Quantum Walks

Schur Functions Meet Symmetry Protected Topological Phases

verfasst von
C. Cedzich, T. Geib, F. A. Grünbaum, L. Velázquez, A. H. Werner, R. F. Werner
Abstract

This paper uncovers and exploits a link between a central object in harmonic analysis, the so-called Schur functions, and the very hot topic of symmetry protected topological phases of quantum matter. This connection is found in the setting of quantum walks, i.e. quantum analogs of classical random walks. We prove that topological indices classifying symmetry protected topological phases of quantum walks are encoded by matrix Schur functions built out of the walk. This main result of the paper reduces the calculation of these topological indices to a linear algebra problem: calculating symmetry indices of finite-dimensional unitaries obtained by evaluating such matrix Schur functions at the symmetry protected points ±1. The Schur representation fully covers the complete set of symmetry indices for 1D quantum walks with a group of symmetries realizing any of the symmetry types of the tenfold way. The main advantage of the Schur approach is its validity in the absence of translation invariance, which allows us to go beyond standard Fourier methods, leading to the complete classification of non-translation invariant phases for typical examples.

Organisationseinheit(en)
Institut für Theoretische Physik
SFB 1227: Designte Quantenzustände der Materie (DQ-mat)
Externe Organisation(en)
Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf
University of California at Berkeley
Universidad de Zaragoza
Københavns Universitet
Typ
Artikel
Journal
Communications in Mathematical Physics
Band
389
Seiten
31-74
Anzahl der Seiten
44
ISSN
0010-3616
Publikationsdatum
01.2022
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Statistische und nichtlineare Physik, Mathematische Physik
Elektronische Version(en)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.07494 (Zugang: Offen)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00220-021-04284-8 (Zugang: Offen)