Abstract We propose a scheme to investigate the topological phase transition in the generalized one-dimensional Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model based on a circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) lattice with frequency modulation. We find that, if we keep the resonant counter rotating wave terms to map the p -wave superconducting pairing terms in the topological superconductor by dint of frequency modulation, the circuit QED lattice can be equivalent to the SSH model with p -wave superconducting pairing terms. The numerical results show that the existence of the superconducting pairing terms cannot close the energy gap of the SSH model within the feasible range of parameters, which means that the superconducting pairing terms cannot induce the topological phase transition. To induce the topological phase transition, we add the next-nearest-neighboring (NNN) interaction into the circuit QED-based SSH model simultaneously. We find that, for a given superconducting pairing strength, the appropriate selection of the NNN interaction can induce closing of the energy gap. It indicates that a new topological phase transition between the topologically nontrivial SSH phase and the topologically trivial SSH phase occurs in the SSH model. Our scheme provides a means to explore the topological SSH phase transition based on a circuit QED lattice with frequency modulation.
Abstract We propose a scheme to investigate the topological phase transition in the generalized one-dimensional Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model based on a circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) lattice with frequency modulation. We find that, if we keep the resonant counter rotating wave terms to map the p -wave superconducting pairing terms in the topological superconductor by dint of frequency modulation, the circuit QED lattice can be equivalent to the SSH model with p -wave superconducting pairing terms. The numerical results show that the existence of the superconducting pairing terms cannot close the energy gap of the SSH model within the feasible range of parameters, which means that the superconducting pairing terms cannot induce the topological phase transition. To induce the topological phase transition, we add the next-nearest-neighboring (NNN) interaction into the circuit QED-based SSH model simultaneously. We find that, for a given superconducting pairing strength, the appropriate selection of the NNN interaction can induce closing of the energy gap. It indicates that a new topological phase transition between the topologically nontrivial SSH phase and the topologically trivial SSH phase occurs in the SSH model. Our scheme provides a means to explore the topological SSH phase transition based on a circuit QED lattice with frequency modulation.
The Su--Schrieffer--Heeger (SSH) model is one of the simplest topological lattice models and is a promising candidate for quantum simulations of topological systems. In this study we investigate an interacting SSH model with nearest-neighbor interactions using mean field theory and an exact diagonalization method after the Jordan-Wigner transformation. We obtain a rich phase diagram with six different phases. Majorana bound states are found and confirmed by analyzing wave functions and Majorana number. In addition, we propose to use superconducting devices to construct a one-dimensional quantum circuit, where Cooper pair boxes and Josephson junctions are alternately connected in series, to theoretically simulate the interacting SSH model. This approach also provides us a toolkit to simulate correlated topological systems.
Topological phases at quantum criticality have attracted much attention recently. Here we numerically study the interaction-induced phase transitions at around the topological quantum critical points of an extended Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain with next-nearest-neighbor hopping. This extended SSH model shows topological phase transitions between the topologically trivial and nontrivial critical phases when interaction is absent. So long as the interaction terms are turned on, the topologically nontrivial (trivial) critical phases are driven into topologically nontrivial (trivial) insulator phases with finite energy gaps. Particularly, we find the trivial insulator phase is further driven to the nontrivial insulator phase, through interaction-induced topological phase transition, although interaction generally is harmful to nontrivial topology. The stability of the trivial insulator phase against interaction tends to vanish at the multicritical point that separates the trivial and nontrivial critical phases. Our work provides a concrete example for manifesting the impact of interaction on topological quantum criticality.
We propose a one-dimensional lattice theory scheme based on superconducting microwave cavities, which includes two different types of microwave cavity unit cells. The coupling between unit cells is controlled by flux qubits to simulate and study their topological insulator characteristics. Specifically, a one-dimensional superconducting microwave cavity lattice scheme with a p-wave superconducting pairing term is achieved by mapping the counter-rotating wave terms to the p-wave superconducting pairing term. We found that the p-wave superconducting pairing term can modulate the topological quantum state of the system, allowing for the creation of topological quantum information transmission channels with four edge states. In addition, when the p-wave superconducting pairing term and the nearest-neighbor interaction exist, we find that the energy band undergoes fluctuations, inducing the generation of new energy bands, but the degeneracy of the edge states remains stable, which can achieve multiple topological quantum state transmission paths. However, when its regulatory value exceeds the threshold, the energy gap of the system will close, causing the edge states to annihilate in new energy bands. Furthermore, when considering the existence of defects in the system, we found that when the strength of the defects are small, the edge state produces small fluctuations, but it can be clearly distinguished, indicating its robustness. When the strength of the defect exceeds the threshold, the edge state and energy band cause irregular fluctuations, allowing the edge state to integrate into the energy band. Our research results have important theoretical value and practical significance, and can be applied in quantum optics and quantum information processing in the future.
The topological properties of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model in the presence of nearest-neighbor interaction are investigated by means of a topological marker, generalized from a noninteracting one by utilizing the single-particle Green's function of the many-body ground state. We find that despite the marker not being perfectly quantized in the presence of interactions, it always remains finite in the topologically nontrivial phase while converging to zero in the trivial phase when approaching the thermodynamic limit, and hence correctly judges the topological phases in the presence of interactions. The marker also correctly captures the interaction-driven, second-order phase transitions between a topological phase and a Landau-ordered phase, which is a charge-density wave order in our model with a local-order parameter, as confirmed by the calculation of entanglement entropy and the many-body Zak phase. Our paper thus points to the possibility of generalizing topological markers to interacting systems through Green's function, which may be feasible for topological insulators in any dimension and symmetry class.
In the usual Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model with an even number of lattice sites, the topological pumping between left and right edge states cannot be easily realized since the edge states occupy two-end sites simultaneously. Here we propose a scheme to investigate the topological edge pumping in an even-sized periodically modulated SSH model mapped by a one dimensional superconducting transmission line resonators array. We find that the photon initially prepared in the first resonator can be finally observed at the two-end resonators with a certain proportion. The final photon splitting at the two-end resonators indicates that the present superconducting circuit is expected to realize the topological beam splitter. Further, we demonstrate that the splitting proportion between the two-end resonators can be arbitrarily tuned from 1 to 0, implying the potential feasibility of implementing the tunable topological beam splitter. Meanwhile, we also show that the tunable topological beam splitter is immune to the mild disorder added into the system due to the topology protection of the zero energy modes, and find that the tunable topological beam splitter is much more robust to the global on-site disorder compared with the nearest neighbor disorder. Our work greatly extends the practical application of topological matter in quantum information processing and opens up a new way towards the engineering of topological quantum optical device.
Symmetry plays a crucial role in understanding topological phases in materials. In one-dimensional systems, such as the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model, chiral symmetry is thought to ensure the quantization of the Zak phase and the nontrivial topological phase. However, our work demonstrates that the one-dimensional lattice system with broken chiral symmetry can still possess quantized Zak phase and nontrivial topological phase. Specifically, we use a Bose-Einstein condensate of 87Rb atoms in a momentum space lattice of ultracold atoms to effectively simulate a one-dimensional Zigzag model of 26 sites, which intrinsically breaks the chiral symmetry by additional next-nearest-neighbor coupling. To ensure the existence of the nontrivial topological phase, where the Zak phase can be measured from the time-averaged displacement during the system’s evolution, we need to preserve the inversion symmetry by modulating laser power so that all next-nearest-neighbor coupling strengths are equal. Furthermore, by changing the ratio of nearest-neighbor coupling strengths, we observe a topological phase transition from a nontrivial topological phase to a trivial topological phase at the point where the ratio equals 1. Our work demonstrates that the ultracold atom system provides a controllable platform for studying the symmetrical phase and topological phase, with the potential to explore nonlinear topological phenomena by increasing the interactions among atoms. In addition, our system can be used to investigate other interesting topological phenomena with more complex models, such as critical phenomena at the phase transitions and flat band structures in the extended SSH model with long-range coupling. By controlling the coupling strengths, we can also explore the influence of different symmetries on the topological properties of extended SSH models in the future. Moreover, our platform makes it possible to studythe models with more energy bands, such as the Aharonov-Bohm caging model with a three-level structure, which shows peculiar flat-band properties. This work provides opportunities for various studies in the fields of symmetry, topology, and the interaction of controllable quantum systems.