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arXiv:1704.01193 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Boundary conformal field theory and symmetry-protected topological phases in 2+1 dimensions

Bo Han, Apoorv Tiwari, Chang-Tse Hsieh, Shinsei Ryu

Published Sep 5, 2017• 48 citations
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Abstract

We propose a diagnostic tool for detecting nontrivial symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases protected by a symmetry group $G$ in $2+1$ dimensions. Our method is based on directly studying the $1+1$-dimensional anomalous edge conformal field theory (CFT) of SPT phases. We claim that if the CFT is the edge theory of an SPT phase, then there must be an obstruction to cutting it open. This obstruction manifests as the in-existence of boundary states in the CFT that preserves both the conformal symmetry and the global symmetry $G$. We discuss the relation between edgeability, i.e., the ability to find a consistent boundary state, and gappability, i.e., the ability to gap out a CFT, in the presence of $G$. We study several cases including time-reversal symmetric topological insulators, ${\mathbb{Z}}_{N}$ symmetric bosonic SPT phases, and ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ symmetric topological superconductors.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.96.125105

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We propose a diagnostic tool for detecting nontrivial symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases protected by a symmetry group GGG in 2+12+12+1 dimensions. Our method is based on directly studying the 1+11+11+1-dimensional anomalous edge conformal field theory (CFT) of SPT phases. We claim that if the CFT is the edge theory of an SPT phase, then there must be an obstruction to cutting it open. This obstruction manifests as the in-existence of boundary states in the CFT that preserves both the conformal symmetry and the global symmetry GGG. We discuss the relation between edgeability, i.e., the ability to find a consistent boundary state, and gappability, i.e., the ability to gap out a CFT, in the presence of GGG. We study several cases including time-reversal symmetric topological insulators, ZN{\mathbb{Z}}_{N}ZN​ symmetric bosonic SPT phases, and Z2\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fiZ2{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}Z2​\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fiZ2​ symmetric topological superconductors.
We present the correspondence between symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases and their anomalous boundary states, based on examples in various spacetime dimensions. Through the study of the effect of interactions on these SPT phases, we discovered a new formalism of quantum anomalies, associated with discrete spacetime (such as time-reversal and spatial reflection) symmetries in particular, to classify distinct interacting topological phases. An example is the Z2 classification of the (2+1)d topological insulator protected by charge U(1) and time-reversal (or CP) symmetries, which can be deduced by the form of the global U(1) gauge anomalies on its edge theories defined on closed unorientable manifolds. In this case, the nontrivial phase (in free systems) is robust against electron interactions. Another example is the (3+1)d topological superconductor protected by only time-reversal or reflection symmetry. For this system, we identified the bulk phase by studying the global gravitational anomalies of the surface theories formulated on unorientable spacetime manifolds, and also discussed its connection to the collapse of the non-interacting classification by an integer Z to Z16, in the presence of interactions. We also revisit the problem of gauging a discrete internal symmetry in theories of chiral (Weyl) fermions in 3+1 dimensions – which have not been fully understood so far – from the perspective of fermionic SPT phases in 4+1 dimensions. Comparing with the previous results, we give a complete answer for the anomalies constraints on the discrete symmetry, as our approach is based on purely geometrical considerations, namely, our assumption is more fundamental and general. Furthermore, our result also provides an understanding of gapped states of fermions with anomalous discrete symmetries, and we present a model, based on weak coupling, for constructing these anomalous gapped states.
Abstract Quantum phase transitions out of a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase in (1 + 1) dimensions into an adjacent, topologically distinct SPT phase protected by the same symmetry or a trivial gapped phase, are typically described by a conformal field theory (CFT). At the same time, the low-lying entanglement spectrum of a gapped phase close to such a quantum critical point is known (Cho et al arXiv:1603.04016), very generally, to be universal and described by (gapless) boundary conformal field theory. Using this connection we show that symmetry properties of the boundary conditions in boundary CFT can be used to characterize the symmetry-protected degeneracies of the entanglement spectrum, a hallmark of non-trivial symmetry-protected topological phases. Specifically, we show that the relevant boundary CFT is the orbifold of the quantum critical point with respect to the symmetry group defining the SPT, and that the boundary states of this orbifold carry a quantum anomaly that determines the topological class of the SPT. We illustrate this connection using various characteristic examples such as the time-reversal breaking ‘Kitaev chain’ superconductor (symmetry class D), the Haldane phase, and the Z 8 classification of interacting topological superconductors in symmetry class BDI in (1 + 1) dimensions.
It is well known that symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases host nontrivial boundaries that cannot be mimicked in a lower-dimensional system with a conventional realization of symmetry. However, for SPT phases of bosons (fermions) within the cohomology (supercohomology) classification the boundary can be recreated without the bulk at the cost of a non-onsite-symmetry action. This raises the following question: Can one also mimic the boundaries of SPT phases which lie outside the (super)cohomology classification? In this paper, we study this question in the context of (2+1)(2+1)(2+1)-dimensional [(2+1)D][(2+1)\mathrm{D}][(2+1)D] fermion SPTs. We focus on the root SPT phase for the symmetry group $G={Z}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{2}^{f}$. Starting with an exactly solvable model for the bulk of this phase constructed by Tarantino and Fidkowski, we derive an effective one-dimensional (1D) lattice model for the boundary. Crucially, the Hilbert space of this 1D model does not have a local tensor product structure, but rather is obtained by placing a local constraint on a local tensor product Hilbert space. We derive the action of the Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​ symmetry on this Hilbert space and find a simple three-site Hamiltonian that respects this symmetry. We study this Hamiltonian numerically using exact diagonalization and DMRG and find strong evidence that it realizes an Ising conformal field theory where the Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​ symmetry acts as the Kramers-Wannier duality; this is the expected stable gapless boundary state of the present SPT. A simple modification of our construction realizes the boundary of the (2+1)D(2+1)\mathrm{D}(2+1)D topological superconductor protected by time-reversal symmetry T\mathcal{T}T with ${\mathcal{T}}^{2}={(\ensuremath{-}1)}^{\mathcal{F}}$.
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We study two-dimensional bosonic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases that are protected by reflection symmetry and local symmetry [${Z}_{N}\ensuremath{\rtimes}R, {Z}_{N}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}R$, U(1)$\ensuremath{\rtimes}R$, or U(1)$\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}R$], in the search for two-dimensional bosonic analogs of topological crystalline insulators in integer-SSS spin systems with reflection and spin-rotation symmetries. To classify them, we employ a Chern-Simons approach and examine the stability of edge states against perturbations that preserve the assumed symmetries. We find that SPT phases protected by ${Z}_{N}\ensuremath{\rtimes}R$ symmetry are classified as ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ for even NNN and 0 (no SPT phase) for odd NNN, while those protected by U(1)$\ensuremath{\rtimes}R$ symmetry are Z2{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}Z2​. We point out that the two-dimensional Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki state of S=2S=2S=2 spins on the square lattice is a Z2{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}Z2​ SPT phase protected by reflection and $\ensuremath{\pi}$-rotation symmetries.