The fidelity between two infinitesimally close states or the fidelity susceptibility of a system are known to detect quantum phase transitions. Here we show that the k-space fidelity between two states far from each other and taken deep inside (bulk)
of two phase s, generically vanishes at the k-points where there are gapless points in the energy spectrum that give origin to the lines (edges) separating the phases in the phase diagram. We consider a general case of two-band models and present a sufficient condition for the existence of gapless points, given there are pairs of parameter points for which the fidelity between the corresponding states is zero. By presenting an explicit counter-example, we showed that the sufficient condition is not necessary. Further, we showed that, unless the set of parameter points is suitably constrained, the existence of gapless points generically imply the accompanied pairs of parameter points with vanishing fidelity. Also, we showed the connection between the vanishing fidelity and gapless points on a number of concrete examples (topological triplet superconductor, topological insulator, 1d Kitaev model of spinless fermions, BCS superconductor, Ising model in a transverse field, graphene and Haldane Chern insulator), as well as for the more general case of Dirac-like Hamiltonians. We also briefly discuss the relation between the vanishing fidelity and gapless points at finite temperatures.
Over the last three decades a large number of experimental studies on several quasi one-dimensional (1D) metals and quasi1D Mott-Hubbard insulators have produced evidence for distinct spectral features identified with charge-only and spin-only fracti
onalized particles. They can be also observed in ultra-cold atomic 1D optical lattices a nd quantum wires. 1D exactly solvable models provide nontrivial tests of the approaches for these systems relying on field theories. Different schemes such as the pseudofermion dynamical theory (PDT) and the mobile quantum impurity model (MQIM) have revealed that the 1D correlated models high-energy physics is qualitatively different from that of a low-energy Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL). This includes the momentum dependence of the exponents that control the one- and two-particle dynamical correlation functions near their spectra edges and in the vicinity of one-particle singular spectral features. On the one hand, the low-energy charge-only and spin-only fractionalized particles are usually identified with holons and spinons, respectively. On the other hand, `particle-like representations in terms of {it pseudoparticles}, related PDT {it pseudofermions}, and MQIM particles are suitable for the description of both the low-energy TLL physics and high-energy spectral and dynamical properties of 1D correlated systems. The main goal of this review is to revisit the usefulness of pseudoparticle and PDT pseudofermion representations for the study of both static and high-energy spectral and dynamical properties of the 1D Lieb-Liniger Bose gas, spin-$1/2$ isotropic Heisenberg chain, and 1D Hubbard model. Moreover, the relation between the PDT and the MQIM is clarified.
A characteristic feature of topological systems is the presence of robust gapless edge states. In this work the effect of time-dependent perturbations on the edge states is considered. Specifically we consider perturbations that can be understood as
changes of the parameters of the Hamiltonian. These changes may be sudden or carried out at a fixed rate. In general, the edge modes decay in the thermodynamic limit, but for finite systems a revival time is found that scales with the system size. The dynamics of fermionic edge modes and Majorana modes are compared. The effect of periodic perturbations is also referred allowing the appearance of edge modes out of a topologically trivial phase.
Mappings between models may be obtained by unitary transformations with preservation of the spectra but in general a change in the states. Non- canonical transformations in general also change the statistics of the operators involved. In these cases
one may expect a change of topological properties as a consequence of the mapping. Here we consider some dualities resulting from mappings, by systematically using a Majorana fermion representation of spin and fermionic problems. We focus on the change of topological invariants that results from unitary transformations taking as examples the mapping between a spin system and a topological superconductor, and between different fermionic systems.
The fermionic and Majorana edge mode dynamics of various topological systems is compared, after a sudden global quench of the Hamiltonian parameters takes place. Attention is focused on the regimes where the survival probability of an edge state has
oscillations either due to critical or off-critical quenches. The nature of the wave functions and the overlaps between the eigenstates of different points in parameter space determine the various types of behaviors, and the distinction due to the Majorana nature of the excitations plays a lesser role. Performing a sequence of quenches it is shown that the edge states, including Majorana modes, may be switched off and on. Also, the generation of Majoranas due to quenching from a trivial phase is discussed.
We study Majorana zero energy modes (MZEM) that occur in a s-wave superconducting surface, at the ends of a ferromagnetic (FM) chain of adatoms, in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) considering both non self-consistent and self-cons
istent superconducting order. We find that in the self-consistent solution the average superconducting gap function over the adatom sites has a discontinuous drop with increasing exchange interaction at the same critical value where the topological phase transition occurs. We also study the MZEM for both treatments of superconducting order and find that the decay length is a linear function of the exchange coupling strength, chemical potential and superconducting order. For wider FM chains the MZEM occur at smaller exchange couplings and the slope of the decay length as a function of exchange coupling grows with chain width. Thus we suggest experimental detection of different delocalization of MZEM in chains of varying widths. We discuss similarities and differences between the MZEM for the two treatments of the superconducting order.
The topological state of a two-dimensional triplet superconductor may be changed by an appropriate addition of magnetic impurities. A ferromagnetic magnetic chain at the surface of a superconductor with spin-orbit coupling may eliminate the edge stat
es of a finite system giving rise to localized zero modes at the edges of the chain. The coexistence/competition between the two types of zero modes is considered. The reduction of the system to an effective $1d$ system gives partial information on the topological properties but the study of the two sets of zero modes requires a two-dimensional treatment. Increasing the impurity density from a magnetic chain to magnetic islands leads to a finite Chern number. At half-filling small concentrations are enough to induce chiral modes.
A time periodic driving on a topologically trivial system induces edge modes and topological properties. In this work we consider triplet and singlet superconductors subject to periodic variations of the chemical potential, spin-orbit coupling and ma
gnetization, in both topologically trivial and nontrivial phases, and study their influence on the charge and spin currents that propagate along the edges of the two-dimensional system, for moderate to large driving frequencies. Currents associated with the edge modes are induced in the trivial phases and enhanced in the topological phases. In some cases there is a sign reversal of the currents as a consequence of the periodic driving. The edge states associated with the finite quasi-energy states at the edge of the Floquet zone are in general robust, while the stability of the zero quasi-energy states depends on the parameters. Also, the spin polarization of the Floquet spectrum quasi-energies is strong as for the unperturbed topological phases. It is found that in some cases the unperturbed edge states are immersed in a continuum of states due to the perturbation, particularly if the driving frequency is not large enough. However, their contribution to the edge currents and spin polarization is still significant.
The importance of models with an exact solution for the study of materials with non-trivial topological properties has been extensively demonstrated. Among these, the Kitaev model of a one-dimensional $p$-wave superconductor plays a guiding role in t
he search for Majorana modes in condensed matter systems. Also, the $sp$ chain, with an anti-symmetric mixing among the $s$ and $p$ bands provides a paradigmatic example of a topological insulator with well understood properties. There is an intimate relation between these two models and in particular their topological quantum phase transitions share the same universality class. Here we consider a two-band $sp$ model of spinless fermions with an attractive (inter-band) interaction. Both the interaction and hybridization between the $s$ and $p$ fermions are anti-symmetric. The zero temperature phase diagram of the model presents a variety of phases including a Weyl superconductor, topological insulator and trivial phases. The quantum phase transitions between these phases can be either continuous or discontinuous. We show that the transition from the topological superconducting phase to the trivial one has critical exponents different from those of an equivalent transition in Kitaevs model.
Topological insulators and topological superconductors display various topological phases that are characterized by different Chern numbers or by gapless edge states. In this work we show that various quantum information methods such as the von Neuma
nn entropy, entanglement spectrum, fidelity, and fidelity spectrum may be used to detect and distinguish topological phases and their transitions. As an example we consider a two-dimensional $p$-wave superconductor, with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and a Zeeman term. The nature of the phases and their changes are clarified by the eigenvectors of the $k$-space reduced density matrix. We show that in the topologically nontrivial phases the highest weight eigenvector is fully aligned with the triplet pairing state. A signature of the various phase transitions between two points on the parameter space is encoded in the $k$-space fidelity operator.
