563 research outputs found
Edge states and the bulk-boundary correspondence in Dirac Hamiltonians
We present an analytic prescription for computing the edge dispersion E(k) of
a tight-binding Dirac Hamiltonian terminated at an abrupt crystalline edge.
Specifically, we consider translationally invariant Dirac Hamiltonians with
nearest-layer interaction. We present and prove a geometric formula that
relates the existence of surface states as well as their energy dispersion to
properties of the bulk Hamiltonian. We further prove the bulk-boundary
correspondence between the Chern number and the chiral edge modes for quantum
Hall systems within the class of Hamiltonians studied in the paper. Our results
can be extended to the case of continuum theories which are quadratic in the
momentum, as well as other symmetry classes.Comment: 8 pages + appendice
Topological Defects on the Lattice I: The Ising model
In this paper and its sequel, we construct topologically invariant defects in
two-dimensional classical lattice models and quantum spin chains. We show how
defect lines commute with the transfer matrix/Hamiltonian when they obey the
defect commutation relations, cousins of the Yang-Baxter equation. These
relations and their solutions can be extended to allow defect lines to branch
and fuse, again with properties depending only on topology. In this part I, we
focus on the simplest example, the Ising model. We define lattice spin-flip and
duality defects and their branching, and prove they are topological. One useful
consequence is a simple implementation of Kramers-Wannier duality on the torus
and higher genus surfaces by using the fusion of duality defects. We use these
topological defects to do simple calculations that yield exact properties of
the conformal field theory describing the continuum limit. For example, the
shift in momentum quantization with duality-twisted boundary conditions yields
the conformal spin 1/16 of the chiral spin field. Even more strikingly, we
derive the modular transformation matrices explicitly and exactly.Comment: 45 pages, 9 figure
Quantum dynamics of thermalizing systems
We introduce a method "DMT" for approximating density operators of 1D systems
that, when combined with a standard framework for time evolution (TEBD), makes
possible simulation of the dynamics of strongly thermalizing systems to
arbitrary times. We demonstrate that the method performs well for both
near-equilibrium initial states (Gibbs states with spatially varying
temperatures) and far-from-equilibrium initial states, including quenches
across phase transitions and pure states
Stability of zero modes in parafermion chains
One-dimensional topological phases can host localized zero-energy modes that
enable high-fidelity storage and manipulation of quantum information. Majorana
fermion chains support a classic example of such a phase, having zero modes
that guarantee two-fold degeneracy in all eigenstates up to exponentially small
finite-size corrections. Chains of `parafermions'---generalized Majorana
fermions---also support localized zero modes, but, curiously, only under much
more restricted circumstances. We shed light on the enigmatic zero mode
stability in parafermion chains by analytically and numerically studying the
spectrum and developing an intuitive physical picture in terms of domain-wall
dynamics. Specifically, we show that even if the system resides in a gapped
topological phase with an exponentially accurate ground-state degeneracy,
higher-energy states can exhibit a splitting that scales as a power law with
system size---categorically ruling out exact localized zero modes. The
transition to power-law behavior is described by critical behavior appearing
exclusively within excited states.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures; substantial improvements to chiral case,
coauthor added. Published 7 October 201
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