Two-dimensional symmetry-protected topological phases and transitions in open quantum systems

Abstract: We investigate the influence of local decoherence on a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase of the two-dimensional (2D) cluster state. Mapping the 2D cluster state under decoherence to a classical spin model, we show a topological phase transition of a $\mathbb{Z}2^{(0)}\times\mathbb{Z}{2}^{(1)}$ SPT phase into the trivial phase occurring at a finite decoherence strength. To characterize the phase transition, we employ three distinct diagnostic methods, namely, the relative entropy between two decohered SPT states with different topological edge states, the strange correlation function of $\mathbb{Z}_2^{(1)}$ charge, and the multipartite negativity of the mixed state on a disk. All the diagnostics can be obtained as certain thermodynamic quantities in the corresponding classical model, and the results of three diagnostic tests are consistent with each other. Given that the 2D cluster state possesses universal computational capabilities in the context of measurement-based quantum computation, the topological phase transition found here can also be interpreted as a transition in the computational power.