Classification of the anyon sectors of Kitaev's quantum double model

Abstract

We give a complete classification of the anyon sectors of Kitaev's quantum double model on the infinite triangular lattice and for finite gauge group $G$, including the non-abelian case. As conjectured, the anyon sectors of the model correspond precisely to the irreducible representations of the quantum double algebra of $G$. Our proof consists of two main parts. In the first part, we construct for each irreducible representation of the quantum double algebra a pure state and show that the GNS representations of these pure states are pairwise disjoint anyon sectors. In the second part we show that any anyon sector is unitarily equivalent to one of the anyon sectors constructed in the first part. Purity of the states constructed in the first part is shown by characterising these states as the unique states that satisfy appropriate local constraints. These constraints are of two types, namely flux constraints and gauge constraints. The flux constraints single out certain string-net states, while the gauge constraints fix the way in which these string-nets condense. At the core of the proof is the fact that certain groups of local gauge transformations act freely and transitively on collections of local string-nets. The proof that the GNS representations of these states are anyon sectors relies on showing that they are unitarily equivalent to amplimorphism representations which are much easier to compare to the ground state representation. For the second part, we show that any anyon sector contains a pure state that satisfies all but a finite number of the constraints characterising the pure states of the first part. Using known techniques we can then construct a pure state in the anyon sector that satisfies all but one of these constraints. Finally, we show that any such state must be a vector state in one of the anyon sectors constructed in the first part.Comment: Errors of version 1 fixed, presentation throughout the manuscript improved. 83 pages, 16 figure