Connected components of irreducible maps and 1D quantum phases

We investigate elementary topological properties of sets of completely positive (CP) maps that arise in quantum Perron-Frobenius theory. We prove that the set of primitive CP maps of fixed Kraus rank is path-connected and we provide a complete classification of the connected components of irreducible CP maps at given Kraus rank and fixed peripheral spectrum in terms of a multiplicity index. These findings are then applied to analyse 1D quantum phases by studying equivalence classes of translational invariant matrix product states that correspond to the connected components of the respective CP maps. Our results extend the previously obtained picture in that they do not require blocking of physical sites, they lead to analytic paths, and they allow us to decompose into ergodic components and to study the breaking of translational symmetry.