arXiv subjects

Robijn Vanhove

Publications and source records attributed to Robijn Vanhove.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Statistical Mechanics and Symmetries of Non-Abelian Anyon Proliferation: From Deformation to Decoherence

Topological quantum computation relies on braiding non-Abelian anyons, but requires the underlying topological order to survive imperfect state preparation and environmental noise. We show that the instability of topological order to wavefunction deformations and to decoherence, with the latter probed by syndrome distributions, is generically captured by stat-mech models whose $G\times \textrm{Rep}(G)$ symmetry naturally exposes the corrupting anyonic excitations. As an example, we combine this framework with Monte-Carlo simulations to resolve the stability of $D_4$ topological order under deformations and quantum channels that proliferate multiple non-Abelian anyon species that are individually unable to condense. We show that beyond a finite threshold, proliferation of two non-Abelian anyon species parasitically condenses a shared Abelian-anyon fusion outcome---destroying the topological order. Our symmetry-based approach suggests the resulting trivial phase is distinct from that obtained by condensing all Abelian anyons; in other words, the trivial phase "remembers" which anyons condensed. This framework provides a first step into identifying the relevant symmetry for optimal decoders, conditioned on syndrome measurements, of non-Abelian topological order.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Duality via Sequential Quantum Circuit in the Topological Holography Formalism

Two quantum theories which look different but are secretly describing the same low-energy physics are said to be dual to each other. When realized in the Topological Holography formalism, duality corresponds to changing the gapped boundary condition on the top boundary of a topological field theory, which determines the symmetry of the system, while not affecting the bottom boundary where all the dynamics take place. In this paper, we show that duality in the Topological Holography formalism can be realized with a Sequential Quantum Circuit applied to the top boundary. As a consequence, the Hamiltonians before and after the duality mapping have exactly the same spectrum in the corresponding symmetry sectors, and the entanglement in the corresponding low-energy eigenstates differs by at most an area law term.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Sequential Quantum Circuits as Maps between Gapped Phases

Finite-depth quantum circuits preserve the long-range entanglement structure in quantum states and map between states within a gapped phase. To map between states of different gapped phases, we can use Sequential Quantum Circuits which apply unitary transformations to local patches, strips, or other sub-regions of a system in a sequential way. The sequential structure of the circuit on the one hand preserves entanglement area law and hence the gapped-ness of the quantum states. On the other hand, the circuit has generically a linear depth, hence it is capable of changing the long-range correlation and entanglement of quantum states and the phase they belong to. In this paper, we discuss systematically the definition, basic properties, and prototypical examples of sequential quantum circuits that map product states to GHZ states, symmetry-protected topological states, intrinsic topological states, and fracton states. We discuss the physical interpretation of the power of the circuits through connection to condensation, Kramers-Wannier duality, and the notion of foliation for fracton phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Efficient MPS methods for extracting spectral information on rings and cylinders

Based on the MPS formalism, we introduce an ansatz for capturing excited states in finite systems with open boundary conditions, providing a very efficient method for computing, e.g., the spectral gap of quantum spin chains. This method can be straightforwardly implemented on top of an existing DMRG or MPS ground-state code. Although this approach is built on open-boundary MPS, we also apply it to systems with periodic boundary conditions. Despite the explicit breaking of translation symmetry by the MPS representation, we show that momentum emerges as a good quantum number, and can be exploited for labeling excitations on top of MPS ground states. We apply our method to the critical Ising chain on a ring and the classical Potts model on a cylinder. Finally, we apply the same idea to compute excitation spectra for 2-D quantum systems on infinite cylinders. Again, despite the explicit breaking of translation symmetry in the periodic direction, we recover momentum as a good quantum number for labeling excitations. We apply this method to the 2-D transverse-field Ising model and the half-filled Hubbard model; for the latter, we obtain accurate results for, e.g., the hole dispersion for cylinder circumferences up to eight sites.

cond-mat.str-el↗

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↗

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↗

arXiv2019

Cardy states, defect lines and chiral operators of coset CFTs on the lattice

We construct Cardy states, defect lines and chiral operators for rational coset conformal field theories on the lattice. The bulk theory is obtained by taking the overlap between tensor network representations of different string-nets, while the primary fields emerge from using the topological superselection sectors of the anyons in the original topological theory. This mapping provides an explicit manifestation of the equivalence between conformal field theories in two dimensions and topological field theories in three dimensions: their groundstates and elementary excitations are represented by exactly the same tensors.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Galois conjugated tensor fusion categories and non-unitary CFT

We provide a generalisation of the matrix product operator (MPO) formalism for string-net projected entangled pair states (PEPS) to include non-unitary solutions of the pentagon equation. These states provide the explicit lattice realisation of the Galois conjugated counterparts of (2+1) dimensional TQFTs, based on tensor fusion categories. Although the parent Hamiltonians of these renormalisation group fixed point states are non-Hermitian, many of the topological properties of the states still hold, as a result of the pentagon equation. We show by example that the the topological sectors of the Yang-Lee theory (the non-unitary counterpart of the Fibonacci fusion category) can be constructed even in the absence of closure under Hermitian conjugation of the basis elements of the Ocneanu tube algebra. We argue that this can be generalised to the non-unitary solutions of all $SU(2)$ level $k$ models. The topological sector construction is demonstrated by applying the concept of strange correlators to the Yang-Lee model, giving rise to a non-unitary version of the classical hard hexagon model in the Yang-Lee universality class and obtaining all generalised twisted boundary conditions on a finite cylinder of the Yang-Lee edge singularity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Global anomaly detection in two-dimensional symmetry-protected topological phases

Edge theories of symmetry-protected topological phases are well-known to possess global symmetry anomalies. In this work we focus on two-dimensional bosonic phases protected by an on-site symmetry and analyse the corresponding edge anomalies in more detail. Physical interpretations of the anomaly in terms of an obstruction to orbifolding and constructing symmetry-preserving boundaries are connected to the cohomology classification of symmetry-protected phases in two dimensions. Using the tensor network and matrix product state formalism we numerically illustrate our arguments and discuss computational detection schemes to identify symmetry-protected order in a ground state wave function.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Mapping topological to conformal field theories through strange correlators

We extend the concept of strange correlators, defined for symmetry-protected phases in [You et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 247202 (2014)], to topological phases of matter by taking the inner product between string-net ground states and product states. The resulting two-dimensional partition functions are shown to be either critical or symmetry broken, as the corresponding transfer matrices inherit all matrix product operator symmetries of the string-net states. For the case of critical systems, those non-local matrix product operator symmetries are the lattice remnants of topological conformal defects in the field theory description. Following [Aasen et al., J. Phys. A 49, 354001 (2016)], we argue that the different conformal boundary conditions can be obtained by applying the strange correlator concept to the different topological sectors of the string-net obtained from Ocneanu's tube algebra. This is demonstrated by calculating the conformal field theory spectra on the lattice in the different topological sectors for the Fibonacci/hard-hexagon and Ising string-net. Additionally, we provide a complementary perspective on symmetry-preserving real-space renormalization by showing how known tensor network renormalization methods can be understood as the approximate truncation of an exactly coarse-grained strange correlator.

quant-ph↗