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arXiv:2005.09072 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Symmetry-protected topological phases beyond groups: The q -deformed Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki model

Thomas Quella

Published Aug 26, 2020• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Symmetry-protected topological phases are defined and classified in reference to symmetries that are described by groups. The author argues that there exist such phases that are not captured by this classification. To support this claim a $q$-deformation of the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki model is discussed, which exhibits quantum group and duality-type symmetries but breaks all standard group symmetries known to protect the Haldane phase. Its nontrivial topology is linked to a twofold degeneracy in a suitably deformed notion of entanglement spectrum.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.102.081120

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Symmetry-protected topological phases beyond groups: The q -deformed bilinear-biquadratic spin chain

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We study the phase diagram of the ${\text{SO}}_{q}(3)$ quantum group invariant spin-1 bilinear-biquadratic spin chain for real values of $q>1$. Numerical computations suggest that the chain has at least three clearly distinguished phases: A chiral analog of the Haldane phase, a dimerized phase, and a ferromagnetic phase. In contrast, the counterpart of the extended critical region that is known to exist for $q=1$ remains elusive. Our results show that the Haldane phase fails to exhibit a twofold degeneracy in the entanglement spectrum but that the degeneracy is restored upon a suitable $q$ deformation of the entanglement Hamiltonian, which can be interpreted as a Zeeman field. The structure of the phase diagram is confirmed through analytical calculations in the extreme anisotropic limit $q\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$. Our results suggest that symmetries of the form ${\mathcal{U}}_{q}\left[su(2)\right]$ for distinct choices of $q$ should be interpreted as one single family instead of separate symmetries when defining SPT phases, leading naturally to the notion of a $q$-SPT phase.

arXiv:2011.12679•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Feb 2, 2021•9 citations

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One problem of paramount importance in physics over various fields such as elementary particle physics, condensed matter physics, and statistical mechanics has been to make classification of phases of matter, including nontrivial structures of the vacuum. The triumphant history of theory on the phase classification and the phase transition can be traced back to Landau, which is based on the spontaneous breaking of symmetry. It is known, however, that other kinds of phases exist that cannot be characterized by conventional arguments of symmetry breaking, namely, topological phases. Topological phases are gapped phases at zero temperature without symmetry breaking. Examples of the topological phases include a quantum phase in a fractional quantum Hall system, where the ground state exhibits degeneracy, and an anyon, a quasi-particle with nontrivial statistical nature, neither boson nor fermion, emerges as a low-energy excitation. In contemporary physics of the 21st century, it has been revealed that, among various topological states, there exists a nontrivial ground state that does not have ground state degeneracy and yet can be distinguished from a trivial state. This nontrivial ground state, i.e., a topological insulator, has been recognized first in free electron systems [1–3] and later extended to more general quantum many-body systems with interactions including bosonic (spin) systems. Now, such a generalized situation is called a symmetry protected topological (SPT) phase [4–7]. From the point of a modern view of the SPT phase, nontrivial states, such as the Haldane state proposed in antiferromagnetic quantum spin systems in the 1980’s [8] and the ground state in the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki model [9], belong to the SPT phase. A remarkable feature of the SPT phase is that, if the system has a surface, gapless surface states appear and they are stable against disturbances which do not break the symmetry. One way to understand these surface states is the quantum anomaly on the surface. That is, as long as the surface is concerned, the quantum anomaly arises, but the whole system has no quantum anomaly, and the symmetry is preserved due to cancellation from the bulk contribution. This canceling mechanism of the quantum anomaly has been long known as the anomaly inflow in elementary particle physics [10]. In fact, the classification of the SPT phases can be identified as the classification of the quantum anomaly through the bulk-boundary correspondence. This type of the quantum anomaly closely related to the SPT phase can provide us with a useful theoretical device to constrain phases that can or cannot be realized under the ’t Hooft anomaly matching condition [11–13]. It is quite difficult to scrutinize nonperturbatively interacting systems, but the ’t Hooft anomaly matching condition can be applied to those systems, and possible phases can be constrained. Nowadays, our understanding of the SPT phases has been so developed that applications of the anomaly matching condition can cover systems with finite groups and/or extending objects [14–16]. In this way, the concept of the topological phases has been essential by now in a wide range of physics, particularly in elementary particle physics, condensed matter physics, and statistical mechanics, as mentioned in the beginning. This special section is a collection of papers related to the topological aspects of physics including the topological phases. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the authors who made excellent contributions.

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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-$S$ 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 $N$ and 0 (no SPT phase) for odd $N$, while those protected by U(1)$\ensuremath{\rtimes}R$ symmetry are ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$. We point out that the two-dimensional Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki state of $S=2$ spins on the square lattice is a ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ SPT phase protected by reflection and $\ensuremath{\pi}$-rotation symmetries.

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We study S=1 quantum spin systems on the infinite chain with short ranged Hamiltonians that have a certain rotational and discrete symmetry. We define a Z_{2} index for any gapped unique ground state, and prove that it is invariant under a smooth deformation. By using the index, we provide the first rigorous proof of the existence of a "topological" phase transition, which cannot be characterized by any conventional order parameters, between the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) model and trivial models. This rigorously establishes that the AKLT model is in a nontrivial symmetry protected topological phase.

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Gil Young Cho, Ken Shiozaki, Shinsei Ryu +1 more

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.

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Symmetry Enriched Criticality from Kennedy Tasaki Self-Duality

Mingyuan Chen, Sheng Yang, Xue-Jia Yu

The interplay between topology and quantum criticality has established symmetry enriched criticality as a new paradigm beyond conventional frameworks in condensed matter and statistical physics. However, the conditions under which such criticality emerges remain poorly understood. In this work, we show that a broad class of symmetry enriched critical points separating symmetry protected topological (SPT) and spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) phases is governed by Kennedy Tasaki (KT) self duality. At these criticalities, the KT transformation that interchanges the SPT and SSB phases acts as a self-dual noninvertible symmetry, endowing the critical points with nontrivial topological characteristics. We numerically demonstrate this mechanism in $\mathbb{Z}_{n} \times \mathbb{Z}_{n}$ cluster qudit chains and further argue that it naturally extends to higher dimensions, providing a duality based criterion for identifying symmetry-enriched criticality across dimensions.

arXiv:2610.27666•Oct 20, 2026•0 citations
Symmetry-protected topological phases are defined and classified in reference to symmetries that are described by groups. The author argues that there exist such phases that are not captured by this classification. To support this claim a qqq-deformation of the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki model is discussed, which exhibits quantum group and duality-type symmetries but breaks all standard group symmetries known to protect the Haldane phase. Its nontrivial topology is linked to a twofold degeneracy in a suitably deformed notion of entanglement spectrum.
We study the phase diagram of the SOq(3){\text{SO}}_{q}(3)SOq​(3) quantum group invariant spin-1 bilinear-biquadratic spin chain for real values of q>1q>1q>1. Numerical computations suggest that the chain has at least three clearly distinguished phases: A chiral analog of the Haldane phase, a dimerized phase, and a ferromagnetic phase. In contrast, the counterpart of the extended critical region that is known to exist for q=1q=1q=1 remains elusive. Our results show that the Haldane phase fails to exhibit a twofold degeneracy in the entanglement spectrum but that the degeneracy is restored upon a suitable qqq deformation of the entanglement Hamiltonian, which can be interpreted as a Zeeman field. The structure of the phase diagram is confirmed through analytical calculations in the extreme anisotropic limit $q\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$. Our results suggest that symmetries of the form Uq[su(2)]{\mathcal{U}}_{q}\left[su(2)\right]Uq​[su(2)] for distinct choices of qqq should be interpreted as one single family instead of separate symmetries when defining SPT phases, leading naturally to the notion of a qqq-SPT phase.
One problem of paramount importance in physics over various fields such as elementary particle physics, condensed matter physics, and statistical mechanics has been to make classification of phases of matter, including nontrivial structures of the vacuum. The triumphant history of theory on the phase classification and the phase transition can be traced back to Landau, which is based on the spontaneous breaking of symmetry. It is known, however, that other kinds of phases exist that cannot be characterized by conventional arguments of symmetry breaking, namely, topological phases. Topological phases are gapped phases at zero temperature without symmetry breaking. Examples of the topological phases include a quantum phase in a fractional quantum Hall system, where the ground state exhibits degeneracy, and an anyon, a quasi-particle with nontrivial statistical nature, neither boson nor fermion, emerges as a low-energy excitation. In contemporary physics of the 21st century, it has been revealed that, among various topological states, there exists a nontrivial ground state that does not have ground state degeneracy and yet can be distinguished from a trivial state. This nontrivial ground state, i.e., a topological insulator, has been recognized first in free electron systems [1–3] and later extended to more general quantum many-body systems with interactions including bosonic (spin) systems. Now, such a generalized situation is called a symmetry protected topological (SPT) phase [4–7]. From the point of a modern view of the SPT phase, nontrivial states, such as the Haldane state proposed in antiferromagnetic quantum spin systems in the 1980’s [8] and the ground state in the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki model [9], belong to the SPT phase. A remarkable feature of the SPT phase is that, if the system has a surface, gapless surface states appear and they are stable against disturbances which do not break the symmetry. One way to understand these surface states is the quantum anomaly on the surface. That is, as long as the surface is concerned, the quantum anomaly arises, but the whole system has no quantum anomaly, and the symmetry is preserved due to cancellation from the bulk contribution. This canceling mechanism of the quantum anomaly has been long known as the anomaly inflow in elementary particle physics [10]. In fact, the classification of the SPT phases can be identified as the classification of the quantum anomaly through the bulk-boundary correspondence. This type of the quantum anomaly closely related to the SPT phase can provide us with a useful theoretical device to constrain phases that can or cannot be realized under the ’t Hooft anomaly matching condition [11–13]. It is quite difficult to scrutinize nonperturbatively interacting systems, but the ’t Hooft anomaly matching condition can be applied to those systems, and possible phases can be constrained. Nowadays, our understanding of the SPT phases has been so developed that applications of the anomaly matching condition can cover systems with finite groups and/or extending objects [14–16]. In this way, the concept of the topological phases has been essential by now in a wide range of physics, particularly in elementary particle physics, condensed matter physics, and statistical mechanics, as mentioned in the beginning. This special section is a collection of papers related to the topological aspects of physics including the topological phases. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the authors who made excellent contributions.
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.
We study S=1 quantum spin systems on the infinite chain with short ranged Hamiltonians that have a certain rotational and discrete symmetry. We define a Z_{2} index for any gapped unique ground state, and prove that it is invariant under a smooth deformation. By using the index, we provide the first rigorous proof of the existence of a "topological" phase transition, which cannot be characterized by any conventional order parameters, between the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) model and trivial models. This rigorously establishes that the AKLT model is in a nontrivial symmetry protected topological phase.
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.
The interplay between topology and quantum criticality has established symmetry enriched criticality as a new paradigm beyond conventional frameworks in condensed matter and statistical physics. However, the conditions under which such criticality emerges remain poorly understood. In this work, we show that a broad class of symmetry enriched critical points separating symmetry protected topological (SPT) and spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) phases is governed by Kennedy Tasaki (KT) self duality. At these criticalities, the KT transformation that interchanges the SPT and SSB phases acts as a self-dual noninvertible symmetry, endowing the critical points with nontrivial topological characteristics. We numerically demonstrate this mechanism in Zn×Zn\mathbb{Z}_{n} \times \mathbb{Z}_{n}Zn​×Zn​ cluster qudit chains and further argue that it naturally extends to higher dimensions, providing a duality based criterion for identifying symmetry-enriched criticality across dimensions.