arXiv subjects

Laurens Lootens

Publications and source records attributed to Laurens Lootens.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

What is the group of a quantum group? From $SL_q(2)$ to MPO representations of $SL(2)$

Generalized symmetries realized by matrix product operators (MPOs) have so far been tied to discrete data leaving continuous symmetries outside the framework. Quantum groups fill this gap: starting from the RTT relations of $SL_q(2)$ at an odd root of unity $q^d=1$, we construct a three-parameter family of periodic-boundary MPOs of bond dimension $d^2$ that multiply according to the group law of $SL(2)$. This gives Lusztig's quantum Frobenius map a concrete operator form, and endows the XXZ chain on the ring at $Δ=(q+q^{-1})/2$ with an intrinsically non-local $SU(2)$ symmetry. Fusion of the local tensors is generically semisimple. On special loci it is non-semisimple, and yields reducible but indecomposable tensors with Jordan blocks. Differentiating $\mathcal{D}(g)$ at the identity produces the $\mathfrak{sl}(2)$ generators as $d$-body operators: the MPO algebra supplies the exponential map for quantum group algebras.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

On the origin of finite entanglement scaling

The concept of finite entanglement scaling forms one of the pillars on which the tensor network ecosystem is built. In this paper, we resolve the open problem of determining the actual perturbations induced by matrix product state approximations of critical systems, and we demonstrate that these can be quite different than the ones predicted by conformal field theory. To that aim, we develop a sparse linear solver to calculate the forward and backward derivatives of 2-dimensional tensor networks with respect to their defining parameters in an implicit way. This algorithm is of independent interest as it provides a primitive for the variational optimization of projected entangled pair states that circumvents the instabilities plaguing traditional automatic differentiation methods.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Perfect Particle Transmission through Duality Defects

We study wavepackets that propagate across (a) topological interfaces in quantum spin systems exhibiting non-invertible symmetries and (b) duality defects coupling dual theories. We demonstrate that the transmission is always perfect, and that a particle traversing the interface is converted into a nonlocal string-like excitation. We give a systematic way of constructing such a defect by identifying its Hilbert space with the virtual bond dimension of the matrix product operator representing defect lines. Our work both gives an operational meaning to topological interfaces, and provides a lattice analogue of recent results solving the monopole paradox in quantum field theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

From gauging to duality in one-dimensional quantum lattice models

Gauging and duality transformations, two of the most useful tools in many-body physics, are shown to be equivalent up to constant depth quantum circuits in the case of one-dimensional quantum lattice models. This is demonstrated by making use of matrix product operators, which provide the lattice representation theory for global (categorical) symmetries as well as a classification of duality transformations. Our construction makes the symmetries of the gauged theory manifest and clarifies how to deal with static background fields when gauging generalised symmetries.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Entanglement and the density matrix renormalisation group in the generalised Landau paradigm

The fields of entanglement theory and tensor networks have recently emerged as central tools for characterising quantum phases of matter. In this article, we determine the entanglement structure of ground states of gapped symmetric quantum lattice models, and use this to obtain the most efficient tensor network representation of those ground states. We do this by showing that degeneracies in the entanglement spectrum arise through a duality transformation of the original model to the unique dual model where the entire dual (generalised) symmetry is spontaneously broken and subsequently no degeneracies are present. Physically, this duality transformation amounts to a (twisted) gauging of the unbroken symmetry in the original ground state. This result has strong implications for the complexity of simulating many-body systems using variational tensor network methods. For every phase in the phase diagram, the dual representation of the ground state that completely breaks the symmetry minimises both the entanglement entropy and the required number of variational parameters. We demonstrate the applicability of this idea by developing a generalised density matrix renormalisation group algorithm that works on (dual) constrained Hilbert spaces, and quantify the computational gains obtained over traditional tensor network methods in a perturbed Heisenberg model. Our work testifies to the usefulness of generalised non-invertible symmetries and their formal category theoretic description for the practical simulation of strongly correlated systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Trading Mathematical for Physical Simplicity: Bialgebraic Structures in Matrix Product Operator Symmetries

Despite recent advances in the lattice representation theory of (generalized) symmetries, many simple quantum spin chains of physical interest are not included in the rigid framework of fusion categories and weak Hopf algebras. We demonstrate that this problem can be overcome by relaxing the requirements on the underlying algebraic structure, and show that general matrix product operator symmetries are described by a pre-bialgebra. As a guiding example, we focus on the anomalous $\mathbb Z_2$ symmetry of the XX model, which manifests the mixed anomaly between its $U(1)$ momentum and winding symmetry. We show how this anomaly is embedded into the non-semisimple corepresentation category, providing a novel mechanism for realizing such anomalous symmetries on the lattice. Additionally, the representation category which describes the renormalization properties is semisimple and semi-monoidal, which provides a new class of mixed state renormalization fixed points. Finally, we show that up to a quantum channel, this anomalous $\mathbb Z_2$ symmetry is equivalent to a more conventional MPO symmetry obtained on the boundary of a double semion model. In this way, our work provides a bridge between well-understood topological defect symmetries and those that arise in more realistic models.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Interacting chiral fermions on the lattice with matrix product operator norms

We develop a Hamiltonian formalism for simulating interacting chiral fermions on the lattice while preserving unitarity and locality and without breaking the chiral symmetry. The fermion doubling problem is circumvented by constructing a Fock space endowed with a semi-definite norm. When projecting our theory on the the single-particle sector, we recover the framework of Stacey fermions, and we demonstrate that the scaling limit of the free model recovers the chiral fermion field. Technically, we make use of a matrix product operator norm to mimick the boundary of a higher dimensional topological theory. As a proof of principle, we consider a single Weyl fermion on a periodic ring with Hubbard-type nearest-neighbor interactions and construct a variational generalized DMRG code to demonstrate that the ground state for large system sizes can be determined efficiently. As our tensor network approach does not exhibit any sign problem, we can add a chemical potential and study real-time evolution.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2024

Local Jordan-Wigner transformations on the torus

We present a locality preserving unitary mapping from fermions to qubits on a 2D torus whilst accounting for the mapping of topological sectors. Extending the work of Shukla et al. [Phys. Rev. B 101, 155105], an explicit intertwiner is constructed in the form of a projected entangled pair operator. By encoding the information about the charge sectors (and if applicable the twisted boundary conditions) in ancillary qubit(s), the intertwiner becomes a unitary operator which exchanges boundary conditions and charge sectors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Dualities in one-dimensional quantum lattice models: topological sectors

It has been a long-standing open problem to construct a general framework for relating the spectra of dual theories to each other. Here, we solve this problem for the case of one-dimensional quantum lattice models with symmetry-twisted boundary conditions. In ref. [PRX Quantum 4, 020357], dualities are defined between (categorically) symmetric models that only differ in a choice of module category. Using matrix product operators, we construct from the data of module functors explicit symmetry operators preserving boundary conditions as well as intertwiners mapping topological sectors of dual models onto one another. We illustrate our construction with a family of examples that are in the duality class of the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Heisenberg XXZ model. One model has symmetry operators forming the fusion category $\mathsf{Rep}(\mathcal S_3)$ of representations of the group $\mathcal S_3$. We find that the mapping between its topological sectors and those of the XXZ model is associated with the non-trivial braided auto-equivalence of the Drinfel'd center of $\mathsf{Rep}(\mathcal S_3)$.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Low-depth unitary quantum circuits for dualities in one-dimensional quantum lattice models

A systematic approach to dualities in symmetric (1+1)d quantum lattice models has recently been proposed in terms of module categories over the symmetry fusion categories. By characterizing the non-trivial way in which dualities intertwine closed boundary conditions and charge sectors, these can be implemented by unitary matrix product operators. In this manuscript, we explain how to turn such duality operators into unitary linear depth quantum circuits via the introduction of ancillary degrees of freedom that keep track of the various sectors. The linear depth is consistent with the fact that these dualities change the phase of the states on which they act. When supplemented with measurements, we show that dualities with respect to symmetries encoded into nilpotent fusion categories can be realised in constant depth. The resulting circuits can for instance be used to efficiently prepare short- and long-range entangled states or map between different gapped boundaries of (2+1)d topological models.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Dualities in one-dimensional quantum lattice models: symmetric Hamiltonians and matrix product operator intertwiners

We present a systematic recipe for generating and classifying duality transformations in one-dimensional quantum lattice systems. Our construction emphasizes the role of global symmetries, including those described by (non)-abelian groups but also more general categorical symmetries. These symmetries can be realized as matrix product operators which allow the extraction of a fusion category that characterizes the algebra of all symmetric operators commuting with the symmetry. Known as the bond algebra, its explicit realizations are classified by module categories over the fusion category. A duality is then defined by a pair of distinct module categories giving rise to dual realizations of the bond algebra, as well as dual Hamiltonians. Symmetries of dual models are in general distinct but satisfy a categorical Morita equivalence. A key novelty of our categorical approach is the explicit construction of matrix product operators that intertwine dual bond algebra realizations at the level of the Hilbert space, and in general map local order operators to non-local string-order operators. We illustrate this approach for known dualities such as Kramers-Wannier, Jordan-Wigner, Kennedy-Tasaki and the IRF-vertex correspondence, a new duality of the $t$-$J_z$ chain model, and dualities in models with the exotic Haagerup symmetry. Finally, we comment on generalizations to higher dimensions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Classifying phases protected by matrix product operator symmetries using matrix product states

We classify the different ways in which matrix product states (MPSs) can stay invariant under the action of matrix product operator (MPO) symmetries. This is achieved through a local characterization of how the MPSs, that generate a ground space, remain invariant under a global MPO symmetry. This characterization yields a set of quantities satisfying the coupled pentagon equations, associated with a module category over the fusion category that describes the MPO symmetry. Equivalence classes of these quantities provide complete invariants for an MPO symmetry protected phase: they are robust under continuous deformations of the MPS tensor, and two phases with the same equivalence class can be connected by a symmetric gapped path. Our techniques match and extend the known renormalization fixed point classifications and facilitate the numerical study of these systems. For MPO symmetries described by a group, we recover the symmetry protected topological order classification for unique and degenerate ground states. Moreover, we study the interplay between time reversal symmetry and an MPO symmetry and we also provide examples of our classification, together with explicit constructions based on groups. Finally, we elaborate on the connection between our setup and gapped boundaries of two-dimensional topological systems, where MPO symmetries also play a key role.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Invertible bimodule categories and generalized Schur orthogonality

The Schur orthogonality relations are a cornerstone in the representation theory of groups. We utilize a generalization to weak Hopf algebras to provide a new, readily verifiable condition on the skeletal data for deciding whether a given bimodule category is invertible and therefore defines a Morita equivalence. As a first application, we provide an algorithm for the construction of the full skeletal data of the invertible bimodule category associated to a given module category, which is obtained in a unitary gauge when the underlying categories are unitary. As a second application, we show that our condition for invertibility is equivalent to the notion of MPO-injectivity, thereby closing an open question concerning tensor network representations of string-net models exhibiting topological order. We discuss applications to generalized symmetries, including a generalized Wigner-Eckart theorem.

math.QA↗

arXiv2022

Topological aspects of the critical three-state Potts model

We explore the topological defects of the critical three-state Potts spin system on the torus, Klein bottle and cylinder. A complete characterization is obtained by breaking down the Fuchs-Runkel-Schweigert construction of 2d rational CFT to the lattice setting. This is done by applying the strange correlator prescription to the recently obtained tensor network descriptions of string-net ground states in terms of bimodule categories [Lootens, Fuchs, Haegeman, Schweigert, Verstraete, SciPost Phys. 10, 053 (2021)]. The symmetries are represented by matrix product operators (MPO), as well as intertwiners between the diagonal tetracritical Ising model and the non-diagonal three-state Potts model. Our categorical construction lifts the global transfer matrix symmetries and intertwiners, previously obtained by solving Yang-Baxter equations, to MPO symmetries and intertwiners that can be locally deformed, fused and split. This enables the extraction of conformal characters from partition functions and yields a comprehensive picture of all boundary conditions.

math-ph↗

arXiv2022

Mapping between Morita equivalent string-net states with a constant depth quantum circuit

We construct a constant depth quantum circuit that maps between Morita equivalent string-net models. Due to its constant depth and unitarity, the circuit cannot alter the topological order, which demonstrates that Morita equivalent string-nets are in the same phase. The circuit is constructed from an invertible bimodule category connecting the two input fusion categories of the relevant string-net models, acting as a generalized Fourier transform for fusion categories. The circuit does not only act on the ground state subspace, but acts unitarily on the full Hilbert space when supplemented with ancillas.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

A critical lattice model for a Haagerup conformal field theory

We use the formalism of strange correlators to construct a critical classical lattice model in two dimensions with the \emph{Haagerup fusion category} $\mathcal{H}_3$ as input data. We present compelling numerical evidence in the form of finite entanglement scaling to support a Haagerup conformal field theory (CFT) with central charge $c=2$. Generalized twisted CFT spectra are numerically obtained through exact diagonalization of the transfer matrix and the conformal towers are separated in the spectra through their identification with the topological sectors. It is further argued that our model can be obtained through an orbifold procedure from a larger lattice model with input $Z(\mathcal{H}_3)$, which is the simplest modular tensor category that does not admit an algebraic construction. This provides a counterexample for the conjecture that all rational CFT can be constructed from standard methods.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Variational methods for characterizing matrix product operator symmetries

We present a method of extracting information about topological order from the ground state of a strongly correlated two-dimensional system represented by an infinite projected entangled pair state (iPEPS). As in Phys. Rev. B 101, 041108 (2020) and 102, 235112 (2020) we begin by determining symmetries of the iPEPS represented by infinite matrix product operators (iMPO) that map between the different iPEPS transfer matrix fixed points, to which we apply the fundamental theorem of MPS to find zipper tensors between products of iMPO's that encode fusion properties of the anyons. The zippers can be combined to extract topological $F$-symbols of the underlying fusion category, which unequivocally identify the topological order of the ground state. We bring the $F$-symbols to the canonical gauge, as well as compute the Drinfeld center of this unitary fusion category to extract the topological $S$ and $T$ matrices encoding mutual- and self-statistics of the emergent anyons. The algorithm is applied to Abelian toric code, double semion and twisted quantum double of $Z_3$, as well as to non-Abelian double Fibonacci, double Ising, and quantum double of $S_3$ and ${\rm Rep}(S_3)$ string net models.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Matrix product operator symmetries and intertwiners in string-nets with domain walls

We provide a description of virtual non-local matrix product operator (MPO) symmetries in projected entangled pair state (PEPS) representations of string-net models. Given such a PEPS representation, we show that the consistency conditions of its MPO symmetries amount to a set of six coupled equations that can be identified with the pentagon equations of a bimodule category. This allows us to classify all equivalent PEPS representations and build MPO intertwiners between them, synthesising and generalising the wide variety of tensor network representations of topological phases. Furthermore, we use this generalisation to build explicit PEPS realisations of domain walls between different topological phases as constructed by Kitaev and Kong [Commun. Math. Phys. 313 (2012) 351-373]. While the prevailing abstract categorical approach is sufficient to describe the structure of topological phases, explicit tensor network representations are required to simulate these systems on a computer, such as needed for calculating thresholds of quantum error-correcting codes based on string-nets with boundaries. Finally, we show that all these string-net PEPS representations can be understood as specific instances of Turaev-Viro state-sum models of topological field theory on three-manifolds with a physical boundary, thereby putting these tensor network constructions on a mathematically rigorous footing.

quant-ph↗