6533b86ffe1ef96bd12cdd09
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Spectrum of the non-abelian phase in Kitaev's honeycomb lattice model
Angelo CarolloT. StittGraham KellsJiri ValaVille LahtinenJiannis K. Pachossubject
PhysicsQuantum PhysicsPhase transitionCondensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale PhysicsSpinsStrongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)quantum computationnon-abelian vorticesGeneral Physics and AstronomyFOS: Physical sciencesFermionkitaev's modelVortexCondensed Matter - Strongly Correlated ElectronsMAJORANAanyonsLattice (order)Quantum mechanicsMesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)topological modelsNon-abelian vorticeAbelian groupGround stateQuantum Physics (quant-ph)description
The spectral properties of Kitaev's honeycomb lattice model are investigated both analytically and numerically with the focus on the non-abelian phase of the model. After summarizing the fermionization technique which maps spins into free Majorana fermions, we evaluate the spectrum of sparse vortex configurations and derive the interaction between two vortices as a function of their separation. We consider the effect vortices can have on the fermionic spectrum as well as on the phase transition between the abelian and non-abelian phases. We explicitly demonstrate the $2^n$-fold ground state degeneracy in the presence of $2n$ well separated vortices and the lifting of the degeneracy due to their short-range interactions. The calculations are performed on an infinite lattice. In addition to the analytic treatment, a numerical study of finite size systems is performed which is in exact agreement with the theoretical considerations. The general spectral properties of the non-abelian phase are considered for various finite toroidal systems.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-09-01 |