arXiv subjects

Meng Cheng

Publications and source records attributed to Meng Cheng.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Scaling of disorder operator at $(2+1)d$ U(1) quantum criticality

We study disorder operator, defined as a symmetry transformation applied to a finite region, across a continuous quantum phase transition in $(2+1)d$. We show analytically that at a conformally-invariant critical point with U(1) symmetry, the disorder operator with a small U(1) rotation angle defined on a rectangle region exhibits power-law scaling with the perimeter of the rectangle. The exponent is proportional to the current central charge of the critical theory. Such a universal scaling behavior is due to the sharp corners of the region and we further obtain a general formula for the exponent when the corner is nearly smooth. To probe the full parameter regime, we carry out systematic computation of the U(1) disorder parameter in the square lattice Bose-Hubbard model across the superfluid-insulator transition with large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, and confirm the presence of the universal corner correction. The exponent of the corner term determined from numerical simulations agrees well with the analytical predictions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Symmetry-protected gates of Majorana qubits in a high-$T_c$ superconductor platform

We propose a platform for braiding Majorana non-Abelian anyons based on a heterostructure between a $d$-wave high-$T_c$ superconductor and a quantum spin-Hall insulator. It has been recently shown that such a setup for a quantum spin-Hall insulator leads to a pair of Majorana zero modes at each corner of the sample, and thus can be regarded as a higher-order topological superconductor. We show that upon applying a Zeeman field in the region, these Majorana modes split in space and can be manipulated for braiding processes by tuning the field and pairing phase. We show that such a setup can achieve full braiding, exchanging, and arbitrary phase gates (including the $π/8$ magic gates) of the Majorana zero modes, all of which are robust and protected by symmetries. As many of the ingredients of our proposed platform have been realized in recent experiments, our results provide a new route toward universal topological quantum computation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Fractonic topological phases from coupled wires

In three dimensions, gapped phases can support "fractonic" quasiparticle excitations, which are either completely immobile or can only move within a low-dimensional submanifold, a peculiar topological phenomenon going beyond the conventional framework of topological quantum field theory. In this work we explore fractonic topological phases using three-dimensional coupled wire constructions, which have proven to be a successful tool to realize and characterize topological phases in two dimensions. We find that both gapped and gapless phases with fractonic excitations can emerge from the models. In the gapped case, we argue that fractonic excitations are mobile along the wire direction, but their mobility in the transverse plane is generally reduced. We show that the excitations in general have infinite-order fusion structure, distinct from previously known gapped fracton models. Like the 2D coupled wire constructions, many models exhibit gapless (or even chiral) surface states, which can be described by infinite-component Luttinger liquids. However, the universality class of the surface theory strongly depends on the surface orientation, thus revealing a new type of bulk-boundary correspondence unique to fracton phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Generalized Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorem on bosonic symmetry protected topological phases

We propose and prove a family of generalized Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorems for symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases on boson/spin models in any dimensions. The "conventional" LSM theorem, applicable to e.g. any translation invariant system with an odd number of spin-1/2 particles per unit cell, forbids a symmetric short-range-entangled ground state in such a system. Here we focus on systems with no LSM anomaly, where global/crystalline symmetries and fractional spins within the unit cell ensure that any symmetric SRE ground state must be a nontrivial SPT phase with anomalous boundary excitations. Depending on models, they can be either strong or "higher-order" crystalline SPT phases, characterized by nontrivial surface/hinge/corner states. Furthermore, given the symmetry group and the spatial assignment of fractional spins, we are able to determine all possible SPT phases for a symmetric ground state, using the real space construction for SPT phases based on the spectral sequence of cohomology theory. We provide examples in one, two and three spatial dimensions, and discuss possible physical realization of these SPT phases based on condensation of topological excitations in fractionalized phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Exactly solvable models for U(1) symmetry-enriched topological phases

We propose a general construction of commuting projector lattice models for 2D and 3D topological phases enriched by U(1) symmetry, with finite-dimensional Hilbert space per site. The construction starts from a commuting projector model of the topological phase and decorates U(1) charges to the state space in a consistent manner. We show that all 2D U(1) symmetry-enriched topological phases which allow gapped boundary without breaking symmetry, can be realized through our construction. We also construct a large class of 3D topological phases with U(1) symmetry fractionalized on particles or loop excitations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Domain Wall Decorations, Anomalies and Spectral Sequences in Bosonic Topological Phases

In this work we investigate the decorated domain wall construction in bosonic group-cohomology symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases and related quantum anomalies in bosonic topological phases. We first show that a general decorated domain wall construction can be described mathematically as an Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence, where the terms on the $E_2$ page correspond to decorations by lower-dimensional SPT states at domain wall junctions. For bosonic group-cohomology SPT phases, the spectral sequence becomes the Lyndon-Hochschild-Serre (LHS) spectral sequence for ordinary group cohomology. We then discuss the physical interpretations of the differentials in the spectral sequence, particularly in the context of anomalous SPT phases and symmetry-enriched gauge theories. As the main technical result, we obtain a full description of the LHS spectral sequence concretely at the cochain level. The explicit formulae are then applied to explain Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorems for SPT phases, and also derive a new LSM theorem for easy-plane spin model in a $π$ flux lattice. We also revisit the classifications of symmetry-enriched 2D and 3D Abelian gauge theories using our results.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Higher-form symmetry breaking at Ising transitions

In recent years, new phases of matter that are beyond the Landau paradigm of symmetry breaking are mountaining, and to catch up with this fast development, new notions of global symmetry are introduced. Among them, the higher-form symmetry, whose symmetry charges are spatially extended, can be used to describe topologically ordered phases as the spontaneous breaking of the symmetry, and consequently unify the unconventional and conventional phases under the same conceptual framework. However, such conceptual tools have not been put into quantitative test except for certain solvable models, therefore limiting its usage in the more generic quantum manybody systems. In this work, we study Z2 higher-form symmetry in a quantum Ising model, which is dual to the global (0-form) Ising symmetry. We compute the expectation value of the Ising disorder operator, which is a non-local order parameter for the higher-form symmetry, analytically in free scalar theories and through unbiased quantum Monte Carlo simulations for the interacting fixed point in (2+1)d. From the scaling form of this extended object, we confirm that the higher-form symmetry is indeed spontaneously broken inside the paramagnetic, or quantum disordered phase (in the Landau sense), but remains symmetric in the ferromagnetic/ordered phase. At the Ising critical point, we find that the higher-form symmetry is also spontaneously broken, even though the 0-form symmetry is preserved. We discuss examples where both the global 0-form symmetry and the dual higher-form symmetry are preserved, in systems with a codimension-1 manifold of gapless points in momentum space. These results provide non-trivial working examples of higher-form symmetry operators, including the first computation of one-form order parameter in an interacting conformal field theory, and open the avenue for their generic implementation in quantum many-body systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Extended nonergodic regime and spin subdiffusion in disordered SU(2)-symmetric Floquet systems

We explore thermalization and quantum dynamics in a one-dimensional disordered SU(2)-symmetric Floquet model, where a many-body localized phase is prohibited by the non-abelian symmetry. Despite the absence of localization, we find an extended nonergodic regime at strong disorder where the system exhibits nonthermal behaviors. In the strong disorder regime, the level spacing statistics exhibit neither a Wigner-Dyson nor a Poisson distribution, and the spectral form factor does not show a linear-in-time growth at early times characteristic of random matrix theory. The average entanglement entropy of the Floquet eigenstates is subthermal, although violating an area-law scaling with system sizes. We further compute the expectation value of local observables and find strong deviations from the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. The infinite temperature spin autocorrelation function decays at long times as $t^{-β}$ with $β< 0.5$, indicating subdiffusive transport at strong disorders.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2020

Fractonic order in infinite-component Chern-Simons gauge theories

2+1D multi-component $U(1)$ gauge theories with a Chern-Simons (CS) term provide a simple and complete characterization of 2+1D Abelian topological orders. In this paper, we extend the theory by taking the number of component gauge fields to infinity and find that they can describe interesting types of 3+1D "fractonic" order. "Fractonic" describes the peculiar phenomena that point excitations in certain strongly interacting systems either cannot move at all or are only allowed to move in a lower dimensional sub-manifold. In the simplest cases of infinite-component CS gauge theory, different components do not couple to each other and the theory describes a decoupled stack of 2+1D fractional Quantum Hall systems with quasi-particles moving only in 2D planes -- hence a fractonic system. We find that when the component gauge fields do couple through the CS term, more varieties of fractonic orders are possible. For example, they may describe foliated fractonic systems for which increasing the system size requires insertion of nontrivial 2+1D topological states. Moreover, we find examples which lie beyond the foliation framework, characterized by 2D excitations of infinite order and braiding statistics that are not strictly local.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Fractionalization and Anomalies in Symmetry-Enriched U(1) Gauge Theories

We classify symmetry fractionalization and anomalies in a (3+1)d U(1) gauge theory enriched by a global symmetry group $G$. We find that, in general, a symmetry-enrichment pattern is specified by 4 pieces of data: $ρ$, a map from $G$ to the duality symmetry group of this $\mathrm{U}(1)$ gauge theory which physically encodes how the symmetry permutes the fractional excitations, $ν\in\mathcal{H}^2_ρ[G, \mathrm{U}_\mathsf{T}(1)]$, the symmetry actions on the electric charge, $p\in\mathcal{H}^1[G, \mathbb{Z}_\mathsf{T}]$, indication of certain domain wall decoration with bosonic integer quantum Hall (BIQH) states, and a torsor $n$ over $\mathcal{H}^3_ρ[G, \mathbb{Z}]$, the symmetry actions on the magnetic monopole. However, certain choices of $(ρ, ν, p, n)$ are not physically realizable, i.e. they are anomalous. We find that there are two levels of anomalies. The first level of anomalies obstruct the fractional excitations being deconfined, thus are referred to as the deconfinement anomaly. States with these anomalies can be realized on the boundary of a (4+1)d long-range entangled state. If a state does not suffer from a deconfinement anomaly, there can still be the second level of anomaly, the more familiar 't Hooft anomaly, which forbids certain types of symmetry fractionalization patterns to be implemented in an on-site fashion. States with these anomalies can be realized on the boundary of a (4+1)d short-range entangled state. We apply these results to some interesting physical examples.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Relative Anomaly in (1+1)d Rational Conformal Field Theory

We study 't Hooft anomalies of symmetry-enriched rational conformal field theories (RCFT) in (1+1)d. Such anomalies determine whether a theory can be realized in a truly (1+1)d system with on-site symmetry, or on the edge of a (2+1)d symmetry-protected topological phase. RCFTs with the identical symmetry actions on their chiral algebras may have different 't Hooft anomalies due to additional symmetry charges on local primary operators. To compute the relative anomaly, we establish a precise correspondence between (1+1)d non-chiral RCFTs and (2+1)d doubled symmetry-enriched topological (SET) phases with a choice of symmetric gapped boundary. Based on these results we derive a general formula for the relative 't Hooft anomaly in terms of algebraic data that characterizes the SET phase and its boundary.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Interacting Edge States of Fermionic Symmetry-Protected Topological Phases in Two Dimensions

Recently, it has been found that there exist symmetry-protected topological phases of fermions, which have no realizations in non-interacting fermionic systems or bosonic models. We study the edge states of such an intrinsically interacting fermionic SPT phase in two spatial dimensions, protected by $\mathbb{Z}_4\times\mathbb{Z}_2^T$ symmetry. We model the edge Hilbert space by replacing the internal $\mathbb{Z}_4$ symmetry with a spatial translation symmetry, and design an exactly solvable Hamiltonian for the edge model. We show that at low-energy the edge can be described by a two-component Luttinger liquid, with nontrivial symmetry transformations that can only be realized in strongly interacting systems. We further demonstrate the symmetry-protected gaplessness under various perturbations, and the bulk-edge correspondence in the theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Designer non-Abelian fractons from topological layers

We formulate a construction of type-I fracton models based on gauging planar subsystem symmetries of topologically ordered two dimensional layers that have been stacked in three ambient spatial dimensions. Via our construction, any defect of an Abelian symmetry group in a two dimensional symmetry-enriched topological order can be promoted into a fracton. This allows us to construct fracton models supporting chiral boundaries and fractons of noninteger quantum dimension. We also find a lineon model supporting non-Abelian surface fractons on its boundary.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Spurious topological entanglement entropy from subsystem symmetries

We demonstrate that linear combinations of subregion entropies with canceling boundary terms, commonly used to calculate the topological entanglement entropy, may suffer from spurious nontopological contributions even in models with zero correlation length. These spurious contributions are due to a specific kind of long-range string order, and persist throughout certain subsystem symmetry-protected phases. We introduce an entropic quantity that measures the presence of such order, and hence should serve as an order parameter for the aforementioned phases.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

GuardRider: Towards Sustainable Backscattering System over WiFi in the Wild

The WiFi backscatter communications offer ultra-low power and ubiquitous connections for IoT systems. Caused by the intermittent-nature of the WiFi traffics, state-of-the-art WiFi backscatter communications are not reliable for backscatter link or simple for tag to do adaptive transmission. In order to build sustainable (reliable and simple) WiFi backscatter communications, we present GuardRider, a WiFi backscatter system that enables backscatter communications riding on WiFi signals in the wild. The key contribution of GuardRider is an optimization algorithm of designing RS codes to follow the statistical knowledge of WiFi traffics and adjust backscatter transmission. With GuardRider, the reliable baskscatter link is guaranteed and a backscatter tag is able to adaptively transmit information without heavily listening the excitation channel. We built a hardware prototype of GuardRider using a customized tag with FPGA implementation. Both the simulations and field experiments verify that GuardRider could achieve a notably gains in bit error rate and frame error rate, which are hundredfold reduction in simulations and around 99% in filed experiments.

eess.SP↗

arXiv2019

Relative Anomalies in (2+1)D Symmetry Enriched Topological States

Certain patterns of symmetry fractionalization in topologically ordered phases of matter are anomalous, in the sense that they can only occur at the surface of a higher dimensional symmetry-protected topological (SPT) state. An important question is to determine how to compute this anomaly, which means determining which SPT hosts a given symmetry-enriched topological order at its surface. While special cases are known, a general method to compute the anomaly has so far been lacking. In this paper we propose a general method to compute relative anomalies between different symmetry fractionalization classes of a given (2+1)D topological order. This method applies to all types of symmetry actions, including anyon-permuting symmetries and general space-time reflection symmetries. We demonstrate compatibility of the relative anomaly formula with previous results for diagnosing anomalies for $\mathbb{Z}_2^{\bf T}$ space-time reflection symmetry (e.g. where time-reversal squares to the identity) and mixed anomalies for $U(1) \times \mathbb{Z}_2^{\bf T}$ and $U(1) \rtimes \mathbb{Z}_2^{\bf T}$ symmetries. We also study a number of additional examples, including cases where space-time reflection symmetries are intertwined in non-trivial ways with unitary symmetries, such as $\mathbb{Z}_4^{\bf T}$ and mixed anomalies for $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2^{\bf T}$ symmetry, and unitary $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry with non-trivial anyon permutations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Symmetry Fractionalization, Defects, and Gauging of Topological Phases

We examine the interplay of symmetry and topological order in $2+1$ dimensional topological phases of matter. We present a definition of the \it topological symmetry \rm group, which characterizes the symmetry of the emergent topological quantum numbers of a topological phase, and we describe its relation with the microscopic symmetry of the underlying physical system. We derive a general framework to characterize and classify symmetry fractionalization in topological phases, including phases that are non-Abelian and symmetries that permute the quasiparticle types and/or are anti-unitary. We develop a theory of extrinsic defects (fluxes) associated with elements of the symmetry group, which provides a general classification of symmetry-enriched topological phases derived from a topological phase of matter $\mathcal{C}$ with symmetry group $G$. The algebraic theory of the defects, known as a $G$-crossed braided tensor category $\mathcal{C}_{G}^{\times}$, allows one to compute many properties, such as the number of topologically distinct types of defects associated with each group element, their fusion rules, quantum dimensions, zero modes, braiding exchange transformations, a generalized Verlinde formula for the defects, and modular transformations of the $G$-crossed extensions of topological phases. We also examine the promotion of the global symmetry to a local gauge invariance, wherein the extrinsic $G$-defects are turned into deconfined quasiparticle excitations, which results in a different topological phase $(\mathcal{C}_{G}^{\times})^{G}$. A number of instructive and/or physically relevant examples are studied in detail.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Universal quantum computing with parafermions assisted by a half fluxon

Braiding of anyons such as Majoranas or parafermions provides only Clifford gates which do not form a universal set of quantum gates. We propose a robust and resource-efficient scheme to perform a non-Clifford gate on a logical qudit encoded in parafermionic zero modes via the Aharonov-Casher effect. This gate can be implemented by moving a half flux quantum around the pair of parafermionic zero modes. The parafermion modes can be realized in a two-dimensional set-up using existing proposals and a half fluxon carrying half flux quantum can be created as a part of a half fluxon/anti-half fluxon pair in a spin-triplet Josephson junction with a dipole defect. With an appropriate bias current pulse, the half fluxon can be braided around the parafermions. Supplementing this gate with the braiding of parafermions provides the avenue for universal quantum computing with parafermions without magic state distillation.

quant-ph↗