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Topological aspects of two-dimensional quantum systems

Suvabrata De

Published Sep 1, 2014• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In part I, we describe a protected qubit which is realized in a two-dimensional array of Josephson junctions. Our construction is the magnetic analogue of (‘dual’ to) a suggestion of a superconducting current mirror qubit (Kitaev,2006b). Our proposal therefore inherits the intrinsic fault-tolerance of the current mirror qubit, but may perform better than it in the laboratory, since magnetic \nnoise is generally less of a problem than electric noise. We adapt the scheme for universal fault-tolerant quantum computation proposed by Kitaev to our construction. \n \nIn part II, we describe a method of detecting the Chern number and entanglement properties of topological four-component free-fermion systems in cold atom experiments. We show that the Chern number of these systems decomposes into a sum of subsystem winding numbers which can be measured from time-of-flight images. Such images also enable the degree of subsystem entanglement in, and the component entanglement spectra of, these systems to be measured. The method is applied to the quantum spin-Hall insulator and \na staggered topological superconductor. We find that the phase diagrams are accurately reproduced, except when the subsystems are highly entangled.

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In part I, we describe a protected qubit which is realized in a two-dimensional array of Josephson junctions. Our construction is the magnetic analogue of (‘dual’ to) a suggestion of a superconducting current mirror qubit (Kitaev,2006b). Our proposal therefore inherits the intrinsic fault-tolerance of the current mirror qubit, but may perform better than it in the laboratory, since magnetic \nnoise is generally less of a problem than electric noise. We adapt the scheme for universal fault-tolerant quantum computation proposed by Kitaev to our construction. \n \nIn part II, we describe a method of detecting the Chern number and entanglement properties of topological four-component free-fermion systems in cold atom experiments. We show that the Chern number of these systems decomposes into a sum of subsystem winding numbers which can be measured from time-of-flight images. Such images also enable the degree of subsystem entanglement in, and the component entanglement spectra of, these systems to be measured. The method is applied to the quantum spin-Hall insulator and \na staggered topological superconductor. We find that the phase diagrams are accurately reproduced, except when the subsystems are highly entangled.
We propose a protected qubit which is `dual' to a suggestion of a superconducting current mirror qubit [A. Kitaev, arXiv:0609441 (2006)]. Our construction can be regarded as the magnetic analogue of Kitaev's proposal: it inherits the intrinsic fault-tolerance of the current mirror qubit, but may perform better than it in the laboratory, since magnetic noise is generally less of a problem than electric noise. We adapt the scheme for universal fault-tolerant quantum computation proposed by Kitaev to our construction.
Topological invariants, such as the Chern number, characterize topological phases of matter. Here we provide a method to detect Chern numbers in systems with two distinct species of fermion, such as spins, orbitals or several atomic states. We analytically show that the Chern number can be decomposed as a sum of component specific winding numbers, which are themselves physically observable. We apply this method to two systems, the quantum spin Hall insulator and a staggered topological superconductor, and show that (spin) Chern numbers are accurately reproduced. The measurements required for constructing the component winding numbers also enable one to probe the entanglement spectrum with respect to component partitions. Our method is particularly suited to experiments with cold atoms in optical lattices where time-of-flight images can give direct access to the relevant observables.
Interactions among atoms can lead to emergent phenomena, one of the most fascinating being topological order. Topological phases are important in understanding high-temperature superconductors and fault-tolerant quantum computing. Quantum spin liquids, a key example of topologically ordered phases, exhibit unique properties such as long-range entanglement in the ground state and support of anyonic excitations, making them an exciting focus in the study of strongly correlated systems. This thesis explores the detection and learning of topological phases in quantum many-body systems, including quantum spin models, cuprate superconductors and ultracold atomic platform of Rydberg atom arrays. Guided by the experiments on Kitaev materials, we begin by using spinon mean-field theory of quantum spin liquids to explain the transition from a quantized thermal Hall effect to an unquantized values. Making closer connections to experiments in cuprates, we include additional interactions with phonons present in the system. We examine how spinon-phonon interactions, characterized by symmetry analysis, give rise to a chiral phonon Hall viscosity and can also contribute to the thermal Hall effect. In the second part, we turn to Rydberg atom arrays, which have recently been shown to realize a Z2\mathbb{Z}_2Z2​ quantum spin liquid phase—an elusive state in conventional solid-state materials. We study how Rydberg interactions and lattice geometries lead to the emergence of Z2Z_2Z2​ gauge theories and distinct classes of topological quantum spin liquids. Finally, we study a variational tensor network tomography method for learning topological states from randomized measurements on Rydberg atom arrays. We demonstrate its efficiency in characterizing complex two-dimensional states that could be realized in future experiments.
We review the general notion of topological protection of quantum states in spin models and its relation with the ideas of quantum error correction. We show that topological protection can be viewed as a Hamiltonian realization of error correction: for a quantum code for which the minimal number of errors that remain undetected is N, the corresponding Hamiltonian model of the effects of the environment noise appears only in the Nth order of the perturbation theory.We discuss the simplest model Hamiltonians that realize topological protection and their implementation in superconducting arrays. We focus on two dual realizations: in one the protected state is stored in the parity of the Cooper pair number, in the other, in the parity of the flux number. In both cases the superconducting arrays allow a number of fault-tolerant operations that should make the universal quantum computation possible.
The recent discovery of topological insulators has led to a tremendous interest in the exploration of topological phases of matter which do not fit into Landau's symmetry breaking paradigm. Numerous exotic topological materials are theoretically predicted. Some of them have been experimentally reported, but many remain not. In this thesis, we explore topological phases of matter from three aspects: their classification, realization and application. We first review some basic classification theories, which provide us a "big picture" and lay the foundation for the rest of the thesis. We then move on to propose a systematic method based on quaternion algebra to construct toy tight-binding Hamiltonians for all the exotic phases in a recently developed periodic table for topological insulators and superconductors. We also introduce two peculiar families of topological phases that are beyond the table---the Hopf and four-dimensional topological insulators without time reversal symmetry. Prototypical Hamiltonians are constructed and their topological properties, such as robust edge states, are numerically studied. Motivated by rapid experimental progress in engineering spin-orbit coupling and artificial gauge field for cold atoms, we continue the thesis by proposing a feasible experimental scheme to realize a three-dimensional chiral topological insulator with cold fermionic atoms in an optical lattice. To unambiguously probe topological phases, we also bring forth systematic and generic methods to measure the characteristic topological invariants, for both free and strongly interacting systems. Moreover, we demonstrate that a kaleidoscope of knot and link structures is encoded in the spin texture of Hopf insulators and show how to observe different knots and links in cold atoms via time-of-flight images. The last part of the thesis is about the application of topological materials. After a demonstration of how to create, braid and detect Majorana fermions with cold atoms, we put forward a proposal to construct a self-test quantum random number generator by using Majorana fermions. Majorana random number generators are able to generate certifiable true random numbers with unconditional security. They offer a new perspective to the utilization of topological materials and may have vital applications in cryptography and related areas.
The geometry and topology of quantum systems have deep connections to quantum dynamics. In this Letter, I show how to measure the non-Abelian Berry curvature and its related topological invariant, the second Chern number, using dynamical techniques. The second Chern number is the defining topological characteristic of the four-dimensional generalization of the quantum Hall effect and has relevance in systems from three-dimensional topological insulators to Yang-Mills field theory. I illustrate its measurement using the simple example of a spin-3/2 particle in an electric quadrupole field. I show how one can dynamically measure diagonal components of the Berry curvature in an overcomplete basis of the degenerate ground state space and use this to extract the full non-Abelian Berry curvature. I also show that one can accomplish the same ideas by stochastically averaging over random initial states in the degenerate ground state manifold. Finally, I show how this system can be manufactured and the topological invariant measured in a variety of realistic systems, from superconducting qubits to trapped ions and cold atoms.