Berry’s phase is typically realized in a system consisting of fast and slow variables, when the trajectory of the slow variable makes a closed loop. The quantum mechanical phase picked up by the fast variable while the slow variable traverses the loop has turned out to produce real physical effects through quantum interference. In this article, we investigate origins of Berry’s geometric phase and show that they are in general attributable to the broken time-reversal symmetry of the system. Our analysis leads to the classification of Berry’s phase for Hamiltonian systems in terms of symmetry properties under time-reversal operations. Spontaneous time-reversal symmetry-breaking of state vectors is shown to give rise to Berry’s phase as exemplified by a quantum-mechanical rotated hoop. A system with an explicitly time-reversal symmetry-breaking Hamiltonian is also demonstrated to exhibit nontrivial Berry’s phase. The quantization of the geometric phase associated with the real two-dimensional Hamiltonian having topological singularity is explained within the same framework. The unique role of the time-reversal operator among general antiunitary operators is also discussed.
Berry’s phase is typically realized in a system consisting of fast and slow variables, when the trajectory of the slow variable makes a closed loop. The quantum mechanical phase picked up by the fast variable while the slow variable traverses the loop has turned out to produce real physical effects through quantum interference. In this article, we investigate origins of Berry’s geometric phase and show that they are in general attributable to the broken time-reversal symmetry of the system. Our analysis leads to the classification of Berry’s phase for Hamiltonian systems in terms of symmetry properties under time-reversal operations. Spontaneous time-reversal symmetry-breaking of state vectors is shown to give rise to Berry’s phase as exemplified by a quantum-mechanical rotated hoop. A system with an explicitly time-reversal symmetry-breaking Hamiltonian is also demonstrated to exhibit nontrivial Berry’s phase. The quantization of the geometric phase associated with the real two-dimensional Hamiltonian having topological singularity is explained within the same framework. The unique role of the time-reversal operator among general antiunitary operators is also discussed.
Abstract We study the complex Berry phases in non-Hermitian systems with parity- and time-reversal symmetry. We investigate a kind of two-level system with symmetry. We find that the real part of the the complex Berry phases have two quantized values and they are equal to either 0 or π , which originates from the topology of the Hermitian eigenstates. We also find that if we change the relative parameters of the Hamiltonian from the unbroken- -symmetry phase to the broken- -symmetry phase, the imaginary part of the complex Berry phases are divergent at the exceptional points. We exhibit two concrete examples in this work, one is a two-level toys model, which has nontrivial Berry phases; the other is the generalized Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model that has physical loss and gain in every sublattice. Our results explicitly demonstrate the relation between complex Berry phases, topology and -symmetry breaking and enrich the field of the non-Hermitian physics.
This thesis examines the quantum-mechanical geometric phase with a view toward time reversal symmetry considerations. The idea of time reversal in quantum mechanics is investigated, disagreements and inconsistencies in the literature are examined, and the action of the time reversal operator is extended to time-dependent Hamiltonians. With this background, and using a definition of time reversal symmetry based on the evolution operator, I demonstrate that the existence of a non-zero geometric phase can in all cases be attributed to a breakdown of time reversal symmetry in some form. This result holds for both adiabatic and nonadiabatic evolutions, and for arbitrary dimensional parameter spaces. I explore the role of the geometric phase in a two-level Kramers system described by a parameter-dependent Hamiltonian such that the two levels can become degenerate for some value of the parameters, and discuss, from a mathematical point of view, the monopole geometric potential that results. I then extend this analysis by considering a pair of Kramers doublets, each doublet degenerate due to time reversal symmetry, where the parameters can be chosen so that each of the pair of doublets becomes degenerate with the other. I find the explicit functional forms for the two resulting nonabelian geometric gauge potentials and show that they can be identified exactly with the only two gauge-inequivalent SU(2) monopole potentials of Yang. Furthermore, following a conformal transformation these potentials can be mapped to those of the SU(2) instanton/anti-instanton pair. Finally I examine the relevance of the geometric phase to the molecular physics of time-odd systems. Time-odd coupling in molecular physics is a much under-studied area, with many potentially interesting results. Specifically I study time-odd coupling in Jahn-Teller systems under the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, where the electronic position states are coupled to the lattice momentum rather than the usual time-even lattice position. As an example I solve the E ⊗ (b₁ ⊕ b₂ ⊕ a₂) Jahn-Teller system exactly, showing that once again monopole-like geometric potentials arise, and comment on how this affects the angular momentum of the lattice subsystem.
The geometric phase is the comparison the of a physical quantity due to the changes on a closed cruve in the system state space. These phases are experimentally measurable because of, that the space of a time dependent quantum system may be a curveture, therefore the Holonomy arises from this curveture. The Berry phase has three key features, which makes it very important. First, the Berry phase is gauge invariance. Especial functions are defined by aequal linear equation, hence it has a multiplicative guage freedom in a general phase factor independent of the parameter. Berry phase (forget from on phase factor ) with this phase factor remains unchanged provided that the special function is on a single loop value. This makes the Berry phase to be a physical quantity that is experimentally measureable by inter ference phenomena. Secondly, Berry phase is a geometric concept. that’s mean it can be written as a linear integral of loop in parameter space, which does not depend on the rate of change on the loop. This property makes it mesureable the Berry phase in terms of local geometric quantites in the parameter space. In fact, Berry showed that this phase can be written as a find integral (Berry curve) on the surface. Berry curve plays an essential role in effective dynamics with variables with degrees of slow release. Third, the Berry phase is similar to that of guage field and differential geometry theory. This makes beauty, intuition and the same concept in physics.
Quantum eigenstates undergoing cyclic changes acquire a phase factor of geometric origin. This phase, known as the Berry phase, or the geometric phase, has found applications in a wide range of disciplines throughout physics, including atomic and molecular physics, condensed matter physics, optics, and classical dynamics. In this article, the basic theory of the geometric phase is presented along with a number of representative applications. The article begins with an account of the geometric phase for cyclic adiabatic evolutions. An elementary derivation is given along with a worked example for two-state systems. The implications of time-reversal are explained, as is the fundamental connection between the geometric phase and energy level degeneracies. We also discuss methods of experimental observation. A brief account is given of geometric magnetism; this is a Lorenz-like force of geometric origin which appears in the dynamics of slow systems coupled to fast ones. A number of theoretical developments of the geometric phase are presented. These include an informal discussion of fibre bundles, and generalizations of the geometric phase to degenerate eigenstates (the nonabelian case) and to nonadiabatic evolution. There follows an account of applications. Manifestations in classical physics include the Hannay angle and kinematic geometric phases. Applications in optics concern polarization dynamics, including the theory and observation of Pancharatnam's phase. Applications in molecular physics include the molecular Aharonov-Bohm effect and nuclear magnetic resonance studies. In condensed matter physics, we discuss the role of the geometric phase in the theory of the quantum Hall effect.
Berry phases for spin are defined for any closed loop made by a vector changing direction in three-dimensional space. A sequence of rotations moves the vector along the loop. Each rotation is around the axis perpendicular to the moving vector. The Berry phases come from the eigenvalues of the unitary operator for the product of these rotations. The angle of the product rotation is shown to be the solid angle enclosed by the loop. The proof uses the ordinary language of quantum mechanics. The product is calculated from the commutation relations for spin. A general framework is set up to define Berry phases for other transformations and states like those for rotations and spin. The integral formula is derived. Alternatives for dynamics are shown to provide different applications and interpretations of the same mathematics. An example is used to show how one Hamiltonian may be simpler than others. Adiabatic evolution is obtained in the limit as a coupling constant goes to zero, so the adiabatic changes are made by a weak perturbation that acts over a long time. The Berry phase is the same whether the coupling constant is large or small. A rationale for the definition of Berry phases is obtained from any of the alternatives for dynamics. It is particularly clear in both the limit of adiabatic evolution, where the Hamiltonian does not contain the operator that generates Berry phases, and the opposite extreme where the Hamiltonian is the operator that generates Berry phases. The latter is illustrated with an example for spin. The general definition of Berry phases and the method of calculating them are illustrated by obtaining Berry phases from Lorentz transformations. They are similar to those obtained from rotations. A vector traces a loop on a unit hyperboloid instead of the unit sphere. In place of the solid angle, the Berry phases contain the analogous measure of the area enclosed by the loop on the hyperboloid. The sign is opposite what it is for rotations. The general definition is shown to fit any unitary representation of a semisimple Lie group. The complete set of commuting operators is chosen to contain a basis for a Cartan subalgebra of the Lie algebra of generators. If a sequence of transformations by unitary operators in the group representation takes each operator in the Cartan subalgebra around a loop in the Lie algebra back to the same operator, it can be made by unitary operators in the group representation that have all the properties required for the definition of Berry phases. The loops are made by vectors moving in a real space, the Lie algebra. The motion of the vectors must maintain the lengths and angles defined by the Cartan metric of the Lie algebra. The Berry phases are determined by one loop made by one suitably chosen operator from the Cartan subalgebra.
In 1984 Berry addressed a quantum system undergoing a unitary and cyclic evolution under the action of a time-dependent Hamiltonian (M. V. Berry, 1984). The process was supposed to be adiabatic, meaning that the time scale of the system’s evolution was much shorter than the time scale of the changing Hamiltonian. Until Berry’s study, it was assumed that for a cyclic Hamiltonian the quantum state would acquire only so-called dynamical phases, deprived of physical meaning. Such phases could be eliminated by redefining the quantum state through a “gauge” transformation of the form |ψ〉 → eiα |ψ〉. However, Berry discovered that besides the dynamical, there was an additional phase that could not be “gauged away” and whose origin was geometric or topological. It depended on the path that |ψ〉 describes in the parameter space spanned by those parameters to which the Hamiltonian owed its time dependence. Berry’s discovery was the starting point for a great amount of investigations that brought to light topological aspects of both quantum and classical systems. Berry’s phase was soon recognized as a special case of more general phases that showed up when dealing with topological aspects of different systems. For example, the Aharonov-Bohm phase could be understood as a geometric phase. The rotation angle acquired by a parallel-transported vector after completing a closed loop in a gravitationally curved space-time region, is also a geometric, Berry-like phase. Another example is the precession of the plane of oscillation of a Foucault pendulum. Berry’s original formulation was directly applicable to the case of a spin-1/2 system evolving under the action of a slowly varying magnetic field that undergoes cyclic changes. A spin-1/2 system is a special case of a two-level system. Another instances are two-level atoms and polarized light, so that also in these cases we should expect to find geometric phases. In fact, the first experimental test of Berry’s phase was done using polarized, classical light (A. Tomita, 1986). Pancharatnam (S. Pancharatnam, 1956) anticipated Berry’s phase when he proposed, back in 1956, how to decide whether two polarization states are “in phase”. Pancharatnam’s prescription is an operational one, based upon observing whether the intensity of the interferogram formed by two polarized beams has maximal intensity. In that case, the two polarized beams are said to be “in phase”. Such a definition is analogous to the definition of distant parallelism in differential geometry. Polarized states can be subjected to different transformations which could be cyclic or not, adiabatic or not, unitary or not. The Pancharatnam-Berry Phase: Theoretical and Experimental Aspects