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arXiv:2501.03851 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Gapless symmetry-protected topological states in measurement-only circuits

Xue-Jia Yu, Sheng Yang, Shuo Liu, Hai‐Qing Lin, Shao-Kai Jian

Published Mar 12, 2026• 12 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Measurement-only quantum circuits offer a versatile platform for realizing intriguing quantum phases of matter. However, gapless symmetry-protected topological (gSPT) states remain insufficiently explored in these settings. In this Letter, we generalize the notion of gSPT to the critical steady state by investigating measurement-only circuits. Using large-scale Clifford circuit simulations, we investigate the steady-state phase diagram across several families of measurement-only circuits that exhibit topological nontrivial edge states at criticality. In the Ising cluster circuits, we uncover a symmetry-enriched non-unitary critical point, termed symmetry-enriched percolation, characterized by both topologically nontrivial edge states and string operator. Additionally, we demonstrate the realization of a steady-state gSPT phase in a $\mathbb Z_4$ circuit model. This phase features topological edge modes and persists within steady-state critical phases under symmetry-preserving perturbations. Furthermore, we provide a unified theoretical framework by mapping the system to the Majorana loop model, offering deeper insights into the underlying mechanisms.

DOI
10.1103/b95c-th5t

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Measurement-only quantum circuits offer a versatile platform for realizing intriguing quantum phases of matter. However, gapless symmetry-protected topological (gSPT) states remain insufficiently explored in these settings. In this Letter, we generalize the notion of gSPT to the critical steady state by investigating measurement-only circuits. Using large-scale Clifford circuit simulations, we investigate the steady-state phase diagram across several families of measurement-only circuits that exhibit topological nontrivial edge states at criticality. In the Ising cluster circuits, we uncover a symmetry-enriched non-unitary critical point, termed symmetry-enriched percolation, characterized by both topologically nontrivial edge states and string operator. Additionally, we demonstrate the realization of a steady-state gSPT phase in a Z4\mathbb Z_4Z4​ circuit model. This phase features topological edge modes and persists within steady-state critical phases under symmetry-preserving perturbations. Furthermore, we provide a unified theoretical framework by mapping the system to the Majorana loop model, offering deeper insights into the underlying mechanisms.
We introduce topological invariants for gapless systems and study the associated boundary phenomena.More generally, the symmetry properties of the low-energy conformal field theory (CFT) provide discrete invariants establishing the notion of symmetry-enriched quantum criticality.The charges of nonlocal scaling operators, or more generally, of symmetry defects, are topological and imply the presence of localized edge modes.We primarily focus on the 1 þ 1d case where the edge has a topological degeneracy, whose finite-size splitting can be exponential or algebraic in system size depending on the involvement of additional gapped sectors.An example of the exponential case is given by tuning the spin-1 Heisenberg chain to a symmetry-breaking Ising phase.An example of the algebraic case arises between the gapped Ising and cluster phases: This symmetry-enriched Ising CFT has an edge mode with finite-size splitting scaling as 1=L 14 .In addition to such new cases, our formalism unifies various examples previously studied in the literature.Similar to gapped symmetry-protected topological phases, a given CFT can split into several distinct symmetry-enriched CFTs.This raises the question of classification, to which we give a partial answer-including a complete characterization of symmetry-enriched 1 þ 1d Ising CFTs.Nontrivial topological invariants can also be constructed in higher dimensions, which we illustrate for a symmetry-enriched 2 þ 1d CFT without gapped sectors.
Measurements can drive quantum many-body systems into nontrivial steady states and induce interesting dynamical phase transitions, rendering measurement-only quantum circuits a useful platform for exploring quantum many-body phases beyond those of equilibrium Hamiltonian systems. Here we study a class of long-range measurement-only quantum circuits with competing two-qubit and three-qubit measurements. We demonstrate that these circuits exhibit rich steady-state structure and uncover a strong influence of the measurement range on the resulting phases. In particular, states with symmetry-protected topological (SPT) order can emerge with sufficiently short-range measurements beyond the nearest-neighbor limit. These states feature robust topological edge modes, which can also be detected from circuit dynamics. With longer-range measurements, an extended parameter regime emerges in which conventional order parameters are suppressed while spatial correlations remain nontrivial. Moreover, we show that in this circuit model sufficiently long-range measurements can produce significant entanglement with scaling beyond an area law despite the absence of any unitary evolution.
Symmetry topological field theory (SymTFT) gives a holographic correspondence between systems with a global symmetry and a higher-dimensional topological field theory. In this framework, classification of gapped phases of matter in spacetime dimension 1+1D correspond to classifications of mechanisms to confine the SymTFT by condensing anyons. In this work, we extend these results to characterize gapless symmetry-protected topological states: symmetry-enriched gapless phases or critical points that exhibit edge modes protected by symmetry and topology. We establish a one-to-one correspondence between 1+1D bosonic gSPTs, and partially-confined boundaries of 2+1D SymTFTs. From general physical considerations, we determine the set of data and consistency conditions required to define a 1+1D gSPT, and show that this data precisely matches that of symmetry-preserving partial confinement (or partially gapped boundaries) of 2+1D quantum double models. We illustrate this correspondence through a dimensional reduction (thin-slab) construction, which enables a physically-intuitive derivation of how properties of the gSPT such as edge modes, emergent anomalies, and stability to perturbations arise from the SymTFT perspective.ditions required to define a 1+1D gSPT and show that they fully determine the physics of the gSPT including edge modes and emergent anomaly.
We study measurement-induced symmetry-protected topological (SPT) order in a wide class of quantum random circuit models by combining calculations within the stabilizer formalism with tensor network simulations. We construct a family of quantum random circuits, generating the out-of-equilibrium version of all generalized cluster models, and derive a set of nonlocal string order parameters to distinguish different SPT phases. We apply this framework to investigate a random circuit realization of the XZX cluster model, and use the string order parameter to demonstrate that the phase diagram is stable against extending the class of unitary gates in the circuit, from Clifford gates to Haar unitaries. We then turn to the XZZX generalized cluster model, and demonstrate the coexistence of SPT order and spontaneous symmetry breaking, by relying on string order parameters and a connected correlation function.
Gapless quantum phases can become distinct when internal symmetries are enforced, in analogy with gapped symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. However, this distinction does not always lead to protected edge modes, raising the question of how the bulk-boundary correspondence is generalized to gapless cases. We propose that the spatial interface between gapless phases -- rather than their boundaries -- provides a more robust fingerprint. We show that whenever two 1+1d conformal field theories (CFTs) differ in symmetry charge assignments of local operators or twisted sectors, any symmetry-preserving spatial interface between the theories must flow to a non-invertible defect. We illustrate this general result for different versions of the Ising CFT with Z2×Z2T\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2^TZ2​×Z2T​ symmetry, obtaining a complete classification of allowed conformal interfaces. When the Ising CFTs differ by nonlocal operator charges, the interface hosts 0+1d symmetry-breaking phases with finite-size splittings scaling as 1/L31/L^31/L3, as well as continuous phase transitions between them. For general gapless phases differing by an SPT entangler, the interfaces between them can be mapped to conformal defects with a certain defect 't Hooft anomaly. This classification also gives implications for higher-dimensional examples, including symmetry-enriched variants of the 2+1d Ising CFT. Our results establish a physical indicator for symmetry-enriched criticality through symmetry-protected interfaces, giving a new handle on the interplay between topology and gapless phases.
We report that a spin-1/2 tetrahedral Heisenberg chain realizes a gapless symmetry-protected topological (gSPT) phase characterized by the coexistence of the Tomonaga-Luttinger-liquid criticality due to chirality degrees of freedom and the symmetry-protected edge state due to spin degrees of freedom. This gSPT phase has an interesting feature that no symmetry forbids the trivial spin gap opening but a discrete symmetry, Z3×Z2T\mathbb Z_3\times\mathbb Z_2^TZ3​×Z2T​, forbids the unique gapped ground state. In the first part of the paper, we numerically show the coexistence of a critical entanglement entropy and a nontrivially degenerate entanglement spectrum based on the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method.Next, we clarify that chirality degrees of freedom form the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid while spin degrees of freedom form the spin-1 Haldane state based on a degenerate perturbation theory. Last but not least, we discuss the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis-type ingappability in the gSPT phase, using a local Z3\mathbb{Z}_3Z3​ rotation. We can thus characterize our gSPT phase as a symmetry-protected critical phase protected by the Z3\mathbb{Z}_3Z3​ on-site symmetry, the Z2T\mathbb{Z}_2^TZ2T​ time-reversal symmetry, the lattice translation symmetry, and the U(1) spin-rotation symmetry.