1,849 research outputs found
Symmetry-protected topological invariants of symmetry-protected topological phases of interacting bosons and fermions
Recently, it was realized that quantum states of matter can be classified as
long-range entangled (LRE) states (i.e. with non-trivial topological order) and
short-range entangled (SRE) states (\ie with trivial topological order). We can
use group cohomology class to systematically describe the
SRE states with a symmetry [referred as symmetry-protected trivial (SPT)
or symmetry-protected topological (SPT) states] in -dimensional space-time.
In this paper, we study the physical properties of those SPT states, such as
the fractionalization of the quantum numbers of the global symmetry on some
designed point defects, and the appearance of fractionalized SPT states on some
designed defect lines/membranes. Those physical properties are SPT invariants
of the SPT states which allow us to experimentally or numerically detect those
SPT states, i.e. to measure the elements in that label
different SPT states. For example, 2+1D bosonic SPT states with symmetry
are classified by a integer . We find
that identical monodromy defects, in a SPT state labeled by ,
carry a total -charge (which is not a multiple of in general).Comment: 42 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, RevTeX4-
Zoo of quantum-topological phases of matter
What are topological phases of matter? First, they are phases of matter at
zero temperature. Second, they have a non-zero energy gap for the excitations
above the ground state. Third, they are disordered liquids that seem have no
feature. But those disordered liquids actually can have rich patterns of
many-body entanglement representing new kinds of order. This paper will give a
simple introduction and a brief survey of topological phases of matter. We will
first discuss topological phases that have topological order (ie with long
range entanglement). Then we will cover topological phases that have no
topological order (ie with only short-range entanglement).Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. A short review, expanded versio
From new states of matter to a unification of light and electrons
For a long time, people believe that all possible states of matter are
described by Landau symmetry-breaking theory. Recently we find that string-net
condensation provide a mechanism to produce states of matter beyond the
symmetry-breaking description. The collective excitations of the string-net
condensed states turn out to be our old friends, photons and electrons (and
other gauge bosons and fermions). This suggests that our vacuum is a string-net
condensed state. Light and electrons in our vacuum have a unified origin --
string-net condensation.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in YKIS2004 proceedings, homepage
http://dao.mit.edu/~we
A theory of 2+1D bosonic topological orders
In primary school, we were told that there are four phases of matter: solid,
liquid, gas, and plasma. In college, we learned that there are much more than
four phases of matter, such as hundreds of crystal phases, liquid crystal
phases, ferromagnet, anti-ferromagnet, superfluid, etc. Those phases of matter
are so rich, it is amazing that they can be understood systematically by the
symmetry breaking theory of Landau. However, there are even more interesting
phases of matter that are beyond Landau symmetry breaking theory. In this
paper, we review new "topological" phenomena, such as topological degeneracy,
that reveal the existence of those new zero-temperature phases -- topologically
ordered phases. Microscopically, topologically orders are originated from the
patterns of long-range entanglement in the ground states. As a truly new type
of order and a truly new kind of phenomena, topological order and long-range
entanglement require a new language and a new mathematical framework, such as
unitary fusion category and modular tensor category to describe them. In this
paper, we will describe a simple mathematical framework based on measurable
quantities of topological orders proposed around 1989. The framework
allows us to systematically describe/classify 2+1D topological orders (ie
topological orders in local bosonic/spin/qubit systems)..Comment: 35 pages, 20 figures, 12 tables. RevTeX
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