We present a characterization of quantum phase transitions in terms of the the overlap function between two ground states obtained for two different values of external parameters. On the examples of the Dicke and XY models, we show that the regions of criticality of a system are marked by the extremal points of the overlap and functions closely related to it. Further, we discuss the connections of this approach and with the Anderson orthogonality catastrophe as well as with the dynamical study of the Loschmidt echo for critical systems.We present a characterization of quantum phase transitions in terms of the the overlap function between two ground states obtained for two different values of external parameters. On the examples of the Dicke and XY models, we show that the regions of criticality of a system are marked by the extremal points of the overlap and functions closely related to it. Further, we discuss the connections of this approach and with the Anderson orthogonality catastrophe as well as with the dynamical study of the Loschmidt echo for critical systems.

Dec 29, 20050 citations

Overlap of quantum many-body states with a separable state and phase transitions in the Dicke model: Zero and finite temperature

H. T. Cui

Overlap with the separable state is introduced in this article for the purpose of characterizing the overall correlation in many-body systems. This definition has clear geometric and physical meaning and moreover can be considered as the generalization of the concept of the Anderson orthogonality catastrophe. As an exemplification, it is used to mark the phase transition in the Dicke model for zero and finite temperatures, and the discussion shows that it can faithfully reflect the phase transition properties of this model whether for zero or finite temperature. Furthermore, the overlap for the ground state also indicates the appearance of multipartite entanglement in the Dicke model.Overlap with the separable state is introduced in this article for the purpose of characterizing the overall correlation in many-body systems. This definition has clear geometric and physical meaning and moreover can be considered as the generalization of the concept of the Anderson orthogonality catastrophe. As an exemplification, it is used to mark the phase transition in the Dicke model for zero and finite temperatures, and the discussion shows that it can faithfully reflect the phase transition properties of this model whether for zero or finite temperature. Furthermore, the overlap for the ground state also indicates the appearance of multipartite entanglement in the Dicke model.

arXiv:1002.2039Physical Review AApr 30, 20104 citations

Scaling behavior for a class of quantum phase transitions

Wen-ge Wang, Pinquan Qin, Qian Wang +2 more

We show that for quantum phase transitions with a single bosonic zero mode at the critical point, like the Dicke model and the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, metric quantities such as fidelity, that is, the overlap between two ground states corresponding to two values ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{2}$ of the controlling parameter $\ensuremath{\lambda}$, depend only on the ratio $\ensuremath{\eta}=({\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{c})/({\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{2}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{c})$, where $\ensuremath{\lambda}={\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{c}$ at the critical point. This scaling property is valid also for time-dependent quantities such as the Loschmidt echo, provided time is measured in units of the inverse frequency of the critical mode.We show that for quantum phase transitions with a single bosonic zero mode at the critical point, like the Dicke model and the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, metric quantities such as fidelity, that is, the overlap between two ground states corresponding to two values ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{2}$ of the controlling parameter $\ensuremath{\lambda}$, depend only on the ratio $\ensuremath{\eta}=({\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{c})/({\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{2}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{c})$, where $\ensuremath{\lambda}={\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{c}$ at the critical point. This scaling property is valid also for time-dependent quantities such as the Loschmidt echo, provided time is measured in units of the inverse frequency of the critical mode.

arXiv:1204.5769Physical Review EAug 22, 20125 citations

Scaling of ground-state fidelity in the thermodynamic limit: XY model and beyond

Marek M. Rams, Bogdan Damski

We study ground-state fidelity defined as the overlap between two ground states of the same quantum system obtained for slightly different values of the parameters of its Hamiltonian. We focus on the thermodynamic regime of the $XY$ model and the neighborhood of its critical points. We describe extensively fidelity when it is dominated by the universal contribution reflecting the quantum criticality of the phase transition. We show that proximity to the multicritical point leads to anomalous scaling of fidelity. We also discuss fidelity in a regime characterized by pronounced oscillations resulting from the change in either the system size or the parameters of the Hamiltonian. Moreover, we show when fidelity is dominated by non-universal contributions, study fidelity in the extended Ising model, and illustrate how our results provide additional insight into dynamics of quantum phase transitions. Special attention is given to studies of fidelity from the momentum space perspective. All our main results are obtained analytically. They are in excellent agreement with numerics.We study ground-state fidelity defined as the overlap between two ground states of the same quantum system obtained for slightly different values of the parameters of its Hamiltonian. We focus on the thermodynamic regime of the $XY$ model and the neighborhood of its critical points. We describe extensively fidelity when it is dominated by the universal contribution reflecting the quantum criticality of the phase transition. We show that proximity to the multicritical point leads to anomalous scaling of fidelity. We also discuss fidelity in a regime characterized by pronounced oscillations resulting from the change in either the system size or the parameters of the Hamiltonian. Moreover, we show when fidelity is dominated by non-universal contributions, study fidelity in the extended Ising model, and illustrate how our results provide additional insight into dynamics of quantum phase transitions. Special attention is given to studies of fidelity from the momentum space perspective. All our main results are obtained analytically. They are in excellent agreement with numerics.

arXiv:1104.4104Physical Review ASep 16, 201145 citations

The Loschmidt Index

Diego Liška, Vladimir Gritsev

We study the nodes of the wavefunction overlap between ground states of a parameter-dependent Hamiltonian. These nodes are topological, and we can use them to analyze in a unifying way both equilibrium and dynamical quantum phase transitions in multi-band systems. We define the Loschmidt index as the number of nodes in this overlap and discuss the relationship between this index and the wrapping number of a closed auxiliary hypersurface. This relationship allows us to compute this index systematically, using an integral representation of the wrapping number. We comment on the relationship between the Loschmidt index and other well-established topological numbers. As an example, we classify the equilibrium and dynamical quantum phase transitions of the XY model by counting the nodes in the wavefunction overlaps.We study the nodes of the wavefunction overlap between ground states of a parameter-dependent Hamiltonian. These nodes are topological, and we can use them to analyze in a unifying way both equilibrium and dynamical quantum phase transitions in multi-band systems. We define the Loschmidt index as the number of nodes in this overlap and discuss the relationship between this index and the wrapping number of a closed auxiliary hypersurface. This relationship allows us to compute this index systematically, using an integral representation of the wrapping number. We comment on the relationship between the Loschmidt index and other well-established topological numbers. As an example, we classify the equilibrium and dynamical quantum phase transitions of the XY model by counting the nodes in the wavefunction overlaps.

arXiv:2101.10971SciPost PhysicsMay 4, 20217 citations

Ground-state Overlaps and Topological Phase Transitions

Jiahua Gu

For decades, Landau’s theory of phase transition has provided a successful classification for quantum and classical states of matter based on their symmetry broken patterns, except for certain exotic quantum states such as the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect. However, such exotic phenomena are crucial for a complete understanding of the nature. This thesis explores new physical principles emerging from topology and topological states. First, we use an example to demonstrate Landau’s theory by studying a pair-density wave system, where the symmetry-breaking paradigm is applicable. It turns out that such a system exhibits the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition, a phase transition driven by the proliferation of topological defects, i.e. vortex-antivortex pairs. For topological systems, where symmetry broken pattern cannot be used as a classification tool, we prove a theorem that two gapped systems with non-vanishing ground-state overlap must be adiabatically connected, and thus are necessarily in the same topological phase. This theorem provides a simple and generic approach to classify topological band insulators/superconductors, without the needs to calculate any known or yet-to-known topological indices. Once the overlap is found nonzero, the two systems must be topologically identical. After presenting a generic proof, the theorem is also verified through calculating the overlap for several milestone topological band insulators and certain interacting systems. Such an overlap technique is then generalized to (2+1)-D strongly-interacting topological systems at fixed points, including both symmetry-protected topological (SPT) states and intrinsic topological states like FQH. For interacting topological states, the main challenge of utilizing wave-function overlaps to classify them lies in the famous Anderson orthogonality catastrophe (AOC), which states that two different many-body wave functions must have zero overlap in the thermodynamic limit. In this thesis, we found that wave-function overlaps indeed carry critical information about the topological nature of quantum states and this information can be extracted from the finite-size scaling of the overlaps. In the finite-size scaling analysis, we found a universal topological response term as a sub-leading contribution. This term depends on both the central charge of the corresponding conformal field theory (CFT) and the Euler characteristics of the underlying manifolds on which the system is defined. This term reveals a fundamental connection between ground-state overlaps and CFT’s. In addition, surprisingly, the overlap between an intrinsic topological state and a topologically trivial product state shows a decay faster than the exponential behavior expected via a typical AOC analysis. Such finite-size scaling behaviors could be utilized to theoretically detect the gapless edge modes, and to distinguish the topology of quantum states or serve as a signature of topological phase transitions. Possible generalization to higher dimensions and generic non-fixed-point topological systems is also discussed.For decades, Landau’s theory of phase transition has provided a successful classification for quantum and classical states of matter based on their symmetry broken patterns, except for certain exotic quantum states such as the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect. However, such exotic phenomena are crucial for a complete understanding of the nature. This thesis explores new physical principles emerging from topology and topological states. First, we use an example to demonstrate Landau’s theory by studying a pair-density wave system, where the symmetry-breaking paradigm is applicable. It turns out that such a system exhibits the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition, a phase transition driven by the proliferation of topological defects, i.e. vortex-antivortex pairs. For topological systems, where symmetry broken pattern cannot be used as a classification tool, we prove a theorem that two gapped systems with non-vanishing ground-state overlap must be adiabatically connected, and thus are necessarily in the same topological phase. This theorem provides a simple and generic approach to classify topological band insulators/superconductors, without the needs to calculate any known or yet-to-known topological indices. Once the overlap is found nonzero, the two systems must be topologically identical. After presenting a generic proof, the theorem is also verified through calculating the overlap for several milestone topological band insulators and certain interacting systems. Such an overlap technique is then generalized to (2+1)-D strongly-interacting topological systems at fixed points, including both symmetry-protected topological (SPT) states and intrinsic topological states like FQH. For interacting topological states, the main challenge of utilizing wave-function overlaps to classify them lies in the famous Anderson orthogonality catastrophe (AOC), which states that two different many-body wave functions must have zero overlap in the thermodynamic limit. In this thesis, we found that wave-function overlaps indeed carry critical information about the topological nature of quantum states and this information can be extracted from the finite-size scaling of the overlaps. In the finite-size scaling analysis, we found a universal topological response term as a sub-leading contribution. This term depends on both the central charge of the corresponding conformal field theory (CFT) and the Euler characteristics of the underlying manifolds on which the system is defined. This term reveals a fundamental connection between ground-state overlaps and CFT’s. In addition, surprisingly, the overlap between an intrinsic topological state and a topologically trivial product state shows a decay faster than the exponential behavior expected via a typical AOC analysis. Such finite-size scaling behaviors could be utilized to theoretically detect the gapless edge modes, and to distinguish the topology of quantum states or serve as a signature of topological phase transitions. Possible generalization to higher dimensions and generic non-fixed-point topological systems is also discussed.

Jan 1, 20190 citations

XY

model and the neighborhood of its critical points. We describe extensively fidelity when it is dominated by the universal contribution reflecting the quantum criticality of the phase transition. We show that proximity to the multicritical point leads to anomalous scaling of fidelity. We also discuss fidelity in a regime characterized by pronounced oscillations resulting from the change in either the system size or the parameters of the Hamiltonian. Moreover, we show when fidelity is dominated by non-universal contributions, study fidelity in the extended Ising model, and illustrate how our results provide additional insight into dynamics of quantum phase transitions. Special attention is given to studies of fidelity from the momentum space perspective. All our main results are obtained analytically. They are in excellent agreement with numerics.