Mean-field theory of 1+1D $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge theory with matter

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Hauptverfasser: Kebrič, Matjaž, Schollwöck, Ulrich, Grusdt, Fabian
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Kebrič, Matjaž
Schollwöck, Ulrich
Grusdt, Fabian
author_facet Kebrič, Matjaž
Schollwöck, Ulrich
Grusdt, Fabian
contents Lattice gauge theories (LGTs) provide valuable insights into problems in strongly correlated many-body systems. Confinement which arises when matter is coupled to gauge fields is just one of the open problems, where LGT formalism can explain the underlying mechanism. However, coupling gauge fields to dynamical charges complicates the theoretical and experimental treatment of the problem. Developing a simplified mean-field theory is thus one of the ways to gain new insights into these complicated systems. Here we develop a mean-field theory of a paradigmatic 1+1D $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge theory with superconducting pairing term, the gauged Kitaev chain, by decoupling charge and $\mathbb{Z}_2$ fields while enforcing the Gauss law on the mean-field level. We first determine the phase diagram of the original model in the context of confinement, which allows us to identify the symmetry-protected topological transition in the Kitaev chain as a confinement transition. We then compute the phase diagram of the effective mean-field theory, which correctly captures the main features of the original LGT. This is furthermore confirmed by the Green's function results and a direct comparison of the ground state energy. This simple LGT can be implemented in state-of-the art cold atom experiments. We thus also consider string-length histograms and the electric field polarization, which are easily accessible quantities in experimental setups and show that they reliably capture the various phases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_02890
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Mean-field theory of 1+1D $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge theory with matter
Kebrič, Matjaž
Schollwöck, Ulrich
Grusdt, Fabian
Quantum Gases
Strongly Correlated Electrons
High Energy Physics - Lattice
Quantum Physics
Lattice gauge theories (LGTs) provide valuable insights into problems in strongly correlated many-body systems. Confinement which arises when matter is coupled to gauge fields is just one of the open problems, where LGT formalism can explain the underlying mechanism. However, coupling gauge fields to dynamical charges complicates the theoretical and experimental treatment of the problem. Developing a simplified mean-field theory is thus one of the ways to gain new insights into these complicated systems. Here we develop a mean-field theory of a paradigmatic 1+1D $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge theory with superconducting pairing term, the gauged Kitaev chain, by decoupling charge and $\mathbb{Z}_2$ fields while enforcing the Gauss law on the mean-field level. We first determine the phase diagram of the original model in the context of confinement, which allows us to identify the symmetry-protected topological transition in the Kitaev chain as a confinement transition. We then compute the phase diagram of the effective mean-field theory, which correctly captures the main features of the original LGT. This is furthermore confirmed by the Green's function results and a direct comparison of the ground state energy. This simple LGT can be implemented in state-of-the art cold atom experiments. We thus also consider string-length histograms and the electric field polarization, which are easily accessible quantities in experimental setups and show that they reliably capture the various phases.
title Mean-field theory of 1+1D $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge theory with matter
topic Quantum Gases
Strongly Correlated Electrons
High Energy Physics - Lattice
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.02890