Interplay between lattice gauge theory and subsystem codes (2304.05718v3)

Abstract: It is now widely recognized that the toric code is a pure gauge-theory model governed by a projective Hamiltonian with topological orders. In this work, we extend the interplay between quantum information system and gauge-theory model from the view point of subsystem code, which is suitable for \textit{gauge systems including matter fields}. As an example, we show that $Z_2$ lattice gauge-Higgs model in (2+1)-dimensions with specific open boundary conditions is noting but a kind of subsystem code. In the system, Gauss-law constraints are stabilizers, and order parameters identifying Higgs and confinement phases exist and they are nothing but logical operators in subsystem codes residing on the boundaries. Mixed anomaly of them dictates the existence of boundary zero modes, which is a direct consequence of symmetry-protected topological order in Higgs and confinement phases. After identifying phase diagram, subsystem codes are embedded in the Higgs and confinement phases. As our main findings, we give an explicit description of the code (encoded qubit) in the Higgs and confinement phases, which clarifies duality between Higgs and confinement phases. The degenerate structure of subsystem code in the Higgs and confinement phases remains even in very high-energy levels, which is analogous to notion of strong-zero modes observed in some interesting condensed-matter systems. Numerical methods are used to corroborate analytically-obtained results and the obtained spectrum structure supports the analytical description of various subsystem codes in the gauge theory phases.