Winding up quantum spin helices: How avoided level crossings exile classical topological protection

Abstract

A magnetic helix can be wound into a classical Heisenberg chain by fixing one end while rotating the other one. We show that in quantum Heisenberg chains \new{of finite length}, the magnetization slips back to the trivial state beyond a finite turning angle. Avoided level crossings thus undermine classical topological protection. Yet, for special values of the axial Heisenberg anisotropy, stable spin helices form again, which are non-locally entangled. Away from these sweet spots, spin helices can be stabilized dynamically or by dissipation. For half-integer spin chains of odd length, a spin slippage state and its Kramers partner define a qubit with a non-trivial Berry connection.

arXiv comment5 pages article, 5 pages Supplemental Material, 8 figures

References in corpus (25)

• Non-Abelian statistics and topological quantum information processing in 1D wire networks
• Topological Superconductivity and Majorana Fermions in RKKY Systems
• Interplay between classical magnetic moments and superconductivity in quantum one-dimensional conductors: toward a self-sustained topological Majorana phase
• Self-Organized Topological State with Majorana Fermions
• Spin currents and spin superfluidity
• Majorana fermions in superconducting nanowires without spin-orbit coupling
• Poisson versus GOE statistics in integrable and non-integrable quantum hamiltonian
• Dissipationless Spin Transport in Thin Film Ferromagnets
• Crossover from Poisson to Wigner-Dyson Level Statistics in Spin Chains with Integrability Breaking
• Level repulsion in integrable and almost-integrable quantum spin models
• Population transfer between two quantum states by piecewise chirping of femtosecond pulses: Theory and experiment
• Exactly solvable two-level quantum systems and Landau-Zener interferometry
• Driven isotropic Heisenberg spin chain with arbitrary boundary twisting angle: exact results
• Topologically Protected Magnetic Helix for All-Spin-Based Applications
• Solution of the Lindblad equation for spin helix states
• Thermally-Activated Phase Slips in Superfluid Spin Transport in Magnetic Wires
• Obtaining pure steady states in nonequilibrium quantum systems with strong dissipative couplings
• Bethe Ansatz solution of the open XX spin chain with nondiagonal boundary terms
• Skyrmions at the edge: Confinement effects in Fe/Ir(111)
• Analytical solutions for a two-level system driven by a class of chirped pulses
• Spin Superfluidity in Coplanar Multiferroics
• Topological Effects on Quantum Phase Slips in Superfluid Spin Transport
• Targeting pure quantum states by strong noncommutative dissipation
• Spin-helix states in the $XXZ$ spin chain with strong dissipation
• The solution of an open XXZ chain with arbitrary spin revisited

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Catching Bethe phantoms and quantum many-body scars: Long-lived spin-helix states in Heisenberg magnets
• Controlled Creation of Quantum Skyrmions
• Rotating edge-field driven processing of chiral spin textures in racetrack devices
• Topological spin torque emerging in classical-spin systems with different time scales
• Quantum spin helices more stable than the ground state: onset of helical protection
• Universality in relaxation of spin helices under the $XXZ$- spin chain dynamics
• Theory of topological spin Josephson junctions
• The quantum skyrmion Hall effect in f electron systems
• Density Matrix Renormalization Group Study of Domain Wall Qubits
• Transition between dissipatively stabilized helical states
• Dissipative cooling towards phantom Bethe states in boundary driven XXZ spin chain
• Few-body precursors of topological frustration
• Generalized Josephson effect with arbitrary periodicity in quantum magnets