Quantum phase transitions in the $K$-layer Ising toric code

TL;DR

This paper explores the phase diagram of a multi-layer Ising toric code system, revealing a transition from multi-layer to single-layer topological order driven by Ising interactions, with evidence of a quantum critical point.

Contribution

It derives an effective low-energy model for the $K$-layer Ising toric code and analyzes the phase transition, extending previous bilayer results to general $K$.

Findings

Transition from $ ext{Z}_2^K$ to $ ext{Z}_2$ topological order

Identification of a quantum critical point in the 3d Ising* universality class

Application of high-order series expansions for specific $K$ values

Abstract

We investigate the quantum phase diagram of the $K$-layer Ising toric code corresponding to $K$ layers of two-dimensional toric codes coupled by Ising interactions. While for small Ising interactions the system displays $\mathbb{Z}_2^K$ topological order originating from the toric codes in each layer, the system shows $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order in the high-Ising limit. The latter is demonstrated for general $K$ by deriving an effective low-energy model in $K^{\rm th}$-order degenerate perturbation theory, which is given as an effective anisotropic single-layer toric code in terms of collective pseudo-spins 1/2 refering to the two ground states of isolated Ising chain segments. For the specific cases $K=3$ and $K=4$ we apply high-order series expansions to determine the gap series in the low- and high-Ising limit. Extrapolation of the elementary energy gaps gives convincing evidence that the ground-state phase diagram consists of a single quantum critical point in the 3d Ising* universality class for both $K$ separating both types of topological order, which is consistent with former findings for the bilayer Ising toric code.