Related papers: A simple topological model with continuous phase t…
Until the late 1980s, phases of matter were understood in terms of Landau's symmetry breaking theory. Following the discovery of the quantum Hall effect the introduction of a second class of phases, those with topological order, was…
A fundamental dichotomous classification for all physical systems is according to whether they are spinless or spinful. This is especially crucial for the study of symmetry-protected topological phases, as the two classes have distinct…
Equilibrium phase transitions may be defined as nonanalytic points of thermodynamic functions, e.g., of the canonical free energy. Given a certain physical system, it is of interest to understand which properties of the system account for…
Topological phase transitions track changes in topological properties of a system and occur in real materials as well as quantum engineered systems, all of which differ greatly in terms of dimensionality, symmetries, interactions, and…
Geometrical approach to the phenomenological theory of phase transitions of the second kind at constant pressure $P$ and variable temperature $T$ is proposed. Equilibrium states of a system at zero external field and fixed $P$ and $T$ are…
In a recent paper a toy model (hypercubic model) undergoing a first-order $\mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetry-breaking phase transition ($\mathbb{Z}_2$-SBPT) was introduced. The hypercubic model was inspired by the \emph{topological hypothesis},…
We investigate a simplified model of two fully connected magnetic systems maintained at different temperatures by virtue of being connected to two independent thermal baths while simultaneously being inter-connected with each other. Using…
Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we map out the phase diagram of Hamiltonians interpolating between trivial and non-trivial bosonic symmetry-protected topological phases, protected by $\mathbb{Z}_2$ and $\mathbb{Z}_2^3$ symmetries, in…
The study of critical phenomena and phase transitions is an important part of modern condensed matter physics. In this regard, the phenomenological Landau theory has been extraordinarily useful. Hereby we present an alternative theoretical…
The ground states of noninteracting fermions in one-dimension with chiral symmetry form a class of topological band insulators, described by a topological invariant that can be related to the Zak phase. Recently, a generalization of this…
We study the topological properties of one dimensional systems undergoing unitary time evolution. We show that symmetries possessed both by the initial wavefunction and by the Hamiltonian at all times may not be present in the…
In this first paper, we demonstrate a theorem that establishes a first step toward proving a necessary topological condition for the occurrence of first or second order phase transitions: we prove that the topology of certain submanifolds…
Topological magnetic textures are particle-like spin configurations stabilized by competing interactions. Their formation is commonly attributed to fluctuation-driven, first-order nucleation processes requiring activation over a topological…
Spontaneous symmetry breaking underlies much of our classification of phases of matter and their associated transitions. The nature of the underlying symmetry being broken determines many of the qualitative properties of the phase; this is…
The presence of stable topological defects in a two-dimensional (\textit{d} = 2) liquid crystal model allowing molecular reorientations in three dimensions (\textit{n} = 3) was largely believed to induce defect-mediated…
A semiclassical picture of spontaneous symmetry breaking in light front field theory is formulated. It is based on a finite-volume quantization of self-interacting scalar fields obeying antiperiodic boundary conditions. This choice avoids a…
A quantum phase transition is usually achieved by tuning physical parameters in a Hamiltonian at zero temperature. Here, we demonstrate that the ground state of a topological phase itself encodes critical properties of its transition to a…
PT-symmetric scattering systems with balanced gain and loss can undergo a symmetry-breaking transition in which the eigenvalues of the non-unitary scattering matrix change their phase shifts from real to complex values. We relate the…
Open physical systems with balanced loss and gain, described by non-Hermitian parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) reflection symmetric Hamiltonians, exhibit a transition which could engenders modes that exponentially decay or grow with time and…
We argue that the phase transition in the mean-field XY model is related to a particular change in the topology of its configuration space. The nature of this topological transition can be discussed on the basis of elementary Morse theory…