arXiv subjects

Zheng-Cheng Gu

Publications and source records attributed to Zheng-Cheng Gu.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Multi-kink topological terms and charge-binding domain-wall condensation induced symmetry-protected topological states: Beyond Chern-Simons/BF theory

Quantum-disordering a discrete-symmetry breaking state by condensing domain-walls can lead to a trivial symmetric insulator state. In this work, we show that if we bind a 1D representation of the symmetry (such as a charge) to the intersection point of several domain walls, condensing such modified domain-walls can lead to a non-trivial symmetry-protected topological (SPT) state. This result is obtained by showing that the modified domain-wall condensed state has a non-trivial SPT invariant -- the symmetry-twist dependent partition function. We propose two different kinds of field theories that can describe the above mentioned SPT states. The first one is a Ginzburg-Landau-type non-linear sigma model theory, but with an additional multi-kink domain-wall topological term. Such theory has an anomalous $U^k(1)$ symmetry but an anomaly-free $Z_N^k$ symmetry. The second one is a gauge theory, which is beyond Abelian Chern-Simons/BF gauge theories. We argue that the two field theories are equivalent at low energies. After coupling to the symmetry twists, both theories produce the desired SPT invariant.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Double-semion topological order from exactly solvable quantum dimer models

We construct a generalized quantum dimer model on two-dimensional nonbipartite lattices including the triangular lattice, the star lattice and the kagome lattice. At the Rokhsar-Kivelson (RK) point, we obtain its exact ground states that are shown to be a fully gapped quantum spin liquid with the double-semion topological order. The ground-state wave function of such a model at the RK point is a superposition of dimer configurations with a nonlocal sign structure determined by counting the number of loops in the transition graph. We explicitly demonstrate the double-semion topological order in the ground states by showing the semionic statistics of monomer excitations. We also discuss possible implications of such double-semion resonating valence bond states to candidate quantum spin-liquid systems discovered experimentally and numerically in the past few years.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Vortex-line condensation in three dimensions: A physical mechanism for bosonic topological insulators

Bosonic topological insulators (BTI) in three dimensions are symmetry-protected topological phases (SPT) protected by time-reversal and boson number conservation {symmetries}. BTI in three dimensions were first proposed and classified by the group cohomology theory which suggests two distinct root states, each carrying a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ index. Soon after, surface anomalous topological orders were proposed to identify different root states of BTI, which even leads to a new BTI root state beyond the group cohomology classification. In this paper, we propose a universal physical mechanism via \textit{vortex-line condensation} {from} a 3d superfluid to achieve all {three} root states. It naturally produces bulk topological quantum field theory (TQFT) description for each root state. Topologically ordered states on the surface are \textit{rigorously} derived by placing TQFT on an open manifold, which allows us to explicitly demonstrate the bulk-boundary correspondence. Finally, we generalize the mechanism to $Z_N$ symmetries and discuss potential SPT phases beyond the group cohomology classification.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

A classification of 2D fermionic and bosonic topological orders

The string-net approach by Levin and Wen, and the local unitary transformation approach by Chen, Gu, and Wen, provide ways to classify topological orders with gappable edge in 2D bosonic systems. The two approaches reveal that the mathematical framework for 2+1D bosonic topological order with gappable edge is closely related to unitary fusion category theory. In this paper, we generalize these systematic descriptions of topological orders to 2D fermion systems. We find a classification of 2+1D fermionic topological orders with gappable edge in terms of the following set of data $(N^{ij}_k, F^{ij}_k, F^{ijm,αβ}_{jkn,χδ},d_i)$, that satisfy a set of non-linear algebraic equations. The exactly soluble Hamiltonians can be constructed from the above data on any lattices to realize the corresponding topological orders. When $F^{ij}_k=0$, our result recovers the previous classification of 2+1D bosonic topological orders with gappable edge.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Microscopic Realization of 2-Dimensional Bosonic Topological Insulators

It is well known that a Bosonic Mott insulator can be realized by condensing vortices of a bo- son condensate. Usually, a vortex becomes an anti-vortex (and vice-versa) under time reversal symmetry, and the condensation of vortices results in a trivial Mott insulator. However, if each vortex or anti-vortex interacts with a spin trapped at its core, the time reversal transformation of the composite vortex operator will contain an extra minus sign. It turns out that such a composite vortex condensed state is a bosonic topological insulator (BTI) with gapless boundary excitations protected by $U(1)\rtimes Z_2^T$ symmetry. We point out that in BTI, an external $π$ flux monodromy defect carries a Kramers doublet. We propose lattice model Hamiltonians to realize the BTI phase, which might be implemented in cold atom systems or spin-1 solid state systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Symmetry-protected topological orders for interacting fermions -- Fermionic topological nonlinear $σ$ models and a special group supercohomology theory

Symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases are gapped short-range-entangled quantum phases with a symmetry $G$, which can all be smoothly connected to the trivial product states if we break the symmetry. It has been shown that a large class of interacting bosonic SPT phases can be systematically described by group cohomology theory. In this paper, we introduce a (special) group supercohomology theory which is a generalization of the standard group cohomology theory. We show that a large class of short-range interacting fermionic SPT phases can be described by the group supercohomology theory. Using the data of super cocycles, we can obtain the ideal ground state wave function for the corresponding fermionic SPT phase. We can also obtain the bulk Hamiltonian that realizes the SPT phase, as well as the anomalous (ie, non-on-site) symmetry for the boundary effective Hamiltonian. The anomalous symmetry on the boundary implies that the symmetric} boundary must be gapless for 1+1D boundary, and must be gapless or topologically ordered beyond 1+1D. As an application of this general result, we construct a new SPT phase in 3D, for interacting fermionic superconductors with coplanar spin order (which have $T^2=1$ time-reversal $Z_2^T$ and fermion-number parity $Z_2^f$ symmetries described by a full symmetry group $Z_2^T\times Z_2^f$). Such a fermionic SPT state can neither be realized by free fermions nor by interacting bosons (formed by fermion-pairs), and thus are not included in the K-theory classification for free fermions or group cohomology description for interacting bosons. We also construct three interacting fermionic SPT phases in 2D with a full symmetry group $Z_2\times Z_2^f$. Those 2D fermionic SPT phases all have central-charge $c=1$ gapless edge excitations, if the symmetry is not broken.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Emergence of $p+ip$ superconductivity in $2$D strongly correlated Dirac fermions

Searching for $p+ip$ superconducting(SC) state has become a fascinating subject in condensed matter physics, as a dream application awaiting in topological quantum computation. In this paper, we report a theoretical discovery of a $p+ip$ SC ground state (coexisting with ferromagnetic order) in honeycomb lattice Hubbard model with infinite repulsive interaction at low doping($δ< 0.2$), by using both the state-of-art Grassmann tensor product state(GTPS) approach and a quantum field theory approach. Our discovery suggests a new mechanism for $p+ip$ SC state in generic strongly correlated systems and opens a new door towards experimental realization. The $p+ip$ SC state has an instability towards a potential non-Fermi liquid with a large but finite $U$. However, a small Zeeman field term stabilizes the $p+ip$ SC state. Relevant realistic materials are also proposed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Lattice Model for Fermionic Toric Code

The Z_2 topological order in Z_2 spin liquid and in exactly soluble Kitaev toric code model is the simplest topological order for 2+1D bosonic systems. More general 2+1D bosonic topologically ordered states can be constructed via exact soluble string-net models. However, the most important topologically ordered phases of matter are arguably the fermionic fractional quantum Hall states. Topological phases of matter for fermion systems are strictly richer than their bosonic counterparts because locality has different meanings for the two kinds of systems. In this paper, we describe a simple fermionic version of the toric code model to illustrate many salient features of fermionic exactly soluble models and fermionic topologically ordered states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Continuous phase transition from Néel state to Z_2 spin liquid state on a square lattice

Recent numerical studies of the $J_1$-$J_2$ model on a square lattice suggest a possible continuous phase transition between the Néel state and a gapped spin-liquid state with Z$_2$ topological order. We show that such a phase transition can be realized through two steps: First bring the Néel state to the U(1) deconfined quantum critical point, which has been studied in the context of Néel -- valence bond solid (VBS) state phase transition. Then condense the spinon pair -- skyrmion/antiskyrmion bound state, which carries both gauge charge and flux of the U(1) gauge field emerging at the deconfined quantum critical point. We also propose a Schwinger boson projective wave function to realize such a Z$_2$ spin liquid state and find that it has a relatively low variational energy ($-0.4893J_1$/site) for the $J_1$-$J_2$ model at $J_2=0.5J_1$. The spin liquid state we obtain breaks the fourfold rotational symmetry of the square lattice and therefore is a nematic spin liquid state. This direct continuous phase transition from the Néel state to a spin liquid state may be realized in the $J_1$-$J_2$ model, or the anisotropic $J_{1x}$-$J_{1y}$-$J_2$ model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Topological Response Theory of Abelian Symmetry-Protected Topological Phases in Two Dimensions

It has been shown that the symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases with finite Abelian symmetries can be described by Chern-Simons field theory. We propose a topological response theory to uniquely identify the SPT orders, which allows us to obtain a systematic scheme to classify bosonic SPT phases with any finite Abelian symmetry group. We point out that even for finite Abelian symmetry, there exist bosonic SPT phases beyond the current Chern-Simons theory framework. We also apply the theory to fermionic SPT phases with $\mathbb{Z}_m$ symmetry and find the classification of SPT phases depends on the parity of $m$: for even $m$ there are $2m$ classes, $m$ out of which is intrinsically fermionic SPT phases and can not be realized in any bosonic system. Finally we propose a classification scheme of fermionic SPT phases for any finite, Abelian symmetry.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Neutrino as topological Majorana zero modes: the origin of three generations of neutrinos and their mass mixing

Recently, Majorana's spirit returns to modern condensed matter physics -- in the context of topological Majorana zero mode that represents a local half degree of freedom carrying non-Abelian statistics.In this paper, we investigate the topological nature of a Majorana fermion by assuming that it is made up of four Majorana zero modes at cutoff energy scale. First, we show that a pair of Majorana zero modes can realize a $T^4=-1$ time reversal symmetry, a $P^4=-1$ parity symmetry and even a nontrivial $\overline C^4=-1$ charge conjugation symmetry. Next, we propose a $\overline CPT$ super algebra for the Majorana fermion made up of four Majorana zero modes. Furthermore, the origin of three generations of neutrinos(assuming they are Majorana fermions) can be naturally explained as three distinguishable ways to form a pair of (local) complex fermions out of four Majorana zero modes. Finally, we compute the neutrino mass mixing matrix and mass ratios of the three mass eigenstates from a first principle at leading order(in the absence of $CP$ violation and charged lepton corrections). We obtain $θ_{12} =31.7^\circ$, $θ_{23}=45^\circ$, $θ_{13}=0^\circ$ and $m_1/m_3=m_2/m_3=3/\sqrt{5}$. We predict the effective mass in neutrinoless double beta decay to be $m_{ββ}=m_1/\sqrt{5}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

A universal form for quark and neutrino mass matrices

We propose a universal form for quark and lepton mass matrices, which applies in a ``leading order'' approximation where $CP$-violating phases are ignored. Down-quark mass ratios are successfully predicted in our scheme using the measured CKM mixing angles as input. Assuming an additional discrete symmetry in the neutrino sector, we obtain the ``golden ratio'' pattern in the leading-order PMNS mixing matrix; in addition we predict an inverted neutrino mass hierarchy with $m_1\simeq m_2 \simeq74 meV$, $m_3\simeq 55 meV$, and neutrinoless double beta decay mass parameter $m_{0νββ}\simeq 33~ meV$. We also predict that the $CP$-violating angle in the neutrino sector is close to the maximal value $δ=\pmπ/2$, and that the diagonal phases in the PMNS matrix are $α_1\simeq 0$, $α_2\simeqπ$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Time-reversal symmetry breaking superconducting ground state in the doped Mott insulator on the honeycomb lattice

The emergence of superconductivity in doped Mott insulators has been debated for decades. In this paper, we report the theoretical discovery of a time-reversal symmetry breaking superconducting ground state in the doped Mott insulator (described by the well known t-J model) on honeycomb lattice, based on a recently developed variational method: the Grassmann tensor product state approach. As a benchmark, we use exact diagonalization and density-matrix renormalization methods to check our results on small clusters. We find systematic consistency for the ground-state energy as well as other physical quantities, such as the staggered magnetization. At low doping, the superconductivity coexists with antiferromagnetic ordering.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Efficient simulation of Grassmann Tensor Product States

Recently, the Grassmann-tensor-entanglement renormalization group(GTERG) approach was proposed as a generic variational approach to study strongly correlated boson/fermion systems. However, the weakness of such a simple variational approach is that generic Grassmann tensor product states(GTPS) with large inner dimension $D$ will contain a large number of variational parameters and be hard to be determined through usual minimization procedures. In this paper, we first introduce a standard form of GTPS which significantly simplifies the representations. Then we describe a simple imaginary-time-evolution algorithm to efficiently update the GTPS based on the fermion coherent state representation and show all the algorithm developed for usual tensor product states(TPS) can be implemented for GTPS in a similar way. Finally, we study the environment effect for the GTERG approach and propose a simple method to further improve its accuracy. We demonstrate our algorithms by studying a simple 2D free fermion system on honeycomb lattice, including both off-critical and critical cases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

The effect of interactions on 2D fermionic symmetry-protected topological phases with Z2 symmetry

We study the effect of interactions on 2D fermionic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases using the recently proposed braiding statistics approach. We focus on a simple class of examples: superconductors with a Z2 Ising symmetry. Although these systems are classified by Z in the noninteracting limit, our results suggest that the classification collapses to Z8 in the presence of interactions -- consistent with previous work that analyzed the stability of the edge. Specifically, we show that there are at least 8 different types of Ising superconductors that cannot be adiabatically connected to one another, even in the presence of strong interactions. In addition, we prove that each of the 7 nontrivial superconductors have protected edge modes.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Topological phase transition in a generalized Kane-Mele-Hubbard model: A combined Quantum Monte Carlo and Green's function study

We study a generalized Kane-Mele-Hubbard model with third-neighbor hopping, an interacting two-dimensional model with a topological phase transition as a function of third-neighbor hopping, by means of the determinant projector Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method. This technique is essentially numerically exact on models without a fermion sign problem, such as the one we consider. We determine the interaction-dependence of the Z2 topological insulator/trivial insulator phase boundary by calculating the Z2 invariants directly from the single-particle Green's function. The interactions push the phase boundary to larger values of third-neighbor hopping, thus stabilizing the topological phase. The observation of boundary shifting entirely stems from quantum °uctuations. We also identify qualitative features of the single-particle Green's function which are computationally useful in numerical searches for topological phase transitions without the need to compute the full topological invariant.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Momentum-space instantons and maximally localized flat-band topological Hamiltonians

Recently, two-dimensional band insulators with a topologically nontrivial (almost) flat band has been studied extensively, which can realize integer and fractional quantum Hall effect in a system without an orbital magnetic field. Realizing a topological flat band generally requires longer range hoppings in a lattice Hamiltonian. It is natural to ask what is the minimal hopping range required.% for a topological flat-band Hamiltonian. In this paper, we prove that the mean hopping range of the flat-band Hamiltonian with Chern number $C_1$ and total number of bands $N$ has a universal lower bound of $\sqrt{4|C_1|/πN}$. Furthermore, for the Hamiltonians that reach this lower bound, the Bloch wavefunctions of the topological flat band are instanton solutions of a $CP(N-1)$ non-linear $σ$ model on the Brillouin zone torus, which are elliptic functions up to a normalization factor.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Constructing gapless spin liquid state for the spin-1/2 J1-J2 Heisenberg model on a square lattice

We construct a class of projected entangled pair states (PEPS) which is exactly the resonating valence bond (RVB) wavefunctions endowed with both short range and long range valence bonds. With an energetically preferred RVB pattern, the wavefunction is simplified to live in a one parameter variational space. We tune this variational parameter to minimize the energy for the frustrated spin 1/2 J1-J2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the square lattice. Taking a cylindrical geometry, we are able to construct four topological sectors with even or odd number of fluxes penetrating the cylinder and even or odd number of spinons on the boundary. The energy splitting in different topological sectors is exponentially small with the cylinder perimeter. We find a power law decay of the dimer correlation function on a torus, and a lnL correction to the entanglement entropy, indicating a gapless spin liquid phase at the optimum parameter.

cond-mat.str-el↗