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:2205.15208

Defects and excitations in the Kitaev model

Voß, Thomas

Published May 30, 2022• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We construct a Kitaev model with defects using twists or 2-cocycles of semi-simple, finite-dimensional Hopf algebras as defect data. This data is derived by applying Tannaka duality to Turaev-Viro topological quantum field theories with defects. From this we also derive additional conditions for moving, fusing and braiding excitations in the Kitaev model with defects. We give a description of excitations in the Kitaev model and show that they satisfy conditions we derive from Turaev-Viro topological quantum field theories with defects. Assigning trivial defect data one obtains transparent defects and we show that they can be removed, yielding the Kitaev model without defects.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2205.15208

Related papers

Kitaev's Lattice Model and Turaev-Viro TQFTs

Benjamin Balsam, Kirillov, Alexander

In this paper, we examine Kitaev's lattice model for an arbitrary complex, semisimple Hopf algebra. We prove that this model gives the same topological invariants as Turaev-Viro theory. Using the description of Turaev-Viro theory as an extended TQFT, we prove that the excited states of the Kitaev model correspond to Turaev-Viro theory on a surface with boundary.

arXiv:1206.2308•Jun 11, 2012•27 citations

Topological Defects on the Lattice: Dualities and Degeneracies

David Aasen, Paul Fendley, Roger S. K. Mong

We construct topological defects in two-dimensional classical lattice models and quantum chains. The defects satisfy local commutation relations guaranteeing that the partition function is independent of their path. These relations and their solutions are extended to allow defect lines to fuse, branch and satisfy all the properties of a fusion category. We show how the two-dimensional classical lattice models and their topological defects are naturally described by boundary conditions of a Turaev-Viro-Barrett-Westbury partition function. These defects allow Kramers-Wannier duality to be generalized to a large class of models, explaining exact degeneracies between non-symmetry-related ground states as well as in the low-energy spectrum. They give a precise and general notion of twisted boundary conditions and the universal behaviour under Dehn twists. Gluing a topological defect to a boundary yields linear identities between partition functions with different boundary conditions, allowing ratios of the universal g-factor to be computed exactly on the lattice. We develop this construction in detail in a variety of examples, including the Potts, parafermion and height models.

arXiv:2008.08598•Aug 19, 2020•91 citations

Weak Hopf tube algebra for domain walls between 2d gapped phases of Turaev-Viro TQFTs

Zhian Jia, Sheng Tan

A bstract We investigate domain walls between 2 d gapped phases of Turaev-Viro type topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) by constructing domain wall tube algebras. We begin by analyzing the domain wall tube algebra associated with bimodule categories, and then extend the construction to multimodule categories over N base fusion categories. We prove that the resulting tube algebra is naturally equipped with a C ∗ weak Hopf algebra structure. We show that topological excitations localized on domain walls are classified by representations of the corresponding domain wall tube algebra, in the sense that the functor category of bimodules admits a fusion-preserving embedding into the representation category of the domain wall tube algebra. We further establish the folding trick and Morita theory in this context. Then, most crucially, we provide a rigorous construction of the Drinfeld quantum double from weak Hopf boundary tube algebras using a skew-pairing, and establish an isomorphism between domain wall tube algebra and Drinfeld quantum double of boundary tube algebras. Motivated by the correspondence between the domain wall tube algebra and the quantum double of the boundary tube algebras, we introduce the notion of an N -tuple algebra and demonstrate how it arises in the multimodule domain wall setting. Finally, we consider defects between two domain walls, showing that such defects can be characterized by representations of a domain wall defect tube algebra. We briefly outline how these defects can be systematically treated within this representation-theoretic framework.

arXiv:2507.01515•Journal of High Energy Physics•Nov 5, 2025•2 citations

Topological defects on the lattice: I. The Ising model

David Aasen, Roger S. K. Mong, Paul Fendley

Abstract In this paper and its sequel, we construct topologically invariant defects in two-dimensional classical lattice models and quantum spin chains. We show how defect lines commute with the transfer matrix/Hamiltonian when they obey the defect commutation relations , cousins of the Yang–Baxter equation. These relations and their solutions can be extended to allow defect lines to branch and fuse, again with properties depending only on topology. In this part I, we focus on the simplest example, the Ising model. We define lattice spin-flip and duality defects and their branching, and prove they are topological. One useful consequence is a simple implementation of Kramers–Wannier duality on the torus and higher genus surfaces by using the fusion of duality defects. We use these topological defects to do simple calculations that yield exact properties of the conformal field theory describing the continuum limit. For example, the shift in momentum quantization with duality-twisted boundary conditions yields the conformal spin 1/16 of the chiral spin field. Even more strikingly, we derive the modular transformation matrices explicitly and exactly.

arXiv:1601.07185•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Aug 9, 2016•232 citations

Microscopic Description of 2D Topological Phases, Duality, and 3D State Sums

Zoltán Kádár, Annalisa Marzuoli, Mario Rasetti

Doubled topological phases introduced by Kitaev, Levin, and Wen supported on two-dimensional lattices are Hamiltonian versions of three-dimensional topological quantum field theories described by the Turaev-Viro state sum models. We introduce the latter with an emphasis on obtaining them from theories in the continuum. Equivalence of the previous models in the ground state is shown in case of the honeycomb lattice and the gauge group being a finite group by means of the well-known duality transformation between the group algebra and the spin network basis of lattice gauge theory. An analysis of the ribbon operators describing excitations in both types of models and the three-dimensional geometrical interpretation are given.

•Aug 4, 2013•34 citations

Finite 2-group gauge theory and its 3+1D lattice realization

Mo Huang

A bstract In this work, we employ the Tannaka-Krein reconstruction to compute the quantum double 𝒟(𝒢) of a finite 2-group 𝒢 as a Hopf monoidal category. We also construct a 3+1D lattice model from the Dijkgraaf-Witten TQFT functor for the 2-group 𝒢, generalizing Kitaev’s 2+1D quantum double model. Notably, the string-like local operators in this lattice model are shown to form 𝒟(𝒢). Specializing to 𝒢 = ℤ 2 , we demonstrate that the topological defects in the 3+1D toric code model are modules over 𝒟(ℤ 2 ).

arXiv:2508.04693•Journal of High Energy Physics•Mar 13, 2026•0 citations
We construct a Kitaev model with defects using twists or 2-cocycles of semi-simple, finite-dimensional Hopf algebras as defect data. This data is derived by applying Tannaka duality to Turaev-Viro topological quantum field theories with defects. From this we also derive additional conditions for moving, fusing and braiding excitations in the Kitaev model with defects. We give a description of excitations in the Kitaev model and show that they satisfy conditions we derive from Turaev-Viro topological quantum field theories with defects. Assigning trivial defect data one obtains transparent defects and we show that they can be removed, yielding the Kitaev model without defects.
We construct topological defects in two-dimensional classical lattice models and quantum chains. The defects satisfy local commutation relations guaranteeing that the partition function is independent of their path. These relations and their solutions are extended to allow defect lines to fuse, branch and satisfy all the properties of a fusion category. We show how the two-dimensional classical lattice models and their topological defects are naturally described by boundary conditions of a Turaev-Viro-Barrett-Westbury partition function. These defects allow Kramers-Wannier duality to be generalized to a large class of models, explaining exact degeneracies between non-symmetry-related ground states as well as in the low-energy spectrum. They give a precise and general notion of twisted boundary conditions and the universal behaviour under Dehn twists. Gluing a topological defect to a boundary yields linear identities between partition functions with different boundary conditions, allowing ratios of the universal g-factor to be computed exactly on the lattice. We develop this construction in detail in a variety of examples, including the Potts, parafermion and height models.
A bstract We investigate domain walls between 2 d gapped phases of Turaev-Viro type topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) by constructing domain wall tube algebras. We begin by analyzing the domain wall tube algebra associated with bimodule categories, and then extend the construction to multimodule categories over N base fusion categories. We prove that the resulting tube algebra is naturally equipped with a C ∗ weak Hopf algebra structure. We show that topological excitations localized on domain walls are classified by representations of the corresponding domain wall tube algebra, in the sense that the functor category of bimodules admits a fusion-preserving embedding into the representation category of the domain wall tube algebra. We further establish the folding trick and Morita theory in this context. Then, most crucially, we provide a rigorous construction of the Drinfeld quantum double from weak Hopf boundary tube algebras using a skew-pairing, and establish an isomorphism between domain wall tube algebra and Drinfeld quantum double of boundary tube algebras. Motivated by the correspondence between the domain wall tube algebra and the quantum double of the boundary tube algebras, we introduce the notion of an N -tuple algebra and demonstrate how it arises in the multimodule domain wall setting. Finally, we consider defects between two domain walls, showing that such defects can be characterized by representations of a domain wall defect tube algebra. We briefly outline how these defects can be systematically treated within this representation-theoretic framework.
Abstract In this paper and its sequel, we construct topologically invariant defects in two-dimensional classical lattice models and quantum spin chains. We show how defect lines commute with the transfer matrix/Hamiltonian when they obey the defect commutation relations , cousins of the Yang–Baxter equation. These relations and their solutions can be extended to allow defect lines to branch and fuse, again with properties depending only on topology. In this part I, we focus on the simplest example, the Ising model. We define lattice spin-flip and duality defects and their branching, and prove they are topological. One useful consequence is a simple implementation of Kramers–Wannier duality on the torus and higher genus surfaces by using the fusion of duality defects. We use these topological defects to do simple calculations that yield exact properties of the conformal field theory describing the continuum limit. For example, the shift in momentum quantization with duality-twisted boundary conditions yields the conformal spin 1/16 of the chiral spin field. Even more strikingly, we derive the modular transformation matrices explicitly and exactly.
Doubled topological phases introduced by Kitaev, Levin, and Wen supported on two-dimensional lattices are Hamiltonian versions of three-dimensional topological quantum field theories described by the Turaev-Viro state sum models. We introduce the latter with an emphasis on obtaining them from theories in the continuum. Equivalence of the previous models in the ground state is shown in case of the honeycomb lattice and the gauge group being a finite group by means of the well-known duality transformation between the group algebra and the spin network basis of lattice gauge theory. An analysis of the ribbon operators describing excitations in both types of models and the three-dimensional geometrical interpretation are given.
A bstract In this work, we employ the Tannaka-Krein reconstruction to compute the quantum double 𝒟(𝒢) of a finite 2-group 𝒢 as a Hopf monoidal category. We also construct a 3+1D lattice model from the Dijkgraaf-Witten TQFT functor for the 2-group 𝒢, generalizing Kitaev’s 2+1D quantum double model. Notably, the string-like local operators in this lattice model are shown to form 𝒟(𝒢). Specializing to 𝒢 = ℤ 2 , we demonstrate that the topological defects in the 3+1D toric code model are modules over 𝒟(ℤ 2 ).