Published papers

We propose a simple and generic construction of the variational tensor network operators to study the quantum spin systems by the synergy of ideas from the imaginary-time evolution and the variational optimization of trial wave functions. By applying these operators to simple initial states, accurate variational ground-state wave functions with extremely few parameters can be obtained. Furthermore, the framework can be applied to spontaneously study symmetry-breaking, symmetry-protected topological, and intrinsic topologically ordered phases, and we show that symmetries of the local tensors associated with these phases can emerge directly after the optimization without any gauge fixing. This provides a universal way to identify quantum phase transitions without prior knowledge of the system.

Diagrammatic summation is a common bottleneck in modern applications of projected entangled-pair states, especially in computing low-energy excitations of a two-dimensional quantum many-body system. To solve this problem, here we extend the generating-function approach for tensor-network diagrammatic summation, a scheme previously proposed in the context of matrix product states. Taking the form of a one-particle excitation, we show that the excited state can be computed efficiently in the generating-function formalism, which can further be used in evaluating the dynamical structure factor of the system. Our benchmark results for the spin-1/2 transverse-field Ising model and Heisenberg model on the square lattice provide a desirable accuracy, showing good agreement with known results. We then study the spin-1/2J1-J2 model on the same lattice and investigate the dynamical properties of the putative gapless spin liquid phase. We conclude with a discussion on generalizations to multiparticle excitations.

The understanding of complex quantum many-body systems has been vastly boosted by tensor network (TN) methods. Among others, excitation spectrum and long-range interacting systems can be studied using TNs, where one however confronts the intricate summation over an extensive number of tensor diagrams. Here, we introduce a set of generating functions, which encode the diagrammatic summations as leading-order series expansion coefficients. Combined with automatic differentiation, the generating function allows us to solve the problem of TN diagrammatic summation. We illustrate this scheme by computing variational excited states and the dynamical structure factor of a quantum spin chain, and further investigating entanglement properties of excited states. Extensions to infinite-size systems and higher dimension are outlined.

We present a comprehensive study of vortex structures in d-wave superconductors from large-scale renormalized mean-field theory of the square-lattice t-t′-J model, which has been shown to provide a quantitative modeling for high-Tc cuprate superconductors. With an efficient implementation of the kernel polynomial method for solving electronic structures, self-consistent calculations involving up to 105 variational parameters are performed to investigate the vortex solutions on lattices of up to 104 sites. By taking into account the strong correlation of the model, our calculations shed new light on two puzzling results that have emerged from recent scanning tunneling microscopy experiments. The first concerns the issue of the zero-biased-conductance peak (ZBCP) at the vortex core for a uniform d-wave superconducting state. Despite its theoretical prediction, the ZBCP was not observed in most doping range of cuprates except in heavily over-doped samples at low magnetic field. The second issue is the nature of the checkerboard charge-density waves (CDWs) with a period of about eight unit cells in the vortex halo at optimal doping. Although it has been suggested that such bipartite structure arises from low-energy quasiparticle interference, another intriguing scenario posits that the checkerboard CDWs originate from an underlying bidirectional pair-density wave (PDW) ordering with the same period. We present a coherent interpretation of these experimental results based on systematic studies of the doping and magnetic-field effects on vortex solutions with and without a checkerboard structure. Due to the small size of Cooper pairs, the vortex core has a radius of about three unit cells, which results in a strong spatial dependence on pairing fields. This may be an important mechanism for the formation of PDW states inside the vortex core.

In this work, we study two different quantum simulators composed of molecules with dipole-dipole interaction through various theoretical and numerical tools. Our first result provides knowledge of the quantum order by disorder effect of the S=1/2 system, which is programmable in a quantum simulator composed of circular Rydberg atoms in the triangular optical lattice with a controllable diagonal anisotropy. When the numbers of up spins and down spins are equal, a set of subextensive degenerate ground states is present in the classical limit, composed of continuous strings whose configuration enjoys a large degree of freedom. Among all possible configurations, we focus on the stripe (up and down spins aligning straightly) and kinked (up and down spins forming zigzag spin chains) patterns. Adopting the the real space perturbation theory, we estimate the leading order energy correction when the nearest-neighbor spin exchange coupling, J, is considered, and the overall model becomes an effective XXZ model with a spatial anisotropy. Our calculation demonstrates a lifting of the degeneracy, favoring the stripe configuration. When J becomes larger, we adopt the infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) and numerically check the effect of degeneracy lifting. The iPEPS results show that even when the spin exchange coupling is strong the stripe pattern is still favored. Next, we study the dipolar bosonic model with tilted polar angle which can be realized through a quantum simulator composed of cold atomic gas with dipole-dipole interaction in an optical lattice. By placing the atoms in a triangular lattice and tilting the polar angle, the diagonal anisotropy can also be realized in the bosonic system. With our cluster mean-field theory calculation, we provide various phase diagrams with different tilted angles, showing the abundant underlying phases including the supersolid. Our proposal indicates realizable scenarios through quantum simulators in studying the quantum effect as well as extraordinary phases. We believe that our results indicated here can also become a good benchmark for two-dimensional quantum simulators.

In this work, we study two different quantum simulators composed of molecules with dipole-dipole interaction through various theoretical and numerical tools. Our first result provides knowledge of the quantum order by disorder effect of the S=1/2 system, which is programmable in a quantum simulator composed of circular Rydberg atoms in the triangular optical lattice with a controllable diagonal anisotropy. When the numbers of up spins and down spins are equal, a set of subextensive degenerate ground states is present in the classical limit, composed of continuous strings whose configuration enjoys a large degree of freedom. Among all possible configurations, we focus on the stripe (up and down spins aligning straightly) and kinked (up and down spins forming zigzag spin chains) patterns. Adopting the the real space perturbation theory, we estimate the leading order energy correction when the nearest-neighbor spin exchange coupling, J, is considered, and the overall model becomes an effective XXZ model with a spatial anisotropy. Our calculation demonstrates a lifting of the degeneracy, favoring the stripe configuration. When J becomes larger, we adopt the infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) and numerically check the effect of degeneracy lifting. The iPEPS results show that even when the spin exchange coupling is strong the stripe pattern is still favored. Next, we study the dipolar bosonic model with tilted polar angle which can be realized through a quantum simulator composed of cold atomic gas with dipole-dipole interaction in an optical lattice. By placing the atoms in a triangular lattice and tilting the polar angle, the diagonal anisotropy can also be realized in the bosonic system. With our cluster mean-field theory calculation, we provide various phase diagrams with different tilted angles, showing the abundant underlying phases including the supersolid. Our proposal indicates realizable scenarios through quantum simulators in studying the quantum effect as well as extraordinary phases. We believe that our results indicated here can also become a good benchmark for two-dimensional quantum simulators. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

We study the simplest quantum lattice spin model for the two-dimensional (2D) cubic ferromagnet by means of mean-field analysis and tensor network calculation. While both methods give rise to similar results in detecting related phases, the 2D infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) calculation provides more accurate values of transition points. Near the phase boundary, moreover, our iPEPS results indicate that it is more difficult to pin down the orientation of magnetic easy axes, and we interpret it as the easy-axis softening. This phenomenon implies an emergence of continuous U(1) symmetry, which is indicated by the low-energy effective model and has been analytically shown by the field theory. Our model and study provide a concrete example for utilizing iPEPS near the critical region, showing that the emergent phenomenon living on the critical points can already be captured by iPEPS with a rather small bond dimension.

The application of an external magnetic field of sufficient strength to a spin system composed of a localized singlet can overcome the energy gap and trigger bosonic condensation and so provide an alternative method to realize exotic phases of matter in real materials. Previous research has indicated that a spin Hamiltonian with on-site Kondo coupling may be the effective many-body Hamiltonian for Ba2NiO2(AgSe)2 (BNOAS) and here we study such a Hamiltonian using a tensor network ansatz in two dimensions. Our results unveil a phase diagram which indicates the underlying phases of BNOAS. We propose, in response to the possible doping-induced superconductivity of BNOAS, a fermionic model for further investigation. We hope that our discovery can bring up further interest in both theoretical and experimental researches for related nickelate compounds.