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Amanda Young

Publications and source records attributed to Amanda Young.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Local Topological Quantum Order and Spectral Gap Stability for the AKLT Models on the Hexagonal and Lieb Lattices

We prove that the ground state of the AKLT models on the hexagonal lattice and the Lieb lattice satisfy the local topological quantum order (LTQO) condition. This will be a consequence of proving that the finite volume ground states are indistinguishable from a unique infinite volume ground state. Concretely, we identify a sequence of increasing and absorbing finite volumes for which any finite volume ground state expectation is well approximated by the infinite volume state with error decaying at a uniform exponential rate in the distance between the support of the observable and boundary of the finite volume. As a corollary to the LTQO property, we obtain that the spectral gap above the ground state in these models is stable under general small perturbations of sufficient decay. We prove these results by a detailed analysis of the polymer representation of the ground states state derived by Kennedy, Lieb and Tasaki (1988) with the necessary modifications required for proving the strong form of ground state indistinguishability needed for LTQO.

math-ph↗
arXiv2025

Recursive spectral relations and the charge versus neutral gap in fractional quantum Hall systems

We consider quantum lattice Hamiltonians and derive recursive spectral relations bridging successive particle number sectors. One relation gives conditions under which the charge gap dominates the neutral gap. We verify these conditions under a triad of symmetries (translation-invariance, charge and dipole conservation) that are present, e.g., in periodic fractional quantum Hall systems. Thus, this gap domination, previously observed numerically, is a universal feature imposed by symmetry. A second relation yields a new induction-on-particle-number method for deriving spectral gaps. The results cover both bosons and fermions.

math-ph↗
arXiv2024

The charge gap is greater than the neutral gap in fractional quantum Hall systems

Past studies of fractional quantum Hall systems have found that the charge gap dominates the neutral gap for all relevant parameter choices. We report a wide-ranging proof that this domination is in fact a universal property of any Hamiltonian that satisfies a few simple structural properties: translation-invariance, charge conservation, dipole conservation, and a fractionally filled ground state. The result applies to both fermions and bosons. Our main tool is a new mathematical scheme, the gap comparison method, which provides a sequence of inequalities that relate the spectral gaps in successive particle number sectors. Our finding sheds new light on dipole conservation's profound effects on many-body physics.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2023

Quantum Spin Systems

This work provides an overview of gapped quantum spin systems, including concepts, techniques, properties, and results. The basic framework and objects of interest for quantum spin systems are introduced, and the main ideas behind methods for proving spectral gaps for frustration-free models are outlined. After reviewing recent progress on several spectral gap conjectures, we discuss quasi-locality of the Heisenberg dynamics and its utility in proving properties of gapped quantum spin systems. Lieb-Robinson bounds have played a central role in establishing exponential decay of ground state correlations, an area law for one-dimensional systems, a many-body adiabatic theorem, and spectral gap stability. They also aided in the development of the quasi-adiabatic continuation, which is a useful for investigating gapped ground state phases, both of which are also discussed.

math-ph↗
arXiv2023

On a bulk gap strategy for quantum lattice models

Establishing the (non)existence of a spectral gap above the ground state in the thermodynamic limit is one of the fundamental steps for characterizing the topological phase of a quantum lattice model. This is particularly challenging when a model is expected to have low-lying edge excitations, but nevertheless a positive bulk gap. We review the bulk gap strategy introduced in [Warzel, Young '22] and [Warzel, Young '23] while studying truncated Haldane pseudopotentials. This approach is able to avoid low-lying edge modes by separating the ground states and edge states into different invariant subspaces before applying spectral gap bounding techniques. The approach is stated in a general context, and we reformulate specific spectral gap methods in an invariant subspace context to illustrate the necessary conditions for combining them with the bulk gap strategy. We then review its application to a truncation of the 1/3-filled Haldane pseudopotential in the cylinder geometry.

math-ph↗
arXiv2022

A Nonvanishing Spectral Gap for AKLT Models on Generalized Decorated Graphs

We consider the spectral gap question for AKLT models defined on decorated versions of simple, connected graphs G. This class of decorated graphs, which are defined by replacing all edges of $G$ with a chain of $n$ sites, in particular includes any decorated multi-dimensional lattice. Using the Tensor Network States (TNS) approach from a work by Abdul-Rahman et. al. 2020, we prove that if the decoration parameter is larger than a linear function of the maximal vertex degree, then the decorated model has a nonvanishing spectral gap above the ground state energy.

math-ph↗
arXiv2021

The spectral gap of a fractional quantum Hall system on a thin torus

We study a fractional quantum Hall system with maximal filling $ \nu = 1/3 $ in the thin torus limit. The corresponding Hamiltonian is a truncated version of Haldane's pseudopotential, which upon a Jordan-Wigner transformation is equivalent to a one-dimensional quantum spin chain with periodic boundary conditions. Our main result is a lower bound on the spectral gap of this Hamiltonian, which is uniform in the system size and total particle number. The gap is also uniform with respect to small values of the coupling constant in the model. The proof adapts the strategy of individually estimating the gap in invariant subspaces used for the bosonic $ \nu = 1/2 $ model to the present fermionic case.

math-ph↗
arXiv2021

A Bulk Spectral Gap in the Presence of Edge States for a Truncated Pseudopotential

We study the low-energy properties of a truncated Haldane pseudopotential with maximal half filling, which describes a strongly correlated system of spinless bosons in a cylinder geometry. For this Hamiltonian with either open or periodic boundary conditions, we prove a spectral gap above the highly degenerate ground-state space which is uniform in the volume and particle number. Our proofs rely on identifying invariant subspaces to which we apply gap-estimate methods previously developed only for quantum spin Hamiltonians. In the case of open boundary conditions, the lower bound on the spectral gap accurately reflects the presence of edge states, which do not persist into the bulk. Customizing the gap technique to the invariant subspace, we avoid the edge states and establish a more precise estimate on the bulk gap in the case of periodic boundary conditions.

math-ph↗
arXiv2021

Stability of the bulk gap for frustration-free topologically ordered quantum lattice systems

We prove that uniformly small short-range perturbations do not close the bulk gap above the ground state of frustration-free quantum spin systems that satisfy a standard local topological quantum order condition. In contrast with earlier results, we do not require a positive lower bound for finite-system Hamiltonians uniform in the system size. To obtain this result, we adapt the Bravyi-Hastings-Michalakis strategy to the GNS representation of the infinite-system ground state.

math-ph↗
arXiv2020

Quasi-Locality Bounds for Quantum Lattice Systems. Part II. Perturbations of Frustration-Free Spin Models with Gapped Ground States

We study the stability with respect to a broad class of perturbations of gapped ground state phases of quantum spin systems defined by frustration-free Hamiltonians. The core result of this work is a proof using the Bravyi-Hastings-Michalakis (BHM) strategy that under a condition of Local Topological Quantum Order, the bulk gap is stable under perturbations that decay at long distances faster than a stretched exponential. Compared to previous work we expand the class of frustration-free quantum spin models that can be handled to include models with more general boundary conditions, and models with discrete symmetry breaking. Detailed estimates allow us to formulate sufficient conditions for the validity of positive lower bounds for the gap that are uniform in the system size and that are explicit to some degree. We provide a survey of the BHM strategy following the approach of Michalakis and Zwolak, with alterations introduced to accommodate more general than just periodic boundary conditions and more general lattices. We express the fundamental condition known as LTQO by means of the notion of indistinguishability radius, which we introduce. Using the uniform finite-volume results we then proceed to study the thermodynamic limit. We first study the case of a unique limiting ground state and then also consider models with spontaneous breaking of a discrete symmetry. In the latter case, LTQO cannot hold for all local observables. However, for perturbations that preserve the symmetry, we show stability of the gap and the structure of the broken symmetry phases. We prove that the GNS Hamiltonian associated with each pure state has a non-zero spectral gap above the ground state.

math-ph↗
arXiv2020

Low-complexity eigenstates of a $\nu = 1/3$ fractional quantum Hall system

We identify the the ground-state of a truncated version of Haldane's pseudo-potential Hamiltonian in a thin cylinder geometry as being composed of exponentially many fragmented matrix product states. These states are constructed by lattice tilings and their properties are discussed. We also report on a proof of a spectral gap, which implies the incompressibility of the underlying fractional quantum Hall liquid at maximal filling $\nu = 1/3$. Low-energy excitations and an extensive number of many-body scars at positive energy density, but nevertheless low complexity, are also identified using the concept of tilings.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2020

Spectral Gaps and Incompressibility in a $ \nu = 1/3 $ Fractional Quantum Hall System

We study an effective Hamiltonian for the standard $\nu=1/3$ fractional quantum Hall system in the thin cylinder regime. We give a complete description of its ground state space in terms of what we call Fragmented Matrix Product States, which are labeled by a certain family of tilings of the one-dimensional lattice. We then prove that the model has a spectral gap above the ground states for a range of coupling constants that includes physical values. As a consequence of the gap we establish the incompressibility of the fractional quantum Hall states. We also show that all the ground states labeled by a tiling have a finite correlation length, for which we give an upper bound. We demonstrate by example, however, that not all superpositions of tiling states have exponential decay of correlations.

math-ph↗
arXiv2019

A class of two-dimensional AKLT models with a gap

The AKLT spin chain is the prototypical example of a frustration-free quantum spin system with a spectral gap above its ground state. Affleck, Kennedy, Lieb, and Tasaki also conjectured that the two-dimensional version of their model on the hexagonal lattice exhibits a spectral gap. In this paper, we introduce a family of variants of the two-dimensional AKLT model depending on a positive integer $n$, which is defined by decorating the edges of the hexagonal lattice with one-dimensional AKLT spin chains of length $n$. We prove that these decorated models are gapped for all $n \geq 3$.

math-ph↗
arXiv2019

Quasi-Locality Bounds for Quantum Lattice Systems. Part I. Lieb-Robinson Bounds, Quasi-Local Maps, and Spectral Flow Automorphisms

Lieb-Robinson bounds show that the speed of propagation of information under the Heisenberg dynamics in a wide class of non-relativistic quantum lattice systems is essentially bounded. We review work of the past dozen years that has turned this fundamental result into a powerful tool for analyzing quantum lattice systems. We introduce a unified framework for a wide range of applications by studying quasi-locality properties of general classes of maps defined on the algebra of local observables of quantum lattice systems. We also consider a number of generalizations that include systems with an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space at each lattice site and Hamiltonians that may involve unbounded on-site contributions. These generalizations require replacing the operator norm topology with the strong operator topology in a number of basic results for the dynamics of quantum lattice systems. The main results in this paper form the basis for a detailed proof of the stability of gapped ground state phases of frustration-free models satisfying a Local Topological Quantum Order condition, which we present in a sequel to this paper.

math-ph↗
arXiv2018

Local Density Approximation for Almost-Bosonic Anyons

We discuss the average-field approximation for a trapped gas of non-interacting anyons in the quasi-bosonic regime. In the homogeneous case, i.e., for a confinement to a bounded region, we prove that the energy in the regime of large statistics parameter, i.e., for "less-bosonic" anyons, is independent of boundary conditions and of the shape of the domain. When a non-trivial trapping potential is present, we derive a local density approximation in terms of a Thomas-Fermi-like model.

math-ph↗
arXiv2015

Spectral Gap and Edge Excitations of $d$-dimensional PVBS models on half-spaces

We analyze a class of quantum spin models defined on half-spaces in the $d$-dimensional hypercubic lattice bounded by a hyperplane with inward unit normal vector $m\in\mathbb{R}^d$. The family of models was previously introduced as the single species Product Vacua with Boundary States (PVBS) model, which is a spin-$1/2$ model with a XXZ-type nearest neighbor interactions depending on parameters $λ_j\in (0,\infty)$, one for each coordinate direction. For any given values of the parameters, we prove an upper bound for the spectral gap above the unique ground state of these models, which vanishes for exactly one direction of the normal vector $m$. For all other choices of $m$ we derive a positive lower bound of the spectral gap, except for the case $λ_1 =\cdots =λ_d=1$, which is known to have gapless excitations in the bulk.

math-ph↗
arXiv2014

On Enriching the Levin-Wen model with Symmetry

Symmetry protected and symmetry enriched topological phases of matter are of great interest in condensed matter physics due to new materials such as topological insulators. The Levin-Wen model for spin/boson systems is an important rigorously solvable model for studying $2D$ topological phases. The input data for the Levin-Wen model is a unitary fusion category, but the same model also works for unitary multi-fusion categories. In this paper, we provide the details for this extension of the Levin-Wen model, and show that the extended Levin-Wen model is a natural playground for the theoretical study of symmetry protected and symmetry enriched topological phases of matter.

cond-mat.str-el↗