Related papers: "Odd" Toric Code in a tilted field: Higgs-confinem…
The toric code, when deformed in a way that preserves the self-duality $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry exchanging the electric and magnetic excitations, admits a transition to a topologically trivial state that spontaneously breaks the…
We report a new type of multicritical point that arises from competition between the Higgs and confinement transitions in a Z_2 gauge system. The phase diagram of the 3d gauge Higgs model has been obtained by Monte-Carlo simulation on large…
We perform a numerical study of a spin-1/2 model with $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry in one dimension which demonstrates an interesting similarity to the physics of two-dimensional deconfined quantum critical points (DQCP).…
We consider the Fradkin-Shenker ${\mathbb Z}_2$ gauge-Higgs lattice model in 2+1 dimensions, i.e. the toric code deformed by an in-plane magnetic field. Its phase diagram contains a multicritical CFT with gapless, mutually non-local…
We consider spin-half quantum antiferromagnets in two spatial dimensions in the quantum limit, where the spins are in a valence bond solid (VBS) phase. The transitions between two such VBS phases is studied. In some cases, an interesting…
We introduce a quantum spin-1/2 model with many-body correlated Heisenberg-type interactions on the 2D square lattice, designed to host a plaquette valence-bond solid (PVBS) ground state breaking $\mathbb{Z}_4$ symmetry. We carry out a…
We show that exotic phases arise in generalized lattice gauge theories known as quantum link models in which classical gauge fields are replaced by quantum operators. While these quantum models with discrete variables have a…
We discuss the conditions under which Higgs and confining regimes in gauge theories with fundamental representation matter fields can be sharply distinguished. It is widely believed that these regimes are smoothly connected unless they are…
We report an extremely rich ground state phase diagram of two spin-1 Haldane chains frustrated with a three-site exchange and coupled by the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg interaction on a zig-zag ladder. A particular feature of the phase…
A topological phase can undergo a phase transition driven by anyon condensation. A potential obstruction to such a mechanism could arise if there exists a symmetry between anyons that have non-trivial mutual statistics. Here we consider…
The interplay of topology and correlations defines a new playground to study boundary criticality in quantum systems. We employ large scale auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo simulations to study a two-dimensional Kane-Mele-Hubbard model…
We study a $2{+}1$D lattice gauge theory with fundamental representation scalar fields which has both Higgs and confining regimes with a spontaneously-broken $U(1)$ $0$-form symmetry. We show that the Higgs and confining regimes may be…
In quantum many-body spin systems, the interplay between the entangling effect of multi-qubit Pauli measurements and the disentangling effect of single-qubit Pauli measurements may give rise to two competing effects. By introducing a…
We propose a novel method to distinguish states of matter by identifying spontaneous symmetry breaking on extended objects, such as vortices, even in the absence of a bulk phase transition. As a specific example, we investigate the phase…
The simplest topologically ordered phase in 2+1D is the deconfined phase of $Z_2$ gauge theory, realized for example in the toric code. This phase permits a duality that exchanges electric and magnetic excitations (``$e$'' and ``$m$''…
Using previous results from boundary conformal field theory and integrability, a phase diagram is derived for the 2 dimensional Ising model at its bulk tri-critical point as a function of boundary magnetic field and boundary spin-coupling…
The spin-1/2 Heisenberg octahedral chain with regularly alternating monomeric and square-plaquette sites is investigated using various analytical and numerical methods: variational technique, localized-magnon approach, exact diagonalization…
We study the phases and phase transition lines of the finite temperature G(2) Higgs model. Our work is based on an efficient local hybrid Monte-Carlo algorithm which allows for accurate measurements of expectation values, histograms and…
We propose that the Higgs phase of a gauge Higgs theory is the phase of spontaneously broken custodial symmetry, and present a new gauge invariant order parameter for custodial symmetry breaking which is very closely analogous to the…
The Fradkin-Shenker theorem proves analyticity in a region that connects Higgs to confinement regimes, precluding a phase transition. This conflicts with a simpler analyticity argument applicable to any symmetry-breaking phase transition…