No Arabic abstract
The confluence of quantum mechanics and complexity, which leads to the emergence of rich, exotic states of matter, motivates the extension of our concepts of quantum ordering. The twin concepts of spontaneously broken symmetry, described in terms of a Landau order parameter, and of off-diagonal long-range order (ODLRO), are fundamental to our understanding of phases of matter. In electronic matter it has long been assumed that Landau order parameters involve an even number of electron fields, with integer spin and even charge, that are bosons. On the other hand, in low-dimensional magnetism, operators are known to fractionalize so that the excitations carry spin-1/2. Motivated by experiment, mean-field theory and computational results, we extend the concept of ODLRO into the time domain, proposing that in a broken symmetry state, quantum operators can fractionalize into half-integer order parameters. Using numerical renormalization group studies we show how such fractionalized order can be induced in quantum impurity models. We then conjecture that such order develops spontaneously in lattice quantum systems, due to positive feedback, leading to a new family of phases, manifested by a coincidence of broken symmetry and fractionalized excitations that can be detected by experiment.
In the $t-J$ model, the electron fractionalization is unique due to the non-perturbative phase string effect. We formulated a lattice field theory taking this effect into full account. Basing on this field theory, we introduced a pair of Wilson loops which constitute a complete set of order parameters determining the phase diagram in the underdoped regime. We also established a general composition rule for electric transport expressing the electric conductivity in terms of the spinon and the holon conductivities. The general theory is applied to studies of the quantum phase diagram. We found that the antiferromagnetic and the superconducting phases are dual: in the former, holons are confined while spinons are deconfined, and {it vice versa} in the latter. These two phases are separated by a novel phase, the so-called Bose-insulating phase, where both holons and spinons are deconfined and the system is electrically insulating.
We study fractionalization in a spin-liquid Mott insulator defined by a Gutzwiller projected BCS state |0> at half-filling. We construct a trial vison (Z2 vortex) state |V> by projecting an hc/2e vortex and determine when it is orthogonal to |0>. Using a combination of analytical arguments and Monte Carlo calculations we show that generically the spin-liquid is Z2 fractionalized. For microscopic parameters appropriate for high Tc cuprates, we estimate that the vison gap Ev << J, consistent with recent experimental bounds, due to proximity to the bipartite symmetric point where Ev = 0.
In addition to possessing fractional statistics, anyon excitations of a 2D topologically ordered state can realize symmetry in distinct ways , leading to a variety of symmetry enriched topological (SET) phases. While the symmetry fractionalization must be consistent with the fusion and braiding rules of the anyons, not all ostensibly consistent symmetry fractionalizations can be realized in 2D systems. Instead, certain `anomalous SETs can only occur on the surface of a 3D symmetry protected topological (SPT) phase. In this paper we describe a procedure for determining whether an SET of a discrete, onsite, unitary symmetry group $G$ is anomalous or not. The basic idea is to gauge the symmetry and expose the anomaly as an obstruction to a consistent topological theory combining both the original anyons and the gauge fluxes. Utilizing a result of Etingof, Nikshych, and Ostrik, we point out that a class of obstructions are captured by the fourth cohomology group $H^4( G, ,U(1))$, which also precisely labels the set of 3D SPT phases, with symmetry group $G$. We thus establish a general bulk-boundary correspondence between the anomalous SET and the 3d bulk SPT whose surface termination realizes it. We illustrate this idea using the chiral spin liquid ($U(1)_2$) topological order with a reduced symmetry $mathbb{Z}_2 times mathbb{Z}_2 subset SO(3)$, which can act on the semion quasiparticle in an anomalous way. We construct exactly solved 3d SPT models realizing the anomalous surface terminations, and demonstrate that they are non-trivial by computing three loop braiding statistics. Possible extensions to anti-unitary symmetries are also discussed.
Physicists have long debated whether the hidden order in URu2Si2 is itinerant or localized, and it remains inaccessible to direct external probes. Recent observation of an overdamped collective mode in this material (C. Weibe et al, Nature Physics 3, 96-100 (2007)), appears to resolve this outstanding issue.
We study a spin $S$ quantum Heisenberg model on the Fe lattice of the rare-earth oxypnictide superconductors. Using both large $S$ and large $N$ methods, we show that this model exhibits a sequence of two phase transitions: from a high temperature symmetric phase to a narrow region of intermediate ``nematic phase, and then to a low temperature spin ordered phase. Identifying phases by their broken symmetries, these phases correspond precisely to the sequence of structural (tetragonal to monoclinic) and magnetic transitions that have been recently revealed in neutron scattering studies of LaOFeAs. The structural transition can thus be identified with the existence of incipient (``fluctuating) magnetic order.