We investigate spectral properties of quantum graphs in the form of a periodic chain of rings with a connecting link between each adjacent pair, assuming that wave functions at the vertices are matched through conditions manifestly non-invariant with respect to time reversal. We discuss, in particular, the high-energy behavior of such systems and the limiting situations when one of the edges in the elementary cell of such a graph shrinks to zero. The spectrum depends on the topology and geometry of the graph. The probability that an energy belongs to the spectrum takes three different values reflecting the vertex parities and mirror symmetry, and the band patterns are influenced by commensurability of graph edge lengths.
We present mathematical details of the construction of a topological invariant for periodically driven two-dimensional lattice systems with time-reversal symmetry and quasienergy gaps, which was proposed recently by some of us. The invariant is represented by a gap-dependent $\,\mathbb Z_2$-valued index that is simply related to the Kane-Mele invariants of quasienergy bands but contains an extra information. As a byproduct, we prove new expressions for the two-dimensional Kane-Mele invariant relating the latter to Wess-Zumino amplitudes and the boundary gauge anomaly.
We define a new $Z_2$-valued index to characterize the topological properties of periodically driven two dimensional crystals when the time-reversal symmetry is enforced. This index is associated with a spectral gap of the evolution operator over one period of time. When two such gaps are present, the Kane-Mele index of the eigenstates with eigenvalues between the gaps is recovered as the difference of the gap indices. This leads to an expression for the Kane-Mele invariant in terms of the Wess-Zumino amplitude. We illustrate the relation of the new index to the edge states in finite geometrie…
We describe some applications of group- and bundle-theoretic methods in solid state physics, showing how symmetries lead to a proof of the localization of electrons in gapped crystalline solids, as e.g. insulators and semiconductors. We shortly review the Bloch-Floquet decomposition of periodic operators, and the related concepts of Bloch frames and composite Wannier functions. We show that the latter are almost-exponentially localized if and only if there exists a smooth periodic Bloch frame, and that the obstruction to the latter condition is the triviality of a Hermitian vector bundle, call…
We discuss spectral properties of an periodic quantum graph consisting of an array of rings coupled either tightly or loosely through connecting links, assuming that the vertex coupling is manifestly non-invariant with respect to the time reversal and a homogeneous magnetic field perpendicular to the graph plane is present. It is shown that the vertex parity determines the spectral behavior at high energies and the Band-Berkolaiko universality holds whenever the edges are incommensurate. The magnetic field influences the probability that an energy belongs to the spectrum in the tight-chain cas…
The square-lattice eight-vertex model with vertex weights $a,b,c,d$ obeying the relation $(a^2+ab)(b^2+ab) = (c^2+ab)(d^2+ab)$ and periodic boundary conditions is considered. It is shown that the transfer matrix of the model for $L=2n+1$ vertical lines and periodic boundary conditions along the horizontal direction possesses the doubly degenerate eigenvalue $Θ_n = (a+b)^{2n+1}$. This proves a conjecture by Stroganov from 2001. The proof uses the supersymmetry of a related XYZ spin-chain Hamiltonian. The eigenstates of the transfer matrix corresponding to $Θ_n$ are shown to be the ground states…
We investigate spectral properties of periodic quantum graphs in the form of a kagome or a triangular lattice in the situation when the condition matching the wave functions at the lattice vertices is chosen of a particular form violating the time-reversal invariance. The positive spectrum consists of infinite number of bands, some of which may be flat; the negative one has at most three and two bands, respectively. The kagome lattice example shows that even in graphs with such an uncommon vertex coupling spectral universality may hold: if its edges are incommensurate, the probability that a r…
We study the inhomogeneous 8-vertex model (or equivalently the XYZ Heisenberg spin-1/2 chain) with all kinds of integrable quasi-periodic boundary conditions: periodic, $σ^x$-twisted, $σ^y$-twisted or $σ^z$-twisted. We show that in all these cases but the periodic one with an even number of sites $\mathsf{N}$, the transfer matrix of the model is related, by the vertex-IRF transformation, to the transfer matrix of the dynamical 6-vertex model with antiperiodic boundary conditions, which we have recently solved by means of Sklyanin's Separation of Variables (SOV) approach. We show moreover that,…
We discuss approximations of vertex couplings of quantum graphs using families of thin branched manifolds. We show that if a Neumann type Laplacian on such manifolds is amended by suitable potentials, the resulting Schrödinger operators can approximate non-trivial vertex couplings. The latter include not only the delta-couplings but also those with wavefunctions discontinuous at the vertex. We work out the example of the symmetric delta'-couplings and conjecture that the same method can be applied to all couplings invariant with respect to the time reversal.
The spin-1/2 highest weight representations of the dynamical 6-vertex and the standard 8-vertex Yang-Baxter algebra on a finite chain are considered in this paper. For the antiperiodic dynamical 6-vertex transfer matrix defined on chains with an odd number of sites, we adapt the Sklyanin's quantum separation of variable (SOV) method and explicitly construct SOV representations from the original space of representations. We provide the complete characterization of eigenvalues and eigenstates proving also the simplicity of its spectrum. Moreover, we characterize the matrix elements of the identi…
We consider a gapped periodic quantum system with time-reversal symmetry of fermionic (or odd) type, i.e. the time-reversal operator squares to -1. We investigate the existence of periodic and time-reversal invariant Bloch frames in dimensions 2 and 3. In 2d, the obstruction to the existence of such a frame is shown to be encoded in a $\mathbb{Z}_2$-valued topological invariant, which can be computed by a simple algorithm. We prove that the latter agrees with the Fu-Kane index. In 3d, instead, four $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariants emerge from the construction, again related to the Fu-Kane-Mele indice…
The Feynman amplitudes with the two-dimensional Wess-Zumino action functional have a geometric interpretation as bundle gerbe holonomy. We present details of the construction of a distinguished square root of such holonomy and of a related 3d-index and briefly recall the application of those to the building of topological invariants for time-reversal-symmetric two- and three-dimensional crystals, both static and periodically forced.
We discuss approximations of the vertex coupling on a star-shaped quantum graph of $n$ edges in the singular case when the wave functions are not continuous at the vertex and no edge-permutation symmetry is present. It is shown that the Cheon-Shigehara technique using $δ$ interactions with nonlinearly scaled couplings yields a $2n$-parameter family of boundary conditions in the sense of norm resolvent topology. Moreover, using graphs with additional edges one can approximate the ${n+1\choose 2}$-parameter family of all time-reversal invariant couplings.
We investigate the Yang-Baxter algebra for $\mathrm{U}(1)$ invariant three-state vertex models whose Boltzmann weights configurations break explicitly the parity-time reversal symmetry. We uncover two families of regular Lax operators with nineteen non-null weights which ultimately sit on algebraic plane curves with genus five. We argue that these curves admit degree two morphisms onto elliptic curves and thus they are bielliptic. The associated $\mathrm{R}$-matrices are non-additive in the spectral parameters and it has been checked that they satisfy the Yang-Baxter equation. The respective i…
We study the dependence of entropy [per lattice site] of six-vertex model on boundary conditions. We start with lattices of finite size and then proceed to thermodynamic limit. We argue that the six-vertex model with periodic, anti-periodic and mixed boundary conditions produce the same free-energy in the thermodynamic limit. We have found fixed boundary conditions such that the entropy varies continously from zero to its value for periodic boundary condition. We have also shown that the physical quantities of the six-vertex model at the isotropic point does not change in the case of singular …
We consider a family of Schrödinger operators supported by a periodic chain of loops connected either tightly or loosely through connecting links of the length $\ell>0$ with the vertex coupling which is non-invariant with respect to the time reversal. The spectral behavior of the model illustrates that the high-energy behavior of such vertices is determined by the vertex parity. The positive spectrum of the tightly connected chain covers the entire halfline while the one of the loose chain is dominated by gaps. In addition, there is a negative spectrum consisting of an infinitely degenerate ei…
We study planar "vertex" models, which are probability measures on edge subsets of a planar graph, satisfying certain constraints at each vertex, examples including dimer model, and 1-2 model, which we will define. We express the local statistics of a large class of vertex models on a finite hexagonal lattice as a linear combination of the local statistics of dimers on the corresponding Fisher graph, with the help of a generalized holographic algorithm. Using an $n\times n$ torus to approximate the periodic infinite graph, we give an explicit integral formula for the free energy and local stat…
We have found a family of solvable nineteen vertex model with statistical configurations invariant by the time reversal symmetry within a systematic study of the respective Yang-Baxter relation. The Boltzmann weights sit on a degree seven algebraic threefold which is shown birationally equivalent to the three-dimensional projective space. This permits to write parameterized expressions for both the transition operator and the $\mathrm{R}$-matrix depending on three independent affine spectral parameters. The Hamiltonian limit tells us that the azimuthal magnetic field term is connected with the…
We investigate the possibility of constructing exponentially localized composite Wannier bases, or equivalently smooth periodic Bloch frames, for 3-dimensional time-reversal symmetric topological insulators, both of bosonic and of fermionic type, so that the bases in question are also compatible with time-reversal symmetry. This problem is translated in the study, of independent interest, of homotopy classes of continuous, periodic, and time-reversal symmetric families of unitary matrices. We identify three $\mathbb{Z}_2$-valued complete invariants for these homotopy classes. When these invari…
The existing periodic orbit theory of spectral correlations for classically chaotic systems relies on the Riemann-Siegel-like representation of the spectral determinants which is still largely hypothetical. We suggest a simpler derivation using analytic continuation of the periodic-orbit expansion of the pertinent generating function from the convergence border to physically important real values of its arguments. As examples we consider chaotic systems without time reversal as well as the Riemann zeta function and Dirichlet L-functions zeros.
We present a general analysis of the bifurcation sequences of periodic orbits in general position of a family of reversible 1:1 resonant Hamiltonian normal forms invariant under $\Z_2\times\Z_2$ symmetry. The rich structure of these classical systems is investigated both with a singularity theory approach and geometric methods. The geometric approach readily allows to find an energy-momentum map describing the phase space structure of each member of the family and a catastrophe map that captures its global features. Quadrature formulas for the actions, periods and rotation number are also prov…
We study the free energy and limit shape problem for the five-vertex model with periodic "genus zero" weights. We derive the exact phase diagram, free energy and surface tension for this model. We show that its surface tension has trivial potential and use this to give explicit parameterizations of limit shapes.
We consider Schrödinger operators on a class of periodic quantum graphs with randomly distributed Kirchhoff coupling constants at all vertices. Using the technique of self-adjoint extensions we obtain conditions for localization on quantum graphs in terms of finite volume criteria for some energy-dependent discrete Hamiltonians. These conditions hold in the strong disorder limit and at the spectral edges.
In this work we establish a relation between the six-vertex model with Domain Wall Boundary Conditions (DWBC) and the $XXZ$ spin chain with anti-periodic twisted boundaries. More precisely, we demonstrate a formal relation between the zeroes of the partition function of the six-vertex model with DWBC and the zeroes of the transfer matrix eigenvalues associated with the six-vertex model with a particular non-diagonal boundary twist.
A group theoretical description of basic discrete symmetries (space inversion P, time reversal T and charge conjugation C) is given. Discrete subgroups of orthogonal groups of multidimensional spaces over the fields of real and complex numbers are considered in terms of fundamental automorphisms of Clifford algebras. In accordance with a division ring structure, a complete classification of automorphism groups is established for the Clifford algebras over the fields of real and complex numbers. Finite-dimensional representations of the proper orthochronous Lorentz group are studied in terms of…
We address the question of the dependence of the bulk free energy on boundary conditions for the six vertex model. Here we compare the bulk free energy for periodic and domain wall boundary conditions. Using a determinant representation for the partition function with domain wall boundary conditions, we derive Toda differential equations and solve them asymptotically in order to extract the bulk free energy. We find that it is different and bears no simple relation with the free energy for periodic boundary conditions. The six vertex model with domain wall boundary conditions is closely relate…
We study a special anisotropic XYZ-model on a periodic chain of an odd length and conjecture exact expressions for certain components of the ground state eigenvectors. The results are written in terms of tau-functions associated with Picard's elliptic solutions of the Painlevé VI equation. Connections with other problems related to the eight-vertex model are briefly discussed.
In this work we elaborate on a previous result relating the partition function of the six-vertex model with domain-wall boundary conditions to eigenvalues of a transfer matrix. More precisely, we express the aforementioned partition function as a determinant of a matrix with entries being eigenvalues of the anti-periodic six-vertex model's transfer matrix.
We study the spin Calogero model of D_N type with polarized spin reversal operators, as well as its associated spin chain of Haldane-Shastry type, both in the antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic cases. We compute the spectrum and the partition function of the former model in closed form, from which we derive an exact formula for the chain's partition function in terms of products of partition functions of Polychronakos-Frahm spin chains of type A. Using a recursion relation for the latter partition functions that we derive in the paper, we are able to numerically evaluate the partition functio…
