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Alioscia Hamma

Publications and source records attributed to Alioscia Hamma.

100 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
arXiv2008

Lieb-Robinson bounds and the speed of light from topological order

We apply the Lieb-Robinson bounds technique to find the maximum speed of interaction in a spin model with topological order whose low-energy effective theory describes light [see X.-G. Wen, \prb {\bf 68}, 115413 (2003)]. The maximum speed of interactions is found in two dimensions is bounded from above less than $\sqrt{2} e$ times the speed of emerging light, giving a strong indication that light is indeed the maximum speed of interactions. This result does not rely on mean field theoretic methods. In higher spatial dimensions, the Lieb-Robinson speed is conjectured to increase linearly with the dimension itself. Implications for the horizon problem in cosmology are discussed.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2008

Hidden entanglement at the Planck scale: loss of unitarity and the information paradox

We discuss how relaxing the requirement of locality for quantum fields can equip the Hilbert space of the theory with a richer structure in its multi-particle sector. A physical consequence is the emergence of a "planckian" mode-entanglement, invisible to an observer that cannot probe the Planck scale. To the same observer, certain unitary processes would appear non-unitary. We show how entanglement transfer to the additional degrees of freedom can provide a potential way out of the black hole information paradox.

hep-th↗
arXiv2008

Fidelity analysis of topological quantum phase transitions

We apply the fidelity metric approach to analyze two recently introduced models that exhibit a quantum phase transition to a topologically ordered phase. These quantum models have a known connection to classical statistical mechanical models; we exploit this mapping to obtain the scaling of the fidelity metric tensor near criticality. The topological phase transitions manifest themselves in divergences of the fidelity metric across the phase boundaries. These results provide evidence that the fidelity approach is a valuable tool to investigate novel phases lacking a clear characterization in terms of local order parameters.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2007

Adiabatic Preparation of Topological Order

Topological order characterizes those phases of matter that defy a description in terms of symmetry and cannot be distinguished in terms local order parameters. This type of order plays a key role in the theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect, as well as in topological quantum information processing. Here we show that a system of n spins forming a lattice on a Riemann surface can undergo a second order quantum phase transition between a spin-polarized phase and a string-net condensed phase. This is an example of a phase transition between magnetic and topological order. We furthermore show how to prepare the topologically ordered phase through adiabatic evolution in a time that is upper bounded by O(\sqrt{n}). This provides a physically plausible method for constructing a topological quantum memory. We discuss applications to topological and adiabatic quantum computing.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2007

String and Membrane condensation on 3D lattices

In this paper, we investigate the general properties of lattice spin models that have string and/or membrane condensed ground states. We discuss the properties needed to define a string or membrane operator. We study three 3D spin models which lead to Z_2 gauge theory at low energies. All the three models are exactly soluble and produce topologically ordered ground states. The first model contains both closed-string and closed-membrane condensations. The second model contains closed-string condensation only. The ends of open-strings behave like fermionic particles. The third model also has condensations of closed membranes and closed strings. The ends of open strings are bosonic while the edges of open membranes are fermionic. The third model contains a new type of topological order.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2006

Berry Phases and Quantum Phase Transitions

We study the connection between Berry phases and quantum phase transitions of generic quantum many-body systems. Consider sequences of Berry phases associated to sequences of loops in the parameter space whose limit is a point. If the sequence of Berry phases does not converge to zero, then the limit point is a quantum critical point. Quantum critical points are associated to failures of adiabaticity. We discuss the remarkable example of the anisotropic XY spin chain in a transverse magnetic field and detect the XX region of criticality.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2005

Quantum entanglement in states generated by bilocal group algebras

Given a finite group G with a bilocal representation, we investigate the bipartite entanglement in the state constructed from the group algebra of G acting on a separable reference state. We find an upper bound for the von Neumann entropy for a bipartition (A,B) of a quantum system and conditions to saturate it. We show that these states can be interpreted as ground states of generic Hamiltonians or as the physical states in a quantum gauge theory and that under specific conditions their geometric entropy satisfies the entropic area law. If G is a group of spin flips acting on a set of qubits, these states are locally equivalent to 2-colorable (i.e., bipartite) graph states and they include GHZ, cluster states etc. Examples include an application to qudits and a calculation of the n-tangle for 2-colorable graph states.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2005

Bipartite entanglement and entropic boundary law in lattice spin systems

We investigate bipartite entanglement in spin-1/2 systems on a generic lattice. For states that are an equal superposition of elements of a group $G$ of spin flips acting on the fully polarized state $\ket{0}^{\otimes n}$, we find that the von Neumann entropy depends only on the boundary between the two subsystems $A$ and $B$. These states are stabilized by the group $G$. A physical realization of such states is given by the ground state manifold of the Kitaev's model on a Riemann surface of genus $\mathfrak{g}$. For a square lattice, we find that the entropy of entanglement is bounded from above and below by functions linear in the perimeter of the subsystem $A$ and is equal to the perimeter (up to an additive constant) when $A$ is convex. The entropy of entanglement is shown to be related to the topological order of this model. Finally, we find that some of the ground states are absolutely entangled, i.e., no partition has zero entanglement. We also provide several examples for the square lattice.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2004

Quantum entangling power of adiabatically connected hamiltonians

The space of quantum Hamiltonians has a natural partition in classes of operators that can be adiabatically deformed into each other. We consider parametric families of Hamiltonians acting on a bi-partite quantum state-space. When the different Hamiltonians in the family fall in the same adiabatic class one can manipulate entanglement by moving through energy eigenstates corresponding to different value of the control parameters. We introduce an associated notion of adiabatic entangling power. This novel measure is analyzed for general $d\times d$ quantum systems and specific two-qubits examples are studied

quant-ph↗