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arXiv:1801.07082 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Renormalization group approach to symmetry protected topological phases

Evert van Nieuwenburg, Andreas P. Schnyder, Wei Chen

Published Apr 23, 2018• 11 citations
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Abstract

A defining feature of a symmetry protected topological phase (SPT) in one dimension is the degeneracy of the Schmidt values for any given bipartition. For the system to go through a topological phase transition separating two SPTs, the Schmidt values must either split or cross at the critical point in order to change their degeneracies. A renormalization group (RG) approach based on this splitting or crossing is proposed, through which we obtain an RG flow that identifies the topological phase transitions in the parameter space. Our approach can be implemented numerically in an efficient manner, for example, using the matrix product state formalism, since only the largest first few Schmidt values need to be calculated with sufficient accuracy. Using several concrete models, we demonstrate that the critical points and fixed points of the RG flow coincide with the maxima and minima of the entanglement entropy, respectively, and the method can serve as a numerically efficient tool to analyze interacting SPTs in the parameter space.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.97.155151

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A defining feature of a symmetry protected topological phase (SPT) in one dimension is the degeneracy of the Schmidt values for any given bipartition. For the system to go through a topological phase transition separating two SPTs, the Schmidt values must either split or cross at the critical point in order to change their degeneracies. A renormalization group (RG) approach based on this splitting or crossing is proposed, through which we obtain an RG flow that identifies the topological phase transitions in the parameter space. Our approach can be implemented numerically in an efficient manner, for example, using the matrix product state formalism, since only the largest first few Schmidt values need to be calculated with sufficient accuracy. Using several concrete models, we demonstrate that the critical points and fixed points of the RG flow coincide with the maxima and minima of the entanglement entropy, respectively, and the method can serve as a numerically efficient tool to analyze interacting SPTs in the parameter space.
We study the renormalization group flow of the Lagrangian for statistical and quantum systems by representing their path integral in terms of a tensor network. Using a tensor-entanglement-filtering renormalization approach that removes local entanglement and produces a coarse-grained lattice, we show that the resulting renormalization flow of the tensors in the tensor network has a nice fixed-point structure. The isolated fixed-point tensors Tinv{T}_{\text{inv}}Tinv​ plus the symmetry group Gsym{G}_{\text{sym}}Gsym​ of the tensors (i.e., the symmetry group of the Lagrangian) characterize various phases of the system. Such a characterization can describe both the symmetry breaking phases and topological phases, as illustrated by two-dimensional (2D) statistical Ising model, 2D statistical loop-gas model, and 1+1D1+1\text{D}1+1D quantum spin-1/2 and spin-1 models. In particular, using such a (Gsym,Tinv)({G}_{\text{sym}},{T}_{\text{inv}})(Gsym​,Tinv​) characterization, we show that the Haldane phase for a spin-1 chain is a phase protected by the time-reversal, parity, and translation symmetries. Thus the Haldane phase is a symmetry-protected topological phase. The (Gsym,Tinv)({G}_{\text{sym}},{T}_{\text{inv}})(Gsym​,Tinv​) characterization is more general than the characterizations based on the boundary spins and string order parameters. The tensor renormalization approach also allows us to study continuous phase transitions between symmetry breaking phases and/or topological phases. The scaling dimensions and the central charges for the critical points that describe those continuous phase transitions can be calculated from the fixed-point tensors at those critical points.
Symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases are short-range entangled quantum phases with symmetry, which have gapped excitations in the bulk and gapless modes at the edge. In this paper, we study the SPT phases in the spin-1 Heisenberg chain with a single-ion anisotropy D, which has a quantum phase transition between a Haldane phase and a large-D phase. Using symmetric multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) tensor networks, we study the nonlocal order parameters for time-reversal and inversion symmetry. For the inversion symmetric MERA, we propose a brick-and-rope representation that gives a geometrical interpretation of inversion symmetric tensors. Finally, we study the symmetric renormalization group (RG) flow of the inversion symmetric string-order parameter, and show that entanglement renormalization with symmetric tensors produces proper behavior of the RG fixed-points.
Symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases with gapless edge excitations have been shown to exist in strongly interacting bosonic/fermionic systems and it is highly desirable to identify practical systems realizing such phases through numerical simulation. A central question to be addressed is how to determine the SPT order in the system given the simulation result, while no local order parameter can be measured to distinguish the phases from a trivial one. In the tensor network approach to simulate strongly interacting systems, the quantum state renormalization algorithm has been shown to be effective in identifying intrinsic topological orders. Here, we show that a modified algorithm can identify SPT orders by extracting the symmetry-protected fixed point entanglement pattern in the ground-state wave function, which is essential for the existence of SPT order. The key to this approach is to add proper symmetry protection to the renormalization process. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this algorithm with examples of nontrivial SPT phases with internal symmetry in 1D and internal and translation symmetry in 2D.
According to the classification using projective representations of the SO(3) group, there exist two topologically distinct gapped phases in spin-1 chains. The symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase possesses half-integer projective representations of the SO(3) group, while the trivial phase possesses integer linear representations. In the present work, we implement non-Abelian symmetries in the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method, allowing us to keep track of (and also control) the virtual bond representations and to readily distinguish the SPT phase from the trivial one by evaluating the multiplet entanglement spectrum. In particular, using the entropies SI{S}^{I}SI (SH{S}^{H}SH) of integer (half-integer) representations, we can define an entanglement gap $G={S}^{I}\ensuremath{-}{S}^{H}$, which equals 1 in the SPT phase, and $\ensuremath{-}1$ in the trivial phase. As an application of our proposal, we study the spin-1 models on various one-dimensional (1D) and quasi-1D lattices, including the bilinear-biquadratic model on a single chain, and the Heisenberg model on a two-leg ladder and a three-leg tube. Among others, we confirm the existence of a SPT phase in the spin-1 tube model and reveal that the phase transition between the SPT and the trivial phase is a continuous one. The transition point is found to be critical, with conformal central charge c=3c=3c=3 determined by fits to the block entanglement entropy.
In this dissertation, we use numerical methods to study one dimensional symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases. We focus on the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) methods and explore the machine learning methods. We investigated different SPT phases in the context of interactions and disorders. The application of machine learning methods reveals new insights into the topological phases. We begin by studying the Z3 parafermionic chain, the simplest generalization of the Kitaev p-wave wire. The quantum entanglement diagnostics we performed allow us to determine phase boundaries, and the nature of the phase transitions. An intervening incommensurate phase is found between the topological and trivial phases. We locate and characterize a putative tricritical point in the phase diagram where the three above mentioned phases meet at a single point. The phase diagram is predicted to contain a Lifshitz type transition which we con rm using entanglement measures. As another generalization of the Kitaev p-wave wire, we study the interacting inversion symmetric superconductor. We introduce interaction and inversion symmetry and preserve its original time-reversal, particle-hole and chiral symmetry. The symmetries indicates a Z2 classification. We study the quantum entanglement, teleportation and fractional Josephson effects of this system. The ground state of the topological phase is a condensation of four electrons instead of cooper-pairs. While there is a nonzero teleportation for cooper-pairs, the teleportation of one electron is suppressed. The inversion symmetry restricts the edge modes of the system to be cooper-pairs other than two uncorrelated electrons. It is also proved by the 2 pi periodicity in the fractional Josephson effects. At last we apply machine learning methods for classification of SPT phases when strong disorder is present. The entanglement spectrum is used as features to train the random forest model. We do the training using the data generated from a small fraction in the parameter space. The model can give high accuracy predictions to other regions in the phase space. It is even able to make correct predictions to system in a different symmetry class. A detailed analysis of the model indicates that it is able to capture the degeneracy in the entanglement spectrum.
We present a comprehensive study of topological phases in the SO(nnn) spin chains using a combination of analytical parton construction and numerical techniques. For even n=2ln=2ln=2l, we identify a novel SPT2^22 phase characterized by two distinct topological sectors, exhibiting exact degeneracy at the matrix product state (MPS) exactly solvable point. Through Gutzwiller-projected mean-field theory and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations, we demonstrate that these sectors remain topologically degenerate in close chains throughout the SPT2^22 phase, with energy gaps decaying exponentially with system size. For odd n=2l+1n=2l+1n=2l+1, we show that the ground state remains unique in close chains. We precisely characterize critical states using entanglement entropy scaling, confirming the central charges predicted by conformal field theories. Our results reveal fundamental differences between even and odd nnn cases, provide numerical verification of topological protection, and establish reliable methods for studying high-symmetry quantum systems. The Gutzwiller-guided DMRG is demonstrated to be notably efficient in targeting specific topological sectors.