Model Realization and Numerical Studies of a Three-Dimensional Bosonic Topological Insulator and Symmetry-Enriched Topological Phases

We study a topological phase of interacting bosons in (3+1) dimensions which is protected by charge conservation and time-reversal symmetry. We present an explicit lattice model which realizes this phase and which can be studied in sign-free Monte Carlo simulations. The idea behind our model is to bind bosons to topological defects called hedgehogs. We determine the phase diagram of the model and identify a phase where such bound states are proliferated. In this phase we observe a Witten effect in the bulk whereby an external monopole binds half of the elementary boson charge, which confirms that it is a bosonic topological insulator. We also study the boundary between the topological insulator and a trivial insulator. We find a surface phase diagram which includes exotic superfluids, a topologically ordered phase, and a phase with a Hall effect quantized to one-half of the value possible in a purely two-dimensional system. We also present models that realize symmetry-enriched topologically-ordered phases by binding multiple hedgehogs to each boson; these phases show charge fractionalization and intrinsic topological order as well as a fractional Witten effect.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figure

Variational study of J_(1)-J_(2) Heisenberg model on kagome lattice using projected Schwinger-boson wave functions

Motivated by the unabating interest in the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic model on the kagome lattice, we investigate the energetics of projected Schwinger-boson (SB) wave functions in the J_(1)-J_(2) model with antiferromagnetic J_(2) coupling. Our variational Monte Carlo results show that Sachdev’s Q_(1)=Q_(2) SB ansatz has a lower energy than the Dirac spin liquid for J_(2) ≳ 0.08J_(1) and the q=0 Jastrow-type magnetically ordered state. This work demonstrates that the projected SB wave functions can be tested on the same footing as their fermionic counterparts

Study of a hard-core boson model with ring-only interactions

We present a Quantum Monte Carlo study of a hardcore boson model with ring-only exchanges on a square lattice, where a $K_1$ term acts on 1$\times$1 plaquettes and a $K_2$ term acts on 1$\times$2 and 2$\times$1 plaquettes. At half-filling, the phase diagram reveals charge density wave for small $K_2$, valence bond solid for intermediate $K_2$, and possibly for large $K_2$ the novel Exciton Bose Liquid (EBL) phase first proposed by Paramekanti, et al[Phys. Rev. B {\bf 66}, 054526 (2002)]. Away from half-filling, the EBL phase is present already for intermediate $K_2$ and remains stable for a range of densities below 1/2 before phase separation sets in at lower densitiesComment: 4 page

Origin of artificial electrodynamics in three-dimensional bosonic models

Several simple models of strongly correlated bosons on three-dimensional lattices have been shown to possess exotic fractionalized Mott insulating phases with a gapless "photon" excitation. In this paper we show how to view the physics of this "Coulomb" state in terms of the excitations of proximate superfluid. We argue for the presence of ordered vortex cores with a broken discrete symmetry in the nearby superfluid phase and that proliferating these degenerate but distinct vortices with equal amplitudes produces the Coulomb phase. This provides a simple physical description of the origin of the exotic excitations of the Coulomb state. The physical picture is formalized by means of a dual description of three-dimensional bosonic systems in terms of fluctuating quantum mechanical vortex loops. Such a dual formulation is extensively developed. It is shown how the Coulomb phase (as well as various other familiar phases) of three-dimensional bosonic systems may be described in this vortex loop theory. For bosons at half-filling and the closely related system of spin-1/2 quantum magnets on a cubic lattice, fractionalized phases as well as bond- or "box"-ordered states are possible. The latter are analyzed by an extension of techniques previously developed in two spatial dimensions. The relation between these "confining" phases with broken translational symmetry and the fractionalized Coulomb phase is exposed

Exact Quantum Many-Body Scar States in the Rydberg-Blockaded Atom Chain

A recent experiment in the Rydberg atom chain observed unusual oscillatory quench dynamics with a charge density wave initial state, and theoretical works identified a set of many-body "scar states" showing nonthermal behavior in the Hamiltonian as potentially responsible for the atypical dynamics. In the same nonintegrable Hamiltonian, we discover several eigenstates at \emph{infinite temperature} that can be represented exactly as matrix product states with finite bond dimension, for both periodic boundary conditions (two exact $E = 0$ states) and open boundary conditions (two $E = 0$ states and one each $E = \pm \sqrt{2}$). This discovery explicitly demonstrates violation of strong eigenstate thermalization hypothesis in this model and uncovers exact quantum many-body scar states. These states show signatures of translational symmetry breaking with period-2 bond-centered pattern, despite being in one dimension at infinite temperature. We show that the nearby many-body scar states can be well approximated as "quasiparticle excitations" on top of our exact $E = 0$ scar states, and propose a quasiparticle explanation of the strong oscillations observed in experiments.Comment: Published version. In addition to (v2): (1) Add additional proofs to the exact scar states and intuitions behind SMA and MMA to the appendices. (2) Add entanglement scaling of SMA and MMA to the appendice

Eta-pairing states as true scars in an extended Hubbard Model

The eta-pairing states are a set of exactly known eigenstates of the Hubbard model on hypercubic lattices, first discovered by Yang [Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 2144 (1989)]. These states are not many-body scar states in the Hubbard model because they occupy unique symmetry sectors defined by the so-called "eta-pairing SU(2)" symmetry. We study an extended Hubbard model with bond-charge interactions, popularized by Hirsch [Physica C 158, 326 (1989)], where the eta-pairing states survive without the eta-pairing symmetry and become true scar states. We also discuss similarities between the eta-pairing states and exact scar towers in the spin-1 XY model found by Schecter and Iadecola [Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 147201 (2019)], and systematically arrive at all nearest-neighbor terms that preserve such scar towers in 1D. We also generalize these terms to arbitrary bipartite lattices. Our study of the spin-1 XY model also leads us to several new scarred models, including a spin-1/2 $J_1-J_2$ model with Dzyaloshinkskii-Moriya interaction, in realistic quantum magnet settings in 1D and 2D.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure. v2 updates references and adds new Appendices. The new Appendix D discusses new spin models with scar tower

Monte Carlo Study of a U(1)×U(1)U(1)\times U(1) Loop Model with Modular Invariance

We study a $U(1)\times U(1)$ system in (2+1)-dimensions with long-range interactions and mutual statistics. The model has the same form after the application of operations from the modular group, a property which we call modular invariance. Using the modular invariance of the model, we propose a possible phase diagram. We obtain a sign-free reformulation of the model and study it in Monte Carlo. This study confirms our proposed phase diagram. We use the modular invariance to analytically determine the current-current correlation functions and conductivities in all the phases in the diagram, as well as at special "fixed" points which are unchanged by an operation from the modular group. We numerically determine the order of the phase transitions, and find segments of second-order transitions. For the statistical interaction parameter $\theta=\pi$, these second-order transitions are evidence of a critical loop phase obtained when both loops are trying to condense simulataneously. We also measure the critical exponents of the second-order transitions.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figure

Deconfined quantum critical point in one dimension

We perform a numerical study of a spin-1/2 model with $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry in one dimension which demonstrates an interesting similarity to the physics of two-dimensional deconfined quantum critical points (DQCP). Specifically, we investigate the quantum phase transition between Ising ferromagnetic and valence bond solid (VBS) symmetry-breaking phases. Working directly in the thermodynamic limit using uniform matrix product states, we find evidence for a direct continuous phase transition that lies outside of the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. In our model, the continuous transition is found everywhere on the phase boundary. We find that the magnetic and VBS correlations show very close power law exponents, which is expected from the self-duality of the parton description of this DQCP. Critical exponents vary continuously along the phase boundary in a manner consistent with the predictions of the field theory for this transition. We also find a regime where the phase boundary splits, as suggested by the theory, introducing an intermediate phase of coexisting ferromagnetic and VBS order parameters. Interestingly, we discover a transition involving this coexistence phase which is similar to the DQCP, being also disallowed by Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson symmetry-breaking theory.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figure