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arXiv:2302.14081 · SciPost Physics

From the XXZ chain to the integrable Rydberg-blockade ladder via non-invertible duality defects

Luisa Eck, Paul Fendley

Published May 21, 2024• 30 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Strongly interacting models often possess “dualities” subtler than a one-to-one mapping of energy levels. The maps can be non-invertible, as apparent in the canonical example of Kramers and Wannier. We analyse an algebraic structure common to the XXZ spin chain and three other models: Rydberg-blockade bosons with one particle per square of a ladder, a three-state antiferromagnet, and two Ising chains coupled in a zigzag fashion. The structure yields non-invertible maps between the four models while also guaranteeing all are integrable. We construct these maps explicitly utilising topological defects coming from fusion categories and the lattice version of the orbifold construction, and use them to give explicit conformal-field-theory partition functions describing their critical regions. The Rydberg and Ising ladders also possess interesting non-invertible symmetries, with the spontaneous breaking of one in the former resulting in an unusual ground-state degeneracy.

DOI
10.21468/scipostphys.16.5.127

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Strongly interacting models often possess “dualities” subtler than a one-to-one mapping of energy levels. The maps can be non-invertible, as apparent in the canonical example of Kramers and Wannier. We analyse an algebraic structure common to the XXZ spin chain and three other models: Rydberg-blockade bosons with one particle per square of a ladder, a three-state antiferromagnet, and two Ising chains coupled in a zigzag fashion. The structure yields non-invertible maps between the four models while also guaranteeing all are integrable. We construct these maps explicitly utilising topological defects coming from fusion categories and the lattice version of the orbifold construction, and use them to give explicit conformal-field-theory partition functions describing their critical regions. The Rydberg and Ising ladders also possess interesting non-invertible symmetries, with the spontaneous breaking of one in the former resulting in an unusual ground-state degeneracy.
A bstract The Kramers-Wannier self-duality of critical quantum chains is examined from the perspective of model wave functions. We demonstrate, using the transverse-field Ising chain and the 3-state Potts chain as examples, that the symmetry operator for the Kramers-Wannier self-duality follows in a simple and direct way from a ‘generalised’ translation symmetry of the model wave function in the anyonic fusion basis. This translation operation, in turn, comprises a sequence of F -moves in the underlying fusion category. The symmetry operator thus obtained naturally admits the form of a matrix product operator and obeys non-invertible fusion rules. The findings reveal an intriguing connection between the (non-invertible) translation symmetry on the lattice and topological aspects of the conformal field theory describing the scaling limit.
We extend non-invertible duality concepts from one-dimensional systems to two spatial dimensions by constructing a web of non-invertible dualities for lattice models with subsystem symmetries. For the Z2×Z2\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2Z2​×Z2​ subsystem symmetry on the square lattice, we build two complementary dualities: a map that sends spontaneous subsystem symmetry-broken (SSSB) phases to the trivial phase (the analogue of the Kramers-Wannier (KW) duality in 1+1D), and a generalized subsystem Kennedy-Tasaki (KT) transformation that maps SSSB phases to subsystem symmetry-protected topological (SSPT) phases while leaving the trivial phase invariant. These dualities are boundary-sensitive. On open lattices, both subsystem KW and KT transformations act as unitary, invertible operators. In particular, the KT map not only matches the bulk Hamiltonians of the dual phases but also carries the spontaneous ground-state degeneracy of the SSSB phase onto the protected boundary degeneracy of the SSPT phase. On closed manifolds, however, both maps become intrinsically non-unitary and non-invertible when restricted to the original Hilbert space. We demonstrate this non-invertibility via ground-state degeneracy matching (in two copies of the Xu-Moore/Ising-plaquette model), analysis of symmetry-twist sectors mapping, and the fusion algebra of the duality operator. Enlarging the Hilbert space to include twisted sectors allows the subsystem KW map to be formulated as a projective unitary preserving quantum transition probabilities, consistent with generalized Wigner-theorem-based constructions. We also show that the KT map faithfully transmits the algebraic content of bulk and edge invariants diagnosing strong SSPT order: although strictly local SSPT repair operators map to highly nonlocal objects in the dual SSSB phase, the essential commutation algebra and the bulk-edge correspondence remain intact.
Defects associated with non-invertible symmetries have attracted significant attention in recent years. Among them, Kramers-Wannier (KW) duality defects have been investigated in both classical statistical systems and quantum Hamiltonian models. Aasen et al. analyzed duality defects in the 2D Ising model and in statistical models built from fusion categories, while Koide et al. later constructed a duality defect in 4D lattice gauge theory. In this work, we extend these developments by providing a systematic construction of KW duality defects/KW defects for a broad class of models formulated within the chain complex framework. Our construction employs the strange correlator, an overlap between a topologically ordered state and a product state, to realize these KW defects.
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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.
Integrable trotterization} provides a method to evolve a continuous time integrable many-body system in discrete time, such that it retains its conserved quantities. Here we explicitly show that the first order trotterization of the critical {\it transverse field Ising model} is integrable. The discrete time conserved quantities are obtained from an inhomogeneous transfer matrix constructed using the {\it quantum inverse scattering method}. The inhomogeneity parameter determines the discrete time step. We then focus on the non-invertible {\it Kramers-Wannier} duality-symmetry for the trotterized evolution. We find that the discretization of both space and time leads to a doubling of these duality operators. They account for discrete translations in both space and time. As an interesting application, we find that these operators also provide maps between trotterizations of different orders. This helps us extend our results beyond the trotterization scheme and investigate the Kramers-Wannier duality-symmetry for finite time Floquet evolution of the critical transverse field Ising chain. {Finally, we investigate how these non-invertible operators shape the phase diagram of the discrete-time evolution. This question is particularly interesting in the Floquet setting, which is known to host a richer phase structure than its undriven counterpart. We systematically construct the necessary operators which relate different phases away from criticality for both trotterized and Floquet evolutions.