Symmetry Breaking and Finite Size Effects in Quantum Many-Body Systems

TL;DR

This paper proves the existence of symmetry-broken ground states in finite quantum many-body systems by analyzing low-lying eigenstates, providing insights into quantum phase transitions and aiding numerical methods.

Contribution

It introduces a rigorous method to construct symmetry-broken states from low-lying excitations in finite systems, connecting finite and infinite volume behaviors.

Findings

Existence of low-lying eigenstates with energies bounded by 1/N

Construction of symmetry-broken states via linear combinations of eigenstates

Results applicable to various quantum many-body models

Abstract

We consider a quantum many-body system on a lattice with a continuous symmetry which exhibits a spontaneous symmetry breaking in its infinite volume ground states, but in which the order operator does not commute with the Hamiltonian. A typical example is the Heisenberg antiferromagnet with a Neel order. In the corresponding finite system, the symmetry breaking is usually "obscured" by "quantum fluctuation" and one gets a symmetric ground state with a long range order. In such a situation, we prove that there exist ever increasing numbers of low-lying eigenstates whose excitation energies are bounded by a constant times 1/N, where N denotes the number of sites. By forming linear combinations of these low-lying states and the (finite-volume) ground state, and by taking infinite volume limits, we construct infinite volume ground states with explicit symmetry breaking. Our general theorems do not only shed light on the nature ofsymmetry breaking in quantum many-body systems, but provide indispensable information for numerical approaches to these systems. We also discuss applications of our general results to a variety of examples. The present paper is intended to be accessible to the readers without background in mathematical approaches to quantum many-body systems.