Glassy topological quantum memories in two-dimensions

Abhinav Prem

Topological quantum phases of matter are often characterized by the presence of fractionalized quasiparticles, which exhibit non-trivial braiding statistics or carry fractional quantum numbers, or of protected gapless surface states. In this thesis, we study topological phases in two and three spatial dimensions, from the perspective of searching for new exotic quantum phases and of characterizing their experimental signatures.\nWe first study topological defects in fermionic paired superfluids and discover that in the presence of a multiply quantized vortex, such a state hosts unpaired fermions in the BCS regime. We predict that these unpaired fermions will result in an experimentally measurable deviation of the system's angular momentum from its value in the BEC regime. Focusing on two-dimensions, we then study superconductors coupled to dynamically fluctuating electromagnetism, and establish a universal framework for studying the low-energy physics of such systems. We derive topological field theories describing all spin-singlet superconductors which naturally capture the interplay of symmetry and topology in these gapped states.\nThe remainder of this thesis is focused on a novel class of long-range entangled states of matter, known as “fracton” phases, in both two- and three-dimensions. These phases exhibit an intriguing phenomenology, most surprising of which is the presence of excitations which are immobile in isolation. Studying the non-equilibrium dynamics of gapped fracton phases, we discover that they naturally exhibit glassy quantum dynamics in the absence of quenched disorder, and hence may have potential technological applications as robust quantum memories. Finally, we conclude with a description of fracton phases as higher-rank tensor gauge theories and discuss the emergent phases of matter in which a finite density of fractons or their bound states may exist.

Jeongwan Haah, Sergey B. Bravyi

Anna M. Piekarska, T. K. Kopeć

Abstract We investigate a system of interacting bosons with random intersite tunnelling amplitudes. We describe these by introducing Gaussian-distributed hopping integrals into the standard Bose–Hubbard model. This system has been recently shown to exhibit a quantum phase transition to a glassy state. The latter is characterized by a quenched disorder of boson wave-function phases. In this aspect, the system resembles quantum spin-glass systems that attracted much attention. By exploiting this analogy, we employ the well-established methodology originated by Sherrington and Kirkpatrick, which bases on the replica trick and the Trotter–Suzuki expansion. This treatment transforms the original quantum problem into an effective classical one with an additional time-like dimension. Here, we focus on autocorrelation functions of canonical variables of the effective system in the time-like domain. Deep in the disordered phase, we find a highly dynamical nature of correlations in agreement with the expected short memory of the system. This behaviour weakens while approaching and passing the phase boundary, where in the glassy phase asymptotically non-vanishing correlations are encountered. Thus, the state features infinite memory, which is consistent with the quenched nature of glassy disorder with random but frozen boson phases.

Eric Dennis, Alexei Kitaev, Andrew J. Landahl +1 more

David J. Schwab, Sudip Chakravarty

We study the competition between interactions and disorder in two dimensions. Whereas a noninteracting system is always Anderson localized by disorder in two dimensions, a pure system can develop a Mott gap for sufficiently strong interactions. Within a simple model, with short-ranged repulsive interactions, we show that, even in the limit of strong interaction, the Mott gap is completely washed out by disorder for an infinite system for dimensions $D\ensuremath{\le}2$, leading to a glassy state. Moreover, the Mott insulator cannot maintain a broken symmetry in the presence of disorder. We then show that the probability of a nonzero gap as a function of system size falls onto a universal curve, reflecting the glassy dynamics. An analytic calculation is also presented in one dimension that provides further insight into the nature of slow dynamics.

Robert Alicki