Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2104.13233

Domain Wall Decorations, Anomalies and Spectral Sequences in Bosonic Topological Phases

Qing-Rui Wang, Shang-Qiang Ning, Meng Cheng

Published Apr 27, 2021• 10 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In this work we investigate the decorated domain wall construction in bosonic group-cohomology symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases and related quantum anomalies in bosonic topological phases. We first show that a general decorated domain wall construction can be described mathematically as an Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence, where the terms on the $E_2$ page correspond to decorations by lower-dimensional SPT states at domain wall junctions. For bosonic group-cohomology SPT phases, the spectral sequence becomes the Lyndon-Hochschild-Serre (LHS) spectral sequence for ordinary group cohomology. We then discuss the physical interpretations of the differentials in the spectral sequence, particularly in the context of anomalous SPT phases and symmetry-enriched gauge theories. As the main technical result, we obtain a full description of the LHS spectral sequence concretely at the cochain level. The explicit formulae are then applied to explain Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorems for SPT phases, and also derive a new LSM theorem for easy-plane spin model in a $π$ flux lattice. We also revisit the classifications of symmetry-enriched 2D and 3D Abelian gauge theories using our results.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2104.13233

Related papers

Anomalies in bosonic symmetry-protected topological edge theories: Connection to F symbols and a method of calculation

Kyle Kawagoe, Michael Levin

We describe a systematic procedure for determining the identity of a 2D bosonic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase from the properties of its edge excitations. Our approach applies to general bosonic SPT phases with either unitary or antiunitary symmetries, and with either continuous or discrete symmetry groups, with the only restriction being that the symmetries must be on-site. Concretely, our procedure takes a bosonic SPT edge theory as input, and produces an element $\ensuremath{\omega}$ of the cohomology group ${H}^{3}(G,{U}_{T}(1))$. This element $\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\in}{H}^{3}(G,{U}_{T}(1))$ can be interpreted as either a label for the bulk 2D SPT phase or a label for the anomaly carried by the SPT edge theory. The basic idea behind our approach is to compute the $F$ symbol associated with domain walls in a symmetry-broken edge theory; this domain-wall $F$ symbol is precisely the anomaly we wish to compute. We demonstrate our approach with several SPT edge theories, including both lattice models and continuum field theories.

arXiv:2105.02909•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Sep 27, 2021•34 citations

Classification and Construction of Topological Phases of Quantum Matter

Zhaoxi Xiong

We develop a theoretical framework for the classification and construction of symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases, which are a special class of zero-temperature phases of strongly interacting gapped quantum many-body systems that exhibit topological properties. The framework unifies various proposals for the classification of SPT phases, including the group (super-)cohomology proposal, the (spin-)cobordism proposal, the Freed-Hopkins proposal, and the Kitaev proposal. The power of the framework is demonstrated in a number of applications: (1) the classification and construction of 3D fermionic SPT phases in Wigner-Dyson classes A and AII with glide symmetry, (2) the classification and construction of 3D bosonic SPT phases with space-group symmetries for all 230 space groups, (3) the derivation of a Mayer-Vietoris sequence relating the classification of SPT phases with and without reflection symmetry, and (4) an interpretation of the structure of general crystalline SPT phases via the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence. The framework is based on the idea that short-range entangled states form what are known as Ω-spectra in the sense of algebraic topology, and models the classification of SPT phases by what are called generalized cohomology theories.

•May 6, 2019•3 citations

Bosonic anomalies, induced fractional quantum numbers, and degenerate zero modes: The anomalous edge physics of symmetry-protected topological states

Juven Wang, Luiz H. Santos, Xiao-Gang Wen

The boundary of symmetry-protected topological states (SPTs) can harbor new quantum anomaly phenomena. In this work, we characterize the bosonic anomalies introduced by the 1+1D non-onsite-symmetric gapless edge modes of (2+1)D bulk bosonic SPTs with a generic finite Abelian group symmetry (isomorphic to $G={\ensuremath{\prod}}_{i}{Z}_{{N}_{i}}={Z}_{{N}_{1}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{{N}_{2}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{{N}_{3}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\ensuremath{\cdots})$. We demonstrate that some classes of SPTs (termed ``Type II'') trap fractional quantum numbers (such as fractional ${Z}_{N}$ charges) at the 0D kink of the symmetry-breaking domain walls, while some classes of SPTs (termed ``Type III'') have degenerate zero energy modes (carrying the projective representation protected by the unbroken part of the symmetry), either near the 0D kink of a symmetry-breaking domain wall, or on a symmetry-preserving 1D system dimensionally reduced from a thin 2D tube with a monodromy defect 1D line embedded. More generally, the energy spectrum and conformal dimensions of gapless edge modes under an external gauge flux insertion (or twisted by a branch cut, i.e., a monodromy defect line) through the 1D ring can distinguish many SPT classes. We provide a manifest correspondence from the physical phenomena, the induced fractional quantum number, and the zero energy mode degeneracy to the mathematical concept of cocycles that appears in the group cohomology classification of SPTs, thus achieving a concrete physical materialization of the cocycles. The aforementioned edge properties are formulated in terms of a long wavelength continuum field theory involving scalar chiral bosons, as well as in terms of matrix product operators and discrete quantum lattice models. Our lattice approach yields a regularization with anomalous non-onsite symmetry for the field theory description. We also formulate some bosonic anomalies in terms of the Goldstone-Wilczek formula.

arXiv:1403.5256•Physical Review B•May 22, 2015•67 citations

Classification and Construction of Topological Phases of Quantum Matter

Charles Zhaoxi Xiong

We develop a theoretical framework for the classification and construction of symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases, which are a special class of zero-temperature phases of strongly interacting gapped quantum many-body systems that exhibit topological properties. The framework unifies various proposals for the classification of SPT phases, including the group (super-)cohomology proposal, the (spin-)cobordism proposal, the Freed-Hopkins proposal, and the Kitaev proposal. The power of the framework is demonstrated in a number of applications: (1) the classification and construction of 3D fermionic SPT phases in Wigner-Dyson classes A and AII with glide symmetry, (2) the classification and construction of 3D bosonic SPT phases with space-group symmetries for all 230 space groups, (3) the derivation of a Mayer-Vietoris sequence relating the classification of SPT phases with and without reflection symmetry, and (4) an interpretation of the structure of general crystalline SPT phases via the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence. The framework is based on Kitaev's idea that short-range entangled states form what are known as $Ω$-spectra in the sense of algebraic topology, and models the classification of SPT phases by what are called generalized cohomology theories.

arXiv:1906.02892•Jun 7, 2019•5 citations

Classification and construction of higher-order symmetry-protected topological phases of interacting bosons

Alex Rasmussen, Yuan-Ming Lu

Motivated by the recent discovery of higher-order topological insulators, we study their counterparts in strongly interacting bosons: ``higher-order symmetry-protected topological (HOSPT) phases.'' While the usual (first-order) SPT phases in $d$ spatial dimensions support anomalous $(d\ensuremath{-}1)$-dimensional surface states, HOSPT phases in $d$ dimensions are characterized by topological boundary states of dimension $(d\ensuremath{-}2)$ or smaller, protected by certain global symmetries and robust against disorders. Based on a dimensional reduction analysis, we show that HOSPT phases can be built from lower-dimensional SPT phases in a way that preserves the associated crystalline symmetries. When the total symmetry is a direct product of global and crystalline symmetry groups, we are able to classify the HOSPT phases using the K\"unneth formula of group cohomology. Based on a decorated domain-wall picture of the K\"unneth formula, we show how to systematically construct the HOSPT phases, and demonstrate our construction with many examples in two and three dimensions.

arXiv:1809.07325•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Feb 25, 2020•65 citations

Generalized Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorem on bosonic symmetry protected topological phases

Shenghan Jiang, Meng Cheng, Yang Qi +1 more

We propose and prove a family of generalized Lieb-Schultz-Mattis~(LSM) theorems for symmetry protected topological~(SPT) phases on boson/spin models in any dimensions. The ``conventional'' LSM theorem, applicable to e.g. any translation invariant system with an odd number of spin-1/2 particles per unit cell, forbids a symmetric short-range-entangled ground state in such a system. Here we focus on systems with no LSM anomaly, where global/crystalline symmetries and fractional spins within the unit cell ensure that any symmetric SRE ground state must be a non-trivial SPT phase with anomalous boundary excitations. Depending on models, they can be either strong or ``higher-order'' crystalline SPT phases, characterized by non-trivial surface/hinge/corner states. Furthermore, given the symmetry group and the spatial assignment of fractional spins, we are able to determine all possible SPT phases for a symmetric ground state, using the real space construction for SPT phases based on the spectral sequence of cohomology theory. We provide examples in one, two and three spatial dimensions, and discuss possible physical realization of these SPT phases based on condensation of topological excitations in fractionalized phases.

arXiv:1907.08596•SciPost Physics•Aug 6, 2021•22 citations
In this work we investigate the decorated domain wall construction in bosonic group-cohomology symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases and related quantum anomalies in bosonic topological phases. We first show that a general decorated domain wall construction can be described mathematically as an Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence, where the terms on the E2E_2E2​ page correspond to decorations by lower-dimensional SPT states at domain wall junctions. For bosonic group-cohomology SPT phases, the spectral sequence becomes the Lyndon-Hochschild-Serre (LHS) spectral sequence for ordinary group cohomology. We then discuss the physical interpretations of the differentials in the spectral sequence, particularly in the context of anomalous SPT phases and symmetry-enriched gauge theories. As the main technical result, we obtain a full description of the LHS spectral sequence concretely at the cochain level. The explicit formulae are then applied to explain Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorems for SPT phases, and also derive a new LSM theorem for easy-plane spin model in a πππ flux lattice. We also revisit the classifications of symmetry-enriched 2D and 3D Abelian gauge theories using our results.
We describe a systematic procedure for determining the identity of a 2D bosonic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase from the properties of its edge excitations. Our approach applies to general bosonic SPT phases with either unitary or antiunitary symmetries, and with either continuous or discrete symmetry groups, with the only restriction being that the symmetries must be on-site. Concretely, our procedure takes a bosonic SPT edge theory as input, and produces an element $\ensuremath{\omega}$ of the cohomology group H3(G,UT(1)){H}^{3}(G,{U}_{T}(1))H3(G,UT​(1)). This element $\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\in}{H}^{3}(G,{U}_{T}(1))$ can be interpreted as either a label for the bulk 2D SPT phase or a label for the anomaly carried by the SPT edge theory. The basic idea behind our approach is to compute the FFF symbol associated with domain walls in a symmetry-broken edge theory; this domain-wall FFF symbol is precisely the anomaly we wish to compute. We demonstrate our approach with several SPT edge theories, including both lattice models and continuum field theories.
We develop a theoretical framework for the classification and construction of symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases, which are a special class of zero-temperature phases of strongly interacting gapped quantum many-body systems that exhibit topological properties. The framework unifies various proposals for the classification of SPT phases, including the group (super-)cohomology proposal, the (spin-)cobordism proposal, the Freed-Hopkins proposal, and the Kitaev proposal. The power of the framework is demonstrated in a number of applications: (1) the classification and construction of 3D fermionic SPT phases in Wigner-Dyson classes A and AII with glide symmetry, (2) the classification and construction of 3D bosonic SPT phases with space-group symmetries for all 230 space groups, (3) the derivation of a Mayer-Vietoris sequence relating the classification of SPT phases with and without reflection symmetry, and (4) an interpretation of the structure of general crystalline SPT phases via the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence. The framework is based on the idea that short-range entangled states form what are known as Ω-spectra in the sense of algebraic topology, and models the classification of SPT phases by what are called generalized cohomology theories.
The boundary of symmetry-protected topological states (SPTs) can harbor new quantum anomaly phenomena. In this work, we characterize the bosonic anomalies introduced by the 1+1D non-onsite-symmetric gapless edge modes of (2+1)D bulk bosonic SPTs with a generic finite Abelian group symmetry (isomorphic to $G={\ensuremath{\prod}}_{i}{Z}_{{N}_{i}}={Z}_{{N}_{1}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{{N}_{2}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{{N}_{3}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\ensuremath{\cdots})$. We demonstrate that some classes of SPTs (termed ``Type II'') trap fractional quantum numbers (such as fractional ZN{Z}_{N}ZN​ charges) at the 0D kink of the symmetry-breaking domain walls, while some classes of SPTs (termed ``Type III'') have degenerate zero energy modes (carrying the projective representation protected by the unbroken part of the symmetry), either near the 0D kink of a symmetry-breaking domain wall, or on a symmetry-preserving 1D system dimensionally reduced from a thin 2D tube with a monodromy defect 1D line embedded. More generally, the energy spectrum and conformal dimensions of gapless edge modes under an external gauge flux insertion (or twisted by a branch cut, i.e., a monodromy defect line) through the 1D ring can distinguish many SPT classes. We provide a manifest correspondence from the physical phenomena, the induced fractional quantum number, and the zero energy mode degeneracy to the mathematical concept of cocycles that appears in the group cohomology classification of SPTs, thus achieving a concrete physical materialization of the cocycles. The aforementioned edge properties are formulated in terms of a long wavelength continuum field theory involving scalar chiral bosons, as well as in terms of matrix product operators and discrete quantum lattice models. Our lattice approach yields a regularization with anomalous non-onsite symmetry for the field theory description. We also formulate some bosonic anomalies in terms of the Goldstone-Wilczek formula.
We develop a theoretical framework for the classification and construction of symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases, which are a special class of zero-temperature phases of strongly interacting gapped quantum many-body systems that exhibit topological properties. The framework unifies various proposals for the classification of SPT phases, including the group (super-)cohomology proposal, the (spin-)cobordism proposal, the Freed-Hopkins proposal, and the Kitaev proposal. The power of the framework is demonstrated in a number of applications: (1) the classification and construction of 3D fermionic SPT phases in Wigner-Dyson classes A and AII with glide symmetry, (2) the classification and construction of 3D bosonic SPT phases with space-group symmetries for all 230 space groups, (3) the derivation of a Mayer-Vietoris sequence relating the classification of SPT phases with and without reflection symmetry, and (4) an interpretation of the structure of general crystalline SPT phases via the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence. The framework is based on Kitaev's idea that short-range entangled states form what are known as ΩΩΩ-spectra in the sense of algebraic topology, and models the classification of SPT phases by what are called generalized cohomology theories.
Motivated by the recent discovery of higher-order topological insulators, we study their counterparts in strongly interacting bosons: ``higher-order symmetry-protected topological (HOSPT) phases.'' While the usual (first-order) SPT phases in ddd spatial dimensions support anomalous $(d\ensuremath{-}1)$-dimensional surface states, HOSPT phases in ddd dimensions are characterized by topological boundary states of dimension $(d\ensuremath{-}2)$ or smaller, protected by certain global symmetries and robust against disorders. Based on a dimensional reduction analysis, we show that HOSPT phases can be built from lower-dimensional SPT phases in a way that preserves the associated crystalline symmetries. When the total symmetry is a direct product of global and crystalline symmetry groups, we are able to classify the HOSPT phases using the K\"unneth formula of group cohomology. Based on a decorated domain-wall picture of the K\"unneth formula, we show how to systematically construct the HOSPT phases, and demonstrate our construction with many examples in two and three dimensions.
We propose and prove a family of generalized Lieb-Schultz-Mattis~(LSM) theorems for symmetry protected topological~(SPT) phases on boson/spin models in any dimensions. The ``conventional'' LSM theorem, applicable to e.g. any translation invariant system with an odd number of spin-1/2 particles per unit cell, forbids a symmetric short-range-entangled ground state in such a system. Here we focus on systems with no LSM anomaly, where global/crystalline symmetries and fractional spins within the unit cell ensure that any symmetric SRE ground state must be a non-trivial SPT phase with anomalous boundary excitations. Depending on models, they can be either strong or ``higher-order'' crystalline SPT phases, characterized by non-trivial surface/hinge/corner states. Furthermore, given the symmetry group and the spatial assignment of fractional spins, we are able to determine all possible SPT phases for a symmetric ground state, using the real space construction for SPT phases based on the spectral sequence of cohomology theory. We provide examples in one, two and three spatial dimensions, and discuss possible physical realization of these SPT phases based on condensation of topological excitations in fractionalized phases.