arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Zhenghan Wang.
We study representations of the loop braid group $LB_n$ from the perspective of extending representations of the braid group $B_n$. We also pursue a generalization of the braid/Hecke/Temperlely-Lieb paradigm---uniform finite dimensional quotient algebras of the loop braid group algebras.
We generalize Ng's two-variable algebraic/combinatorial $0$-th framed knot contact homology for framed oriented knots in $S^3$ to knots in $S^1 \times S^2$, and prove that the resulting knot invariant is the same as the framed cord algebra of knots. Actually, our cord algebra has an extra variable, which potentially corresponds to the third variable in Ng's three-variable knot contact homology. Our main tool is Lin's generalization of the Markov theorem for braids in $S^3$ to braids in $S^1 \times S^2$. We conjecture that our framed cord algebras are always finitely generated for non-local knots.
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.
For non-abelian simple objects in a unitary modular category, the density of their braid group representations, the #P-hard evaluation of their associated link invariants, and the BQP-completeness of their anyonic quantum computing models are closely related. We systematically study such properties of the non-abelian simple objects in metaplectic modular categories, which are unitary modular categories with fusion rules of SO(m)_2 for an odd integer m \geq 3. The simple objects with quantum dimensions \sqrt{m} have finite image braid group representations, and their link invariants are classically efficient to evaluate. We also provide classically efficient simulation of their braid group representations. These simulations of the braid group representations can be regarded as qudit generalizations of the Knill-Gottesmann theorem for the qubit case. The simple objects of dimension 2 give us a surprising result: while their braid group representations have finite images and are efficiently simulable classically after a generalized localization, their link invariants are #P-hard to evaluate exactly. We sharpen the #P-hardness by showing that any sufficiently accurate approximation of their associated link invariants is already #P-hard.
Harnessing non-abelian statistics of anyons to perform quantum computational tasks is getting closer to reality. While the existence of universal anyons by braiding alone such as the Fibonacci anyon is theoretically a possibility, accessible anyons with current technology all belong to a class that is called weakly integral---anyons whose squared quantum dimensions are integers. We analyze the computational power of the first non-abelian anyon system with only integral quantum dimensions---$D(S_3)$, the quantum double of $S_3$. Since all anyons in $D(S_3)$ have finite images of braid group representations, they cannot be universal for quantum computation by braiding alone. Based on our knowledge of the images of the braid group representations, we set up three qutrit computational models. Supplementing braidings with some measurements and ancillary states, we find a universal gate set for each model.
The second author previously discussed how classical complexity separation conjectures, we call them "axioms", have implications in three manifold topology: polynomial length stings of operations which preserve certain Jones polynomial evaluations cannot produce exponential simplifications of link diagrams. In this paper, we continue this theme, exploring now more subtle separation axioms for quantum complexity classes. Surprisingly, we now find that similar strings are unable to effect even linear simplifications of the diagrams.
In comparison with entanglement and Bell nonlocality, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is a newly emerged research topic and in its incipient stage. Although Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering has been explored via violations of steering inequalities both theoretically and experimentally, the known inequalities in the literatures are far from well-developed. As a result, it is not yet possible to observe Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering for some steerable mixed states. Recently, a simple approach was presented to identify Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering based on all-versus-nothing argument, offering a strong condition to witness the steerability of a family of two-qubit (pure or mixed) entangled states. In this work, we show that the all-versus-nothing proof of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering can be tested by measuring the projective probabilities. Through the bound of probabilities imposed by local-hidden-state model, the proposed test shows that steering can be detected by the all-versus-nothing argument experimentally even in the presence of imprecision and errors. Our test can be implemented in many physical systems and we discuss the possible realizations of our scheme with non-Abelian anyons and trapped ions.
The string-net approach by Levin and Wen and the local unitary transformation approach by Chen, Gu and Wen provided ways to systematically label non-chiral topological orders in 2D. In those approaches, different topologically ordered many-body wave functions were characterized by different fixed-point tensors. Though extremely powerful, the resulting fixed-point tensors were mathematical abstractions and thus lacked a physical interpretation. As a result it was hard to judge if two different fixed-point tensors described the same quantum phase or not. We want to improve that approach by giving a more physical description of the topological orders. We find that the non-Abelian Berry's phases, $T$- and $S$-matrices, of the topological protected degenerate ground states on a torus give rise to a more physical description of topological orders. Using the Verlinde conjecture, we can even choose the canonical basis for the $T$- and $S$-matrices. It is conjectured that the $T$ and $S$-matrices form a complete and one-to-one characterization of non-chiral topological orders and can replace the fixed-point tensor description to give us a more physical label for topological orders. As a result, all the topological properties can be obtained from the $T$- and $S$-matrices, such as number of quasiparticle types (from the dimension of $T$ or $S$), the quasiparticle statistics (from the diagonal elements of $T$), the quantum dimensions of quasiparticles (from the first row of $S$), \etc.
Modular categories are important algebraic structures in a variety of subjects in mathematics and physics. We provide an explicit, motivated and elementary definition of a modular category over a field of characteristic 0 as an equivalence class of solutions to a set of polynomial equations. We conclude that within each class of solutions, there is one which consists entirely of algebraic numbers. These algebraic solutions make it possible to discuss defining algebraic number fields of modular categories and their Galois twists. One motivation for such a definition is an arithmetic theory of modular categories which plays an important role in their classification. Another is to facilitate implementation of computer-based tools to resolve computational and classification problems intractible by other means. We observe some basic properties of Galois twists of modular categories and make conjectures about their relation to the the intrinsic data of modular categories.
There are many interesting parallels between systems of interacting non-Abelian anyons and quantum magnetism, occuring in ordinary SU(2) quantum magnets. Here we consider theories of so-called su(2)_k anyons, well-known deformations of SU(2), in which only the first k+1 angular momenta of SU(2) occur. In this manuscript, we discuss in particular anyonic generalizations of ordinary SU(2) spin chains with an emphasis on anyonic spin S=1 chains. We find that the overall phase diagrams for these anyonic spin-1 chains closely mirror the phase diagram of the ordinary bilinear-biquadratic spin-1 chain including anyonic generalizations of the Haldane phase, the AKLT construction, and supersymmetric quantum critical points. A novel feature of the anyonic spin-1 chains is an additional topological symmetry that protects the gapless phases. Distinctions further arise in the form of an even/odd effect in the deformation parameter k when considering su(2)_k anyonic theories with k>4, as well as for the special case of the su(2)_4 theory for which the spin-1 representation plays a special role. We also address anyonic generalizations of spin-1/2 chains with a focus on the topological protection provided for their gapless ground states. Finally, we put our results into context of earlier generalizations of SU(2) quantum spin chains, in particular so-called (fused) Temperley-Lieb chains.
We begin by discussing the history of quantum logic, dividing it into three eras or lives. The first life has to do with Birkhoff and von Neumann's algebraic approach in the 1930's. The second life has to do with attempt to understand quantum logic as logic that began in the late 1950's and blossomed in the 1970's. And the third life has to do with recent developments in quantum logic coming from its connections to quantum computation. We discuss our own work connecting quantum logic to quantum computation (viewing quantum logic as the logic of quantum registers storing qubits), and make some speculations about mathematics based on quantum principles.
There is compelling theoretical evidence that quantum physics will change the face of information science. Exciting progress has been made during the last two decades towards the building of a large scale quantum computer. A quantum group approach stands out as a promising route to this holy grail, and provides hope that we may have quantum computers in our future.
M. Hennings and G. Kuperberg defined quantum invariants Z_{Henn} and Z_{Kup} of closed oriented 3-manifolds based on certain Hopf algebras, respectively. We prove that |Z_{Kup}|=|Z_{Henn}|^2 for lens spaces when both invariants are based on factorizable finite dimensional ribbon Hopf algebras.
We introduce and study a class of anyon models that are a natural generalization of Ising anyons and Majorana fermion zero modes. These models combine an Ising anyon sector with a sector associated with $SO(m)_2$ Chern-Simons theory. We show how they can arise in a simple scenario for electron fractionalization and give a complete account of their quasiparticles types, fusion rules, and braiding. We show that the image of the braid group is finite for a collection of $2n$ fundamental quasiparticles and is a proper subgroup of the metaplectic representation of $Sp(2n-2,\mathbb{F}_m)\ltimes H(2n-2,\mathbb{F}_m)$, where $Sp(2n-2,\mathbb{F}_m)$ is the symplectic group over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_m$ and $H(2n-2,\mathbb{F}_m)$ is the extra special group (also called the $(2n-1)$-dimensional Heisenberg group) over $\mathbb{F}_m$. Moreover, the braiding of fundamental quasiparticles can be efficiently simulated classically. However, computing the result of braiding a certain type of composite quasiparticle is $# P$-hard, although it is not universal for quantum computation because it has a finite braid group image. This a rare example of a topological phase that is not universal for quantum computation through braiding but nevertheless has $# P$-hard link invariants. We argue that our models are closely related to recent analyses finding non-Abelian anyonic properties for defects in quantum Hall systems, generalizing Majorana zero modes in quasi-1D systems.
Topological phases are unique states of matter incorporating long-range quantum entanglement, hosting exotic excitations with fractional quantum statistics. We report a practical method to identify topological phases in arbitrary realistic models by accurately calculating the Topological Entanglement Entropy (TEE) using the Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG). We argue that the DMRG algorithm naturally produces a minimally entangled state, from amongst the quasi-degenerate ground states in a topological phase. This proposal both explains the success of this method, and the absence of ground state degeneracy found in prior DMRG sightings of topological phases. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the calculational procedure by obtaining the TEE for several microscopic models, with an accuracy of order $10^{-3}$ when the circumference of the cylinder is around ten times the correlation length. As an example, we definitively show the ground state of the quantum $S=1/2$ antiferromagnet on the kagomé lattice is a topological spin liquid, and strongly constrain the full identification of this phase of matter.
Inspired by quantum information theory, we look for representations of the braid groups $B_n$ on $V^{\otimes (n+m-2)}$ for some fixed vector space $V$ such that each braid generator $σ_i, i=1,...,n-1,$ acts on $m$ consecutive tensor factors from $i$ through $i+m-1$. The braid relation for $m=2$ is essentially the Yang-Baxter equation, and the cases for $m>2$ are called generalized Yang-Baxter equations. We observe that certain objects in ribbon fusion categories naturally give rise to such representations for the case $m=3$. Examples are given from the Ising theory (or the closely related $SU(2)_2$), $SO(N)_2$ for $N$ odd, and $SU(3)_3$. The solution from the Jones-Kauffman theory at a $6^{th}$ root of unity, which is closely related to $SO(3)_2$ or $SU(2)_4$, is explicitly described in the end.
Some purely chiral fractional quantum Hall states are described by symmetric or anti-symmetric polynomials of infinite variables. In this article, we review a systematic construction and classification of those fractional quantum Hall states and the corresponding polynomials of infinite variables, using the pattern-of-zeros approach. We discuss how to use patterns of zeros to label different fractional quantum Hall states and the corresponding polynomials. We also discuss how to calculate various universal properties (ie the quantum topological invariants) from the pattern of zeros.
Galois conjugation relates unitary conformal field theories (CFTs) and topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) to their non-unitary counterparts. Here we investigate Galois conjugates of quantum double models, such as the Levin-Wen model. While these Galois conjugated Hamiltonians are typically non-Hermitian, we find that their ground state wave functions still obey a generalized version of the usual code property (local operators do not act on the ground state manifold) and hence enjoy a generalized topological protection. The key question addressed in this paper is whether such non-unitary topological phases can also appear as the ground states of Hermitian Hamiltonians. Specific attempts at constructing Hermitian Hamiltonians with these ground states lead to a loss of the code property and topological protection of the degenerate ground states. Beyond this we rigorously prove that no local change of basis can transform the ground states of the Galois conjugated doubled Fibonacci theory into the ground states of a topological model whose Hermitian Hamiltonian satisfies Lieb-Robinson bounds. These include all gapped local or quasi-local Hamiltonians. A similar statement holds for many other non-unitary TQFTs. One consequence is that the "Gaffnian" wave function cannot be the ground state of a gapped fractional quantum Hall state.