We introduce the quantum dimer-pentamer model (QDPM) on the square lattice. This model is a generalization of the square-lattice quantum dimer model as its configuration space comprises fully packed hard-core dimer coverings as well as dimer configurations containing pentamers, where four dimers touch a vertex. Thus in the QDPM, the fully packed, hard-core constraint of the quantum dimer model is relaxed such that the local dimer number at each vertex is fixed modulo 3, resulting in an exact local
Z3 gauge symmetry. We construct a local Hamiltonian for which the Rokhsar-Kivelson (RK) equal superposition state is the exact ground state and has a ninefold topological degeneracy on the torus. Using Monte Carlo calculations, we find no spontaneous symmetry breaking in the RK wave function and that its dimer-dimer correlation function decays exponentially. By doping the QDPM RK state with a pair of monomers, we demonstrate that
Z3 electric charges are deconfined. Additionally, we introduce a
Z3 magnetic string operator that we find decays exponentially and shows no signatures of magnetic vortex condensation. These numerical results suggest that the ground state of the QDPM is a dimer liquid with
Z3 topological order.
We extend Quantum Dimer Model (QDM) introduced by Rokhsar and Kivelson in such a way that the model includes resonance processes on larger loops. The strategy is to first construct a pseudo spin Hamiltonian which is defined not by the S =1/2 but by the S=1 representation and then establish the correspondence between the pseudo-spin-1 configurations and those of dimers. The standard QDM keeps only the lowest resonance processes for pairs of parallel dimers and its validity in describing the realistic spin systems is not obvious. Our extended QDM (EQDM) improves this point and contains a novel resonance term, which is equivalent to two successive actions of the familiar parallel dimer resonance. For a certain choice of the coupling constants, our model exhibits three exotic valence-bond phases (herringbone, checkerboard and 'dimer smectic') in the ground state, which meet at a triple point. The checkerboard phase has four-fold rotational symmetry, while the dimer smectic is characterized by partial ordering only in one of the two directions. In the dimer smectic phase, we investigate the dimer-dimer correlation by using an analogy to random walks.