Operator fusion from wave-function overlap: Universal finite-size corrections and application to the Haagerup model

Abstract

Given a critical quantum spin chain described by a conformal field theory (CFT) at long distances, it is crucial to understand the universal conformal data. One most important ingredient is the operator product expansion (OPE) coefficients, which describe how operators fuse into each other. It has been proposed in [Zou and Vidal, Phys. Rev. B 105, 125125 (2022)] that the OPE coefficients can be computed from overlaps of low-energy wave functions of the spin chain. In this paper, we establish that all conformal data including central charge, conformal dimensions, and OPE coefficients are encoded in the wave-function overlaps, with universal finite-size corrections that depend on the operator content of the cyclic orbifold CFT. Thus this method allows us to numerically compute all the conformal data based solely on the low-energy eigenstates. The predictions are verified in the Ising and XXZ model. As an application, we study the recently proposed Haagerup model built from the Haagerup fusion category. We find that the CFT has central charge $c\ensuremath{\approx}2.1$ and the lowest spin-1 operator in the twisted sector has scaling dimension $1<{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}}_{J}\ensuremath{\le}1.4$.

Locations

• Physical review. B./Physical review. B - View
• arXiv (Cornell University) - View - PDF