We present an exactly solvable model for one-dimensional symmetry-protected topological phases with
ZN×ZN symmetry. The model works by binding point topological defects (domain walls) of one symmetry to charges of the other and condensing these bound states. Binding single topological defects to charges leads to symmetry-protected topological phases, while binding multiple topological defects to charges leads to phases with a combination of symmetry-breaking and topological properties.
The study of continuous phase transitions triggered by spontaneous symmetry breaking has brought revolutionary ideas to physics. Recently, through the discovery of symmetry protected topological phases, it is realized that continuous quantum phase transition can also occur between states with the same symmetry but different topology. The subject of this dissertation is the phase transition between these symmetry protected topological states (SPTs). There are two main parts in this dissertation.In the first part we consider spatial dimension
d and symmetry group
G so that the cohomology group,
Hd+1(G,U(1)), contains at least one
Z2n or
Z factor. We show that the phase transition between the trivial SPT and the root states that generate the $ Z_{2n} $ or
Z groups can be induced on the boundary of a d+1 dimensional
GtimesZ2T-symmetric SPT by a
Z2T symmetry breaking field. Moreover we show these boundary phase transitions can be ``transplanted'' to d dimensions and realized in lattice models as a function of a tuning parameter. The price one pays is for the critical value of the tuning parameter there is an extra non-local (duality-like) symmetry. In the case where the phase transition is continuous, our theory predicts the presence of unusual (sometimes fractionalized) excitations corresponding to delocalized boundary excitations of the non-trivial SPT on one side of the transition. This theory also predicts other phase transition scenarios including first order transition and transition via an intermediate symmetry breaking phase. In the second part, we study the phase transition between bosonic topological phases protected by
ZntimesZn in 1+1 dimensions. We find a direct transition occurs when $ n=2,3,4 $ and in all cases the critical point possesses two gap opening relevant operators: one leads to a Landau-forbidden symmetry breaking phase transition and the other to the topological phase transition. We also obtained a constraint($ c\\geq1 $) on the central charge for general phase transitions between symmetry protected bosonic topological phases in 1+1D.
The discovery of critical points that can host quantized nonlocal order parameters and degenerate edge modes relocate the study of symmetry-protected topological phases (SPTs) to gapless regions. In this letter, we reveal gapless SPTs (gSPTs) in systems tuned out-of-equilibrium by periodic drivings and non-Hermitian couplings. Focusing on one-dimensional models with sublattice symmetry, we introduce winding numbers by applying the Cauchy's argument principle to generalized Brillouin zone (GBZ), yielding unified topological characterizations and bulk-edge correspondence in both gapped phases and at gapless critical points. The theory is demonstrated in a broad class of Floquet bipartite lattices, unveiling unique topological criticality of non-Hermitian Floquet origin. Our findings identify gSPTs in driven open systems and uncover robust topological edge modes at phase transitions beyond equilibrium.
We show that topology can protect exponentially localized, zero energy edge modes at critical points between one-dimensional symmetry-protected topological phases. This is possible even without gapped degrees of freedom in the bulk-in contrast to recent work on edge modes in gapless chains. We present an intuitive picture for the existence of these edge modes in the case of noninteracting spinless fermions with time-reversal symmetry (BDI class of the tenfold way). The stability of this phenomenon relies on a topological invariant defined in terms of a complex function, counting its zeros and poles inside the unit circle. This invariant can prevent two models described by the same conformal field theory (CFT) from being smoothly connected. A full classification of critical phases in the noninteracting BDI class is obtained: Each phase is labeled by the central charge of the CFT, c∈1/2N, and the topological invariant, ω∈Z. Moreover, c is determined by the difference in the number of edge modes between the phases neighboring the transition. Numerical simulations show that the topological edge modes of critical chains can be stable in the presence of interactions and disorder.