19,071 research outputs found
Two-dimensional imaging of gauge fields in optical lattices
We propose a scheme to generate an arbitrary Abelian vector potential for
atoms trapped in a two-dimensional optical lattice. By making the optical
lattice potential dependent on the atomic state, we transform the problem into
that of a two-dimensional imaging. It is shown that an arbitrarily fine pattern
of the gauge field in the lattice can be realized without need of
diffraction-limited imaging.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Quasi-adiabatic Continuation of Quantum States: The Stability of Topological Ground State Degeneracy and Emergent Gauge Invariance
We define for quantum many-body systems a quasi-adiabatic continuation of
quantum states. The continuation is valid when the Hamiltonian has a gap, or
else has a sufficiently small low-energy density of states, and thus is away
from a quantum phase transition. This continuation takes local operators into
local operators, while approximately preserving the ground state expectation
values. We apply this continuation to the problem of gauge theories coupled to
matter, and propose a new distinction, perimeter law versus "zero law" to
identify confinement. We also apply the continuation to local bosonic models
with emergent gauge theories. We show that local gauge invariance is
topological and cannot be broken by any local perturbations in the bosonic
models in either continuous or discrete gauge groups. We show that the ground
state degeneracy in emergent discrete gauge theories is a robust property of
the bosonic model, and we argue that the robustness of local gauge invariance
in the continuous case protects the gapless gauge boson.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
Irrational charge from topological order
Topological or deconfined phases of matter exhibit emergent gauge fields and
quasiparticles that carry a corresponding gauge charge. In systems with an
intrinsic conserved U(1) charge, such as all electronic systems where the
Coulombic charge plays this role, these quasiparticles are also characterized
by their intrinsic charge. We show that one can take advantage of the
topological order fairly generally to produce periodic Hamiltonians which endow
the quasiparticles with continuously variable, generically irrational,
intrinsic charges. Examples include various topologically ordered lattice
models, the three dimensional RVB liquid on bipartite lattices as well as water
and spin ice. By contrast, the gauge charges of the quasiparticles retain their
quantized values.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure with two panel
Braiding statistics approach to symmetry-protected topological phases
We construct a 2D quantum spin model that realizes an Ising paramagnet with
gapless edge modes protected by Ising symmetry. This model provides an example
of a "symmetry-protected topological phase." We describe a simple physical
construction that distinguishes this system from a conventional paramagnet: we
couple the system to a Z_2 gauge field and then show that the \pi-flux
excitations have different braiding statistics from that of a usual paramagnet.
In addition, we show that these braiding statistics directly imply the
existence of protected edge modes. Finally, we analyze a particular microscopic
model for the edge and derive a field theoretic description of the low energy
excitations. We believe that the braiding statistics approach outlined in this
paper can be generalized to a large class of symmetry-protected topological
phases.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, reorganized section V, added a referenc
Binding Transition in Quantum Hall Edge States
We study a class of Abelian quantum Hall (QH) states which are topologically
unstable (T-unstable). We find that the T-unstable QH states can have a phase
transition on the edge which causes a binding between electrons and reduces the
number of gapless edge branches. After the binding transition, the
single-electron tunneling into the edge gains a finite energy gap, and only
certain multi-electron co-tunneling (such as three-electron co-tunneling for
edges) can be gapless. Similar phenomenon also appear for edge state
on the boundary between certain QH states. For example edge on the boundary
between and states only allow three-electron co-tunneling at
low energies after the binding transition.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 1 figur
Broken symmetry, hyper-fermions, and universal conductance in transport through a fractional quantum Hall edge
We have found solution to a model of tunneling between a multi-channel Fermi
liquid reservoir and an edge of the principal fractional quantum Hall liquid
(FQHL) in the strong coupling limit. The solution explains how the absence of
the time-reversal symmetry at high energies due to chiral edge propagation
makes the universal two-terminal conductance of the FQHL fractionally quantized
and different from that of a 1D Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid wire, where a similar
model but preserving the time-reversal symmetry predicts unsuppressed
free-electron conductance.Comment: 5 twocolumn pages in RevTex, no figures, more explanations added, a
short version was published in JETP Letters, vol.74, 87 (2001
A new class of -d topological superconductor with topological classification
The classification of topological states of matter depends on spatial
dimension and symmetry class. For non-interacting topological insulators and
superconductors the topological classification is obtained systematically and
nontrivial topological insulators are classified by either integer or .
The classification of interacting topological states of matter is much more
complicated and only special cases are understood. In this paper we study a new
class of topological superconductors in dimensions which has
time-reversal symmetry and a spin conservation symmetry. We
demonstrate that the superconductors in this class is classified by
when electron interaction is considered, while the
classification is without interaction.Comment: 5 pages main text and 3 pages appendix. 1 figur
Hole Doping Dependence of the Coherence Length in Thin Films
By measuring the field and temperature dependence of magnetization on
systematically doped thin films, the critical current
density and the collective pinning energy are determined in
single vortex creep regime. Together with the published data of superfluid
density, condensation energy and anisotropy, for the first time we derive the
doping dependence of the coherence length or vortex core size in wide doping
regime directly from the low temperature data. It is found that the coherence
length drops in the underdoped region and increases in the overdoped side with
the increase of hole concentration. The result in underdoped region clearly
deviates from what expected by the pre-formed pairing model if one simply
associates the pseudogap with the upper-critical field.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Fidelity and quantum phase transitions
It is shown that the fidelity, a basic notion of quantum information science,
may be used to characterize quantum phase transitions, regardless of what type
of internal order is present in quantum many-body states. If the fidelity of
two given states vanishes, then there are two cases: (1) they are in the same
phase if the distinguishability results from irrelevant local information; or
(2) they are in different phases if the distinguishability results from
relevant long-distance information. The different effects of irrelevant and
relevant information are quantified, which allows us to identify unstable and
stable fixed points (in the sense of renormalization group theory). A physical
implication of our results is the occurrence of the orthogonality catastrophe
near the transition points.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
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