Theory of the field-revealed Kitaev spin liquid.

Elementary excitations in entangled states such as quantum spin liquids may exhibit exotic statistics different from those obeyed by fundamental bosons and fermions. Non-Abelian anyons exist in a Kitaev spin liquid-the ground state of an exactly solvable model. A smoking-gun signature of these excitations, namely a half-integer quantized thermal Hall conductivity, was recently reported in α-RuCl3. While fascinating, a microscopic theory for this phenomenon remains elusive because the pure Kitaev model cannot display this effect in an intermediate magnetic field. Here we present a microscopic theory of the Kitaev spin liquid emerging between the low- and high-field states. Essential to this result is an antiferromagnetic off-diagonal symmetric interaction which allows the Kitaev spin liquid to protrude from the ferromagnetic Kitaev limit under a magnetic field. This generic model displays a strong field anisotropy, and we predict a wide spin liquid regime when the field is perpendicular to the honeycomb plane.

Quantum Critical Scaling of Dirty Bosons in Two Dimensions.

We determine the dynamical critical exponent z appearing at the Bose glass to superfluid transition in two dimensions by performing large scale numerical studies of two microscopically different quantum models within the universality class: The hard-core boson model and the quantum rotor (soft core) model, both subject to strong on-site disorder. By performing many simulations at different system size L and inverse temperature ß close to the quantum critical point, the position of the critical point and the critical exponents, z, ν, and η can be determined independently of any implicit assumptions of the numerical value of z, in contrast to most prior studies. This is done by a careful scaling analysis close to the critical point with a particular focus on the temperature dependence of the scaling functions. For the hard-core boson model we find z=1.88(8), ν=0.99(3), and η=-0.16(8) with a critical field of h(c)=4.79(3), while for the quantum rotor model we find z=1.99(5), ν=1.00(2), and η=-0.3(1) with a critical hopping parameter of t(c)=0.0760(5). In both cases do we find a correlation length exponent consistent with ν=1, saturating the bound ν≥2/d as well as a value of z significantly larger than previous studies, and for the quantum rotor model consistent with z=d.

A quantum fidelity study of the anisotropic next-nearest-neighbour triangular lattice Heisenberg model.

Ground- and excited-state quantum fidelities in combination with generalized quantum fidelity susceptibilites, obtained from exact diagonalizations, are used to explore the phase diagram of the anisotropic next-nearest-neighbour triangular Heisenberg model. Specifically, the J'-J2 plane of this model, which connects the J1-J2 chain and the anisotropic triangular lattice Heisenberg model, is explored using these quantities. Through the use of a quantum fidelity associated with the first excited-state, in addition to the conventional ground-state fidelity, the BKT-type transition and Majumdar-Ghosh point of the J1-J2 chain (J'=0) are found to extend into the J'-J2 plane and connect with points on the J2=0 axis thereby forming bounded regions in the phase diagram. These bounded regions are then explored through the generalized quantum fidelity susceptibilities χρ, χ120°, χD and χCAF which are associated with the spin stiffness, 120° spiral order parameter, dimer order parameter and collinear antiferromagnetic order parameter respectively. These quantities are believed to be extremely sensitive to the underlying phase and are thus well suited for finite-size studies. Analysis of the fidelity susceptibilities suggests that the J', J2≪J phase of the anisotropic triangular model is either a collinear antiferromagnet or possibly a gapless disordered phase that is directly connected to the Luttinger phase of the J1-J2 chain. Furthermore, the outer region is dominated by incommensurate spiral physics as well as dimer order.

Valence-bond quantum Monte Carlo algorithms defined on trees.

We present a class of algorithms for performing valence-bond quantum Monte Carlo of quantum spin models. Valence-bond quantum Monte Carlo is a projective T=0 Monte Carlo method based on sampling of a set of operator strings that can be viewed as forming a treelike structure. The algorithms presented here utilize the notion of a worm that moves up and down this tree and changes the associated operator string. In quite general terms, we derive a set of equations whose solutions correspond to a whole class of algorithms. As specific examples of this class of algorithms, we focus on two cases. The bouncing worm algorithm, for which updates are always accepted by allowing the worm to bounce up and down the tree, and the driven worm algorithm, where a single parameter controls how far up the tree the worm reaches before turning around. The latter algorithm involves only a single bounce where the worm turns from going up the tree to going down. The presence of the control parameter necessitates the introduction of an acceptance probability for the update.

Boundary effects in the critical scaling of entanglement entropy in 1D systems.

We present exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group results for the entanglement entropy of critical spin-1/2 XXZ chains. We find that open boundary conditions induce an alternating term in both the energy density and the entanglement entropy which are approximately proportional, decaying away from the boundary with a power law. The power varies with anisotropy along the critical line and is corrected by a logarithmic factor, which we calculate analytically, at the isotropic point. A heuristic resonating valence bond explanation is suggested.

Imaginary-chemical-potential quantum Monte Carlo method for Hubbard molecules.

We generalize the imaginary-chemical-potential quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method proposed by Dagotto [Phys. Rev. B 41, R811 (1990)] to systems without particle-hole symmetry. The generalized method is tested by comparing the results of the QMC simulations and exact diagonalization on small Hubbard molecules, such as tetrahedron and truncated tetrahedron. Results of the application of the method to the C60 Hubbard molecule are discussed.

Kondo screening cloud around a quantum dot: large-scale numerical results.

Measurements of the persistent current in a ring containing a quantum dot would afford a unique opportunity to finally detect the elusive Kondo screening cloud. We present the first large-scale numerical results on this controversial subject using exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group (RG). These extremely challenging numerical calculations confirm RG arguments for weak to strong coupling crossover with varying ring length and give results on the universal scaling functions. We also study, analytically and numerically, the important and surprising effects of particle-hole symmetry breaking.

Dual geometric worm algorithm for two-dimensional discrete classical lattice models.

We present a dual geometrical worm algorithm for two-dimensional Ising models. The existence of such dual algorithms was first pointed out by Prokof'ev and Svistunov [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 160601 (2001)]]. The algorithm is defined on the dual lattice and is formulated in terms of bond variables and can therefore be generalized to other two-dimensional models that can be formulated in terms of bond variables. We also discuss two related algorithms formulated on the direct lattice, applicable in any dimension. These latter algorithms turn out to be less efficient but of considerable intrinsic interest. We show how such algorithms quite generally can be "directed" by minimizing the probability for the worms to erase themselves. Explicit proofs of detailed balance are given for all the algorithms. In terms of computational efficiency the dual geometrical worm algorithm is comparable to well known cluster algorithms such as the Swendsen-Wang and Wolff algorithms, however, it is quite different in structure and allows for a very simple and efficient implementation. The dual algorithm also allows for a very elegant way of calculating the domain wall free energy.

Directed geometrical worm algorithm applied to the quantum rotor model.

We discuss the implementation of a directed geometrical worm algorithm for the study of quantum link-current models. In this algorithm the Monte Carlo updates are made through the biased reptation of a worm through the lattice. A directed algorithm is an algorithm where, during the construction of the worm, the probability for erasing the immediately preceding part of the worm, when adding a new part, is minimal. We introduce a simple numerical procedure for minimizing this probability. The procedure only depends on appropriately defined local probabilities and should be generally applicable. Furthermore, we show how correlation functions C(r,tau) can be straightforwardly obtained from the probability of a worm to reach a site (r,tau) away from its starting point independent of whether or not a directed version of the algorithm is used. Detailed analytical proofs of the validity of the Monte Carlo algorithms are presented for both the directed and undirected geometrical worm algorithms. Results for autocorrelation times and Green's functions are presented for the quantum rotor model.

Cluster Monte Carlo algorithm for the quantum rotor model.

We propose a highly efficient "worm"-like cluster Monte Carlo algorithm for the quantum rotor model in the link-current representation. We explicitly prove detailed balance for the algorithm even in the presence of disorder. For the pure quantum rotor model with mu=0, the algorithm yields high- precision estimates for the critical point K(c)=0.333 05(5) and the correlation length exponent nu=0.670(3). For the disordered case, mu=1 / 2+/-1 / 2, we find nu=1.15(10).