Nonsemisimple noninvertible symmetry
Phys. Rev. B 112, 085135 – Published 20 August, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nbf9-ywmd
Abstract
We investigate the action of a noninvertible symmetry on spin chains whose topological lines are labeled by representations of the four-dimensional Taft algebra. The main peculiarity of this symmetry is the existence of junctions between distinct indecomposable lines. Sacrificing Hermiticity, we construct several symmetric, frustration-free, gapped Hamiltonians with real spectra and analyze their ground-state subspaces. Our study reveals two intriguing phenomena. First, we identify a smooth path of gapped symmetric Hamiltonians whose ground states transform inequivalently under the symmetry. Second, we find a model where a product state and the so-called state spontaneously break the symmetry, and propose an explanation for the indistinguishability of these two states in the infinite-volume limit in terms of the symmetry category.