SciPost: SciPost Physics: issue detail

SciPost Physics

SciPost Physics Vol. 15 issue 4 (October 2023)

Previous issue | Vol. 15 issue 3

Vol. 15 issue 5 | Next issue

Tensor network study of the Shastry-Sutherland model with weak interlayer coupling

Patrick C. G. Vlaar, Philippe Corboz

SciPost Phys. 15, 126 (2023) · published 2 October 2023 | · pdf

The layered material SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$ has long been studied because of its fascinating physics in a magnetic field and under pressure. Many of its properties are remarkably well described by the Shastry-Sutherland model (SSM) - a two-dimensional frustrated spin system. However, the extent of the intermediate plaquette phase discovered in SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$ under pressure is significantly smaller than predicted in theory, which is likely due to the weak interlayer coupling that is present in the material but neglected in the model. Using state-of-the-art tensor network methods we study the SSM with a weak interlayer coupling and show that the intermediate plaquette phase is destabilized already at a smaller value around $J''/J\sim0.04-0.05$ than previously predicted from series expansion. Based on our phase diagram we estimate the effective interlayer coupling in SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$ to be around $J''/J\sim 0.027$ at ambient pressure.
$\beta$-function of the level-zero Gross-Neveu model

Dmitri Bykov

SciPost Phys. 15, 127 (2023) · published 2 October 2023 | · pdf

We explain that the supersymmetric $\mathbb{CP}^{n-1}$ sigma model is directly related to the level-zero chiral Gross-Neveu (cGN) model. In particular, beta functions of the two theories should coincide. This is consistent with the one-loop-exactness of the $\mathbb{CP}^{n-1}$ beta function and a conjectured all-loop beta function of cGN models. We perform an explicit four-loop calculation on the cGN side and discuss the renormalization scheme dependence that arises.
Viability of rotation sensing using phonon interferometry in Bose-Einstein condensates

Charles W. Woffinden, Andrew J. Groszek, Guillaume Gauthier, Bradley J. Mommers, Michael. W. J. Bromley, Simon A. Haine, Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Matthew J. Davis, Tyler W. Neely, Mark Baker

SciPost Phys. 15, 128 (2023) · published 2 October 2023 | · pdf

We demonstrate the use of a ring-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate as a rotation sensor by measuring the interference between two counter-propagating phonon modes imprinted azimuthally around the ring. We observe rapid decay of the excitations, quantified by quality factors of at most Q ≈ 27. We numerically model our experiment using the c-field methodology, allowing us to estimate the parameters that maximise the performance of our sensor. We explore the damping mechanisms underlying the observed phonon decay, and identify two distinct Landau scattering processes that each dominate at different driving amplitudes and temperatures. Our simulations reveal that Q is limited by strong damping of phonons even in the zero temperature limit. We perform an experimental proof-of-principle rotation measurement using persistent currents imprinted around the ring. We demonstrate a rotation sensitivity of up to $\Delta \Omega ≈ 0.3 rad s^{-1}$ from a single image, with a theoretically achievable value of $\Delta \Omega ≈ 0.04 rad s^{-1}$ in the atomic shot-noise limit. This is a significant improvement over the shot-noise-limited $\Delta \Omega ≈ 1 rad s^{-1}$ sensitivity obtained by Marti et al. [Phys. Rev. A 91, 013602 (2015)] for a similar setup.
Quantized Berry winding from an emergent $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry

Thibaud Louvet, Pierre Delplace, Mark-Oliver Goerbig, David Carpentier

SciPost Phys. 15, 129 (2023) · published 3 October 2023 | · pdf

Linear crossings of energy bands occur in a wide variety of materials. In this paper we address the question of the quantization of the Berry winding characterizing the topology of these crossings in dimension $D=2$. Based on the historical example of $2$-bands crossing occuring in graphene, we propose to relate these Berry windings to the topological Chern number within a $D=3$ dimensional extension of these crossings. This dimensional embedding is obtained through a choice of a gap-opening potential. We show that the presence of an (emergent) $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry, local in momentum and antiunitary, allows the quantization of the Berry windings as multiples of $\pi$. We illustrate this quantization mechanism on a variety of three-band crossings.
EPiC-GAN: Equivariant point cloud generation for particle jets

Erik Buhmann, Gregor Kasieczka, Jesse Thaler

SciPost Phys. 15, 130 (2023) · published 3 October 2023 | · pdf

With the vast data-collecting capabilities of current and future high-energy collider experiments, there is an increasing demand for computationally efficient simulations. Generative machine learning models enable fast event generation, yet so far these approaches are largely constrained to fixed data structures and rigid detector geometries. In this paper, we introduce EPiC-GAN - equivariant point cloud generative adversarial network - which can produce point clouds of variable multiplicity. This flexible framework is based on deep sets and is well suited for simulating sprays of particles called jets. The generator and discriminator utilize multiple EPiC layers with an interpretable global latent vector. Crucially, the EPiC layers do not rely on pairwise information sharing between particles, which leads to a significant speed-up over graph- and transformer-based approaches with more complex relation diagrams. We demonstrate that EPiC-GAN scales well to large particle multiplicities and achieves high generation fidelity on benchmark jet generation tasks.
Complexity of frustration: A new source of non-local non-stabilizerness

Jovan Odavić, Tobias Haug, Gianpaolo Torre, Alioscia Hamma, Fabio Franchini, Salvatore Marco Giampaolo

SciPost Phys. 15, 131 (2023) · published 3 October 2023 | · pdf

We advance the characterization of complexity in quantum many-body systems by examining $W$-states embedded in a spin chain. Such states show an amount of non-stabilizerness or "magic", measured as the Stabilizer Rényi Entropy, that grows logarithmically with the number of qubits/spins. We focus on systems whose Hamiltonian admits a classical point with extensive degeneracy. Near these points, a Clifford circuit can convert the ground state into a $W$-state, while in the rest of the phase to which the classical point belongs, it is dressed with local quantum correlations. Topological frustrated quantum spin-chains host phases with the desired phenomenology, and we show that their ground state's Stabilizer Rényi Entropy is the sum of that of the $W$-states plus an extensive local contribution. Our work reveals that $W$-states/frustrated ground states display a non-local degree of complexity that can be harvested as a quantum resource and has no counterpart in GHZ states/non-frustrated systems.
One-form symmetries in $\mathcal{N} = 3$ S-folds

Antonio Amariti, Davide Morgante, Antoine Pasternak, Simone Rota, Valdo Tatitscheff

SciPost Phys. 15, 132 (2023) · published 3 October 2023 | · pdf

We classify the global one-form symmetries for non-Lagrangian $\mathcal{N}=3$ SCFTs that arise by the action of $S$-fold projections on D3-branes. Such a classification is dictated, on a generic point of the Coulomb branch, by probing the charge spectrum of $(p, q)$-strings in the brane setup. The charge lattice of lines is then obtained by finding the ones that are genuine modulo screening by dynamical particles. The one-form symmetries are then extracted from the maximal sub-lattices of mutually local lines. We further comment on the existence of non-invertible symmetries for some of these $\mathcal{N}=3$ SCFTs.
Theoretical investigations on Kerr and Faraday rotations in topological multi-Weyl Semimetals

Supriyo Ghosh, Ambaresh Sahoo, Snehasish Nandy

SciPost Phys. 15, 133 (2023) · published 4 October 2023 | · pdf

Motivated by the recent proposal of giant Kerr rotation in WSMs, we investigate the Kerr and Faraday rotations in time-reversal broken multi-Weyl semimetals (mWSMs) in the absence of an external magnetic field. Using the framework of Kubo response theory, we find that both the longitudinal and transverse components of the optical conductivity in mWSMs are modified by the topological charge ($n$). Engendered by the optical Hall conductivity, we show in the thin film limit that, while the giant Kerr rotation and corresponding ellipticity are independent of $n$, the Faraday rotation and its ellipticity angle scale as $n$ and $n^2$, respectively. In contrast, the polarization rotation in semi-infinite mWSMs is dominated by the axion field showing $n$ dependence. In particular, the magnitude of Kerr (Faraday) angle decreases (increases) with increasing $n$ in Faraday geometry, whereas in Voigt geometry, it depicts different $n$-dependencies in different frequency regimes. The obtained results on the behavior of polarization rotations in mWSMs could be used in experiments as a probe to distinguish single, double, and triple WSMs, as well as discriminate the surfaces of mWSMs with and without hosting Fermi arcs.
Extensive long-range entanglement in a nonequilibrium steady state

Shachar Fraenkel, Moshe Goldstein

SciPost Phys. 15, 134 (2023) · published 4 October 2023 | · pdf

Entanglement measures constitute powerful tools in the quantitative description of quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium. We study entanglement in the current-carrying steady state of a paradigmatic one-dimensional model of noninteracting fermions at zero temperature in the presence of a scatterer. We show that disjoint intervals located on opposite sides of the scatterer, and within similar distances from it, maintain volume-law entanglement regardless of their separation, as measured by their fermionic negativity and coherent information. The mutual information of the intervals, which quantifies the total correlations between them, follows a similar scaling. Interestingly, this scaling entails in particular that if the position of one of the intervals is kept fixed, then the correlation measures depend non-monotonically on the distance between the intervals. By deriving exact expressions for the extensive terms of these quantities, we prove their simple functional dependence on the scattering probabilities, and demonstrate that the strong long-range entanglement is generated by the coherence between the transmitted and reflected parts of propagating particles within the bias-voltage window. The generality and simplicity of the model suggest that this behavior should characterize a large class of nonequilibrium steady states.
Two-dimensional Ising and Potts model with long-range bond disorder: A renormalization group approach

Francesco Chippari, Marco Picco, Raoul Santachiara

SciPost Phys. 15, 135 (2023) · published 4 October 2023 | · pdf

In this paper we provide new analytic results on two-dimensional $q$-Potts models ($q ≥ 2$) in the presence of bond disorder correlations which decay algebraically with distance with exponent $a$. In particular, our results are valid for the long-range bond disordered Ising model ($q=2$). We implement a renormalization group perturbative approach based on conformal perturbation theory. We extend to the long-range case the RG scheme used in [V. Dotsenko et al., Nucl. Phys. B 455 701-23] for the short-range disorder. Our approach is based on a $2$-loop order double expansion in the positive parameters $(2-a)$ and $(q-2)$. We will show that the Weinrib-Halperin conjecture for the long-range thermal exponent can be violated for a non-Gaussian disorder. We compute the central charges of the long-range fixed points finding a very good agreement with numerical measurements.
Ballistic macroscopic fluctuation theory

Benjamin Doyon, Gabriele Perfetto, Tomohiro Sasamoto, Takato Yoshimura

SciPost Phys. 15, 136 (2023) · published 4 October 2023 | · pdf

We introduce a new universal framework describing fluctuations and correlations in quantum and classical many-body systems, at the Euler hydrodynamic scale of space and time. The framework adapts the ideas of the conventional macroscopic fluctuation theory (MFT) to systems that support ballistic transport. The resulting "ballistic MFT" (BMFT) is solely based on the Euler hydrodynamics data of the many-body system. Within this framework, mesoscopic observables are classical random variables depending only on the fluctuating conserved densities, and Euler-scale fluctuations are obtained by deterministically transporting thermodynamic fluctuations via the Euler hydrodynamics. Using the BMFT, we show that long-range correlations in space generically develop over time from long-wavelength inhomogeneous initial states in interacting models. This result, which we verify by numerical calculations, challenges the long-held paradigm that at the Euler scale, fluid cells may be considered uncorrelated. We also show that the Gallavotti-Cohen fluctuation theorem for non-equilibrium ballistic transport follows purely from time-reversal invariance of the Euler hydrodynamics. We check the validity of the BMFT by applying it to integrable systems, and in particular the hard-rod gas, with extensive simulations that confirm our analytical results.
Weak vs. strong breaking of integrability in interacting scalar quantum field theories

Bence Fitos, Gábor Takács

SciPost Phys. 15, 137 (2023) · published 5 October 2023 | · pdf

The recently proposed classification of integrability-breaking perturbations according to their strength is studied in the context of quantum field theories. Using random matrix methods to diagnose the resulting quantum chaotic behaviour, we investigate the $\phi^4$ and $\phi^6$ interactions of a massive scalar, by considering the crossover between Poissonian and Wigner-Dyson distributions in systems truncated to a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. We find that a naive extension of the scaling of crossover coupling with the volume observed in spin chains does not give satisfactory results for quantum field theory. Instead, we demonstrate that considering the scaling of the crossover coupling with the number of particles yields robust signatures, and is able to distinguish between the strengths of integrability breaking in the $\phi^4$ and $\phi^6$ quantum field theories.
Photon pumping, photodissociation and dissipation at interplay for the fluorescence of a molecule in a cavity

Megha Gopalakrishna, Emil Viñas Boström, Claudio Verdozzi

SciPost Phys. 15, 138 (2023) · published 5 October 2023 | · pdf

We introduce a model description of a diatomic molecule in an optical cavity, with pump and fluorescent fields, and electron and nuclear motion are treated on equal footing and exactly. The model accounts for several optical response temporal scenarios: A Mollow spectrum hindered by electron correlations, a competition of harmonic generation and molecular dissociation, a dependence of fluorescence on photon pumping rate and dissipation. It is thus a general and flexible template for insight into experiments where quantum photon confinement, leakage, nuclear motion and electronic correlations are at interplay.
Isolated flat bands in 2D lattices based on a novel path-exchange symmetry

Jun-Hyung Bae, Tigran Sedrakyan, Saurabh Maiti

SciPost Phys. 15, 139 (2023) · published 5 October 2023 | · pdf

The increased ability to engineer two-dimensional (2D) systems, either using materials, photonic lattices, or cold atoms, has led to the search for 2D structures with interesting properties. One such property is the presence of flat bands. Typically, the presence of these requires long-ranged hoppings, fine-tuning of nearest neighbor hoppings, or breaking time-reversal symmetry by using a staggered flux distribution in the unit cell. We provide a prescription based on carrying out projections from a parent system to generate different flat band systems. We identify the conditions for maintaining the flatness and identify a path-exchange symmetry in such systems that cause the flat band to be degenerate with the other dispersive ones. Breaking this symmetry leads to lifting the degeneracy while still preserving the flatness of the band. This technique does not require changing the topology nor breaking time-reversal symmetry as was suggested earlier in the literature. The prescription also eliminates the need for any fine-tuning. Moreover, it is shown that the subsequent projected systems inherit the precise fine-tuning conditions that were discussed in the literature for similar systems, in order to have and isolate a flat band. As examples, we demonstrate the use of our prescription to arrive at the flat band conditions for popular systems like the Kagomé, the Lieb, and the Dice lattices. Finally, we are also able to show that a flat band exists in a recently proposed chiral spin-liquid state of the Kagomé lattice only if it is associated with a gauge field that produces a flux modulation of the Chern-Simons type.
Exact thermodynamics and transport in the classical sine-Gordon model

Rebekka Koch, Alvise Bastianello

SciPost Phys. 15, 140 (2023) · published 5 October 2023 | · pdf

We revisit the exact thermodynamic description of the classical sine-Gordon field theory, a well-known integrable model. We found that existing results in the literature based on the soliton-gas picture did not correctly take into account light, but extended, solitons and thus led to incorrect results. This issue is regularized upon requantization: we derive the correct thermodynamics by taking the semiclassical limit of the quantum model. Our results are then extended to transport settings by means of Generalized Hydrodynamics.
MadNIS - Neural multi-channel importance sampling

Theo Heimel, Ramon Winterhalder, Anja Butter, Joshua Isaacson, Claudius Krause, Fabio Maltoni, Olivier Mattelaer, Tilman Plehn

SciPost Phys. 15, 141 (2023) · published 6 October 2023 | · pdf

Theory predictions for the LHC require precise numerical phase-space integration and generation of unweighted events. We combine machine-learned multi-channel weights with a normalizing flow for importance sampling, to improve classical methods for numerical integration. We develop an efficient bi-directional setup based on an invertible network, combining online and buffered training for potentially expensive integrands. We illustrate our method for the Drell-Yan process with an additional narrow resonance.
Fermionic higher-form symmetries

Yi-Nan Wang, Yi Zhang

SciPost Phys. 15, 142 (2023) · published 6 October 2023 | · pdf

In this paper, we explore a new type of global symmetries - the fermionic higher-form symmetries. They are generated by topological operators with fermionic parameter, which act on fermionic extended objects. We present a set of field theory examples with fermionic higher-form symmetries, which are constructed from fermionic tensor fields. They include the free fermionic tensor theories, a new type of fermionic topological quantum field theories, as well as the exotic 6d (4,0) theory. We also discuss the gauging and breaking of such global symmetries and the relation to the no global symmetry swampland conjecture.
Towards the one loop IR/UV dictionary in the SMEFT: One loop generated operators from new scalars and fermions

Guilherme Guedes, Pablo Olgoso, José Santiago

SciPost Phys. 15, 143 (2023) · published 6 October 2023 | · pdf

Effective field theories offer a rationale to classify new physics models based on the size of their contribution to the effective Lagrangian, and therefore to experimental observables. A complete classification can be obtained, at a fixed order in perturbation theory, in the form of IR/UV dictionaries. We report on the first step towards the calculation of the one loop, dimension 6 IR/UV dictionary in the SMEFT. We consider dimension-six operators in the SMEFT that cannot be generated at tree level in weakly coupled extensions of the Standard Model. This includes operators with three gauge field strength tensors, operators with two field strength tensors and two scalar fields and dipole operators. We provide a complete classification of renormalizable extensions of the Standard Model with new scalar and fermion fields that contribute to these operators at one loop order, together with their explicit contribution. Our results are encoded in a Mathematica package called SOLD (SMEFT One Loop Dictionary), which includes further functionalities to facilitate the calculation of the complete tree level and one loop matching of any relevant model via an automated interface to matchmakereft. All operators in our list are indeed generated at the one loop order in the extensions considered with the exception of CP-violating ones with three field-strength tensors.
Mirror symmetry for five-parameter Hulek-Verrill manifolds

Philip Candelas, Xenia de la Ossa, Pyry Kuusela, Joseph McGovern

SciPost Phys. 15, 144 (2023) · published 6 October 2023 | · pdf

We study the mirrors of five-parameter Calabi-Yau threefolds first studied by Hulek and Verrill in the context of observed modular behaviour of the zeta functions for Calabi-Yau manifolds. Toric geometry allows for a simple explicit construction of these mirrors, which turn out to be familiar manifolds. These are elliptically fibred in multiple ways. By studying the singular fibres, we are able to identify the rational curves of low degree on the mirror manifolds. This verifies the mirror symmetry prediction obtained by studying the mirror map near large complex structure points. We undertake also an extensive study of the periods of the Hulek-Verrill manifolds and their monodromies. On the mirror, we compute the genus-zero and -one instanton numbers, which are labelled by 5 indices, as $h^{1,1}\!=5$. There is an obvious permutation symmetry on these indices, but in addition there is a surprising repetition of values. We trace this back to an $S_{6}$ symmetry made manifest by certain constructions of the complex structure moduli space of the Hulek-Verrill manifold. Among other consequences, we see in this way that the moduli space has six large complex structure limits. It is the freedom to expand the prepotential about any one of these points that leads to this symmetry in the instanton numbers. An intriguing fact is that the group that acts on the instanton numbers is larger than $S_6$ and is in fact an infinite hyperbolic Coxeter group, that we study. The group orbits have a "web" structure, and with certain qualifications the instanton numbers are only nonzero if they belong to what we term "positive webs". This structure has consequences for instanton numbers at all genera.
Spectral and steady-state properties of fermionic random quadratic Liouvillians

João Costa, Pedro Ribeiro, Andrea De Luca, Tomaž Prosen, Lucas Sá

SciPost Phys. 15, 145 (2023) · published 9 October 2023 | · pdf

We study spectral and steady-state properties of generic Markovian dissipative systems described by quadratic fermionic Liouvillian operators of the Lindblad form. The Hamiltonian dynamics is modeled by a generic random quadratic operator, i.e., as a featureless superconductor of class D, whereas the Markovian dissipation is described by $M$ random linear jump operators. By varying the dissipation strength and the ratio of dissipative channels per fermion, $m=M/(2N_F)$, we find two distinct phases where the support of the single-particle spectrum has one or two connected components. In the strongly dissipative regime, this transition occurs for $m=1/2$ and is concomitant with a qualitative change in both the steady-state and the spectral gap that rules the large-time dynamics. Above this threshold, the spectral gap and the steady-state purity qualitatively agree with the fully generic (i.e., non-quadratic) case studied recently. Below $m=1/2$, the spectral gap closes in the thermodynamic limit and the steady-state decouples into an ergodic and a nonergodic sector yielding a non-monotonic steady-state purity as a function of the dissipation strength. Our results show that some of the universal features previously observed for fully random Liouvillians are generic for a sufficiently large number of jump operators. On the other hand, if the number of dissipation channels is decreased the system can exhibit nonergodic features, rendering it possible to suppress dissipation in protected subspaces even in the presence of strong system-environment coupling.
Flux vacua and modularity for $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetric Calabi-Yau manifolds

Philip Candelas, Xenia de la Ossa, Pyry Kuusela, Joseph McGovern

SciPost Phys. 15, 146 (2023) · published 9 October 2023 | · pdf

We find continuous families of supersymmetric flux vacua in IIB Calabi-Yau compactifications for multiparameter manifolds with an appropriate $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ symmetry. We argue, supported by extensive computational evidence, that the numerators of the local zeta functions of these compactification manifolds have quadratic factors. These factors are associated with weight-two modular forms, these manifolds being said to be weight-two modular. Our evidence supports the flux modularity conjecture of Kachru, Nally, and Yang. The modular forms are related to a continuous family of elliptic curves. The flux vacua can be lifted to F-theory on elliptically fibred Calabi-Yau fourfolds. If conjectural expressions for Deligne's periods are true, then these imply that the F-theory fibre is complex-isomorphic to the modular curve. In three examples, we compute the local zeta function of the internal geometry using an extension of known methods, which we discuss here and in more detail in a companion paper. With these techniques, we are able to compare the zeta function coefficients to modular form Fourier coefficients for hundreds of manifolds in three distinct families, finding agreement in all cases. Our techniques enable us to study not only parameters valued in $\mathbb{Q}$ but also in algebraic extensions of $\mathbb{Q}$, so exhibiting relations to Hilbert and Bianchi modular forms. We present in appendices the zeta function numerators of these manifolds, together with the corresponding modular forms.
From combinatorial maps to correlation functions in loop models

Linnea Grans-Samuelsson, Jesper Lykke Jacobsen, Rongvoram Nivesvivat, Sylvain Ribault, Hubert Saleur

SciPost Phys. 15, 147 (2023) · published 9 October 2023 | · pdf

In two-dimensional statistical physics, correlation functions of the $O(N)$ and Potts models may be written as sums over configurations of non-intersecting loops. We define sums associated to a large class of combinatorial maps (also known as ribbon graphs). We allow disconnected maps, but not maps that include monogons. Given a map with $n$ vertices, we obtain a function of the moduli of the corresponding punctured Riemann surface. Due to the map's combinatorial (rather than topological) nature, that function is single-valued, and we call it an $n$-point correlation function. We conjecture that in the critical limit, such functions form a basis of solutions of certain conformal bootstrap equations. They include all correlation functions of the $O(N)$ and Potts models, and correlation functions that do not belong to any known model. We test the conjecture by counting solutions of crossing symmetry for four-point functions on the sphere.
Floquet fractional Chern insulators and competing phases in twisted bilayer graphene

Peng-Sheng Hu, Yi-Han Zhou, Zhao Liu

SciPost Phys. 15, 148 (2023) · published 10 October 2023 | · pdf

We study the many-body physics in twisted bilayer graphene coupled to periodic driving of a circularly polarized light when electron-electron interactions are taken into account. In the limit of high driving frequency $\Omega$, we use Floquet theory to formulate the system by an effective static Hamiltonian truncated to the order of $\Omega^{-2}$, which consists of a single-electron part and the screened Coulomb interaction. We numerically simulate this effective Hamiltonian by extensive exact diagonalization in the parameter space spanned by the twist angle and the driving strength. Remarkably, in a wide region of the parameter space, we identify Floquet fractional Chern insulator states in the partially filled Floquet valence bands. We characterize these topologically ordered states by ground-state degeneracy, spectral flow, and entanglement spectrum. In regions of the parameter space where fractional Chern insulator states are absent, we find topologically trivial charge density waves and band-dispersion-induced Fermi liquids which strongly compete with fractional Chern insulator states.
On the quark spectral function in QCD

Jan Horak, Jan M. Pawlowski, Nicolas Wink

SciPost Phys. 15, 149 (2023) · published 10 October 2023 | · pdf

We calculate the spectral function of light quark flavours in 2+1 flavour vacuum QCD in the isospin-symmetric approximation. We employ spectral Dyson-Schwinger equations and compute the non-perturbative quark propagator directly in real-time, using recent spectral reconstruction results from Gaussian process regression of gluon propagator data in 2+1 flavour lattice QCD. Our results feature a pole-like peak structure at time-like momenta larger than the propagator's gapping scale as well as a negative scattering continuum, which we exploit assuming an analytic pole-tail split during the iterative solution. The computation is augmented with a general discussion of the impact of the quark-gluon vertex and the gluon propagator on the analytic structure of the quark propagator. In particular, we investigate under which conditions the quark propagator shows unphysical complex poles. Our results offer a wide range of applications, encompassing the ab-initio calculation of transport as well as resonance properties in QCD.
Towards non-invertible anomalies from generalized Ising models

Shang Liu, Wenjie Ji

SciPost Phys. 15, 150 (2023) · published 10 October 2023 | · pdf

We present a general approach to the bulk-boundary correspondence of noninvertible topological phases, including both topological and fracton orders. This is achieved by a novel bulk construction protocol where solvable $(d+1)$-dimensional bulk models with noninvertible topology are constructed from the so-called generalized Ising (GI) models in $d$ dimensions. The GI models can then terminate on the boundaries of the bulk models. The construction generates abundant examples, including not only prototype ones such as $\mathbb{Z}_2$ toric code models in any dimensions no less than two, and the X-cube fracton model, but also more diverse ones such as the $\mathbb{Z}_2× \mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order, the 4d $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order with pure-loop excitations, etc. The boundary of the solvable model is potentially anomalous and corresponds to precisely only sectors of the GI model that host certain total symmetry charges and/or satisfy certain boundary conditions. We derive a concrete condition for such bulk-boundary correspondence. The condition is violated only when the bulk model is either trivial or fracton ordered. A generalized notion of Kramers-Wannier duality plays an important role in the construction. Also, utilizing the duality, we find an example where a single anomalous theory can be realized on the boundaries of two distinct bulk fracton models, a phenomenon not expected in the case of topological orders. More generally, topological orders may also be generated starting with lattice models beyond the GI models, such as those with symmetry protected topological orders, through a variant bulk construction, which we provide in an appendix.
Solving 3d gravity with Virasoro TQFT

Scott Collier, Lorenz Eberhardt, Mengyang Zhang

SciPost Phys. 15, 151 (2023) · published 11 October 2023 | · pdf

We propose a precise reformulation of 3d quantum gravity with negative cosmological constant in terms of a topological quantum field theory based on the quantization of the Teichmüller space of Riemann surfaces that we refer to as "Virasoro TQFT". This TQFT is similar, but importantly not equivalent, to SL(2, $\mathbb{R}$) Chern-Simons theory. This sharpens the folklore that 3d gravity is related to SL(2, $\mathbb{R}$) Chern-Simons theory into a precise correspondence, and resolves some well-known issues with this lore at the quantum level. Our proposal is computationally very useful and provides a powerful tool for the further study of 3d gravity. In particular, we explain how together with standard TQFT surgery techniques this leads to a fully algorithmic procedure for the computation of the gravity partition function on a fixed topology exactly in the central charge. Mathematically, the relation leads to many nontrivial conjectures for hyperbolic 3-manifolds, Virasoro conformal blocks and crossing kernels.
Monte Carlo matrix-product-state approach to the false vacuum decay in the monitored quantum Ising chain

Jeffrey Allan Maki, Anna Berti, Iacopo Carusotto, Alberto Biella

SciPost Phys. 15, 152 (2023) · published 11 October 2023 | · pdf

In this work we characterize the false vacuum decay in the ferromagnetic quantum Ising chain with a weak longitudinal field subject to continuous monitoring of the local magnetization. Initializing the system in a metastable state, the false vacuum, we study the competition between coherent dynamics, which tends to create resonant bubbles of the true vacuum, and measurements which induce heating and reduce the amount of quantum correlations. To this end we exploit a numerical approach based on the combination of matrix product states with stochastic quantum trajectories which allows for the simulation of the trajectory-resolved non-equilibrium dynamics of interacting many-body systems in the presence of continuous measurements. We show how the presence of measurements affects the false vacuum decay: At short times the departure from the local minimum is accelerated while at long times the system thermalizes to an infinite-temperature incoherent mixture. For large measurement rates the system enters a quantum Zeno regime. The false vacuum decay and the thermalization physics are characterized in terms of the magnetization, connected correlation function, and the trajectory-resolved entanglement entropy.
A Chern-Simons theory for dipole symmetry

Xiaoyang Huang

SciPost Phys. 15, 153 (2023) · published 11 October 2023 | · pdf

We present effective field theories for dipole symmetric topological matters that can be described by the Chern-Simons theory. Unlike most studies using higher-rank gauge theory, we develop a framework with both $U(1)$ and dipole gauge fields. As a result, only the highest multipole symmetry can support the 't Hooft anomaly. We show that with appropriate point group symmetries, the dipolar Chern-Simons theory can exist in any dimension and, moreover, the bulk-edge correspondence can depend on the boundary. As two applications, we draw an analogy between the dipole anomaly and the torsional anomaly and generalize particle-vortex duality to dipole phase transitions. All of the above are in the flat spacetime limit, but our framework is able to systematically couple dipole symmetry to curved spacetime. Based on that, we give a proposal about anomalous dipole hydrodynamics. Moreover, we show that the fracton-elasticity duality arises naturally from a non-abelian Chern-Simons theory in 3D.
Gravitational multipoles in general stationary spacetimes

Daniel R. Mayerson

SciPost Phys. 15, 154 (2023) · published 11 October 2023 | · pdf

The Geroch-Hansen and Thorne (ACMC) formalisms give rigorous and equivalent definitions for gravitational multipoles in stationary vacuum spacetimes. However, despite their ubiquitous use in gravitational physics, it has not been shown that these formalisms can be generalized to non-vacuum stationary solutions, except in a few special cases. This paper shows how the Geroch-Hansen formalism can be generalized to arbitrary non-vacuum stationary spacetimes for metrics that are sufficiently smooth at infinity. The key is the construction of an improved twist vector, which is well-defined under a mild topological condition on the spacetime (which is automatically satisfied for black holes). Ambiguities in the construction of this improved twist vector are discussed and fixed by imposing natural "gauge fixing" conditions, which also immediately lead to the equivalence between the Geroch-Hansen and Thorne formalisms for such arbitrary stationary spacetimes.
Subsystem non-invertible symmetry operators and defects

Weiguang Cao, Linhao Li, Masahito Yamazaki, Yunqin Zheng

SciPost Phys. 15, 155 (2023) · published 12 October 2023 | · pdf

We explore non-invertible symmetries in two-dimensional lattice models with subsystem $\mathbb Z_2$ symmetry. We introduce a subsystem $\mathbb Z_2$-gauging procedure, called the subsystem Kramers-Wannier transformation, which generalizes the ordinary Kramers-Wannier transformation. The corresponding duality operators and defects are constructed by gaugings on the whole or half of the Hilbert space. By gauging twice, we derive fusion rules of duality operators and defects, which enriches ordinary Ising fusion rules with subsystem features. Subsystem Kramers-Wannier duality defects are mobile in both spatial directions, unlike the defects of invertible subsystem symmetries. We finally comment on the anomaly of the subsystem Kramers-Wannier duality symmetry, and discuss its subtleties.
Dualities and loops on squashed $S^3$

Charles Thull

SciPost Phys. 15, 156 (2023) · published 12 October 2023 | · pdf

We consider $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric gauge theories on the squashed three-sphere with six preserved supercharges. We first discuss how Wilson and vortex loops preserve up to four of the supercharges and we find squashing independence for the expectation values of these 2/3-BPS loops. We then show how the additional supersymmetries facilitate the analytic matching of partition functions and loop operator expectation values to those in the mirror dual theory, allowing one to lift all the results that were previously established on the round sphere to the squashed sphere. Additionally, on the squashed sphere with four preserved supercharges, we numerically evaluate the partition functions of ABJM and its dual super-Yang-Mills at low ranks of the gauge group. We find matching values of their partition functions, prompting us to conjecture the general equality on the squashed sphere. From the numerics we also observe the squashing dependence of the Lee-Yang zeros and of the non-perturbative corrections to the all order large $N$ expression for the ABJM partition function.
Two-loop QCD corrections for three-photon production at hadron colliders

Samuel Abreu, Giuseppe De Laurentis, Harald Ita, Maximillian Klinkert, Ben Page, Vasily Sotnikov

SciPost Phys. 15, 157 (2023) · published 12 October 2023 | · pdf

We complete the computation of the two-loop helicity amplitudes for the production of three photons at hadron colliders, including all contributions beyond the leading-color approximation. We reconstruct the analytic form of the amplitudes from numerical finite-field samples obtained with the numerical unitarity method. This method requires as input surface terms for all relevant five-point non-planar integral topologies, which we obtain by solving the associated syzygy problem in embedding space. The numerical samples are used to constrain compact spinor-helicity ansätze, which are optimized by taking advantage of the known one-loop analytic structure. We make our analytic results available in a public C++ library, which is suitable for immediate phenomenological applications. We estimate that the inclusion of the subleading-color contributions will decrease the size of the two-loop corrections by about 30% to 50%, and the NNLO cross sections by a few percent, compared to the results in the leading-color approximation.
Tensor network variational optimizations for real-time dynamics: Application to the time-evolution of spin liquids

Ravi Teja Ponnaganti, Matthieu Mambrini, Didier Poilblanc

SciPost Phys. 15, 158 (2023) · published 12 October 2023 | · pdf

Within the Projected Entangled Pair State (PEPS) tensor network formalism, a simple update (SU) method has been used to investigate the time evolution of a two-dimensional U(1) critical spin-1/2 spin liquid under Hamiltonian quench [Phys. Rev. B 106, 195132 (2022)]. Here we introduce two different variational frameworks to describe the time dynamics of SU(2)-symmetric translationally-invariant PEPS, aiming to improve the accuracy. In one approach, after using a Trotter-Suzuki decomposition of the time evolution operator in term of two-site elementary gates, one considers a single bond embedded in an environment approximated by a Corner Transfer Matrix Renormalization Group (CTMRG). A variational update of the two tensors on the bond is performed under the application of the elementary gate and then, after symmetrization of the site tensors, the environment is updated. In the second approach, a cluster optimization is performed on a finite (periodic) cluster, maximizing the overlap of the exact time-evolved state with a symmetric finite-size PEPS ansatz. Observables are then computed on the infinite lattice contracting the infinite-PEPS (iPEPS) by CTMRG. We show that the variational schemes outperform the SU method and remain accurate over a significant time interval before hitting the entanglement barrier. Studying the spectrum of the transfer matrix, we find that the asymptotic correlations are very well preserved under time evolution, including the critical nature of the singlet correlations, as expected from the Lieb-Robinson (LR) bound theorem. Consistently, the system (asymptotic) boundary is found to be described by the same Conformal Field Theory of central charge $c = 1$ during time evolution. We also compute the time-evolution of the short distance spin-spin correlations and estimate the LR velocity.
Adiabatic deformations of quantum Hall droplets

Blagoje Oblak, Benoit Estienne

SciPost Phys. 15, 159 (2023) · published 13 October 2023 | · pdf

We consider area-preserving deformations of the plane, acting on electronic wave functions through "quantomorphisms" that change both the underlying metric and the confining potential. We show that adiabatic sequences of such transformations produce Berry phases that can be written in closed form in terms of the many-body current and density, even in the presence of interactions. For a large class of deformations that generalize squeezing and shearing, the leading piece of the phase is a super-extensive Aharonov-Bohm term ($\propto N^2$ for $N$ electrons) in the thermodynamic limit. Its gauge-invariant subleading partner only measures the current, whose dominant contribution to the phase stems from a jump at the edge in the limit of strong magnetic fields. This results in a finite Berry curvature per unit area, reminiscent of the Hall viscosity. We show that the latter is in fact included in our formalism, bypassing its standard derivation on a torus and suggesting realistic experimental setups for its observation in quantum simulators.
Non-invertible symmetry webs

Lakshya Bhardwaj, Lea E. Bottini, Sakura Schäfer-Nameki, Apoorv Tiwari

SciPost Phys. 15, 160 (2023) · published 13 October 2023 | · pdf

Non-invertible symmetries have by now seen numerous constructions in higher dimensional Quantum Field Theories (QFT). In this paper we provide an in depth study of gauging 0-form symmetries in the presence of non-invertible symmetries. The starting point of our analysis is a theory with $G$ 0-form symmetry, and we propose a description of sequential partial gaugings of sub-symmetries. The gauging implements the theta-symmetry defects of the companion paper [SciPost Phys. 15, 122 (2023)]. The resulting network of symmetry structures related by this gauging will be called a non-invertible symmetry web. Our formulation makes direct contact with fusion 2-categories, and we uncover numerous interesting structures such as symmetry fractionalization in this categorical setting. The complete symmetry web is derived for several groups $G$, and we propose extensions to higher dimensions. The highlight of this analysis is the complete categorical symmetry web, including non-invertible symmetries, for 3d pure gauge theories with orthogonal gauge groups and its extension to arbitrary dimensions.
Skyrmion crystals in the triangular Kondo lattice model

Zhentao Wang, Cristian D. Batista

SciPost Phys. 15, 161 (2023) · published 13 October 2023 | · pdf

We present a systematic study of the formation of skyrmion crystals in a triangular Kondo Lattice model for generic electron filling fractions. Our results indicate that the four-sublattice chiral antiferromagnetic ordering that was reported more than one decade ago can be understood as the dense limit of a sequence of skyrmion crystals whose lattice parameter is dictated by the Fermi wave-vector. This observation has important implications for the ongoing search of skyrmion crystals in metallic materials with localized magnetic moments.
Phases of cold holographic QCD: Baryons, pions and rho mesons

Nicolas Kovensky, Aaron Poole, Andreas Schmitt

SciPost Phys. 15, 162 (2023) · published 13 October 2023 | · pdf

We improve the holographic description of isospin-asymmetric baryonic matter within the Witten-Sakai-Sugimoto model by accounting for a realistic pion mass, computing the pion condensate dynamically, and including rho meson condensation by allowing the gauge field in the bulk to be anisotropic. This description takes into account the coexistence of baryonic matter with pion and rho meson condensates. Our main result is the zero-temperature phase diagram in the plane of baryon and isospin chemical potentials. We find that the effective pion mass in the baryonic medium increases with baryon density and that, as a consequence, there is no pion condensation in neutron-star matter. Our improved description also predicts that baryons are disfavored at low baryon chemical potentials even for arbitrarily large isospin chemical potential. Instead, rho meson condensation sets in on top of the pion condensate at an isospin chemical potential of about $9.4 m_\pi$. We further observe a highly non-monotonic phase boundary regarding the disappearance of pion condensation.
Entropy-driven phase behavior of associative polymer networks

Lorenzo Rovigatti, Francesco Sciortino

SciPost Phys. 15, 163 (2023) · published 16 October 2023 | · pdf

Polymer chains decorated with a fraction of monomers capable of forming reversible bonds form transient polymer networks that are important in soft and biological systems. If chains are flexible and the attractive monomers are all of the same species, the network formation occurs continuously as density increases. By contrast, it has been recently shown [Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 047801 (2022)] that, if the attractive monomers are of two different and alternating types, the entropic gain of swapping intra-molecular bonds for inter-molecular connections induces a first order phase transition in the fully-bonded (i.e. low-temperature or, equivalently, large monomer-monomer attraction strength) limit and the network forms abruptly on increasing density. Here we use simulations to show that this phenomenon is robust with respect to thermal fluctuations, disorder and change in the polymer architecture, demonstrating its generality and likely relevance for the wide class of materials that can be modelled as associative (transient) polymer networks.
Interfacially adsorbed bubbles determine the shape of droplets

Alessio Squarcini, Antonio Tinti

SciPost Phys. 15, 164 (2023) · published 16 October 2023 | · pdf

The characterization of density correlations in the presence of strongly fluctuating interfaces has always been considered a difficult problem in statistical mechanics. Here we study - by using recently developed exact field-theoretical techniques - density correlations for an interface with endpoints on a wall forming a droplet in 2D. Our framework applies to interfaces entropically repelled by a hard wall as well as to wetting transitions. In the former case bubbles adsorbed on the interface are taken into account by the theory which yields a systematic treatment of finite-size corrections to one- and two-point functions and show how these are related to Brownian excursions. Our analytical predictions are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations without free parameters. We also determine one- and two-point functions at wetting by using integrable boundary field theory. We show that correlations are long ranged for entropic repulsion and at wetting. For both regimes we investigate correlations in momentum space by generalizing the notion of interface structure factor to semi-confined systems. Distinctive signatures of the two regimes manifest in the structure factor through a term that we identify on top of the capillary-wave one.
Concentration of quantum equilibration and an estimate of the recurrence time

Jonathon Riddell, Nathan J. Pagliaroli, Álvaro M. Alhambra

SciPost Phys. 15, 165 (2023) · published 16 October 2023 | · pdf

We show that the dynamics of generic quantum systems concentrate around their equilibrium value when measuring at arbitrary times. This means that the probability of finding such values away from that equilibrium is exponentially suppressed, with a decay rate given by the effective dimension. Our result allows us to place a lower bound on the recurrence time of quantum systems, since recurrences corresponds to the rare events of finding a state away from equilibrium. In many-body systems, this bound is doubly exponential in system size. We also show corresponding results for free fermions, which display a weaker concentration and earlier recurrences.
A time-dependent momentum-resolved scattering approach to core-level spectroscopies

Krissia Zawadzki, Alberto Nocera, Adrian E. Feiguin

SciPost Phys. 15, 166 (2023) · published 17 October 2023 | · pdf

While new light sources allow for unprecedented resolution in experiments with X-rays, a theoretical understanding of the scattering cross-section is lacking. In the particular case of strongly correlated electron systems, numerical techniques are quite limited, since conventional approaches rely on calculating a response function (Kramers-Heisenberg formula) that is obtained from a perturbative analysis of scattering processes in the frequency domain. This requires a knowledge of a full set of eigenstates in order to account for all intermediate processes away from equilibrium, limiting the applicability to small tractable systems. In this work, we present an alternative paradigm, recasting the problem in the time domain and explicitly solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation without the limitations of perturbation theory: a faithful simulation of the scattering processes taking place in actual experiments, including photons and core electrons. We show how this approach can yield the full time and momentum resolved Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering (RIXS) spectrum of strongly interacting many-body systems. We demonstrate the formalism with an application to Mott insulating Hubbard chains using the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method, which does not require a priory knowledge of the eigenstates and can solve very large systems with dozens of orbitals. This approach can readily be applied to systems out of equilibrium without modification and generalized to other spectroscopies.
Remarks on Berry connection in QFT, anomalies, and applications

Mykola Dedushenko

SciPost Phys. 15, 167 (2023) · published 17 October 2023 | · pdf

Berry connection has been recently generalized to higher-dimensional QFT, where it can be thought of as a topological term in the effective action for background couplings. Via the inflow, this term corresponds to the boundary anomaly in the space of couplings, another notion recently introduced in the literature. In this note we address the question of whether the old-fashioned Berry connection (for time-dependent couplings) still makes sense in a QFT on $\Sigma^{(d)}× \mathbb{R}$, where $\Sigma^{(d)}$ is a $d$-dimensional compact space and $\mathbb{R}$ is time. Compactness of $\Sigma^{(d)}$ relieves us of the IR divergences, so we only have to address the UV issues. We describe a number of cases when the Berry connection is well defined (which includes the $tt^*$ equations), and when it is not. We also mention a relation to the boundary anomalies and boundary states on the Euclidean $\Sigma^{(d)} × \mathbb{R}_{≥ 0}$. We then work out the examples of a free 3D Dirac fermion and a 3D $\mathcal{N}=2$ chiral multiplet. Finally, we consider 3D theories on $\mathbb{T}^2× \mathbb{R}$, where the space $\mathbb{T}^2$ is a two-torus, and apply our machinery to clarify some aspects of the relation between 3D SUSY vacua and elliptic cohomology. We also comment on the generalization to higher genus.
What's anomalous in LHC jets?

Thorsten Buss, Barry M. Dillon, Thorben Finke, Michael Krämer, Alessandro Morandini, Alexander Mück, Ivan Oleksiyuk, Tilman Plehn

SciPost Phys. 15, 168 (2023) · published 17 October 2023 | · pdf

Searches for anomalies are a significant motivation for the LHC and help define key analysis steps, including triggers. We discuss specific examples how LHC anomalies can be defined through probability density estimates, evaluated in a physics space or in an appropriate neural network latent space, and discuss the model-dependence in choosing an appropriate data parameterisation. We illustrate this for classical k-means clustering, a Dirichlet variational autoencoder, and invertible neural networks. For two especially challenging scenarios of jets from a dark sector we evaluate the strengths and limitations of each method.
Efficient phase-space generation for hadron collider event simulation

Enrico Bothmann, Taylor Childers, Walter Giele, Florian Herren, Stefan Höche, Joshua Isaacson, Max Knobbe, Rui Wang

SciPost Phys. 15, 169 (2023) · published 18 October 2023 | · pdf

We present a simple yet efficient algorithm for phase-space integration at hadron colliders. Individual mappings consist of a single t-channel combined with any number of s-channel decays, and are constructed using diagrammatic information. The factorial growth in the number of channels is tamed by providing an option to limit the number of s-channel topologies. We provide a publicly available, parallelized code in C++ and test its performance in typical LHC scenarios.
High-fidelity realization of the AKLT state on a NISQ-era quantum processor

Tianqi Chen, Ruizhe Shen, Ching Hua Lee, Bo Yang

SciPost Phys. 15, 170 (2023) · published 18 October 2023 | · pdf

The AKLT state is the ground state of an isotropic quantum Heisenberg spin-1 model. It exhibits an excitation gap and an exponentially decaying correlation function, with fractionalized excitations at its boundaries. So far, the one-dimensional AKLT model has only been experimentally realized with trapped-ions as well as photonic systems. In this work, we successfully prepared the AKLT state on a noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era quantum device. In particular, we developed a non-deterministic algorithm on the IBM quantum processor, where the non-unitary operator necessary for the AKLT state preparation is embedded in a unitary operator with an additional ancilla qubit for each pair of auxiliary spin-1/2's. Such a unitary operator is effectively represented by a parametrized circuit composed of single-qubit and nearest-neighbor CX gates. Compared with the conventional operator decomposition method from Qiskit, our approach results in a much shallower circuit depth with only nearest-neighbor gates, while maintaining a fidelity in excess of 99.99% with the original operator. By simultaneously post-selecting each ancilla qubit such that it belongs to the subspace of spin-up |↑>, an AKLT state can be systematically obtained by evolving from an initial trivial product state of singlets plus ancilla qubits in spin-up on a quantum computer, and it is subsequently recorded by performing measurements on all the other physical qubits. We show how the accuracy of our implementation can be further improved on the IBM quantum processor with readout error mitigation.
Phase separation in binary Bose mixtures at finite temperature

Gabriele Spada, Luca Parisi, Gerard Pascual, Nicholas G. Parker, Thomas P. Billam, Sebastiano Pilati, Jordi Boronat, Stefano Giorgini

SciPost Phys. 15, 171 (2023) · published 18 October 2023 | · pdf

We investigate the magnetic behavior of finite-temperature repulsive two-component Bose mixtures by means of exact path-integral Monte-Carlo simulations. Novel algorithms are implemented for the free energy and the chemical potential of the two components. Results on the magnetic susceptibility suggest that the conditions for phase separation are not modified from the zero temperature case. This contradicts previous predictions based on approximate theories. We also determine the temperature dependence of the chemical potential and the contact parameters for experimentally relevant balanced mixtures.
A decoherence explanation of the gallium neutrino anomaly

Yasaman Farzan, Thomas Schwetz

SciPost Phys. 15, 172 (2023) · published 19 October 2023 | · pdf

Gallium radioactive source experiments have reported a neutrino-induced event rate about 20% lower than expected with a high statistical significance. We present an explanation of this observation assuming quantum decoherence of the neutrinos in the gallium detectors at a scale of 2 m. This explanation is consistent with global data on neutrino oscillations, including solar neutrinos, if decoherence effects decrease quickly with energy, for instance with a power law $E_\nu^{-r}$ with r$\simeq$ 12. Our proposal does not require the presence of sterile neutrinos but implies a modification of the standard quantum mechanical evolution equations for active neutrinos.
Restoration of the non-Hermitian bulk-boundary correspondence via topological amplification

Matteo Brunelli, Clara C. Wanjura, Andreas Nunnenkamp

SciPost Phys. 15, 173 (2023) · published 19 October 2023 | · pdf

Non-Hermitian (NH) lattice Hamiltonians display a unique kind of energy gap and extreme sensitivity to boundary conditions. Due to the NH skin effect, the separation between edge and bulk states is blurred and the (conventional) bulk-boundary correspondence is lost. Here, we restore the bulk-boundary correspondence for the most paradigmatic class of NH Hamiltonians, namely those with one complex band and without symmetries. We obtain the desired NH Hamiltonian from the mean-field evolution of driven-dissipative cavity arrays, in which NH terms-in the form of non-reciprocal hopping amplitudes, gain and loss-are explicitly modeled via coupling to (engineered and non-engineered) reservoirs. This approach removes the arbitrariness in the definition of the topological invariant, as point-gapped spectra differing by a complex-energy shift are not treated as equivalent; the origin of the complex plane provides a common reference (base point) for the evaluation of the topological invariant. This implies that topologically non-trivial Hamiltonians are only a strict subset of those with a point gap and that the NH skin effect does not have a topological origin. We analyze the NH Hamiltonians so obtained via the singular value decomposition, which allows to express the NH bulk-boundary correspondence in the following simple form: an integer value $\nu$ of the topological invariant defined in the bulk corresponds to $\vert \nu\vert$ singular vectors exponentially localized at the system edge under open boundary conditions, in which the sign of $\nu$ determines which edge. Non-trivial topology manifests as directional amplification of a coherent input with gain exponential in system size. Our work solves an outstanding problem in the theory of NH topological phases and opens up new avenues in topological photonics.
Probabilistic deconstruction of a theory of gravity, part I: Flat space

Sunok Josephine Suh

SciPost Phys. 15, 174 (2023) · published 19 October 2023 | · pdf

We define and analyze a stochastic process in anti-de Sitter Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity, induced by the quantum dynamics of the boundary and whose random variable takes values in $AdS_2$. With the boundary in a thermal state and for appropriate parameters, we take the asymptotic limit of the quantum process at short time scales and flat space, and show associated classical joint distributions have the Markov property. We find that Einstein's equations of the theory, sans the cosmological constant term, arise in the semi-classical limit of the quantum evolution of probability under the asymptotic process. In particular, in flat Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity, the area of compactified space solved for by Einstein's equations can be identified as a probability density evolving under the Markovian process.
Exact entanglement in the driven quantum symmetric simple exclusion process

Denis Bernard, Ludwig Hruza

SciPost Phys. 15, 175 (2023) · published 20 October 2023 | · pdf

Entanglement properties of driven quantum systems can potentially differ from the equilibrium situation due to long range coherences. We confirm this observation by studying a suitable toy model for mesoscopic transport: the open quantum symmetric simple exclusion process (QSSEP). We derive exact formulae for its mutual information between different subsystems in the steady state and show that it satisfies a volume law. Surprisingly, the QSSEP entanglement properties only depend on data related to its transport properties and we suspect that such a relation might hold for more general mesoscopic systems. Exploiting the free probability structure of QSSEP, we obtain these results by developing a new method to determine the eigenvalue spectrum of sub-blocks of random matrices from their so-called local free cumulants - a mathematical result on its own with potential applications in the theory of random matrices. As an illustration of this method, we show how to compute expectation values of observables in systems satisfying the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH) from the local free cumulants.
Flavoured $(g-2)_\mu$ with dark lepton seasoning

Harun Acaroğlu, Prateek Agrawal, Monika Blanke

SciPost Phys. 15, 176 (2023) · published 24 October 2023 | · pdf

As a joint explanation for the dark matter (DM) problem and the muon $(g-2)$ anomaly, we propose a simplified model of lepton-flavoured complex scalar DM with couplings to both the left- and right-handed leptons of the Standard Model (SM). Both interactions are governed by the same new flavour-violating coupling matrix $\lambda$, however we allow for a relative scaling of the coupling strength. The SM is further extended by two fermion representations, transforming as an $SU(2)_L$ doublet and singlet, respectively, and mediating these interactions. The fermions additionally couple to the SM Higgs doublet via a new Yukawa coupling. To study the model's phenomenology we first investigate constraints from collider searches, flavour experiments, precision tests of the SM, the DM relic density, and direct as well as indirect detection experiments individually. We then perform a combined analysis by demanding that all mentioned constraints are satisfied simultaneously. We use the results of this combined analysis and examine if the model is capable of accommodating the $(g-2)_\mu$ anomaly within its viable parameter space without introducing fine-tuned lepton masses. For all benchmark scenarios we consider, we find that the central value of $\Delta a_\mu^\text{exp}$ can be reached without generating too large corrections to the lepton masses. We hence conclude that this model qualifies as a viable and attractive lepton-flavoured DM model that at the same time solves the $(g-2)_\mu$ anomaly.
Dark matter from the centre of SU(N)

Michele Frigerio, Nicolas Grimbaum-Yamamoto, Thomas Hambye

SciPost Phys. 15, 177 (2023) · published 25 October 2023 | · pdf

A dark sector with non-abelian gauge symmetry provides a sound framework to justify stable dark matter (DM) candidates. We consider scalar fields charged under a $SU(N)$ gauge group, and show that the centre of $SU(N)$, the discrete subgroup $Z_N$ also known as $N$-ality, can ensure the stability of scalar DM particles. We analyse in some details two minimal DM models of this class, based on $SU(2)$ and $SU(3)$, respectively. These models have non-trivial patterns of spontaneous symmetry breaking, leading to distinctive phenomenological implications. For the $SU(2)$ model these include a specific interplay of two DM states, with the same interactions but different masses, and several complementary DM annihilation regimes, either within the dark sector or through the Higgs portal. The $SU(3)$ model predicts dark radiation made of a pair of dark photons with a unique gauge coupling, as well as regimes where DM semi-annihilations become dominant and testable.
Visualizing near-coexistence of massless Dirac electrons and ultra-massive saddle point electrons

Abhay Kumar Nayak, Jonathan Reiner, Hengxin Tan, Huixia Fu, Henry Ling, Chandra Shekhar, Claudia Felser, Tamar (Tami) Pereg-Barnea, Binghai Yan, Haim Beidenkopf, Nurit Avraham

SciPost Phys. 15, 178 (2023) · published 25 October 2023 | · pdf

Strong singularities in the electronic density of states amplify correlation effects and play a key role in determining the ordering instabilities in various materials. Recently high order van Hove singularities (VHSs) with diverging power-law scaling have been classified in single-band electron models. We show that the 110 surface of Bismuth exhibits high order VHS with an usually high density of states divergence $\sim (E)^{-0.7}$. Detailed mapping of the surface band structure using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy combined with first-principles calculations show that this singularity occurs in close proximity to Dirac bands located at the center of the surface Brillouin zone. The enhanced power-law divergence is shown to originate from the anisotropic flattening of the Dirac band just above the Dirac node. Such near-coexistence of massless Dirac electrons and ultra-massive saddle points enables to study the interplay of high order VHS and Dirac fermions.
Exact multi-instantons in topological string theory

Jie Gu, Marcos Mariño

SciPost Phys. 15, 179 (2023) · published 26 October 2023 | · pdf

Topological string theory has multi-instanton sectors which lead to non-perturbative effects in the string coupling constant and control the large order behavior of the perturbative genus expansion. As proposed by Couso, Edelstein, Schiappa and Vonk, these sectors can be described by a trans-series extension of the BCOV holomorphic anomaly equations. In this paper we find exact, closed form solutions for these multi-instanton trans-series in the case of local Calabi-Yau manifolds. The resulting multi-instanton amplitudes turn out to be very similar to the eigenvalue tunneling amplitudes of matrix models. Their form suggests that the flat coordinates of the Calabi-Yau manifold are naturally quantized in units of the string coupling constant, as postulated in large $N$ dualities. Based on our results we obtain a general picture for the resurgent structure of the topological string in the local case, which we illustrate with explicit calculations for local $\mathbb{P}^2$.
NISQ algorithm for the matrix elements of a generic observable

Rebecca Erbanni, Kishor Bharti, Leong-Chuan Kwek, Dario Poletti

SciPost Phys. 15, 180 (2023) · published 30 October 2023 | · pdf

The calculation of off-diagonal matrix elements has various applications in fields such as nuclear physics and quantum chemistry. In this paper, we present a noisy intermediate scale quantum algorithm for estimating the diagonal and off-diagonal matrix elements of a generic observable in the energy eigenbasis of a given Hamiltonian without explicitly preparing its eigenstates. By means of numerical simulations we show that this approach finds many of the matrix elements for the one and two qubits cases. Specifically, while in the first case, one can initialize the ansatz parameters over a broad interval, in the latter the optimization landscape can significantly slow down the speed of convergence and one should therefore be careful to restrict the initialization to a smaller range of parameters.
Interference dynamics of matter-waves of SU($N$) fermions

Wayne Jordan Chetcuti, Andreas Osterloh, Luigi Amico, Juan Polo

SciPost Phys. 15, 181 (2023) · published 30 October 2023 | · pdf

Interacting N-component fermions spatially confined in ring-shaped potentials display specific coherence properties. The orbital angular momentum per particle of such systems can be quantized to fractional values specifically depending on the particle-particle interaction. Here we demonstrate how to monitor the state of the system through homodyne (momentum distribution) and self-heterodyne system's expansion. For homodyne protocols, the momentum distribution is affected by the particle statistics in two distinctive ways. The first effect is a purely statistical one: at zero interactions, the characteristic hole in the momentum distribution around the momentum k=0 opens up once half of the SU(N) Fermi sphere is displaced. The second effect originates from the interaction: The fractionalization in the interacting system manifests itself by an additional "delay" in the flux for the occurrence of the hole, that now becomes a characteristic minimum at k=0. We demonstrate that the angular momentum fractional quantization is reflected in the self-heterodyne interference as specific dislocations in interferograms. Our analysis demonstrates how the study of the interference fringes grants us access to both number of particles and number of components of SU(N) fermions.