Paul Fendley

Abstract:

Many integrable statistical mechanical models possess a fractional-spin conserved current. Such currents have been constructed by utilising quantum-group algebras and ideas from “discrete holomorphicity”. I find them naturally and much more generally using a braided tensor category, a topological structure arising in knot invariants, anyons and conformal field theory. I derive a simple constraint on the Boltzmann weights admitting a conserved current, generalising one found using quantum-group algebras. The resulting trigonometric weights are typically those of a critical integrable lattice model, so the method here gives a linear way of “Baxterising”, i.e. building a solution of the Yang-Baxter equation out of topological data. It also illuminates why many models do not admit a solution. I discuss many examples in geometric and local models, including (perhaps) a new solution.

Abstract:

Motivated by the existence of exact many-body quantum scars in the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) chain, we explore the connection between matrix product state (MPS) wave functions and many-body quantum scarred Hamiltonians. We provide a method to systematically search for and construct parent Hamiltonians with towers of exact eigenstates composed of quasiparticles on top of an MPS wave function. These exact eigenstates have low entanglement in spite of being in the middle of the spectrum, thus violating the strong eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. Using our approach, we recover the AKLT chain starting from the MPS of its ground state, and we derive the most general nearest-neighbor Hamiltonian that shares the AKLT quasiparticle tower of exact eigenstates. We further apply this formalism to other simple MPS wave functions, and derive families of Hamiltonians that exhibit AKLT-like quantum scars. As a consequence, we also construct a scar-preserving deformation that connects the AKLT chain to the integrable spin-1 pure biquadratic model. Finally, we also derive other families of Hamiltonians that exhibit types of exact quantum scars, including a U ( 1 ) -invariant perturbed Potts model.

Abstract:

We show how the Onsager algebra, used in the original solution of the two-dimensional Ising model, arises as an infinite-dimensional symmetry of certain self-dual models that also have a symmetry. We describe in detail the example of nearest-neighbour n-state clock chains whose symmetry is enhanced to . As a consequence of the Onsager-algebra symmetry, the spectrum of these models possesses degeneracies with multiplicities 2 N for positive integer N. We construct the elements of the algebra explicitly from transfer matrices built from non-fundamental representations of the quantum-group algebra . We analyse the spectra further by using both the coordinate Bethe ansatz and a functional approach, and show that the degeneracies result from special exact n-string solutions of the Bethe equations. We also find a family of commuting chiral Hamiltonians that break the degeneracies and allow an integrable interpolation between ferro- and antiferromagnets.

Abstract:

We introduce and analyze a quantum spin or Majorana chain with a tricritical Ising point separating a critical phase from a gapped phase with order-disorder coexistence. We show that supersymmetry is not only an emergent property of the scaling limit but also manifests itself on the lattice. Namely, we find explicit lattice expressions for the supersymmetry generators and currents. Writing the Hamiltonian in terms of these generators allows us to find the ground states exactly at a frustration-free coupling. These confirm the coexistence between two (topologically) ordered ground states and a disordered one in the gapped phase. Deforming the model by including explicit chiral symmetry breaking, we find the phases persist up to an unusual chiral phase transition where the supersymmetry becomes exact even on the lattice.

Abstract:

We prove that quantum information encoded in some topological excitations, including certain Majorana zero modes, is protected in closed systems for a time scale exponentially long in system parameters. This protection holds even at infinite temperature. At lower temperatures, the decay time becomes even longer, with a temperature dependence controlled by an effective gap that is parametrically larger than the actual energy gap of the system. This nonequilibrium dynamical phenomenon is a form of prethermalization and occurs because of obstructions to the equilibration of edge or defect degrees of freedom with the bulk. We analyze the ramifications for ordered and topological phases in one, two, and three dimensions, with examples including Majorana and parafermionic zero modes in interacting spin chains. Our results are based on a nonperturbative analysis valid in any dimension, and they are illustrated by numerical simulations in one dimension. We discuss the implications for experiments on quantum-dot chains tuned into a regime supporting end Majorana zero modes and on trapped ion chains.