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arXiv:2304.00609 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Kac-Moody symmetries in one-dimensional bosonic systems

Wei Tang, Jutho Haegeman

Published Jul 31, 2023• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In conformal field theories, when the conformal symmetry is enhanced by a global Lie group symmetry, the original Virasoro algebra can be extended to Kac-Moody algebra. In this paper, we extend the lattice construction of the Kac-Moody generators introduced in Wang et al., [Phys. Rev. B 106, 115111 (2022)] to continuous systems and apply it to one-dimensional continuous boson systems. We justify this microscopic construction of Kac-Moody generators in two ways. First, through phenomenological bosonization, we express the microscopic construction in terms of the boson operators in the bosonization context, which can be related to the Kac-Moody generators in conformal field theories. Second, we study the behavior of the Kac-Moody generators in the integrable Lieb-Liniger model and reveal its underlying particle-hole excitation picture through Bethe ansatz solutions. Finally, we test the computation of the Kac-Moody generator in the continuous matrix product state simulations, paving the way for more challenging nonintegrable systems.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.108.035153

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In conformal field theories, when the conformal symmetry is enhanced by a global Lie group symmetry, the original Virasoro algebra can be extended to Kac-Moody algebra. In this paper, we extend the lattice construction of the Kac-Moody generators introduced in Wang et al., [Phys. Rev. B 106, 115111 (2022)] to continuous systems and apply it to one-dimensional continuous boson systems. We justify this microscopic construction of Kac-Moody generators in two ways. First, through phenomenological bosonization, we express the microscopic construction in terms of the boson operators in the bosonization context, which can be related to the Kac-Moody generators in conformal field theories. Second, we study the behavior of the Kac-Moody generators in the integrable Lieb-Liniger model and reveal its underlying particle-hole excitation picture through Bethe ansatz solutions. Finally, we test the computation of the Kac-Moody generator in the continuous matrix product state simulations, paving the way for more challenging nonintegrable systems.
Given a critical quantum spin chain with a microscopic Lie group symmetry, corresponding, e.g., to U(1)U(1)U(1) or SU(2)SU(2)SU(2) spin isotropy, we numerically investigate the emergence of Kac-Moody symmetry at low energies and long distances. In that regime, one such critical quantum spin chain is described by a conformal field theory where the usual Virasoro algebra associated with conformal invariance is augmented with a Kac-Moody algebra associated with conserved currents. Specifically, we first propose a method to construct lattice operators corresponding to the Kac-Moody generators. We then numerically show that, when projected onto low-energy states of the quantum spin chain, these operators indeed approximately fulfill the Kac-Moody algebra. The lattice version of the Kac-Moody generators allows us to compute the so-called level constant and to organize the low-energy eigenstates of the lattice Hamiltonian into Kac-Moody towers. We illustrate the proposal with the XXZ model and the Heisenberg model with a next-to-nearest-neighbor coupling.
Tensor network methods are playing a central role in multiple disciplines of modern quantum physics, such as condensed matter physics, quantum information and quantum gravity. Based on renormalization group (RG) ideas, they provide a large class of variational ansatz for quantum many-body systems. There are various tensor network structures which are suited for different systems based on their entanglement structures, such as matrix product states (MPS), projected entangled pair states (PEPS), multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA). Numerous techniques involving coarse-graining tensor networks have been developed, such as tensor renormalization group (TRG), tensor network renormalization (TNR) and its variants. \n \nFirst, we study the generalization of MERA to continuous systems, or cMERA, which is expected to become a powerful variational ansatz for the ground state of strongly interacting quantum field theories. We investigate, in the simpler context of Gaussian cMERA for free theories, the extent to which the cMERA state ketPsicM\\ket{\\Psi^{\\cM}}ketPsicM with finite UV cut-off Lambda\\LambdaLambda can capture the spacetime symmetries of the ground state ketPsi\\ket{\\Psi}ketPsi. For a free boson conformal field theory (CFT) in 1+1 dimensions as a concrete example, we build a quasi-local unitary transformation VVV that maps ketPsi\\ket{\\Psi}ketPsi into ketPsicM\\ket{\\Psi^{\\cM}}ketPsicM and show two main results. (i) Any spacetime symmetry of the ground state ketPsi\\ket{\\Psi}ketPsi is also mapped by VVV into a spacetime symmetry of the cMERA ketPsicM\\ket{\\Psi^{\\cM}}ketPsicM. However, while in the CFT the stress-energy tensor Tmunu(x)T_{\\mu\\nu}(x)Tmunu​(x) (in terms of which all the spacetime symmetry generators are expressed) is local, the corresponding cMERA stress-energy tensor TmunucM(x)=VTmunu(x)VdaggerT_{\\mu\\nu}^{\\cM}(x) = V T_{\\mu\\nu}(x) V^{\\dagger}TmunucM​(x)=VTmunu​(x)Vdagger is quasi-local. (ii) From the cMERA, we can extract quasi-local scaling operators OalphacM(x)O^{\\cM}_{\\alpha}(x)OalphacM​(x) characterized by the exact same scaling dimensions Deltaalpha\\Delta_{\\alpha}Deltaalpha​, conformal spins salphas_{\\alpha}salpha​, operator product expansion coefficients CalphabetagammaC_{\\alpha\\beta\\gamma}Calphabetagamma​, and central charge ccc as the original CFT. We argue that these results should also apply to interacting theories. \n \nSecond we extend TNR to field theories in the continuum. A short-distance length scale 1/Lambda1/\\Lambda1/Lambda is introduced in the continuum partition function by smearing the fields. The resulting object is still defined in the continuum but has no fluctuations at distances shorter than 1/Lambda1/\\Lambda1/Lambda. An infinitesimal coarse-graining step is then generated by the combined action of a \\textit{rescaling} operator mathfrakL\\mathfrak{L}mathfrakL and a \\textit{disentangling} operator mathfrakK\\mathfrak{K}mathfrakK that implements a quasilocal field redefinition. As demonstrated for a free boson in two dimensions, continuous TNR exactly preserves translation and rotation symmetries and can generate a proper RG flow. Moreover, from a critical fixed point of this RG flow one can then extract the conformal data of the underlying conformal field theory. \n \nLeaving behind tensor network methods, we explore the universal structure that emerges from the eigenvectors of the reduced density matrix (RDM) for 1+1 dimensional critical lattice systems. Using the Ising model as an example, we demonstrate that the large-weight eigenvectors are related to the low-lying states of the underlying CFT with suitable boundary conditions by a conformal map, and they transform accordingly under the Virasoro generators. \n \nFinally, using the quantum renormalization group (QRG), we derive the bulk geometry that emerges in the holographic dual of the fermionic U(NNN) vector model at a nonzero charge density. The obstruction that prohibits the metallic state from being smoothly deformable to the direct product state under the renormalization group flow gives rise to a horizon at a finite radial coordinate in the bulk. The region outside the horizon is described by the Lifshitz geometry with a higher-spin hair determined by microscopic details of the boundary theory. On the other hand, the interior of the horizon is not described by any Riemannian manifold, as it exhibits an algebraic non-locality. The non-local structure inside the horizon carries the information on the shape of the filled Fermi sea.
Abstract In this paper, we introduce an N=1 \mathcal{N}=1 N=1 N = 1 supersymmetric SYK model with SO(q) global symmetry. We study the large N expansion of the bi-local collective action of our model. At strong coupling limit, this model exhibits a super-reparametrization symmetry, and the SO(q) global symmetry is enhanced to a SO^(q) \widehat{\mathrm{SO}}(q) SO(q) SO ^ q local symmetry. The corresponding symmetry algebra is the semi-direct product of the super-Virasoro and the super-Kac-Moody algebras. These emergent symmetries are spontaneously and explicitly broken, which leads to a low energy effective action: super-Schwarzian action plus an action of a super-particle on the SO(q) group manifold. We analyze the zero mode contributions to the chaotic behavior of four point functions in various SO(q) channels. In singlet channel, we show that the out-of-time-ordered correlators related to bosonic bi-locals exhibit the saturation of the chaos bound as in the non-SUSY SYK model. On the other hand, we find that the ones with fermionic bi-locals in the singlet channel have πβ \frac{\pi }{\beta } βπ​ π β Lyapunov exponent. In the anti-symmetric channel, we demonstrate that the out-of-time-ordered correlator related to a SO(q) generator grows linearly in time. We also compute the non-zero mode contributions which give consistent corrections to the leading Lyapunov exponents from the zero modes.
The fundamentals of the conformal symmetry transformations in two dimensions are introduced. From the adapted \textit{Ward identities under conformal constraints}, the \textit{operator product expansion} (OPE) is defined for free fields and the energy momentum tensor (EM). After demonstrating how the energy momentum tensor transforms under conformal invariance, the notion of the \textit{central charge c} is defined. Conformal fields in two dimensions are \textit{radially} quantized on the cylinder within the framework of the second quantization of quantum field theory and are then mapped onto complex plane via a conformal mapping. The \textit{radial ordering} of conformal fields is adopted. The \textit{Virasoro algebra} is derived from the identification of the \textit{conformal generators}, which follow from relations between equal-time commutators and contour integrals of conformal fields. The radial quantization is applied to the free fermionic and bosonic fields, where for the latter the \textit{Vertex operator} is defined and specified. The Fock space of the free boson is constructed through the \textit{operator state correspondence}. Various boundary conditions are applied to free fields, and their effects on the ground-state energy density are detailed, leading to the notion of the \textit{Casimir energy}. The OPEs are regularized for the \textit{interacting} conformal fields, namely the E-M tensor, and the related definition of \textit{normal ordering} is revisited. Utilization of the Virasoro algebra led first to the \textit{descendant states} and subsequently to the \textit{conformal families}. The OPEs are generalized for the conformal families, and it is demonstrated how the three-point function coefficients may be obtained in terms of the two-point functions. The same procedure is employed generically through the definition of the \textit{conformal blocks}. The \textit{conformal Bootstrap method} is introduced to calculate the coefficients of nnn point functions. The Hilbert space of the conformal fields in two dimensions is formally constructed through the \textit{representation theory of Virasoro algebra}. Accordingly, the reducible and irreducible \textit{Verma modules} are specified. Due to the unitarity requirement of the Hilbert space, the famous \textit{Kac determinant} is introduced to obtain constraints on the inner products of the Verma modules, whence on the \textit{conformal weights} and the central charge. The decoupling of the \textit{null states} from rest of the their conformal families is used to obtain \textit{fusion rules} of the families. The \textit{Kac table} for the constrained conformal weights is constructed, and its analysis under the requirement of unitarity leads to the identification of the \textit{minimal models}. The correspondence between the discrete statistical systems at criticality and the minimal models is studied, where special attention is given on the \textit{Ising model}.
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.
In this paper, we propose a general implementation of the Virasoro generators and Kac-Moody currents in generic tensor network representations of two-dimensional (2D) critical lattice models. Our proposal works even when a quantum Hamiltonian of the lattice model is not available, which is the case in many numerical computations involving numerical blockings. We tested our proposal on the 2D Ising model, and also the dimer model, which works to high accuracy even with a fairly small system size. Our method makes use of eigenstates of a small cylinder to generate descendant states in a larger cylinder, suggesting some intricate algebraic relations between lattices of different sizes.