String-net condensation and topological phases in quantum spin systems

For many years, it was thought that Landau's theory of symmetry breaking could describe essentially all phases and phase transitions. However, in the last twenty years, it has become clear that at zero temperature, quantum mechanics allows for the possibility of new phases of matter beyond the Landau paradigm. In this thesis, we develop a general theoretical framework for these "exotic phases" analogous to Landau's framework for symmetry breaking phases. We focus on a particular type of exotic phase, known as "topological phases", and a particular physical realization of topological phases - namely frustrated quantum magnets. Our approach is based on a new physical picture for topological phases. We argue that, just as symmetry breaking phases originate from the condensation of particles, topological phases originate from the condensation of extended objects called "string-nets." Using this picture we show that, just as symmetry breaking phases can be classified using symmetry groups, topological phases can be classified using objects known as "tensor categories."

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Levin, Michael Aaron, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Xiao-Gang Wen.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/36810
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/36810

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/36810