Interrelations among frustration-free models via Witten's conjugation

Abstract

We apply Witten’s conjugation argument [Nucl. Phys. B 202, 253 (1982)] to spin chains, where it allows us to derive frustration-free systems and their exact ground states from known results. We particularly focus on \mathbb{Z}_pℤp-symmetric models, with the Kitaev and Peschel–Emery line of the axial next-nearest neighbour Ising (ANNNI) chain being the simplest examples. The approach allows us to treat two \mathbb{Z}_3ℤ3-invariant frustration-free parafermion chains, recently derived by Iemini et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 170402 (2017)] and Mahyaeh and Ardonne [Phys. Rev. B 98, 245104 (2018)], respectively, in a unified framework. We derive several other frustration-free models and their exact ground states, including \mathbb{Z}_4ℤ4- and \mathbb{Z}_6ℤ6-symmetric generalisations of the frustration-free ANNNI chain.