The
S-matrix invariant is known to be complete for translation invariant topological stabilizer models in two spatial dimensions, as such models are phase equivalent to some number of copies of toric code. In three dimensions, much less is understood about translation invariant topological stabilizer models due to the existence of fracton topological order. Here we introduce bulk commutation quantities inspired by the 2D
S-matrix invariant that can be employed to coarsely sort 3D topological stabilizer models into qualitatively distinct types of phases: topological quantum field theories, foliated or fractal type-I models with rigid string operators, or type-II models with no string operators.
We prove that on any two-dimensional lattice of qudits of a prime dimension, every translation invariant Pauli stabilizer group with local generators and with the code distance being the linear system size is decomposed by a local Clifford circuit of constant depth into a finite number of copies of the toric code stabilizer group (Abelian discrete gauge theory). This means that under local Clifford circuits, the number of toric code copies is the complete invariant of topological Pauli stabilizer codes. Previously, the same conclusion was obtained under the assumption of nonchirality for qubit codes or the Calderbank–Shor–Steane structure for prime qudit codes; we do not assume any of these.
Quantum error-correcting codes with two-dimensional translation invariance are known to be equivalent to copies of the two-dimensional toric code. Such a simple classification is not possible for quantum codes with higher dimensional translation invariance due to the existence of multiple types of toric codes and infinite families of fracton codes. Here, we focus on D-dimensional translation-invariant quantum codes based on length-D chain complexes. This includes multivariate multicycle codes where the number of variables equals the number of cycles. We show that such codes are equivalent to copies of D-dimensional toric codes. This directly generalizes the classification result for two-dimensional translation-invariant codes.
The authors generalize here three-dimensional \ensuremath{\mathbb{Z}}
2 stabilizer models---the X-cube, toric code, and Haah's code---to their \ensuremath{\mathbb{Z}}
N counterparts, revealing size-dependent ground-state degeneracy and novel excitations. They demonstrate that the generalized X-cube hosts quasi-fractons that remain immobile under local operations but become mobile via global ones. In the toric code, both closed-loop and open-string excitations emerge, while Haah's code features new fracton tripole and monopole excitations. These findings uncover unconventional topological orders and broaden the understanding of fracton phases beyond the conventional \ensuremath{\mathbb{Z}}
2 framework.
As a quantum-informative window into quantum many-body physics, the concept and application of the entanglement renormalization group (ERG) have been playing a vital role in the study of novel quantum phases of matter, especially long-range entangled (LRE) states in topologically ordered systems. For instance, by recursively applying local unitaries as well as adding and removing qubits that form product states, the 2D toric code ground states, i.e., the fixed point of
Z2 topological order, are efficiently coarse-grained with respect to the system size. As a further improvement, the addition and removal of 2D toric codes in the ground states of the 3D X-cube model is shown to be indispensable and, remarkably, leads to well-defined fixed points of a large class of fracton orders that are non-liquid-like. Here, we present a substantially unified ERG framework in which general degrees of freedom are allowed to be recursively added or removed. Specifically, we establish an exotic hierarchy of ERG and LRE states in Pauli stabilizer codes, where the 2D toric code and 3D X-cube models are naturally included. In the hierarchy, LRE states like 3D X-cube and 3D toric code ground states can be added or removed in ERG processes of more complex LRE states. In this way, a large group of Pauli stabilizer codes are categorized into a series of state towers; within each tower, in addition to local unitaries including cnot (controlled-NOT) gates, lower LRE states of level-
n are added or removed in the level-
n ERG process of an upper LRE state of level
(n+1), connecting LRE states of different levels and unveiling complex relations among LRE states. As future directions, we expect this hierarchy can be applied to more general LRE states, leading to a unified ERG scenario of LRE states and exact tensor-network representations in the form of more generalized branching multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz.
We study entanglement renormalization group transformations for the ground states of a spin model, called cubic code model
HA in three dimensions, in order to understand long-range entanglement structure. The cubic code model has degenerate and locally indistinguishable ground states under periodic boundary conditions. In the entanglement renormalization, one applies local unitary transformations on a state, called disentangling transformations, after which some of the spins are completely disentangled from the rest and then discarded. We find a disentangling unitary to establish equivalence of the ground state of
HA on a lattice of lattice spacing
a to the tensor product of ground spaces of two independent Hamiltonians
HA and
HB on lattices of lattice spacing
2a. We further find a disentangling unitary for the ground space of
HB with the lattice spacing
a to show that it decomposes into two copies of itself on the lattice of the lattice spacing
2a. The disentangling transformations yield a tensor network description for the ground state of the cubic code model. Using exact formulas for the degeneracy as a function of system size, we show that the two Hamiltonians
HA and
HB represent distinct phases of matter.