arXiv subjects

Xiao-Gang Wen

Publications and source records attributed to Xiao-Gang Wen.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Tensor-product representations for string-net condensed states

We show that general string-net condensed states have a natural representation in terms of tensor product states (TPS) . These TPS's are built from local tensors. They can describe both states with short-range entanglement (such as the symmetry breaking states) and states with long-range entanglement (such as string-net condensed states with topological/quantum order). The tensor product representation provides a kind of 'mean-field' description for topologically ordered states and could be a powerful way to study quantum phase transitions between such states. As an attempt in this direction, we show that the constructed TPS's are fixed-points under a certain wave-function renormalization group transformation for quantum states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Structure of Quasiparticles and Their Fusion Algebra in Fractional Quantum Hall States

It was recently discovered that fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states can be classified by the way ground state wave functions go to zero when electrons are brought close together. Quasiparticles in the FQH states can be classified in a similar way, by the pattern of zeros that result when electrons are brought close to the quasiparticles. In this paper we combine the pattern-of-zero approach and the conformal-field-theory (CFT) approach to calculate the topological properties of quasiparticles. We discuss how the quasiparticles in FQH states naturally form representations of a magnetic translation algebra, with members of a representation differing from each other by Abelian quasiparticles. We find that this structure dramatically simplifies topological properties of the quasiparticles, such as their fusion rules, charges, and scaling dimensions, and has consequences for the ground state degeneracy of FQH states on higher genus surfaces. We find constraints on the pattern of zeros of quasiparticles that can fuse together, which allow us to obtain the fusion rules of quasiparticles from their pattern of zeros, at least in the case of the (generalized and composite) parafermion states. We also calculate from CFT the number of quasiparticle types in the generalized and composite parafermion states, which confirm the result obtained previously through a completely different approach.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Tensor-entanglement renormalization group approach to topological phases

The tensor-entanglement renormalization group approach is applied to Hamiltonians that realize a class of topologically ordered states -- string-net condensed states. We analyze phase transitions between phases with and without string-net condensation. These phase transitions change topological order without changing any symmetries. This demonstrates that the tensor-entanglement renormalization group approach can be used to study the phase diagram of a quantum system with topologically ordered phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Tensor-entanglement renormalization group approach to 2D quantum systems

Traditional mean-field theory is a simple generic approach for understanding various phases. But that approach only applies to symmetry breaking states with short-range entanglement. In this paper, we describe a generic approach for studying 2D quantum phases with long-range entanglement (such as topological phases). Our approach is a variational method that uses tensor product states (also known as projected entangled pair states) as trial wave functions. We use a 2D real space RG algorithm to evaluate expectation values in these wave functions. We demonstrate our algorithm by studying several simple 2D quantum spin models.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Properties of an algebraic spin liquid on the kagome lattice

In recent work, we argued that a particular algebraic spin liquid (ASL) may be the ground state of the S = 1/2 kagome lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet. This state, which lacks a spin gap, is appealing in light of recent experiments on herbertsmithite (ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2). Here, we study the properties of this ASL in more detail, using both the low-energy effective field theory and Gutzwiller-projected wavefunctions. We identify the competing orders of the ASL -- among them we find a set of magnetic orders lying at the M-points of the Brillouin zone, the q = 0 magnetic ordered state, the "Hastings" valence-bond solid (VBS) state, and a pattern of vector spin chirality ordering corresponding to one of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction terms present in herbertsmithite. We discuss the detection of the magnetic and VBS competing orders in experiments. While we focus on a clean system without DM interaction, we consider the effects of small DM interaction and argue that, surprisingly, it leads to spontaneously broken time reversal symmetry (for DM interaction that preserves XY spin rotation symmetry, there is also XY magnetic order). Our analysis of the projected wavefunction provides an estimate of the "Fermi velocity" that characterizes all low-energy excitations of the ASL -- this allows us to estimate the specific heat, which compares favorably with experiments. We also study the spin and bond correlations of the projected wavefunction and compare these results with those of the effective field theory. While the spin correlations in the effective field theory and wavefunction seem to match rather well (although not completely), the bond correlations are more puzzling. We conclude with a discussion of experiments in herbertsmithite and make several predictions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Effective theory of quadratic degeneracies

We present an effective theory for the Bloch functions of a two-dimensional square lattice near a quadratic degeneracy point. The degeneracy is protected by the symmetries of the crystal, and breaking these symmetries can either open a bandgap or split the degeneracy into a pair of linear degeneracies that are continuable to Dirac points. A degeneracy of this type occurs between the second and third TM bands of a photonic crystal formed by a square lattice of dielectric rods. We show that the theory agrees with numerically computed photonic bandstructures, and discuss the resulting insight into the reflection-free edge modes induced by parity breaking.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2008

Topological properties of Abelian and non-Abelian quantum Hall states from the pattern of zeros

It has been shown that different Abelian and non-Abelian fraction quantum Hall states can be characterized by patterns of zeros described by sequences of integers {S_a}. In this paper, we will show how to use the data {S_a} to calculate various topological properties of the corresponding fraction quantum Hall state, such as the number of possible quasiparticle types and their quantum numbers, as well as the actions of the quasiparticle tunneling and modular transformations on the degenerate ground states on torus.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

A classification of symmetric polynomials of infinite variables -- a construction of Abelian and non-Abelian quantum Hall states

Classification of complex wave functions of infinite variables is an important problem since it is related to the classification of possible quantum states of matter. In this paper, we propose a way to classify symmetric polynomials of infinite variables using the pattern of zeros of the polynomials. Such a classification leads to a construction of a class of simple non-Abelian quantum Hall states which are closely related to parafermion conformal field theories.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Phase transitions on the edge of the ν=5/2 Pfaffian and anti-Pfaffian quantum Hall state

Starting from the edge reconstructed Pfaffian state and the anti-Pfaffian state for the filling fraction $ν={5/2}$ fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state with the filled Landau levels included, we find that interactions between counterpropagating edge modes can induce phase transitions on the edge. In the new `Majorana-gapped' phases, a pair of counter propagating neutral Majorana modes becomes gapped. The quasiparticle tunneling exponent changes from $g=1/4$ to $g=1/2$ for the edge reconstructed Pfaffian state, and changes from $g=1/2$ to $g=0.55-0.75$ for the anti-Pfaffian state, in the new Majorana-gapped phases. The new phases are candidate states for the observed $ν={5/2}$ state. Furthermore, Majorana-gapped phases provide examples that non-trivial quantum phase transitions can happen on the edge of a FQH state without any change in bulk topological order.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Mutual Chern-Simons theory for Z_2 topological order

We study several different $Z_2$ topological ordered states in frustrated spin systems. The effective theories for those different Z_2 topological orders all have the same form -- a Z_2 gauge theory which can also be written as a mutual U(1) x U(1) Chern-Simons theory. However, we find that the different Z_2 topological orders are reflected in different projective realizations of lattice symmetry in the same effective mutual Chern-Simons theory. This result is obtained by comparing the ground-state degeneracy, the ground-state quantum numbers, the gapless edge state, and the projective symmetry group of quasi-particles calculated from the slave-particle theory and from the effective mutual Chern-Simons theories. Our study reveals intricate relations between topological order and symmetry.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Two energy scales and close relationship between the pseudogap and superconductivity in underdoped cuprate superconductors

By measuring the low temperature specific heat, the low energy quasi-particle excitation has been derived and analyzed in systematically doped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ single crystals. The Volovik's relation predicted for a d-wave superconductor has been well demonstrated in wide doping regime, showing a robust evidence for the d-wave pairing symmetry. Furthermore the nodal gap slope $v_Δ$ of the superconducting gap is derived and is found to follow the same doping dependence of the pseudogap obtained from ARPES and tunnelling measurement. This strongly suggests a close relationship between the pseudogap and superconductivity. Taking the entropy conservation into account, we argue that the ground state of the pseudogap phase should have Fermi arcs with finite density of states at zero K, and the transport data show that it behaves like an insulator due to probably weak localization. A nodal metal picture for the pseudogap phase cannot interpret the data. Based on the Fermi arc picture for the pseudogap phase it is found that the superconducting energy scale or $T_c$ in underdoped regime is governed by both the maximum gap and the spectral weight from the Fermi arcs. This suggests that there are two energy scales: superconducting energy scale and the pseudogap. The superconductivity may be formed by the condensation of Fermi arc quasiparticles through pairing by exchanging virtue bosons.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Exact results of the quantum phase transition for the topological order

In this paper a duality between the d=2 Wen-plaquette model in a transverse field and the d=1 Ising model in a transverse field is used to learn the nature of the quantum phase transition (QPT) between a spin-polarized phase and a topological ordered state with the string-net condensation. The QPT is not induced by spontaneous symmetry breaking and there are no conventional Landau-type local order parameters. Instead the string-like non-local order parameters are introduced to describe the QPT. In particular, the duality character between the open-string and closed string for the QPT are explored.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Dynamical and scaling properties of nu=5/2 interferometer

We calculate the non-linear I-V tunneling curves for a two-point-contact tunneling junction between two edges of the $ν={5/2}$ non-abelian fractional quantum Hall state. The non-linear I-V tunneling curves are calculated for both cases with and without an $e/4$ non-abelian quasiparticle between the two contacts. We confirm that, within a dynamical edge theory, the presence of the $e/4$ quasiparticle between the two contacts destroys the interference between the two tunneling paths. We also calculate how the interference reappears as the $e/4$ quasiparticle is moved closer to an edge.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Electromagnetic response of high-Tc superconductors -- the slave-boson and doped-carrier theories

We evaluate the doping dependence of the quasiparticle current and low temperature superfluid density in two slave-particle theories of the tt't''J model -- the slave-boson theory and doped-carrier theory. In the slave-boson theory, the nodal quasiparticle current renormalization factor $α$ vanishes proportionally to the zero temperature superfluid density $ρ_S(0)$; however, we find that away from the $ρ_S(0) \to 0$ limit $α$ displays a much weaker doping dependence than $ρ_S(0)$. A similar conclusion applies to the doped-carrier theory, which differentiates the nodal and antinodal regions of momentum space. Due to its momentum space anisotropy, the doped-carrier theory enhances the value of $α$ in the hole doped regime, bringing it to quantitative agreement with experiments, and reproduces the asymmetry between hole and electron doped cuprate superconductors. Finally, we use the doped-carrier theory to predict a specific experimental signature of local staggered spin correlations in doped Mott insulator superconductors which, we propose, should be observed in STM measurements of underdoped high-Tc compounds. This experimental signature distinguishes the doped-carrier theory from other candidate mean-field theories of high-Tc superconductors, like the slave-boson theory and the conventional BCS theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Quantum ether: photons and electrons from a rotor model

We give an example of a purely bosonic model -- a rotor model on the 3D cubic lattice -- whose low energy excitations behave like massless U(1) gauge bosons and massless Dirac fermions. This model can be viewed as a ``quantum ether'': a medium that gives rise to both photons and electrons. It illustrates a general mechanism for the emergence of gauge bosons and fermions known as ``string-net condensation.'' Other, more complex, string-net condensed models can have excitations that behave like gluons, quarks and other particles in the standard model. This suggests that photons, electrons and other elementary particles may have a unified origin: string-net condensation in our vacuum.

hep-th↗

arXiv2007

Detecting topological order in a ground state wave function

A large class of topological orders can be understood and classified using the string-net condensation picture. These topological orders can be characterized by a set of data (N, d_i, F^{ijk}_{lmn}, δ_{ijk}). We describe a way to detect this kind of topological order using only the ground state wave function. The method involves computing a quantity called the ``topological entropy'' which directly measures the quantum dimension D = \sum_i d^2_i.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

From new states of matter to a unification of light and electrons

For a long time, people believe that all possible states of matter are described by Landau symmetry-breaking theory. Recently we find that string-net condensation provide a mechanism to produce states of matter beyond the symmetry-breaking description. The collective excitations of the string-net condensed states turn out to be our old friends, photons and electrons (and other gauge bosons and fermions). This suggests that our vacuum is a string-net condensed state. Light and electrons in our vacuum have a unified origin -- string-net condensation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Projected wavefunction study of Spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the Kagome lattice

We perform a Gutzwiller projected wavefunction study for the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the Kagome lattice to compare energies of several spin-liquid states. The result indicates that a U(1)-Dirac spin-liquid state has the lowest energy. Furthermore, even without variational parameters, the energy turns out to be very close to that found by exact diagonalization. We show that such a U(1)-Dirac state represents a quantum phase whose low energy physics is governed by four flavors of two-component Dirac fermions coupled to a U(1) gauge field. These results are discussed in the context of recent experiments on ZnCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_2$.

cond-mat.str-el↗