Quantum Matter

Weak measurements can be viewed as a soft projection that interpolates between an identity operator and a projection operator, and can induce an effective central charge distinct from the unmeasured CFT. In the first part, I will discuss the effect of measurement and postselection on the critical ground state of a Luttinger liquid theory. Depending on the Luttinger parameter K, the effect of measurement is irrelevant, marginal, or relevant, respectively. When the measurement is marginal, and we find a critical state whose entanglement entropy exhibits a logarithmic behavior with a continuous effective central charge as a function of measurement strength. Inspired by this result, in the second part, I will discuss a holographic description of the weak measurement. The weak measurement is modeled by an interface brane, separating different geometries dual to the post-measurement state and the unmeasured CFT. In an infinite system, the weak measurement is related to ICFT via a spacetime rotation. We find that the holographic entanglement entropy with twist operators located on the defect is consistent in both calculations for ICFT and weak measurements. In a finite system, the weak measurement can lead to a rich phase diagram, in which the post-measurement geometry can realize a Python’s lunch.

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The Levin-Wen model is known to produce a vast array of topological phases of matter. Among these theories are gauge theories such as the twisted quantum double. In this talk, we will show that the Levin-Wen model is itself a gauge theory. In particular, given a unitary fusion category C, we construct a globally tube algebra (Tube(C)) symmetric lattice model and gauge this symmetry to produce the Levin-Wen model with anyons described by the Drinfeld center Z(C). This construction endows the terms of the Levin-Wen Hamiltonian with the interpretation of flux and charge operators for the Tube(C) gauge symmetry. Furthermore, this construction gives a gauge theoretic interpretation to the mathematical fact that the category of representations of Tube(C) is equivalent to Z(C). To demonstrate this new class of Tube(C) symmetric theories, we will explicitly explore the case where C is the Fibonacci category Fib. We will write down the ungauged Tube(Fib) symmetric theory, compute the symmetry action, and show how to gauge the Tube(Fib) global symmetry to produce the double Fibonacci Levin-Wen model.

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In this talk I will use matrix product states (MPS) to study topological families of gapped ground states in one spatial dimension. To such families I will describe how to associate a gerbe, a mathematical structure which generalizes the line bundle associated to gapped ground states in 0d. Nontriviality of the gerbe represents an obstruction to representing the family of ground states with an MPS tensor that is continuous everywhere over parameter space. I will illustrate these constructions using an exactly solvable topological family which exhibits the key physics in a simple manner.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/91497524520?pwd=MkFHSW9PeGlMb2lFOTR3Qmo5clU0dz09

It is known that the classical O(N) model in dimension d > 3 at its bulk critical point admits three boundary universality classes: the ordinary, the extraordinary and the special. The extraordinary fixed point corresponds to the bulk transition occurring in the presence of an ordered boundary, while the special fixed point corresponds to a boundary phase transition between the ordinary and the extra-ordinary classes. While the ordinary fixed point survives in d = 3, it is less clear what happens to the extraordinary and special fixed points when d = 3 and N is greater or equal to 2. I'll show that formally treating N as a continuous parameter, there exists a critical value Nc > 2 separating two distinct regimes. For N < Nc the extra-ordinary fixed point survives in d = 3, albeit in a modified form: the long-range boundary order is lost, instead, the order parameter correlation function decays as a power of log r. For N > Nc there is no fixed point with order parameter correlations decaying slower than power law. I'll discuss how these findings compare to recent Monte-Carlo studies of classical and quantum spin models.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/97209122334?pwd=UHQ2OXR4bnVZREV0SlJOYXphWjh0QT09

Symmetric mass generation (SMG) is a novel interaction-driven mechanism that generates fermion mass without breaking symmetry, unlike the standard Anderson-Higgs mechanism. SMG can occur in the fermion system without quantum anomalies. In this talk, I will focus on the SMG for the systems with finite fermion density, i.e., the Fermi surface. I will discuss the Fermi surface anomaly and Fermi surface SMG. Lastly, I will talk about its application in the newly found nickelate superconductors, where the superconductivity emerges without a nearby spontaneous symmetry-breaking phase.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/92511977879?pwd=MGgyZ0tsZ0hUZDMvZ2wzc3hJVmprZz09

To perform reliable quantum computations in the midst of noise from the environment, it is imperative to use a quantum error-correcting code — i.e., a scheme for redundantly encoding information so that errors may be detected and corrected as they occur. One of the most promising classes of quantum error-correcting codes are those based on topological phases of matter, such as the celebrated toric code. Although there is a rich classification of topological phases of matter, the toric code has by far received the most attention as a practical quantum error-correcting code, due to its simple representation within the stabilizer formalism.

In this talk, I will discuss three works in which we extend the stabilizer formalism to topological orders beyond that of the toric code. This includes the construction of two-dimensional stabilizer codes characterized by Abelian topological orders with gapped boundaries, three-dimensional stabilizer codes that host arbitrary two-dimensional Abelian topological orders on their surface, and two-dimensional subsystem codes also characterized by arbitrary Abelian topological orders. This work thus opens the door to encoding and processing quantum information using the exotic properties exhibited by the wide range of Abelian topological phases of matter.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94640905425?pwd=aDd0Qnl1TUU0QytaNWJJLzEyZlQrQT09