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:2512.23706

Non-Invertible Interfaces Between Symmetry-Enriched Critical Phases

Saranesh Prembabu, Shu-Heng Shao, Ruben Verresen

cond-mat.str-elcond-mat.stat-mechhep-thquant-phSubmitted Dec 29, 2025• Announced Dec 30, 2025• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

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 $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2^T$ 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 $1/L^3$, 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.

Comments
11 pages, 7 figures + 4 page appendix

Related papers

Gapless Topological Phases and Symmetry-Enriched Quantum Criticality

Ruben Verresen, Ryan Thorngren, Nick G. Jones +1 more

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.

arXiv:1905.06969•Physical Review X•Dec 23, 2021•149 citations

Classification of 1+1D gapless symmetry protected phases via topological holography

Wen, Rui, Andrew C. Potter

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.

arXiv:2311.00050•Oct 31, 2023•7 citations

1+1d SPT phases with fusion category symmetry: interface modes and non-abelian Thouless pump

Kansei Inamura, Shuhei Ohyama

We consider symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases with finite non-invertible symmetry $\mathcal{C}$ in 1+1d. In particular, we investigate interfaces and parameterized families of them within the framework of matrix product states. After revealing how to extract the $\mathcal{C}$-SPT invariant, we identify the algebraic structure of symmetry operators acting on the interface of two $\mathcal{C}$-SPT phases. By studying the representation theory of this algebra, we show that there must be a degenerate interface mode between different $\mathcal{C}$-SPT phases. This result generalizes the bulk-boundary correspondence for ordinary SPT phases. We then propose the classification of one-parameter families of $\mathcal{C}$-SPT states based on the explicit construction of invariants of such families. Our invariant is identified with a non-abelian generalization of the Thouless charge pump, which is the pump of a local excitation within a $\mathcal{C}$-SPT phase. Finally, by generalizing the results for one-parameter families of SPT phases, we conjecture the classification of general parameterized families of general gapped phases with finite non-invertible symmetries in both 1+1d and higher dimensions.

arXiv:2408.15960•Aug 28, 2024•5 citations

Correspondence of boundary theories between internal and crystalline symmetry protected topological phases

Jian-Hao Zhang, Shang-Qiang Ning

Symmetry protected topological phases protected by crystalline symmetries and internal symmetries are shown to enjoy fascinating one-to-one correspondence in classification. Here we investigate the physics content behind the abstract correspondence in three or higher-dimensional systems. We show correspondence between anomalous boundary states, which provides a new way to explore the quantum anomaly of symmetry from its crystalline equivalent counterpart. We show such a correspondence directly in two scenarios, including the anomalous symmetry-enriched topological orders (SET) and critical boundary states. (1) First of all, for the surface SET correspondence, we demonstrate it by considering examples involving time-reversal symmetry and mirror symmetry. We show that one 2D topological order can carry the time reversal anomaly as long as it can carry the mirror anomaly and vice versa, by directly establishing the mapping of the time reversal anomaly indicators and mirror anomaly indicators. Besides, we also consider other cases involving continuous symmetry, which leads us to introduce some new anomaly indicators for symmetry from its counterpart. (2) Furthermore, we also build up direct correspondence for (near) critical boundaries. In this perspective, we first consider the edge-corner correspondence between edge theory as 1+1D conformal field theory of internal fermionic SPT and the 0+1D corner modes of (higher-order) crystalline fermionic SPT. By viewing the corner modes on 1D boundary as perturbed CFT is crucial insight for the correspondence, but also help to discover the boundary theory of some intrinsically interacting fermionic SPT, whcih are challenging. Next, we discuss this correspondence bosonic systems, again taking topological phases protected by time reversal and mirror symmetry as examples, the direct correspondence of their (near) critical boundaries can be built up by coupled chain construction that was first proposed by Senthil and Fisher. The examples of critical boundary correspondence we consider in this paper can be understood in a unified framework that is related to hierarchy structure of topological O(n) O ( n ) nonlinear sigma model (NL \sigma σ M), that generalizes the Haldane’s derivation of O(3) O ( 3 ) sigma model from spin one-half system. To our best of knowledge, this hierarchy structure of the O(n) O ( n ) NL \sigma σ M is first exposed, which inspires us to explore more interesting connection between different theories in the light of the boundary correspondence.

arXiv:2310.19266•SciPost Physics•Jun 18, 2026•1 citation

Topological tricritical Ising universality class in one dimension

Sheng Yang, Hai-Qing Lin, Xue-Jia Yu

Quantum critical points can host symmetry-protected topological (SPT) edge modes even when the bulk is gapless, giving rise to symmetry-enriched universality classes beyond the conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. Here we show that the tricritical Ising (TCI) critical point-described by a paradigmatic conformal field theory (CFT) with emergent supersymmetry-admits a topologically nontrivial, symmetry-enriched realization, which we term the topological TCI. We construct this critical point in the cluster O'Brien-Fendley (OF) spin chain by applying an SPT entangler to the original OF model. The two realizations therefore share the same bulk TCI CFT. Under open boundary conditions, however, the original model exhibits the free conformal boundary condition, whereas the cluster model exhibits a spontaneously fixed boundary condition: an infinitesimal boundary field can select one of the fixed boundary states, yielding spontaneous boundary magnetization. We further show that symmetry enrichment and boundary renormalization-group flow provide two routes to the spontaneously fixed boundary condition. Whereas the free and spontaneously fixed boundary conditions of the original model can be interconverted by tuning a symmetry-preserving boundary term, no such conversion occurs for the cluster model along the boundary deformations studied here, even in the strong-deformation limit. Although they share the same conventional boundary CFT (BCFT) data, including the boundary operator content and boundary-function, the two realizations of the spontaneously fixed boundary condition are distinguished by different time-reversal charges of the disorder field, which impose different symmetry constraints on the allowed boundary conditions under symmetry-preserving boundary deformations. For the tested symmetry-preserving boundary perturbations that lift the exact twofold degeneracy, the finite-size energy splitting is numerically consistent with exponential decay over accessible system sizes, in stark contrast to the algebraic splitting at the symmetry-enriched Ising critical point of the cluster Ising spin chain. We also find that the topological TCI realization persists along a critical line in a two-parameter phase diagram. These results establish a symmetry-enriched TCI universality class and uncover boundary distinctions invisible to conventional BCFT data.

arXiv:2606.15588•Reports on Progress in Physics•Oct 1, 2026•0 citations

Symmetry Enriched ccc-Theorems & SPT Transitions

Clay Córdova, Diego García-Sepúlveda

We derive universal constraints on $(1+1)d$ rational conformal field theories (CFTs) that can arise as transitions between topological theories protected by a global symmetry. The deformation away from criticality to the trivially gapped phase is driven by a symmetry preserving relevant deformation and under renormalization group flow defines a conformal boundary condition of the CFT. When a CFT can make a transition between distinct trivially gapped phases the spectrum of the CFT quantized on an interval with the associated boundary conditions has degeneracies at each energy level. Using techniques from boundary CFT and modular invariance, we derive universal inequalities on all such degeneracies, including those of the ground state. This establishes a symmetry enriched $c$-theorem, effectively a lower bound on the central charge which is strictly positive, for this class of CFTs and symmetry protected flows. We illustrate our results for the case of flows protected by $SU(M)/\mathbb{Z}_{M}$ symmetry. In this case, all SPT transitions can arise from the WZW model $SU(M)_{1},$ and we develop a dictionary between conformal boundary conditions and relevant operators.

arXiv:2210.01135•Oct 3, 2022•1 citation
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 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.
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 consider symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases with finite non-invertible symmetry C\mathcal{C}C in 1+1d. In particular, we investigate interfaces and parameterized families of them within the framework of matrix product states. After revealing how to extract the C\mathcal{C}C-SPT invariant, we identify the algebraic structure of symmetry operators acting on the interface of two C\mathcal{C}C-SPT phases. By studying the representation theory of this algebra, we show that there must be a degenerate interface mode between different C\mathcal{C}C-SPT phases. This result generalizes the bulk-boundary correspondence for ordinary SPT phases. We then propose the classification of one-parameter families of C\mathcal{C}C-SPT states based on the explicit construction of invariants of such families. Our invariant is identified with a non-abelian generalization of the Thouless charge pump, which is the pump of a local excitation within a C\mathcal{C}C-SPT phase. Finally, by generalizing the results for one-parameter families of SPT phases, we conjecture the classification of general parameterized families of general gapped phases with finite non-invertible symmetries in both 1+1d and higher dimensions.
Symmetry protected topological phases protected by crystalline symmetries and internal symmetries are shown to enjoy fascinating one-to-one correspondence in classification. Here we investigate the physics content behind the abstract correspondence in three or higher-dimensional systems. We show correspondence between anomalous boundary states, which provides a new way to explore the quantum anomaly of symmetry from its crystalline equivalent counterpart. We show such a correspondence directly in two scenarios, including the anomalous symmetry-enriched topological orders (SET) and critical boundary states. (1) First of all, for the surface SET correspondence, we demonstrate it by considering examples involving time-reversal symmetry and mirror symmetry. We show that one 2D topological order can carry the time reversal anomaly as long as it can carry the mirror anomaly and vice versa, by directly establishing the mapping of the time reversal anomaly indicators and mirror anomaly indicators. Besides, we also consider other cases involving continuous symmetry, which leads us to introduce some new anomaly indicators for symmetry from its counterpart. (2) Furthermore, we also build up direct correspondence for (near) critical boundaries. In this perspective, we first consider the edge-corner correspondence between edge theory as 1+1D conformal field theory of internal fermionic SPT and the 0+1D corner modes of (higher-order) crystalline fermionic SPT. By viewing the corner modes on 1D boundary as perturbed CFT is crucial insight for the correspondence, but also help to discover the boundary theory of some intrinsically interacting fermionic SPT, whcih are challenging. Next, we discuss this correspondence bosonic systems, again taking topological phases protected by time reversal and mirror symmetry as examples, the direct correspondence of their (near) critical boundaries can be built up by coupled chain construction that was first proposed by Senthil and Fisher. The examples of critical boundary correspondence we consider in this paper can be understood in a unified framework that is related to hierarchy structure of topological O(n) O ( n ) nonlinear sigma model (NL \sigma σ M), that generalizes the Haldane’s derivation of O(3) O ( 3 ) sigma model from spin one-half system. To our best of knowledge, this hierarchy structure of the O(n) O ( n ) NL \sigma σ M is first exposed, which inspires us to explore more interesting connection between different theories in the light of the boundary correspondence.
Quantum critical points can host symmetry-protected topological (SPT) edge modes even when the bulk is gapless, giving rise to symmetry-enriched universality classes beyond the conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. Here we show that the tricritical Ising (TCI) critical point-described by a paradigmatic conformal field theory (CFT) with emergent supersymmetry-admits a topologically nontrivial, symmetry-enriched realization, which we term the topological TCI. We construct this critical point in the cluster O'Brien-Fendley (OF) spin chain by applying an SPT entangler to the original OF model. The two realizations therefore share the same bulk TCI CFT. Under open boundary conditions, however, the original model exhibits the free conformal boundary condition, whereas the cluster model exhibits a spontaneously fixed boundary condition: an infinitesimal boundary field can select one of the fixed boundary states, yielding spontaneous boundary magnetization. We further show that symmetry enrichment and boundary renormalization-group flow provide two routes to the spontaneously fixed boundary condition. Whereas the free and spontaneously fixed boundary conditions of the original model can be interconverted by tuning a symmetry-preserving boundary term, no such conversion occurs for the cluster model along the boundary deformations studied here, even in the strong-deformation limit. Although they share the same conventional boundary CFT (BCFT) data, including the boundary operator content and boundary-function, the two realizations of the spontaneously fixed boundary condition are distinguished by different time-reversal charges of the disorder field, which impose different symmetry constraints on the allowed boundary conditions under symmetry-preserving boundary deformations. For the tested symmetry-preserving boundary perturbations that lift the exact twofold degeneracy, the finite-size energy splitting is numerically consistent with exponential decay over accessible system sizes, in stark contrast to the algebraic splitting at the symmetry-enriched Ising critical point of the cluster Ising spin chain. We also find that the topological TCI realization persists along a critical line in a two-parameter phase diagram. These results establish a symmetry-enriched TCI universality class and uncover boundary distinctions invisible to conventional BCFT data.
We derive universal constraints on (1+1)d(1+1)d(1+1)d rational conformal field theories (CFTs) that can arise as transitions between topological theories protected by a global symmetry. The deformation away from criticality to the trivially gapped phase is driven by a symmetry preserving relevant deformation and under renormalization group flow defines a conformal boundary condition of the CFT. When a CFT can make a transition between distinct trivially gapped phases the spectrum of the CFT quantized on an interval with the associated boundary conditions has degeneracies at each energy level. Using techniques from boundary CFT and modular invariance, we derive universal inequalities on all such degeneracies, including those of the ground state. This establishes a symmetry enriched ccc-theorem, effectively a lower bound on the central charge which is strictly positive, for this class of CFTs and symmetry protected flows. We illustrate our results for the case of flows protected by SU(M)/ZMSU(M)/\mathbb{Z}_{M}SU(M)/ZM​ symmetry. In this case, all SPT transitions can arise from the WZW model SU(M)1,SU(M)_{1},SU(M)1​, and we develop a dictionary between conformal boundary conditions and relevant operators.