Asymptotic freedom, Haldane gap and edge states of SU(N) spin chains

In this thesis we study various one-dimensional quantum spin systems with SU(2) and SU(N) symmetry. We investigate the short-distance behavior of the SU(2) Heisenberg model in the limit of large spin and show that there exists an extended regime where perturbation theory, in the form of spin-wave theory, can be successfully applied. The reason for this perturbative regime stems from the asymptotic freedom of the nonlinear sigma model onto which the Heisenberg model can be mapped. When considering observables which respect the rotational invariance of the model, we observe a cancellation of infrared divergences in the perturbative expansions, leading to a meaningful description of correlation functions. We then turn to the study of SU(N) models. Building on the representation theory of the SU(N) group and on the matrix product state (MPS) formalism, we introduce a generic method to construct Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) models having edge states described by any self-conjugate irreducible representation (irrep) of SU(N). A simple example is given by a spin-1 AKLT model having spin-1 edge states. The phase transition between this model and the original AKLT model is shown to be continuous and to correspond to a topological phase transition described by the SU(2) level-1 Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theory universality class. In addition we study an SU(3) AKLT model for the 3-box symmetric irrep at each site. We demonstrate that the edge states are adjoint edge irreps, we extract its correlation length and provide a useful construction as an optimal MPS. Finally, we develop a density matrix renormalization group algorithm based on standard Young tableaus and subduction coefficients to make full use of the non-abelian symmetry and to investigate the SU(3) Heisenberg model with 3-box symmetric irrep at each site. We show that the model has a finite gap above the singlet ground state, in agreement with an extension of the Haldane conjecture to SU(3) chains in the fully symmetric irreps. We also argue that there are five branches of elementary excitations living in four different irreps, each of which is gapped.

Asymptotic Freedom and Large Spin Antiferromagnetic Chains

Samuel Gozel, Frédéric Mila

Building on the mapping of large-S spin chains onto the O(3) nonlinear sigma model with coupling constant 2/S, and on general properties of that model (asymptotic freedom, implying that perturbation theory is valid at high energy, and Elitzur's conjecture that rotationally invariant quantities are infrared finite in perturbation theory), we use the Holstein-Primakoff representation to derive analytic expressions for the equal-time and dynamical spin-spin correlations valid at distances smaller than S-1 exp(pi S) or at energies larger than JS(2) exp(-pi S), where J is the Heisenberg exchange coupling. This is supported by comparing the static correlations with quantum Monte Carlo simulations for S = 5/2.

AMER PHYSICAL SOC2019

Novel families of SU(N) AKLT states with arbitrary self-conjugate edge states

Samuel Gozel, Frédéric Mila

Using the Matrix Product State framework, we generalize the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) construction to one-dimensional spin liquids with global color SU(N) symmetry, finite correlation lengths, and edge states that can belong to any self-conjugate irreducible representation (irrep) of SU(N). In particular, SU(2) spin-1 AKLT states with edge states of arbitrary spin s = 1/2, 1, 3/2, ... are constructed, and a general formula for their correlation length is given. Furthermore, we show how to construct local parent Hamiltonians for which these AKLT states are unique ground states. This enables us to study the stability of the edge states by interpolating between exact AKLT Hamiltonians. As an example, in the case of spin-1 physical degrees of freedom, it is shown that a quantum phase transition of central charge c = 1 separates the Symmetry Protected Topological (SPT) phase with spin-1 /2 edge states from a topologically trivial phase with spin-1 edge states. We also address some specificities of the generalization to SU (N) with N > 2, in particular regarding the construction of parent Hamiltonians. For the AKLT state of the SU(3) model with the 3-box symmetric representation, we prove that the edge states are in the 8-dimensional adjoint irrep, and for the SU(3) model with adjoint irrep at each site, we are able to construct two different reflection-symmetric AKLT Hamiltonians, each with a unique ground state which is either even or odd under reflection symmetry and with edge states in the adjoint irrep. Finally, examples of two-column and adjoint physical irreps for SU(N) with N even and with edge states living in the antisymmetric irrep with N/2 boxes are given, with a conjecture about the general formula for their correlation lengths. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

ELSEVIER2019

Ground states and excitations of frustrated magnetic systems, from the classical limit to the quantum case

The first part of this thesis is devoted to classical magnetic systems. A method for an exhaustive search of states that do not break any spatial symmetry on a given lattice is presented. New Néel states on the kagome lattice are described. Their static structure factors give a way to analyze experimental results. Some non-coplanar spin orders are the only ground states of Heisenberg Hamiltonians. The chirality is a discrete order parameter and give rise to a finite temperature phase transition, studied on a toy model. We show that Z2 topological defects proliferate near chirality domain walls. The order of the transition (first order or Ising like) depends on the spin interactions. The Schwinger boson mean-field theory (SBMFT) allows us to link classical and quantum spin physics: long-range ordered and disordered phases as topological spin liquids can be described in this frame. Symmetry and the way to impose them are analyzed. Different phases are distinguished by their fluxes. These are gauge invariant quantities having a signification as well in a quantum system as in the classical limit. Visons are quantum excitations that change fluxes. Thus, the Z2 vorticies are their classical limit. By relaxing some symmetry constraints, chiral phases are obtained, whose classical limit sends back to the first chapter of this thesis, and whose disordered phase gives chiral spin liquids. The example of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction on the kagome lattice is studied.

LPTMC, Paris VI2010