Topologically ordered systems in the presence of symmetries can exhibit new structures which are referred to as symmetry-enriched topological (SET) phases. We introduce simple methods to detect certain SET orders directly from a complete set of topologically degenerate ground-state wave functions. In particular, we first show how to directly determine the characteristic symmetry fractionalization of the quasiparticles from the reduced density matrix of the minimally entangled states. Second, we show how a simple generalization of a nonlocal order parameter can be measured to detect SET phases. The usefulness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by examining two concrete model states which exhibit SET phases: (i) a spin-1 model on the honeycomb lattice and (ii) the resonating valence bond (RVB) state on a kagome lattice. We conclude that the spin-1 model and the RVB state are in the same SET phases.
We classify distinct types of quantum number fractionalization occurring in two-dimensional topologically ordered phases, focusing in particular on phases with
Z2 topological order, that is, on gapped
Z2 spin liquids. We find that the fractionalization class of each anyon is an equivalence class of projective representations of the symmetry group, corresponding to elements of the cohomology group
H2(G,Z2). This result leads us to a symmetry classification of gapped
Z2 spin liquids, such that two phases in different symmetry classes cannot be connected without breaking symmetry or crossing a phase transition. Symmetry classes are defined by specifying a fractionalization class for each type of anyon. The fusion rules of anyons play a crucial role in determining the symmetry classes. For translation and internal symmetries, braiding statistics plays no role, but can affect the classification when point group symmetries are present. For square lattice space group, time-reversal, and
SO(3) spin rotation symmetries, we find $2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}098\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}176\ensuremath{\approx}{2}^{21}$ distinct symmetry classes. Our symmetry classification is not complete, as we exclude, by assumption, permutation of the different types of anyons by symmetry operations. We give an explicit construction of symmetry classes for square lattice space group symmetry in the toric code model. Via simple examples, we illustrate how information about fractionalization classes can, in principle, be obtained from the spectrum and quantum numbers of excited states. Moreover, the symmetry class can be partially determined from the quantum numbers of the four degenerate ground states on the torus. We also extend our results to arbitrary Abelian topological orders (limited, though, to translations and internal symmetries), and compare our classification with the related projective symmetry group classification of parton mean-field theories. Our results provide a framework for understanding and probing the sharp distinctions among symmetric
Z2 spin liquids and are a first step toward a full classification of symmetric topologically ordered phases.
Classification of possible quantum spin liquid (QSL) states of interacting spin-1/2's in two dimensions has been a fascinating topic of condensed matter for decades, resulting in enormous progress in our understanding of low-dimensional quantum matter. By contrast, relatively little work exists on the identification, let alone classification, of QSL phases for spin-1 systems in dimensions higher than one. Employing the powerful ideas of tensor network theory and its classification, we develop general methods for writing QSL wave functions of spin-1 respecting all the lattice symmetries, spin rotation, and time reversal with trivial gauge structure on the square lattice. We find
25 distinct classes characterized by five binary quantum numbers. Several explicit constructions of such wave functions are given for bond dimensions
D ranging from two to four, along with thorough numerical analyses to identify their physical characters. Both gapless and gapped states are found. The topological entanglement entropy of the gapped states is close to zero, indicative of topologically trivial states. In
D=4, several different tensors can be linearly combined to produce a family of states within the same symmetry class. A rich ``phase diagram'' can be worked out among the phases of these tensors, as well as the phase transitions among them. Among the states we identified in this putative phase diagram is the plaquette-ordered phase, gapped resonating valence bond phase, and a critical phase. A continuous transition separates the plaquette-ordered phase from the resonating valence bond phase.
Abstract How do we detect topological phases from a single ground state? Entanglement entropy and spectrum have long been the standard tools — but the reduced density matrix (RDM) itself contains far more information. We show that the RDM of a 2D topologically ordered system, expressed at the entanglement cut, realizes a 1D mixed-state phase. For the Z 2 toric code phase, it is a 1D Z 2 strong-to-weak spontaneous symmetry breaking (SW-SSB) phase, where deconfinement of anyons manifests as the short-range correlation of both Z 2 charge and Z 2 domain-wall in the RDM. The bulk e - m duality translates into a Kramers–Wannier self-duality of the SW-SSB phase. Extending the framework to gapped Z 2 spin liquids, the global spin-rotation symmetry manifests as an additional weak symmetry for the 1D RDM. Spin-1/2 spinons result in a cusp on the disorder parameter of spin-rotation at θ = π , providing a direct, ground-state signature of symmetry fractionalization. We verify this prediction analytically using the matrix product density operator formalism and numerically for the kagome-lattice resonating valence bond state. The proposed observable requires only a single ground-state wavefunction, making it amenable to quantum simulation platforms.
A one-parameter family of long-range resonating-valence-bond (RVB) state on the square lattice was previously proposed to describe a critical spin liquid (SL) phase of the spin-1/2 frustrated Heisenberg model. We provide evidence that this RVB state in fact also realizes a topological (long-range entangled)
Z2 SL, limited by two transitions to critical SL phases. The topological phase is naturally connected to the
Z2 gauge symmetry of the local tensor. This Rapid Communication shows that, on one hand, spin-1/2 topological SL with
C4v point-group symmetry and
SU(2) spin rotation symmetry exists on the square lattice and, on the other hand, criticality and nonbipartiteness are compatible. We also point out that strong similarities between our phase diagram and the ones of classical interacting dimer models suggest both can be described by similar Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions. This scenario is further supported by the analysis of the one-dimensional boundary state. Forms of parent Hamiltonians hosting the
Z2 SL are suggested.