1. Kibble–Zurek scaling and string-net coarsening in topologically ordered systems
- Author
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Shivaji Lal Sondhi, Vedika Khemani, Fiona Burnell, and Anushya Chandran
- Subjects
Models, Molecular ,Physics ,Phase transition ,Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) ,Toric code ,82C10 ,High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat) ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Context (language use) ,General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Net (mathematics) ,String (physics) ,Phase Transition ,General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology ,Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons ,Theoretical physics ,High Energy Physics - Lattice ,Models, Chemical ,Thermodynamics ,Topological order ,Computer Simulation ,General Materials Science ,Symmetry breaking ,Gauge theory - Abstract
We consider the non-equilibrium dynamics of topologically ordered systems driven across a continuous phase transition into proximate phases with no, or reduced, topological order. This dynamics exhibits scaling in the spirit of Kibble and Zurek but now {\it without} the presence of symmetry breaking and a local order parameter. The late stages of the process are seen to exhibit a slow, coarsening dynamics for the string-net that underlies the physics of the topological phase, a potentially interesting signature of topological order. We illustrate these phenomena in the context of particular phase transitions out of the abelian Z_2 topologically ordered phase of the toric code/Z_2 gauge theory, and the non-abelian SU(2)$_k$ ordered phases of the relevant Levin-Wen models., 15 pages, 4 figures, published version
- Published
- 2013