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Robustness of a perturbed topological phase.
Sébastien Dusuel1, Michael Kamfor, Román Orús
1Lycée Saint-Louis, 44 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75006 Paris, France.
Physical Review Letters
|April 8, 2011
Summary
We studied the toric code model
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Information Theory
- Topological Phases of Matter
Background:
- The toric code model is a fundamental example of a topological phase of matter.
- Understanding the stability of topological phases under perturbations is crucial for quantum computing and materials science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the stability of the toric code's topological phase under a uniform magnetic field.
- To characterize the nature of the topological phase transition induced by the magnetic field.
Main Methods:
- Variational approaches
- High-order series expansion methods
- Analysis of critical exponents and universality classes
Main Results:
- A topological phase transition occurs when the magnetic field is sufficiently strong.
- The order of the transition (first- or second-order) depends on the magnetic field's orientation.
- A new topological universality class is identified on a special line where critical exponents vary continuously.
Conclusions:
- The toric code's topological phase is not robust against uniform magnetic fields.
- The identified new universality class offers insights into the rich phase diagrams of topological systems.
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