Litcius/Paper detail

Mirror-symmetry-protected dynamical quantum phase transitions in topological crystalline insulators

Ryo Okugawa, Hiroki Oshiyama, Masayuki Ohzeki

2021Physical Review Research20 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

Dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) are topologically characterized in quantum quench dynamics in topological systems. In this paper, we study Loschmidt amplitudes and DQPTs in quantum quenches in mirror-symmetric topological phases. Based on the topological classification of mirror-symmetric insulators, we show that mirror symmetry creates symmetry-protected DQPTs. If mirror symmetry is present, topologically robust DQPTs can occur in quantum quenches, even in high-dimensional time-reversal invariant systems. Then, we also show that symmetry-protected DQPTs occur in quenches in two-dimensional chiral-symmetric systems with mirror symmetry. Mirror-symmetry-protected DQPTs can be easily captured by a reduced rate function. Moreover, we introduce dynamical topological order parameters for mirror-symmetry-protected DQPTs. Finally, we demonstrate DQPTs using lattice models for a time-reversal invariant topological crystalline insulator and a higher-order topological insulator.

Topics & Concepts

Topological insulatorPhysicsTopological orderSymmetry protected topological orderTopological entropy in physicsQuantum phasesQuantumInvariant (physics)Topology (electrical circuits)Topological degeneracyMirror symmetryQuantum phase transitionLattice (music)Phase transitionSymmetry (geometry)Topological quantum numberQuantum mechanicsQuantum statePhase (matter)Topological dynamicsTopological defectTheoretical physicsAmplitudeCondensed matter physicsQuantum fluctuationGeometric phaseTopological conjugacyTopological Materials and PhenomenaQuantum many-body systemsQuantum Mechanics and Non-Hermitian Physics