English

Nonequilibrium topological response under charge dephasing

Strongly Correlated Electrons 2026-03-02 v1

Abstract

We explore nonequilibrium topological responses of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) states in open quantum systems subject to decoherence. For SPT wavefunctions protected by a product symmetry G ×\times S , where G defects are decorated with S charge, we show that local dephasing of the S charge density generically induces spontaneous strong-to-weak symmetry breaking (SWSSB) of G in the resulting mixed-state ensemble. We extend this mechanism to SPT phases protected by higher-form and spatially modulated symmetries, and further to gapless SPT states, demonstrating that dephasing-induced SWSSB persists well beyond conventional gapped 0-form settings. Our results provide a qualitative, channel-defined fingerprint of SPT order that is intrinsic to open-system dynamics and goes beyond equilibrium linear response.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.23484,
  title  = {Nonequilibrium topological response under charge dephasing},
  author = {Shuangyuan Lu and Lucas Q Silveira and Yizhi You},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.23484},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

23 pages, 8 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:54:36.545Z