rate in spatial space and time domain, which demonstrates a volume-to-area law entanglement phase transition. When the measurement rate reaches the critical value, we observe a logarithmic growth of entanglement entropy as the subsystem size or evolved time increases. Moreover, we find that the probability distribution of the single-site entanglement entropy distinguishes the volume and area law phases, similar to the case of disorder-induced many-body localization. We also investigate the scaling behavior of entanglement entropy and mutual information between two separated sites, which is indicative of a single universality class and thus suggests a possible unified description of this transition.

Simulation of Matrix Product States For Dissipation and Thermalization Dynamics of Open Quantum Systems

We transform the system/reservoir coupling model into a one-dimensional semi-infinite discrete chain through unitary transformation to simulate the open quantum system numerically with the help of time evolving block decimation (TEBD) algorithm. We apply the method to study the dynamics of dissipative systems. We also generate the thermal state of a multimode bath using minimally entangled typical thermal state (METTS) algorithm, and investigate the impact of the thermal bath on an empty system. For both cases, we give an extensive analysis of the impact of the modeling and simulation parameters, and compare the numerics with the analytics.

Propagating large open quantum systems towards their asymptotic states: cluster implementation of the time-evolving block decimation scheme

Many-body quantum systems are subjected to the Curse of Dimensionality: The dimension of the Hilbert space H, where these systems live in, grows exponentially with number of their components. However, with some systems, it is possible to escape the curse by using a low-rank tensor approximation known as “matrix-product state/operator (MPS/O) representation” in the quantum community and “tensor-train decomposition” among applied mathematicians. Motivated by recent advances in computational quantum physics, we consider chains of N spins coupled by nearest-neighbor interactions. The spins are subjected to an action coming from the environment. Spatially disordered interaction and environment-induced decoherence drive systems into non-trivial asymptotic states. The dissipative evolution is modeled with a Markovian master equation in the Lindblad form. By implementing the MPO technique and propagating system states with the time-evolving block decimation scheme, which allows keeping the length of the state descriptions fixed, it is in principle possible to reach the asymptotic states. We propose and realize a cluster implementation of this idea. The implementation on four nodes allowed us to resolve the asymptotic states of the model systems with N = 128 spins (total dimension of the Hilbert space dimH = 2128 ≈ 1039).

Time-evolution methods for matrix-product states

Matrix-product states have become the de facto standard for the representation of one-dimensional quantum many body states. During the last few years, numerous new methods have been introduced to evaluate the time evolution of a matrix-product state. Here, we will review and summarize the recent work on this topic as applied to finite quantum systems. We will explain and compare the different methods available to construct a time-evolved matrix-product state, namely the time-evolving block decimation, the MPO WI,II method, the global Krylov method, the local Krylov method and the one- and two-site time-dependent variational principle. We will also apply these methods to four different representative examples of current problem settings in condensed matter physics.

Numerical simulation of Kerr nonlinear systems; analyzing non-classical dynamics

We simulate coherent driven free dissipative Kerr nonlinear system numerically using Euler’s method by solving Heisenberg equation of motion and time evolving block decimation (TEBD) algorithm, and demonstrate how the numerical results are analogous to classical bistability. The comparison with analytics show that the TEBD numerics follow the quantum mechanical exact solution obtained by mapping the equation of motion of the density matrix of the system to a Fokker-Plank equation . Comparing between two different numerical techniques, we see that the semi-classical Euler’s method gives the dynamics of the system field of one among two coherent branches, whereas TEBD numerics generate the superposition of both of them. Therefore, the time dynamics determined by TEBD numerical method undergoes through a non-classical state which is also shown by determining second order correlation function.

Numerical simulation of critical dissipative non-equilibrium quantum systems with an absorbing state

The simulation of out-of-equilibrium dissipative quantum many body systems is a problem of fundamental interest to a number of fields in physics, ranging from condensed matter to cosmology. For unitary systems, tensor network methods have proved successful and extending these to open systems is a natural avenue for study. In particular, an important question concerns the possibility of approximating the critical dynamics of non-equilibrium systems with tensor networks. Here, we investigate this by performing numerical simulations of a paradigmatic quantum non-equilibrium system with an absorbing state: the quantum contact process. We consider the application of matrix product states and the time-evolving block decimation algorithm to simulate the time-evolution of the quantum contact process at criticality. In the Lindblad formalism, we find that the Heisenberg picture can be used to improve the accuracy of simulations over the Schrödinger approach, which can be understood by considering the evolution of operator-space entanglement. Furthermore, we also consider a quantum trajectories approach, which we find can reproduce the expected universal behaviour of key observables for a significantly longer time than direct simulation of the average state. These improved results provide further evidence that the universality class of the quantum contact process is not directed percolation, which is the class of the classical contact process.

Phase Diagram of the Spin-1/2 Heisenberg Alternating Chain in a Magnetic Field**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11384012 and 11474211

By using the infinite time-evolving block decimation, we study quantum fidelity and entanglement entropy in the spin-1/2 Heisenberg alternating chain under an external magnetic field. The effects of the magnetic field on the fidelity are investigated, and its relation with the quantum phase transition (QPT) is analyzed. The phase diagram of the model is given accordingly, which supports the Haldane phase, the singlet-dimer phase, the Luttinger liquid phase and the paramagnetic phase. The scaling of entanglement entropy in the gapless Luttinger liquid phase is studied, and the central charge c = 1 is obtained. We also study the relationship between the quantum coherence, string order parameter and QPTs. Results obtained from these quantum information observations are consistent with the previous reports.

Spin fluctuations after quantum quenches in the S=1 Haldane chain: Numerical validation of the semi-semiclassical theory

We study quantum quenches in the $S=1$ Heisenberg spin chain and show that the dynamics can be described by the recently developed semi-semiclassical method based on particles propagating along classical trajectories but scattering quantum mechanically. We analyze the non-equilibrium time evolution of the distribution of the total spin in half of the system and compare the predictions of the semi-semiclassical theory with those of a non-Abelian time evolving block decimation (TEBD) algorithm which exploits the SU(2) symmetry. We show that while the standard semiclassical approach using the universal low energy scattering matrix cannot describe the dynamics, the hybrid semiclassical method based on the full scattering matrix gives excellent agreement with the first principles TEBD simulation.

Bloch oscillations of multimagnon excitations in a Heisenberg XXZ chain

The studies of multi-magnon excitations will extend our understandings of quantum magnetism and strongly correlated matters. Here, by using the time-evolving block decimation algorithm, we investigate the Bloch oscillations of two-magnon excitations under a gradient magnetic field. Through analyzing the symmetry of the Hamiltonian, we derive a rigorous and universal relation between ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic systems. Under strong interactions, in addition to free-magnon Bloch oscillations, there appear fractional bounded-magnon Bloch oscillations which can be understood by an effective single-particle model. To extract the frequencies of Bloch oscillations and determine the gradient of magnetic field, we respectively calculate the fidelity in the time domain and the sub-standard deviation in the frequency domain. Our study not only explore the interaction-induced Bloch oscillations of multi-magnon excitations, but also provides an alternative approach to determine the gradient of magnetic field via ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

Universal scrambling in gapless quantum spin chains

Information scrambling, characterized by the out-of-time-ordered correlator (OTOC), has attracted much attention, as it sheds new light on chaotic dynamics in quantum many-body systems. The scale invariance, which appears near the quantum critical region in condensed matter physics, is considered to be important for the fast decay of the OTOC. In this paper, we focus on the one-dimensional spin-1/2 XXZ model, which exhibits quantum criticality in a certain parameter region, and investigate the relationship between scrambling and the scale invariance. We quantify scrambling by the averaged OTOC over the Pauli operator basis, which is related to the operator space entanglement entropy (OSEE). Using the infinite time-evolving block decimation method, we numerically calculate time dependence of the OSEE in the early-time region in the thermodynamic limit. We show that the averaged OTOC decays faster in the gapless region than in the gapped region. In the gapless region, the averaged OTOC behaves in the same manner regardless of the anisotropy parameter. This result is consistent with the fact that the low-energy excitations of the gapless region belong to the same universality class as the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid with the central charge $c=1$. Furthermore, we estimate $c$ by fitting the numerical data of the OSEE with an analytical result of the two-dimensional conformal field theory, and confirm that $c$ is close to unity. Thus, our numerical results suggest that the scale invariance leads to a universal behavior of the OTOC that is independent of the anisotropic parameter, which reflects the universality of the two-dimensional conformal field theory at low temperatures. Although the one-dimensional XXZ model is integrable, our results suggest such a universal behavior of generic nonintegrable systems, because the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid serves as a low-energy effective theory for many nonintegrable and integrable systems. On the other hand, the OTOC in our numerical result does not exhibit the exponential decay, as our parameter regime is far from the semiclassical limit.

Tensor-network approach to compute genuine multisite entanglement in infinite quantum spin chains

We devise a method based on the tensor-network formalism to calculate genuine multisite entanglement in ground states of infinite spin chains containing spin-1/2 or spin-1 quantum particles. The ground state is obtained by employing an infinite time-evolving block decimation method acting upon an initial matrix product state for the infinite spin system. We explicitly show how such infinite matrix product states with translational invariance provide a natural framework to derive the generalized geometric measure, a computable measure of genuine multisite entanglement, in the thermodynamic limit of quantum many-body systems with both spin-1/2 and higher-spin particles.

Exactly Solvable Points and Symmetry Protected Topological Phases of Quantum Spins on a Zig-Zag Lattice.

A large number of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases have been hypothesized for strongly interacting spin-1/2 systems in one dimension. Realizing these SPT phases, however, often demands fine-tunings hard to reach experimentally. And the lack of analytical solutions hinders the understanding of their many-body wave functions. Here we show that two kinds of SPT phases naturally arise for ultracold polar molecules confined in a zigzag optical lattice. This system, motivated by recent experiments, is described by a spin model whose exchange couplings can be tuned by an external field to reach parameter regions not studied before for spin chains or ladders. Within the enlarged parameter space, we find the ground state wave function can be obtained exactly along a line and at a special point, for these two phases, respectively. These exact solutions provide a clear physical picture for the SPT phases and their edge excitations. We further obtain the phase diagram by using infinite time-evolving block decimation and discuss the phase transitions between the two SPT phases and their experimental signatures.

Driving XXZ spin chains: Magnetic-field and boundary effects

Using the time-evolving block decimation, we study the spin transport through spin-(1/2) and spin-1 XXZ chains subjected to an external magnetic field and contacted to noninteracting fermionic leads. For generic system-lead couplings, the spin conductance exhibits several resonances as a function of the magnetic-field strength. In the spin-(1/2) but not the spin-1 case, the coupling to the leads can be fine-tuned to reach a conducting fixed point, where the peak structure is washed out and the spin conductance is large throughout the gapless Luttinger-liquid phase. For the Haldane phase of the spin-1 chain, we analyse how the spin transport is affected by spin-(1/2) edge states, and argue that two-impurity Kondo physics is realised.

Single-excitation correlation dynamics of polar molecules on 1D lattices: driving by external electric fields

Abstract We study a LiCs strongly-interacting 1D molecular lattice system in the Mott insulator regime, allowing one molecule per site prepared in the lowest electronic and vibrational state in presence of a perpendicular electric field. At large intermolecular distance and low filling, the dipole-dipole interaction in the nearest-neighbor approximation governs the dynamics exchange of the two allowed rotational levels, we analyze it for several field strengths. The generated von Neumann entanglement entropy and its monotonically growth in short-term evolutions is shown. The potential of these molecular systems to be used in quantum information protocols is enhanced by the early emergence of a long-range order in the single-particle density matrix correlator throughout the lattice as here we present. Contrary of the widely used two-level approach, our results clearly show that the full four set of internal rotational projections must be taken into account. The numerical simulations are performed by means of the Time-Evolving Block Decimation algorithm based on the Matrix Product State formalism and the Susuki-Trotter decomposition.

Topological transition between competing orders in quantum spin chains

We study quantum phase transitions between competing orders in one-dimensional spin systems. We focus on systems that can be mapped to a dual-field double sine-Gordon model as a bosonized effective field theory. This model contains two pinning potential terms of dual fields that stabilize competing orders and allows different types of quantum phase transition to happen between two ordered phases. At the transition point, elementary excitations change from the topological soliton of one of the dual fields to that of the other, thus it can be characterized as a topological transition. We compute the dynamical susceptibilities and the entanglement entropy, which gives us access to the central charge, of the system using a numerical technique of infinite time-evolving block decimation and characterize the universality class of the transition as well as the nature of the order in each phase. The possible realizations of such transitions in experimental systems both for condensed matter and cold atomic gases are also discussed.

Energy transport in a disordered spin chain with broken U(1) symmetry: Diffusion, subdiffusion, and many-body localization

We explore the physics of the disordered XYZ spin chain using two complementary numerical techniques: exact diagonalization (ED) on chains of up to 17 spins, and time-evolving block decimation (TEBD) on chains of up to 400 spins. Our principal findings are as follows. First, the clean XYZ spin chain shows ballistic energy transport for all parameter values that we investigated. Second, for weak disorder there is a stable diffusive region that persists up to a critical disorder strength that depends on the XY anisotropy. Third, for disorder strengths above this critical value energy transport becomes increasingly subdiffusive. Fourth, the many-body localization transition moves to significantly higher disorder strengths as the XY anisotropy is increased. We discuss these results, and their relation to our current physical picture of subdiffusion in the approach to many-body localization.