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arXiv:2107.13834 · Communications in Mathematical Physics

Conformal Field Theory from Lattice Fermions

Tobias J. Osborne, Alexander Stottmeister

Published Nov 21, 2022• 13 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract We provide a rigorous lattice approximation of conformal field theories given in terms of lattice fermions in 1+1-dimensions, focussing on free fermion models and Wess–Zumino–Witten models. To this end, we utilize a recently introduced operator-algebraic framework for Wilson–Kadanoff renormalization. In this setting, we prove the convergence of the approximation of the Virasoro generators by the Koo–Saleur formula. From this, we deduce the convergence of lattice approximations of conformal correlation functions to their continuum limit. In addition, we show how these results lead to explicit error estimates pertaining to the quantum simulation of conformal field theories.

DOI
10.1007/s00220-022-04521-8

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Abstract We provide a rigorous lattice approximation of conformal field theories given in terms of lattice fermions in 1+1-dimensions, focussing on free fermion models and Wess–Zumino–Witten models. To this end, we utilize a recently introduced operator-algebraic framework for Wilson–Kadanoff renormalization. In this setting, we prove the convergence of the approximation of the Virasoro generators by the Koo–Saleur formula. From this, we deduce the convergence of lattice approximations of conformal correlation functions to their continuum limit. In addition, we show how these results lead to explicit error estimates pertaining to the quantum simulation of conformal field theories.
We establish rigorous error bounds for approximating correlation functions of conformal field theories (CFTs) by certain finite-dimensional tensor networks. For chiral CFTs, the approximation takes the form of a matrix product state. For full CFTs consisting of a chiral and an anti-chiral part, the approximation is given by a finitely correlated state. We show that the bond dimension scales polynomially in the inverse of the approximation error and sub-exponentially in inverse of the minimal distance between insertion points. We illustrate our findings using Wess–Zumino–Witten models, and show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between group-covariant MPS and our approximation.
We study the emergence of 2D conformal symmetry in critical quantum spin chains on the finite circle. Our goal is to characterize the conformal field theory (CFT) describing the universality class of the corresponding quantum phase transition. Using only the lattice Hamiltonian H=∑jhjH = \sum_j h_jH=∑j​hj​ as an input, we construct operators HnH_nHn​ (Fourier modes of the local Hamiltonian terms hjh_jhj​) that transform the low-energy eigenstates of HHH in the same way as certain combinations of the Virasoro generators do in the CFT. These operators were introduced for certain integrable lattice models by Koo and Saleur [Nucl. Phys. B 426, 459 (1994)]. In this paper we propose and demonstrate the use of operators HnH_nHn​ to extract conformal data in nonintegrable quantum spin chains. In particular, we explain how to estimate the central charge from a simple ground-state expectation value and to systematically identify the low-energy states of HHH corresponding to Virasoro primary operators, as must be done in order to identify the CFT.
We study the emergence of two-dimensional conformal symmetry in critical quantum spin chains on the finite circle. Our goal is to characterize the conformal field theory (CFT) describing the universality class of the corresponding quantum phase transition. As a means to this end, we propose and demonstrate automated procedures which, using only the lattice Hamiltonian $H={\ensuremath{\sum}}_{j}{h}_{j}$ as an input, systematically identify the low-energy eigenstates corresponding to Virasoro primary and quasiprimary operators, and assign the remaining low-energy eigenstates to conformal towers. The energies and momenta of the primary operator states are needed to determine the primary operator scaling dimensions and conformal spins, an essential part of the conformal data that specifies the CFT. Our techniques use the action, on the low-energy eigenstates of HHH, of the Fourier modes Hn{H}_{n}Hn​ of the Hamiltonian density hj{h}_{j}hj​. The Hn{H}_{n}Hn​ were introduced as lattice representations of the Virasoro generators by Koo and Saleur [Nucl. Phys. B 426, 459 (1994)]. In this paper, we demonstrate that these operators can be used to extract conformal data in a nonintegrable quantum spin chain.
Abstract We investigate the action of discretized Virasoro generators, built out of generators of the lattice Temperley-Lieb algebra (“Koo-Saleur generators” [1]), in the critical XXZ quantum spin chain. We explore the structure of the continuum-limit Virasoro modules at generic central charge for the XXZ vertex model, paralleling [2] for the loop model. We find again indecomposable modules, but this time not logarithmic ones. The limit of the Temperley-Lieb modules Wj,1 for j ≠ 0 contains pairs of “conjugate states” with conformal weights (hr,s, hr,−s) and (hr,−s, hr,s) that give rise to dual structures: Verma or co-Verma modules. The limit of W0,q±2 {W}_{0,{\mathfrak{q}}^{\pm 2}} W0,q±2​ W 0 , q ± 2 contains diagonal fields (hr,1, hr,1) and gives rise to either only Verma or only co-Verma modules, depending on the sign of the exponent in q±2 {\mathfrak{q}}^{\pm 2} q±2 q ± 2 . In order to obtain matrix elements of Koo-Saleur generators at large system size N we use Bethe ansatz and Quantum Inverse Scattering methods, computing the form factors for relevant combinations of three neighbouring spin operators. Relations between form factors ensure that the above duality exists already at the lattice level. We also study in which sense Koo-Saleur generators converge to Virasoro generators. We consider convergence in the weak sense, investigating whether the commutator of limits is the same as the limit of the commutator? We find that it coincides only up to the central term. As a side result we compute the ground-state expectation value of two neighbouring Temperley-Lieb generators in the XXZ spin chain.
We employ the SU(n)k\mathrm{SU}{(n)}_{k}SU(n)k​ Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) model in conformal field theory to construct lattice wave functions in both one and two dimensions. The spins on all lattice sites are chosen to transform under the SU(n)\mathrm{SU}(n)SU(n) irreducible representation with a single row and kkk boxes in the Young tableau. It is demonstrated that the wave functions can be reinterpreted as parton states, which enables efficient conversion to matrix product states, such that many physical properties can be evaluated directly. In one dimension, these wave functions describe critical spin chains whose universality classes are in one-to-one correspondence with the WZW models used in the construction. In two dimensions, our constructions yield model wave functions for chiral spin liquids, and we show how to find all topological sectors of them in a systematic way. Using the null vectors of Kac-Moody algebras, parent Hamiltonians of the SU(3)k\mathrm{SU}{(3)}_{k}SU(3)k​ series are derived. The SU(3)k\mathrm{SU}{(3)}_{k}SU(3)k​ chiral spin liquids are lattice analogs of non-Abelian spin-singlet fractional quantum Hall states, and the k=2k=2k=2 member hosts Fibonacci anyons.