Grüneisen ratio quest for self-duality of quantum criticality in a spin-1/2 XY chain with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction

The quantum phase transition(QPT) and quantum criticality of an anisotropic spin-1/2 XY chain under the interplay of magnetic field and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya(DM) interaction, which is interpreted as an electric field, are investigated, wherein the anisotropic parameter plays a similar role as the superconducting pairing gap in the interacting Kitaev topological superconductor model that protects the topological order. It is shown that the thermal Drude weight is a good quantity to characterize the gapped(D_(th) = 0) and gapless(D_(th) 0) ground states. The continuous QPT is marked by a quantum critical point(QCP) associated with entropy accumulation, which is manifested by a characteristic Güneisen ratio(GR) with or without selfduality symmetry. It is shown that at a self-dual QCP, the GR keeps a finite value as T→0,while at a general QCP without self-duality symmetry, it displays a power-law temperature dependent divergence: Γ(T,r_c)～±T~(-1),which provides a novel thermodynamic means for probing QPT.     

声子晶体中的多重拓扑相

研究了圆环型波导依照蜂窝结构排列的声子晶体系统中的拓扑相变.利用晶格结构的点群对称性实现赝自旋,并在圆环中引入旋转气流来打破时间反演对称性.通过紧束缚近似模型计算的解析结果表明,没有引入气流时,调节几何参数,系统存在普通绝缘体和量子自旋霍尔效应绝缘体两个相;引入气流后,可以实现新的时间反演对称性破缺的量子自旋霍尔效应相,而增大气流强度,则可以实现量子反常霍尔效应相.这三个拓扑相可以通过自旋陈数来分类.通过有限元软件模拟了多个系统中边界态的传播,发现不同于量子自旋霍尔效应相,量子反常霍尔相系统的表面只支持一种自旋的边界态,并且它无需时间反演对称性保护.     

单轴压力下Ge2X2Te5(X=Sb,Bi)薄膜拓扑相变的第一性原理研究

随着拓扑绝缘体的发现, 材料拓扑物性的研究成为凝聚态物理研究的热点领域. 本文基于第一性原理计算, 研究了化合物Ge₂X₂Te₅ (X=Sb, Bi) 的块体结构和二维单层和双层薄膜结构的拓扑物性, 以及单双层薄膜在垂直方向单轴压力下的拓扑量子相变. 研究发现, A型原子序列排列的这两种化合物都是拓扑绝缘体, 其单层薄膜都是普通金属, 而双层薄膜都是拓扑金属, 单层和双层薄膜在单轴加压过程中都没有发生拓扑量子相变; 这两种化合物的B型原子序列的晶体是普通绝缘体, 其所对应的薄膜, Ge₂Sb₂Te₅单层是普通金属, 双层薄膜和Ge₂Bi₂Te₅的单层和双层薄膜均为普通绝缘体, 但是在单轴加压过程中B 型原子序列所对应的单层和双层薄膜都转变为拓扑金属.     

Interface between topological and superconducting qubits

We propose and analyze an interface between a topological qubit and a superconducting flux qubit. In our scheme, the interaction between Majorana fermions in a topological insulator is coherently controlled by a superconducting phase that depends on the quantum state of the flux qubit. A controlled-phase gate, achieved by pulsing this interaction on and off, can transfer quantum information between the topological qubit and the superconducting qubit.     

含有Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya相互作用的自旋1键交替海森伯模型的量子相变和拓扑序标度

利用张量网络表示的无限矩阵乘积态算法研究了含有Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM)相互作用的键交替海森伯模型的量子相变和临界标度行为.基于矩阵乘积态的基态波函数计算了系统的量子纠缠熵及非局域拓扑序.数据表明,随着键交替强度变化,系统从拓扑有序的Haldane相转变为局域有序的二聚化相.同时DM相互作用抑制了系统的二聚化,并最终打破系统的完全二聚化.另外,通过对相变点附近二聚化序的一阶导数和长程弦序的数值拟合,分别得到了此模型相变的特征临界指数a和b的值.结果表明,随着DM相互作用强度的增强, a逐渐减小,同时b逐渐增大. DM相互作用强度影响着此模型的临界行为.针对此模型的临界性质的研究,揭示了量子自旋相互作用的彼此竞争机制,对今后研究含有DM相互作用的自旋多体系统中拓扑量子相变临界行为提供一定的借鉴与参考.     

一维扩展量子罗盘模型的拓扑序和量子相变

应用矩阵乘积态表示的无限虚时间演化块算法,研究了扩展的量子罗盘模型.为了深入研究该模型的长程拓扑序和量子相变,基于奇数键和偶数键,引入了奇数弦关联和偶数弦关联,计算了保真度、奇数弦关联、偶数弦关联、奇数弦关联饱和性与序参量.弦关联表现出三种截然不同的行为:衰减为零、单调饱和与振荡饱和.基于弦关联的以上特征,给出了量子罗盘模型的基态序参量相图.在临界区,局域磁化强度和单调奇弦序参量的临界指数β=1/8表明:相变的普适类是Ising类型.此外,保真度探测到的相变点、连续性与非连续性和序参量的结果一致.     

具有Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya相互作用的XY模型的量子相干性

研究了具有Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya(DM)相互作用的一维横场XY自旋链的量子相变和量子相干性.采用约旦-维格纳变换严格求解了哈密顿量,并描绘了体系的关联函数和相图,相图包含反铁磁相、顺磁相和螺旋相.利用相对熵和Jensen-Shannon熵讨论了XY模型的量子相干性.研究发现,相对熵与Jensen-Shannon熵所表现的行为都可以很好地表征该模型的量子相变.非螺旋相中量子相干性不依赖DM相互作用,而在螺旋相DM相互作用对量子相干性有显著影响.此外,指出了在带有DM相互作用的这一类反射对称破缺体系中关联函数计算的常见问题.     

Topological phase transition in a ladder of the dimerized Kitaev superconductor chains

We investigate the topological properties of a ladder model of the dimerized Kitaev superconductor chains.The topological class of the system is determined by the relative phase θ between the inter-and intra-chain superconducting pairing.One topological class is the class BDI characterized by the Z index,and the other is the class D characterized by the Z_2 index.For the two different topological classes,the topological phase diagrams of the system are presented by calculating two different topological numbers,i.e.,the Z index winding number W and the Z_2 index Majorana number M,respectively.In the case of θ=0,the topological class belongs to the class BDI,multiple topological phase transitions accompanying the variation of the number of Majorana zero modes are observed.In the case of θ = π/2 it belongs to the class D.Our results show that for the given value of dimerization,the topologically nontrivial and trivial phases alternate with the variation of chemical potential.     

Non-abelian vortices on surfaces and their statistics

We discuss the physics of topological vortices moving on an arbitrary surface M in a YangMills-Higgs theory in which the gauge group G breaks to a finite subgroup H. We concentrate on the case where M is compact and/or non-orientable. Interesting new features arise which have no analog on the plane. The consequences for the quantum statistics of vortices are discussed, particularly when H is non-abelian.     

Quantum coherence and ground-state phase transition in a four-chain Bose–Hubbard model

We study the quantum coherence and ground-state phase transition of a four-chain Bose–Hubbard model with the long-range interaction. In a special four-chain Bose–Hubbard model,i.e., each chain only has one optical potential, four types of the ground-state phases are discovered. The effects of the disorder, the on-site interaction and the long-range interaction on the quantum coherence are studied. For the system without the long-range interaction, the quantum coherence changes from one periodic oscillation to two periodic oscillations as the onsite interaction increases. By considering the long-range interaction, the quantum coherence goes back to one periodic oscillation again. The on-site interaction itself suppresses the quantum coherence, both the on-site interaction and long-range interaction together enhance the quantum coherence with the weak disorder. If the disorder strength is increased beyond a critical value,they start to suppress the quantum coherence. In a regular four-chain Bose–Hubbard model, i.e.,each chain has many optical potentials, the ground-state phase transitions are obtained by using the cluster Gutzwiller mean-field method. Exotic ground-state phases are found, i.e., superfluid phase, integer Mott insulator phase, supersolid phase and loophole insulator phase. The combination of the loophole insulator phase and the supersolid phase expands the lobes with the half-integer filling per site for the small ratio β = t_■/t_⊥.     

Chemical memory erasure; a photochemical model

In this paper we propose an exactly solvable model of a topological insulator defined on a spin- \(\tfrac{1}{2}\) square decorated lattice. Itinerant fermions defined in the framework of the Haldane model interact via the Kitaev interaction with spin- \(\tfrac{1}{2}\) Kitaev sublattice. The presented model, whose ground state is a non-trivial topological phase, is solved exactly. We have found out that various phase transitions without gap closing at the topological phase transition point outline the separate states with different topological numbers. We provide a detailed analysis of the model’s ground-state phase diagram and demonstrate how quantum phase transitions between topological states arise. We have found that the states with both the same and different topological numbers are all separated by the quantum phase transition without gap closing. The transition between topological phases is accompanied by a rearrangement of the spin subsystem’s spectrum from band to flat-band states.     

Solving quantum rotor model with different Monte Carlo techniques

We systematically test the performance of several Monte Carlo update schemes for the (2+1)d XY phase transition of quantum rotor model. By comparing the local Metropolis (LM), LM plus over-relaxation (OR), Wolff-cluster (WC), hybrid Monte Carlo (HM), hybrid Monte Carlo with Fourier acceleration (FA) schemes, it is clear that among the five different update schemes, at the quantum critical point, the WC and FA schemes acquire the smallest autocorrelation time and cost the least amount of CPU hours in achieving the same level of relative error, and FA enjoys a further advantage of easily implementable for more complicated interactions such as the long-range ones. These results bestow one with the necessary knowledge of extending the quantum rotor model, which plays the role of ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic critical bosons or Z₂ topological order, to more realistic and yet challenging models such as Fermi surface Yukawa-coupled to quantum rotor models.     

Transferring information through a mixed-five-spin chain channel

We initially introduce one-dimensional mixed-five-spin chain with Ising-XY model which includes mixture of spins-1/2 and spins-1. Here, it is considered that nearest spins(1, 1/2) have Ising-type interaction and nearest spins(1/2, 1/2)have both XY-type and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya(DM) interactions together. Nearest spins(1, 1) have X X Heisenberg interaction. This system is in the vicinity of an external homogeneous magnetic field B in thermal equilibrium state. We promote the quantum information transmitting protocol verified for a normal spin chain with simple model(refer to Rossini D, Giovannetti V and Fazio R 2007 Int. J. Quantum Infor. 5 439)(widely in reference: Giovannetti V and Fazio R 2005 Phys. Rev. A 71 032314) by means of considering the suggested mixed-five-spin chain as a quantum communication channel for transmitting both qubits and qutrits ideally. Hence, we investigate some useful quantities such as quantum capacity and quantum information transmission rate for the system. Finally, we conclude that, when the DM interaction between spins(1/2, 1/2) increases the system is a more ideal channel for transmitting information.     

Universal order-parameter and quantum phase transition for two-dimensional q-state quantum Potts model

We investigate quantum phase transitions for q-state quantum Potts models (q=2,3,4) on a square lattice and for the Ising model on a honeycomb lattice by using the infinite projected entangled-pair state algorithm with a simplified updating scheme. We extend the universal order parameter to a two-dimensional lattice system, which allows us to explore quantum phase transitions with symmetry-broken order for any translation-invariant quantum lattice system of the symmetry group G. The universal order parameter is zero in the symmetric phase, and it ranges from zero to unity in the symmetry-broken phase. The ground-state fidelity per lattice site is computed, and a pinch point is identified on the fidelity surface near the critical point. The results offer another example highlighting the connection between (i) critical points for a quantum many-body system undergoing a quantum phase-transition and (ii) pinch points on a fidelity surface. In addition, we discuss three quantum coherence measures: the quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence, the relative entropy of coherence, and the l₁ norm of coherence, which are singular at the critical point, thereby identifying quantum phase transitions.     

Phase-and spin-dependent manipulation of leakage of Majorana mode into double quantum dot

We present a phase-and spin-dependent manipulation of leakage of a Majorana mode into a double quantum dot. We study the density of states(DOS) to show the effect of phase change factor on the Majorana leakage into(out) of a double quantum dot. The DOS is derived from the Green's function of the quantum dot by the equation of motion method, and exhibits a formant structure when φ = 0, 2π and a resonance shape when φ = 0.5π and 1.5π. Also, it changes more strongly under the spin-polarized coefficient than the non-polarized lead. Such a theoretical model can be modified to explore the spin-dependent effect in the hybrid Majorana quantum dot system.     

Topological order and semions in a strongly correlated quantum spin Hall insulator

We provide a self-consistent mean-field framework to study the effect of strong interactions in a quantum spin Hall insulator on the honeycomb lattice. We identify an exotic phase for large spin-orbit coupling and intermediate Hubbard interaction. This phase is gapped and does not break any symmetry. Instead, we find a fourfold topological degeneracy of the ground state on the torus and fractionalized excitations with semionic mutual braiding statistics. Moreover, we argue that it has gapless edge modes protected by time-reversal symmetry but a trivial Z(2) topological invariant. Finally, we discuss the experimental signatures of this exotic phase. Our work highlights the important theme that interesting phases arise in the regime of strong spin-orbit coupling and interactions.     

px+ipy superfluid from s-wave interactions of fermionic cold atoms

Two-dimensional (p(x)+ip(y)) superfluids or superconductors offer a playground for studying intriguing physics such as quantum teleportation, non-Abelian statistics, and topological quantum computation. Creating such a superfluid in cold fermionic atom optical traps using p-wave Feshbach resonance is turning out to be challenging. Here we propose a method to create a p(x)+ip(y) superfluid directly from an s-wave interaction making use of a topological Berry phase, which can be artificially generated. We discuss ways to detect the spontaneous Hall mass current, which acts as a diagnostic for the chiral p-wave superfluid.     

Valley-polarized quantum anomalous Hall effect in van der Waals heterostructures based on monolayer jacutingaite family materials

We numerically study the general valley polarization and anomalous Hall effect in van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures based on monolayer jacutingaite family materials Pt₂AX₃ (A = Hg, Cd, Zn; X = S, Se, Te). We perform a systematic study on the atomic, electronic, and topological properties of vdW heterostructures composed of monolayer Pt₂AX₃ and two-dimensional ferromagnetic insulators. We show that four kinds of vdW heterostructures exhibit valley-polarized quantum anomalous Hall phase, i.e., Pt₂HgS₃/NiBr₂, Pt₂HgSe₃/CoBr₂, Pt₂HgSe₃/NiBr₂, and Pt₂ZnS₃/CoBr₂, with a maximum valley splitting of 134.2 meV in Pt₂HgSe₃/NiBr₂ and sizable global band gap of 58.8 meV in Pt₂HgS₃/NiBr₂. Our findings demonstrate an ideal platform to implement applications on topological valleytronics.     

Effective Field Theory Description of the Higher Dimensional Quantum Hall Liquid

We derive an effective topological field theory model of the four dimensional quantum Hall liquid state recently constructed by Zhang and Hu. Using a generalization of the flux attachment transformation, the effective field theory can be formulated as a U(1) Chern–Simons theory over the total configuration space CP₃, or as a SU(2) Chern–Simons theory over S⁴. The new quantum Hall liquid supports various types of topological excitations, including the 0-brane (particles), the 2-brane (membranes), and the 4-brane. There is a topological phase interaction among the membranes which generalizes the concept of fractional statistics.     

Site-diluted quantum Heisenberg spin model applied to the magnetic properties of Fe–Al disordered alloys

In this work we present a theoretical study of the magnetic behavior of disordered Fe–Al alloys on the basis of a simple-diluted quantum Heisenberg spin model with the assumption that the exchange interaction J depends on the Al concentration q. We calculated the critical temperature and exponents through the mean field renormalization group method. An acceptable fit to the experimental phase diagram for Al concentration in the range 0.30q0.45 is obtained.