Geometrical properties of parafermionic spin models

Critical interfaces of the Ashkin-Teller model at the parafermionic point

We present an extensive study of interfaces defined in the Z_4 spin lattice representation of the Ashkin-Teller (AT) model. In particular, we numerically compute the fractal dimensions of boundary and bulk interfaces at the Fateev-Zamolodchikov point. This point is a special point on the self-dual critical line of the AT model and it is described in the continuum limit by the Z_4 parafermionic theory. Extending on previous analytical and numerical studies [10,12], we point out the existence of three different values of fractal dimensions which characterize different kind of interfaces. We argu…

Parafermionic edge zero modes in Z_n-invariant spin chains

A sign of topological order in a gapped one-dimensional quantum chain is the existence of edge zero modes. These occur in the Z_2-invariant Ising/Majorana chain, where they can be understood using free-fermion techniques. Here I discuss their presence in spin chains with Z_n symmetry, and prove that for appropriate coupling they are exact, even in this strongly interacting system. These modes are naturally expressed in terms of parafermions, generalizations of fermions to the Z_n case. I show that parafermionic edge zero modes do not occur in the usual ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases…

Spin interfaces and crossing probabilities of spin clusters in parafermionic models

We consider fractal curves in two-dimensional $Z_N$ spin lattice models. These are N states spin models that undergo a continuous ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition described by the ZN parafermionic field theory. The main motivation here is to investigate the correspondence between Schramm-Loewner evolutions (SLE) and conformal field theories with extended conformal algebras (ECFT). By using Monte-Carlo simulation, we compute the fractal dimension of different spin interfaces for the N=3 and N=4 spin models that correspond respectively to the 3 states Potts model and to the Ashkin-Tel…

Integrable quantum spin chains with free fermionic and parafermionic spectrum

We present a general study of the large family of exact integrable quantum chains with multispin interactions introduced recently in \cite{AP2020}. The exact integrability follows from the algebraic properties of the energy density operators defining the quantum chains. The Hamiltonians are characterized by a parameter $p=1,2,\dots$ related to the number of interacting spins in the multispin interaction. In the general case the quantum spins are of infinite dimension. In special cases, characterized by the parameter $N=2,3,\ldots$, the quantum chains describe the dynamics of $Z(N)$ quantum spi…

Free fermionic and parafermionic quantum spin chains with multispin interactions

We introduce a new a family of $Z(N)$ multispins quantum chains with a free-fermionic ($N=2$) or free-parafermionic ($N>2$) eigenspectrum. The models have $(p+1)$ interacting spins ($p=1,2,\dots$), being Hermitian in the $Z(2)$ (Ising) case and non-Hermitian for $N>2$. We construct a set of mutually commuting charges that allows us to derive the eigenenergies in terms of the roots of polynomials generated by a recurrence relation of order $(p+1)$. In the critical limit we identify these polynomials with certain hypergeometric polynomials ${}_{p+1}F_p$. Also in the critical regime, we calculate…

自由副费米子简史

A Brief History of Free Parafermions

本文概述了自由副费米子自旋链的历史发展与关键成果，介绍了作为自由费米子N态推广的自由副费米子概念，并重点讨论了作为Ising模型非厄米推广的Baxter-Fendley自由副费米子Z(N)自旋链。