Quantum phase transitions of spin chiral nanotubes

Recently many interesting magnetic nanostructures have been fabricated and much attention is arising on the rich magnetic properties that originate in the quantum effects eminent in the nanoscale world. One of the peculiar aspects of the quantum effects is the spin excitation gap. In the spin-1/2 low-dimensional systems, the spin gap often appears when the lattice dimerization or the frustration in the spin–spin interaction are introduced. In the present study, we investigate the ground-state property of the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic spin chiral nanotubes with the spatial modulation in the spin–spin interaction. The ground-state phase diagrams of them are determined by observing the behavior of the expectation value of the Lieb–Schultz–Mattis slow-twist operator calculated by the quantum Monte Carlo method with the continuous-time loop algorithm. We discuss the relation between the characteristic of the topology of the phase diagram and the chiral vector of the nanotubes.     

Frustration and glassiness in spin models with cavity-mediated interactions

We show that the effective spin-spin interaction between three-level atoms confined in a multimode optical cavity is long-ranged and sign changing, like the RKKY interaction; therefore, ensembles of such atoms subject to frozen-in positional randomness can realize spin systems having disordered and frustrated interactions. We argue that, whenever the atoms couple to sufficiently many cavity modes, the cavity-mediated interactions give rise to a spin glass. In addition, we show that the quantum dynamics of cavity-confined spin systems is that of a Bose-Hubbard model with strongly disordered hopping but no on-site disorder; this model exhibits a random-singlet glass phase, absent in conventional optical-lattice realizations. We briefly discuss experimental signatures of the realizable phases.     

Path Integral Approach of Quantum Heisenberg Planar Spin Glass Model in the Presencesof Random Field

A quantum version of the site-random Heisenberg planar XY model in a random field is presented in the boson representation. Like classical spherical model in the spin space, the model can be solved exactly within the coherent state path integral-representation. The phase diagram is obtained, and the effects of the randomness and quantum fluctuations on the onset of a spin glass phase are discussed.     

Spin Entropy

Two types of randomness are associated with a mixed quantum state: the uncertainty in the probability coefficients of the constituent pure states and the uncertainty in the value of each observable captured by the Born’s rule probabilities. Entropy is a quantification of randomness, and we propose a spin-entropy for the observables of spin pure states based on the phase space of a spin as described by the geometric quantization method, and we also expand it to mixed quantum states. This proposed entropy overcomes the limitations of previously-proposed entropies such as von Neumann entropy which only quantifies the randomness of specifying the quantum state. As an example of a limitation, previously-proposed entropies are higher for Bell entangled spin states than for disentangled spin states, even though the spin observables are less constrained for a disentangled pair of spins than for an entangled pair. The proposed spin-entropy accurately quantifies the randomness of a quantum state, it never reaches zero value, and it is lower for entangled states than for disentangled states.     

Finite-dimensional spin glass and quantum error correcting code

We study a variety of spin systems with randomness in order to investigate the performance of the quantum error correcting codes. We show that the duality formalism is useful to search the locations of the critical points for the random spin systems, which gives us the clue to the exact values of the accuracy thresholds for the topological error correcting codes.     

Real-space renormalization group for two-dimensional quantum spin systems

A generalization of the Niemeijer and Van Leeuwen real-space renormalization group method for quantum lattice spin systems is presented. A proposed rotationally invariant transformation which preserves the symmetry of the spin space is applied to several quantum systems on a triangular lattice. For the spin-1/2XY-model in both first- and second-order cumulant expansions a nontrivial fixed point exists, giving in the best approximation a critical interactionK _XY ^c =0.453 and critical exponent =1.65. A method of the reduction of the generalized arbitrary spin anisotropic Heisenberg model to the spin-half model is presented.     

On the reality of spin and helicity

The possibilities of a realistic interpretation of quantum mechanics are investigated by means of a statistical analysis of experiments performed on the simplest type of quantum systems carrying spin or helicity. To this end, fundamental experiments, some new, for measuring polarization are reviewed and (re)analyzed. Theunsharp reality of spin is essential in the interpretation of some of these experiments and represents a natural motivation for recent generalizations of quantum mechanics to a theory incorporating effect-valued measures as unsharp observables and generalized systems of imprimitivity.     

Comments upon the Mattis model of a spin glass

It is shown that the spin model with random interactions recently proposed by Mattis exhibits a spin-glass transition characterized in particular by a cusp in the susceptibility. Some remarkable differences with the other spin-glass models such as the Edwards Anderson's one are stressed.     

Quantum Fisher Information in the Generalized One-axis Twisting Model

We investigate the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of symmetric states for spin-s particles. We derive the maximal QFI, and find that quantum spin correlations are essential ingredients of the maximal QFI. We make applications to the generalized one-axis twisting model. The results show that the redistributions of uncertainties on the basis of the quantum correlations in the multiqubit system are useful for sub-shot-noise phase sensitivity. Furthermore, for high-spin (s>1/2) composite systems, we find a sufficient criterion for entanglement.     

Two Methods for Extending Quantum Key Warehouse

Because the rates of quantum key distribution systems are too low, the interleaving technique and interpolation technique are used to extend the capacity of the quantum key warehouse to increase the quantum key rates of quantum secure communication systems. The simulation shows that the interleaving technique and interpolation technique can extend random sequences and that their randomness are invariable. The correlative theory and technique of digital signal processing is an effective method of extending the quantum key warehouse. Translated from Chinese Journal of Quantum Electronics, 2005, 22(1) (in Chinese)     

On spin systems with quenched randomness: Classical and quantum

The rounding of first-order phase transitions by quenched randomness is stated in a form which is applicable to both classical and quantum systems: The free energy, as well as the ground state energy, of a spin system on a d-dimensional lattice is continuously differentiable with respect to any parameter in the Hamiltonian to which some randomness has been added when d≤2. This implies absence of jumps in the associated order parameter, e.g., the magnetization in the case of a random magnetic field. A similar result applies in cases of continuous symmetry breaking for d≤4. Some questions concerning the behavior of related order parameters in such random systems are discussed.     

Quantum percolation in two-dimensional antiferromagnets

The interplay of geometric randomness and strong quantum fluctuations is an exciting topic in quantum many-body physics, leading to the emergence of novel quantum phases in strongly correlated electron systems. Recent investigations have focused on the case of homogeneous site and bond dilution in the quantum antiferromagnet on the square lattice, reporting a classical geometric percolation transition between magnetic order and disorder. In this study we show how inhomogeneous bond dilution leads to percolative quantum phase transitions, which we have studied extensively by quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Quantum percolation introduces a new class of two-dimensional spin liquids, characterized by an infinite percolating network with vanishing antiferromagnetic order parameter.     

A link between quantum and classical Potts models

We study ground states of quantum Potts models. We construct ground states of certaind-dimensional quantum models as Gibbs measures of ad-dimensional classical spin system. Our results imply that various phenomena of classical spin systems can also be found in quantum ground states.     

Migdal-Kadanoff renormalization group approach to the spin-1/2 anisotropic Heisenberg model

The spin-1/2 anisotropic Heisenberg model is studied by generalizing the Migdal-Kadanoff renormalization transformations to quantum spin systems. An approximate one-dimensional decimation is employed besides the potential-moving approximation in this generalization. It is shown that these approximations are valid at high temperatures. The results obtained from these approximations suggest that the two-dimensional spin-1/2X-Y model shows the critical behavior similar to that expected for the classicalX-Y and planar models.     

Competition between Kondo and RKKY correlations in the presence of strong randomness

We propose that competition between Kondo and magnetic correlations results in a novel universality class for heavy fermion quantum criticality in the presence of strong randomness. Starting from an Anderson lattice model with disorder, we derive an effective local field theory in the dynamical mean-field theory approximation, where randomness is introduced into both hybridization and Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interactions. Performing the saddle-point analysis in the U(1) slave-boson representation, we reveal its phase diagram which shows a quantum phase transition from a spin liquid state to a local Fermi liquid phase. In contrast with the clean limit case of the Anderson lattice model, the effective hybridization given by holon condensation turns out to vanish, resulting from the zero mean value of the hybridization coupling constant. However, we show that the holon density becomes finite when the variance of the hybridization is sufficiently larger than that of the RKKY coupling, giving rise to the Kondo effect. On the other hand, when the variance of the hybridization becomes smaller than that of the RKKY coupling, the Kondo effect disappears, resulting in a fully symmetric paramagnetic state, adiabatically connected to the spin liquid state of the disordered Heisenberg model. We investigate the quantum critical point beyond the mean-field approximation. Introducing quantum corrections fully self-consistently in the non-crossing approximation, we prove that the local charge susceptibility has exactly the same critical exponent as the local spin susceptibility, suggesting an enhanced symmetry at the local quantum critical point. This leads us to propose novel duality between the Kondo singlet phase and the critical local moment state beyond the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. The Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson forbidden duality serves the mechanism of electron fractionalization in critical impurity dynamics, where such fractionalized excitations are identified with topological excitations.     

Quantum registers based on single NV + <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis><Superscript>13</Superscript>C centers in diamond: I. The spin Hamiltonian method

Details of the application of the spin Hamiltonian method for studying spin characteristics of a quantum register that includes an electron spin S = 1 of a single NV center in the ground electronic state and nuclear spins I = 1/2 of several isotopic atoms ¹³C located at different lattice sites near the vacancy of the NV center. Two methods of finding the hyperfine interaction tensors for these NV + n ¹³C spin systems are considered, one of which is based on the conventional electron spin resonance (ESR) method, while the other involves methods of quantum chemistry. The results of the latter method are compared with ESR data and with spectra of optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) and with the character of the modulation of the ODMR echo decay observed in single NV + n ¹³C systems. This comparison shows that the ab initio modeling of the spin characteristics of diamond nanoclusters containing NV centers makes it possible to obtain quantitative spin characteristics of the quantum registers under study.     

Effects of interactions and disorder in two dimensions

The interplay between Coulomb interactions and randomness has been a long-standing problem in condensed matter physics. Recent thermodynamic and transport experiments have shown that in clean two-dimensional electron systems, strong interactions between carriers lead to Pauli spin susceptibility growing critically at low electron densities. In the immediate vicinity of the metal-insulator transition (MIT), both the resistance and the effective interactions become temperature dependent and exhibit a fan-like spread as the MIT is crossed. A resistance-interaction flow diagram clearly reveals a quantum critical point.     

Spin-size disorder model for granular superconductors with charging effects

A quantum pseudo-spin model with random spin sizes is introduced to study the effects of charging-energy disorder on the superconducting transition in granular superconducting materials. Charging-energy effects result from the small electrical capacitance of the grains when the Coulomb charging energy is comparable to the Josephson-coupling energy. In the pseudo-spin model, randomness in the spin size is argued to arise from the inhomogeneous grain-size distribution. For a particular bimodal spin-size distribution, the model describes percolating granular superconductors. A mean-field theory is developed to obtain the phase diagram as a function of temperature, average charging energy and disorder.     

Phase transitions in random Potts systems and the community detection problem: spin-glass type and dynamic perspectives

Phase transitions in spin-glass type systems and, more recently, in related computational problems have gained broad interest in disparate arenas. In the current work, we focus on the “community detection” problem when cast in terms of a general Potts spin-glass type problem. As such, our results apply to rather broad Potts spin-glass type systems. Community detection describes the general problem of partitioning a complex system involving many elements into optimally decoupled “communities” of such elements. We report on phase transitions between solvable and unsolvable regimes. A solvable region may further split into “easy” and “hard” phases. Spin-glass type phase transitions appear at both low and high temperatures (or noise). Low-temperature transitions correspond to an “order by disorder” type effect wherein fluctuations render the system ordered or solvable. Separate transitions appear at higher temperatures into a disordered (or an unsolvable) phase. Different sorts of randomness lead to disparate behaviors. We illustrate the spin glass character of both transitions and report on memory effects. We further relate Potts type spin systems to mechanical analogs and suggest how chaotic-type behavior in general thermodynamic systems can indeed naturally arise in hard computational problems and spin glasses. The correspondence between the two types of transitions (spin glass and dynamic) is likely to extend across a larger spectrum of spin-glass type systems and hard computational problems. We briefly discuss potential implications of these transitions in complex many-body physical systems.     

Spin of the ground quantum state of electrons from first principles in the representation of Feynman path integrals

A method for calculating the spin of the ground quantum state of nonrelativistic electrons and distance between energy levels of quantum states differing in the spin magnitude from first principles is proposed. The approach developed is free from the one-electron approximation and applicable in multielectron systems with allowance for all spatial correlations. The possibilities of the method are demonstrated by the example of calculating the energy gap between spin states in model ellipsoidal quantum dots with a harmonic confining field. The results of computations by the Monte Carlo method point to high sensitivity of the energy gap to the break of spherical symmetry of the quantum dot. For three electrons, the phenomenon of inversion has been revealed for levels corresponding to high and low values of the spin. The calculations demonstrate the practical possibility to obtain spin states with arbitrarily close energies by varying the shape of the quantum dot, which is a key condition for development prospects in technologies of storage systems based on spin qubits.