Universal Finite-Size Scaling around Topological Quantum Phase Transitions

Tobias Gulden; Michael Janas; Yuting Wang; Alex Kamenev

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.116.026402

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arXiv · 1508.03646

Universal Finite-Size Scaling around Topological Quantum Phase Transitions

Tobias Gulden·Michael Janas·Yuting Wang·Alex Kamenev

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Abstract

The critical point of a topological phase transition is described by a conformal field theory, where finite-size corrections to energy are uniquely related to its central charge. We investigate the finite-size scaling away from criticality and find a scaling function, which discriminates between phases with different topological indexes. This function appears to be universal for all five Altland-Zirnbauer symmetry classes with non-trivial topology in one spatial dimension. We obtain an analytic form of the scaling function and compare it with numerical results.

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Tobias Gulden, Michael Janas, Yuting Wang, Alex Kamenev. 2016-01-15. Universal Finite-Size Scaling around Topological Quantum Phase Transitions. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.116.026402

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