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SciPost Physics Vol. 16 issue 3 (March 2024)

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High-dimensional and permutation invariant anomaly detection

Vinicius Mikuni, Benjamin Nachman

SciPost Phys. 16, 062 (2024) · published 29 February 2024 | · pdf

Methods for anomaly detection of new physics processes are often limited to low-dimensional spaces due to the difficulty of learning high-dimensional probability densities. Particularly at the constituent level, incorporating desirable properties such as permutation invariance and variable-length inputs becomes difficult within popular density estimation methods. In this work, we introduce a permutation-invariant density estimator for particle physics data based on diffusion models, specifically designed to handle variable-length inputs. We demonstrate the efficacy of our methodology by utilizing the learned density as a permutation-invariant anomaly detection score, effectively identifying jets with low likelihood under the background-only hypothesis. To validate our density estimation method, we investigate the ratio of learned densities and compare to those obtained by a supervised classification algorithm.
Certifying quantum separability with adaptive polytopes

Ties-A. Ohst, Xiao-Dong Yu, Otfried Gühne, H. Chau Nguyen

SciPost Phys. 16, 063 (2024) · published 1 March 2024 | · pdf

The concept of entanglement and separability of quantum states is relevant for several fields in physics. Still, there is a lack of effective operational methods to characterise these features. We propose a method to certify quantum separability of two- and multiparticle quantum systems based on an adaptive polytope approximation. This leads to an algorithm which, for practical purposes, conclusively recognises two-particle separability for small and medium-size dimensions. For multiparticle systems, the approach allows to characterise full separability for up to five qubits or three qutrits; in addition, different classes of entanglement can be distinguished. Finally, our methods allow to identify systematically quantum states with interesting entanglement properties, such as maximally robust states which are separable for all bipartitions, but not fully separable.
Majorana chain and Ising model - (non-invertible) translations, anomalies, and emanant symmetries

Nathan Seiberg, Shu-Heng Shao

SciPost Phys. 16, 064 (2024) · published 1 March 2024 | · pdf

We study the symmetries of closed Majorana chains in 1+1d, including the translation, fermion parity, spatial parity, and time-reversal symmetries. The algebra of the symmetry operators is realized projectively on the Hilbert space, signaling anomalies on the lattice, and constraining the long-distance behavior. In the special case of the free Hamiltonian (and small deformations thereof), the continuum limit is the 1+1d free Majorana CFT. Its continuum chiral fermion parity $(-1)^{F_\text{L}}$ emanates from the lattice translation symmetry. We find a lattice precursor of its mod 8 't Hooft anomaly. Using a Jordan-Wigner transformation, we sum over the spin structures of the lattice model (a procedure known as the GSO projection), while carefully tracking the global symmetries. In the resulting bosonic model of Ising spins, the Majorana translation operator leads to a non-invertible lattice translation symmetry at the critical point. The non-invertible Kramers-Wannier duality operator of the continuum Ising CFT emanates from this non-invertible lattice translation of the transverse-field Ising model.
Massless Rarita-Schwinger equations: Half and three halves spin solution

Mauricio Valenzuela, Jorge Zanelli

SciPost Phys. 16, 065 (2024) · published 4 March 2024 | · pdf

Counting the degrees of freedom of the massless Rarita-Schwinger theory is revisited using Behrends-Fronsdal projectors. The identification of the gauge invariant part of the vector-spinor is thus straightforward, consisting of spins 1/2 and 3/2. The validity of this statement is supported by the explicit solution found in the standard gamma-traceless gauge. Since the obtained systems are deterministic -free of arbitrary functions of time- we argue that the often-invoked residual gauge symmetry lacks fundamental grounding and should not be used to enforce new external constraints. The result is verified by the total Hamiltonian dynamics. We conclude that eliminating the spin-1/2 mode via the extended Hamiltonian dynamics would be acceptable if the Dirac conjecture was assumed; however, this framework does not accurately describe the original Lagrangian system.
Tunnelling to holographic traversable wormholes

Suzanne Bintanja, Ben Freivogel, Andrew Rolph

SciPost Phys. 16, 066 (2024) · published 5 March 2024 | · pdf

We study nonperturbative effects of quantum gravity in a system consisting of a coupled pair of holographic CFTs. The AdS$_4$/CFT$_3$ system has three possible ground states: two copies of empty AdS, a pair of extremal AdS black holes, and an eternal AdS traversable wormhole. We give a recipe for calculating transition rates via gravitational instantons and test it by calculating the emission rate of radiation shells from a black hole. We calculate the nucleation rate of a traversable wormhole between a pair of AdS-RN black holes in the canonical and microcanonical ensembles. Our results give predictions of nonpertubative quantum gravity that can be tested in a holographic simulation.
Phase diagram for strong-coupling Bose polarons

Arthur Christianen, J. Ignacio Cirac, Richard Schmidt

SciPost Phys. 16, 067 (2024) · published 5 March 2024 | · pdf

Important properties of complex quantum many-body systems and their phase diagrams can often already be inferred from the impurity limit. The Bose polaron problem describing an impurity atom immersed in a Bose-Einstein condensate is a paradigmatic example. The interplay between the impurity-mediated attraction between the bosons and their intrinsic repulsion makes this model rich and interesting, but also complex to describe theoretically. To tackle this challenge, we develop a quantum chemistry-inspired computational technique and compare two variational methods that fully include both the boson-impurity and interboson interactions. We find one regime where the impurity-mediated interactions overcome the repulsion between the bosons, so that a sweep of the boson-impurity interaction strength leads to an instability of the polaron due to the formation of many-body clusters. If instead the interboson interactions dominate, the impurity will experience a crossover from a polaron into a few-body bound state. We achieve a unified understanding incorporating both of these regimes and show that they are experimentally accessible. Moreover, we develop an analytical model that allows us to interpret these phenomena in the Landau framework of phase transitions, revealing a deep connection of the Bose polaron model to both few- and many-body physics.
Topologically stable ergodicity breaking from emergent higher-form symmetries in generalized quantum loop models

Charles Stahl, Rahul Nandkishore, Oliver Hart

SciPost Phys. 16, 068 (2024) · published 8 March 2024 | · pdf

We present a set of generalized quantum loop models that provably exhibit topologically stable ergodicity breaking. These results hold for both periodic and open boundary conditions, and derive from a one-form symmetry (notably not being restricted to sectors of extremal one-form charge). We identify simple models in which this one-form symmetry can be emergent, giving rise to the aforementioned ergodicity breaking as an exponentially long-lived prethermal phenomenon. We unveil a web of dualities that connects these models, in certain limits, to models that have previously been discussed in the literature. We also identify nonlocal conserved quantities in such models, which correspond to patterns of system-spanning domain walls and are robust to the addition of arbitrary $k$-local perturbations.
An exact method for bosonizing the Fermi surface in arbitrary dimensions

Takamori Park, Leon Balents

SciPost Phys. 16, 069 (2024) · published 8 March 2024 | · pdf

Inspired by the recent work by Delacretaz et. al. [Phys. Rev. Res. 4, 033131 (2022)], we rigorously derive an exact and simple method to bosonize a non-interacting fermionic system with a Fermi surface starting from a microscopic Hamiltonian. In the long-wavelength limit, we show that the derived bosonized action is exactly equivalent to the action obtained by Delacretaz et. al. In addition, we propose diagrammatic rules to evaluate correlation functions using our bosonized theory and demonstrate these rules by calculating the three- and four-point density correlation functions. We also consider a general density-density interaction and show that the simplest approximation in our bosonic theory is identical to RPA results.
The functional generalization of the Boltzmann-Vlasov equation and its gauge-like symmetry

Giorgio Torrieri

SciPost Phys. 16, 070 (2024) · published 11 March 2024 | · pdf

We argue that one can model deviations from the ensemble average in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics by promoting the Boltzmann equation to an equation in terms of functionals , representing possible candidates for phase space distributions inferred from a finite observed number of degrees of freedom. We find that, provided the collision term and the Vlasov drift term are both included, a gauge-like redundancy arises which does not go away even if the functional is narrow. We argue that this effect is linked to the gauge-like symmetry found in relativistic hydrodynamics [Ann. Phys. 442, 168902 (2022)] and that it could be part of the explanation for the apparent fluid-like behavior in small systems in hadronic collisions and other strongly-coupled small systems [Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 68, 211 (2018)]. When causality and Lorentz invariance are omitted this problem can be look at via random matrix theory show, and we show that in such a case thermalization happens much more quickly than the Boltzmann equation would infer. We also sketch an algorithm to study this problem numerically.
EFT matching from analyticity and unitarity

Stefano De Angelis, Gauthier Durieux

SciPost Phys. 16, 071 (2024) · published 12 March 2024 | · pdf

We present a new on-shell method for the matching of ultraviolet models featuring massive states onto their massless effective field theory. We employ a dispersion relation in the space of complex momentum dilations to capture, in a single variable, the relevant analytic structure of scattering amplitudes at any multiplicity. Multivariate complex analysis and crossing considerations are therefore avoided. Remarkably, no knowledge about the infrared effective field theory is required in dimensional regularisation. All matching information is extracted from the residues and iscontinuities of the ultraviolet scattering amplitudes, which unitarity expresses in terms of lower-point and lower-loop results, respectively. This decomposition into simpler building blocks could deliver new insight in the structure of the effective field theories obtained from classes of ultraviolet scenarios and facilitate computations at higher loop orders.
Probing muon g-2 at a future muon collider

Jason Arakawa, Arvind Rajaraman, Taotao Sui, Tim M.P. Tait

SciPost Phys. 16, 072 (2024) · published 12 March 2024 | · pdf

The $4.2\sigma$ discrepancy in the $(g-2)$ of the muon provides a hint that may indicate that physics beyond the standard model is at play. A multi-TeV scale muon collider provides a natural testing ground for this physics. In this paper, we discuss the potential to probe the BSM parameter space that is consistent with solving the $(g-2)_{\mu}$ discrepancy in the language of the SMEFT, utilizing the statistical power provided by fitting event rates collected running at multiple energies. Our results indicate the importance of including interference between the BSM and the SM amplitudes, and illustrates how a muon collider running at a handful of lower energies and with less total collected luminosity can better significantly constrain the space of relevant SMEFT coefficients than would be possible for a single high energy run.
Semiconductor electron-phonon equations: A rung above Boltzmann in the many-body ladder

Gianluca Stefanucci, Enrico Perfetto

SciPost Phys. 16, 073 (2024) · published 13 March 2024 | · pdf

Starting from the ab initio many-body theory of electrons and phonons, we go through a series of well defined simplifications to derive a set of coupled equations of motion for the electronic occupations and polarizations, nuclear displacements as well as phononic occupations and coherences. These are the semiconductor electron-phonon equations (SEPE), sharing the same scaling with system size and propagation time as the Boltzmann equations. At the core of the SEPE is the mirrored Generalized Kadanoff-Baym Ansatz (GKBA) for the Green's functions, an alternative to the standard GKBA which we show to lead to unstable equilibrium states. The SEPE treat coherent and incoherent degrees of freedom on equal footing, widen the scope of the semiconductor Bloch equations and Boltzmann equations, and reduce to them under additional simplifications. The new features of the SEPE pave the way for first-principles studies of phonon squeezed states and coherence effects in time-resolved absorption and diffraction experiments.
Quantum droplets with particle imbalance in one-dimensional optical lattices

Jofre Vallès-Muns, Ivan Morera, Grigori E. Astrakharchik, Bruno Juliá-Díaz

SciPost Phys. 16, 074 (2024) · published 13 March 2024 | · pdf

We study the formation of particle-imbalanced quantum droplets in a one-dimensional optical lattice containing a binary bosonic mixture at zero temperature. To understand the effects of the imbalance from both the few- and many-body perspectives, we employ density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations and perform the extrapolation to the thermodynamic limit. In contrast to the particle-balanced case, not all bosons are paired, resulting in an interplay between bound states and individual atoms that leads to intriguing phenomena. Quantum droplets manage to sustain a small particle imbalance, resulting in an effective magnetization. However, as the imbalance is further increased, a critical point is eventually crossed, and the droplets start to expel the excess particles while the magnetization in the bulk remains constant. Remarkably, the unpaired particles on top of the quantum droplet effectively form a super Tonks-Girardeau (hard-rod) gas. The expulsion point coincides with the critical density at which the size of the super Tonks-Girardeau gas matches the size of the droplet.
Topological defects in Floquet circuits

Mao Tian Tan, Yifan Wang, Aditi Mitra

SciPost Phys. 16, 075 (2024) · published 13 March 2024 | · pdf

We introduce a Floquet circuit describing the driven Ising chain with topological defects. The corresponding gates include a defect that flips spins as well as the duality defect that explicitly implements the Kramers-Wannier duality transformation. The Floquet unitary evolution operator commutes with such defects, but the duality defect is not unitary, as it projects out half the states. We give two applications of these defects. One is to analyze the return amplitudes in the presence of "space-like" defects stretching around the system. We verify explicitly that the return amplitudes are in agreement with the fusion rules of the defects. The second application is to study unitary evolution in the presence of "time-like" defects that implement anti-periodic and duality-twisted boundary conditions. We show that a single unpaired localized Majorana zero mode appears in the latter case. We explicitly construct this operator, which acts as a symmetry of this Floquet circuit. We also present analytic expressions for the entanglement entropy after a single time step for a system of a few sites, for all of the above defect configurations.
The partial Bondi gauge: Gauge fixings and asymptotic charges

Marc Geiller, Céline Zwikel

SciPost Phys. 16, 076 (2024) · published 18 March 2024 | · pdf

In the companion paper [SciPost Phys. 13, 108 (2022)] we have studied the solution space at null infinity for gravity in the partial Bondi gauge. This partial gauge enables to recover as particular cases and among other choices the Bondi-Sachs and Newman-Unti gauges, and to approach the question of the most general boundary conditions and asymptotic charges in gravity. Here we compute and study the asymptotic charges and their algebra in this partial Bondi gauge, by focusing on the flat case with a varying boundary metric $\delta q_{AB}≠0$. In addition to the super-translations, super-rotations, and Weyl transformations, we find two extra asymptotic symmetries associated with non-vanishing charges labelled by free functions in the solution space. These new symmetries arise from a weaker definition of the radial coordinate and switch on traces in the transverse metric. We also exhibit complete gauge fixing conditions in which these extra asymptotic symmetries and charges survive. As a byproduct of this calculation we obtain the charges in Newman-Unti gauge, in which one of these extra asymptotic charges is already non-vanishing. We also apply the formula for the charges in the partial Bondi gauge to the computation of the charges for the Kerr spacetime in Bondi coordinates.
Faraday rotation and transmittance as markers of topological phase transitions in 2D materials

Manuel Calixto, Alberto Mayorgas, Nicolás A. Cordero, Elvira Romera, Octavio Héctor Castaños Garza

SciPost Phys. 16, 077 (2024) · published 18 March 2024 | · pdf

We analyze the magneto-optical conductivity (and related magnitudes like transmittance and Faraday rotation of the irradiated polarized light) of some elemental two-dimensional Dirac materials of group IV (graphene analogues, buckled honeycomb lattices, like silicene, germanene, stannane, etc.), group V (phosphorene), and zincblende heterostructures (like HgTe/CdTe quantum wells) near the Dirac and gamma points, under out-of-plane magnetic and electric fields, to characterize topological-band insulator phase transitions and their critical points. We provide plots of the Faraday angle and transmittance as a function of the polarized light frequency, for different external electric and magnetic fields, chemical potential, HgTe layer thickness and temperature, to tune the material magneto-optical properties. We have shown that absortance/transmittance acquires extremal values at the critical point, where the Faraday angle changes sign, thus providing fine markers of the topological phase transition. In the case of non-topological materials as phosphorene, a minimum of the transmittance is also observed due to the energy gap closing by an external electric field.
The Floquet Baxterisation

Yuan Miao, Vladimir Gritsev, Denis V. Kurlov

SciPost Phys. 16, 078 (2024) · published 18 March 2024 | · pdf

Quantum integrability has proven to be a useful tool to study quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium. In this paper we construct a generic framework for integrable quantum circuits through the procedure of Floquet Baxterisation. The integrability is guaranteed by establishing a connection between Floquet evolution operators and inhomogeneous transfer matrices obtained from the Yang-Baxter relations. This allows us to construct integrable Floquet evolution operators with arbitrary depths and various boundary conditions. Furthermore, we focus on the example related to the staggered 6-vertex model. In the scaling limit we establish a connection of this Floquet protocol with a non-rational conformal field theory. Employing the properties of the underlying affine Temperley-Lieb algebraic structure, we demonstrate the dynamical anti-unitary symmetry breaking in the easy-plane regime. We also give an overview of integrability-related quantum circuits, highlighting future research directions.
Non-perturbative topological string theory on compact Calabi-Yau 3-folds

Jie Gu, Amir-Kian Kashani-Poor, Albrecht Klemm, Marcos Mariño

SciPost Phys. 16, 079 (2024) · published 19 March 2024 | · pdf

We obtain analytic and numerical results for the non-perturbative amplitudes of topological string theory on arbitrary, compact Calabi-Yau manifolds. Our approach is based on the theory of resurgence and extends previous special results to the more general case. In particular, we obtain explicit trans-series solutions of the holomorphic anomaly equations. Our results predict the all orders, large genus asymptotics of the topological string free energies, which we test in detail against high genus perturbative series obtained recently in the compact case. We also provide additional evidence that the Stokes constants appearing in the resurgent structure are closely related to integer BPS invariants.
Generalized symmetries and anomalies of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ SCFTs

Lakshya Bhardwaj, Mathew Bullimore, Andrea E. V. Ferrari, Sakura Schäfer-Nameki

SciPost Phys. 16, 080 (2024) · published 20 March 2024 | · pdf

We study generalized global symmetries and their 't Hooft anomalies in 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ superconformal field theories (SCFTs). Following some general considerations, we focus on good quiver gauge theories, comprised of balanced unitary nodes and unbalanced unitary and special unitary nodes. While the global form of the Higgs branch symmetry group may be determined from the UV Lagrangian, the global form of Coulomb branch symmetry groups and associated mixed 't Hooft anomalies are more subtle due to potential symmetry enhancement in the IR. We describe how Coulomb branch symmetry groups and their mixed 't Hooft anomalies can be deduced from the UV Lagrangian by studying center charges of various types of monopole operators, providing a concrete and unambiguous way to implement 't Hooft anomaly matching. The final expression for the symmetry group and 't Hooft anomalies has a concise form that can be easily read off from the quiver data, specifically from the positions of the unbalanced and flavor nodes with respect to the positions of the balanced nodes. We provide consistency checks by applying our method to compute symmetry groups of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ theories corresponding to magnetic quivers of 4d Class S theories and 5d SCFTs. We are able to match these results against the flavor symmetry groups of the 4d and 5d theories computed using independent methods. Another strong consistency check is provided by comparing symmetry groups and anomalies of two theories related by 3d mirror symmetry.
Exploring kinetically induced bound states in triangular lattices with ultracold atoms: Spectroscopic approach

Ivan Morera Navarro, Christof Weitenberg, Klaus Sengstock, Eugene Demler

SciPost Phys. 16, 081 (2024) · published 20 March 2024 | · pdf

Quantum simulations with ultracold fermions in triangular optical lattices have recently emerged as a new platform for studying magnetism in frustrated systems. Experimental realizations of the Fermi Hubbard model revealed striking contrast between magnetism in bipartite and triangular lattices. In bipartite lattices magnetism is strongest at half filling, and doped charge carriers tend to suppress magnetic correlations. In triangular-type lattices for large U/t and t>0, antiferromagnetism (ferromagnetism) gets enhanced by doping away from n=1 with holes (doublons) because kinetic energy of dopants can be lowered through developing magnetic correlations, corresponding to formation of magnetic polarons. Snapshots of many-body states obtained with quantum gas microscopes demonstrated existence of magnetic polarons by revealing the magnetic correlations around dopants at temperatures that considerably exceed superexchange energy scale. In this paper we discuss theoretically that additional insight into properties of magnetic polarons in triangular lattices can be achieved using spectroscopic experiments with ultracold atoms. We consider starting from a spin polarized state with small hole doping and applying a two-photon Raman photoexcitation, which transfers atoms into a different spin state. We show that such magnon injection spectra exhibit a separate peak corresponding to formation of a bound state between a hole and a magnon. This polaron peak is separated from the simple magnon spectrum by energy proportional to single particle tunneling and can be easily resolved with currently available experimental techniques. For some momentum transfer there is an additional peak corresponding to photoexciting a bound state between two holes and a magnon. We point out that in two component Bose mixtures in triangular lattices one can also create dynamical magnetic polarons, with one hole and one magnon forming a repulsive bound state.
Variational quantum gate optimization at the pulse level

Sean Greenaway, Francesco Petiziol, Hongzheng Zhao, Florian Mintert

SciPost Phys. 16, 082 (2024) · published 22 March 2024 | · pdf

We experimentally investigate the viability of a variational quantum gate optimization protocol informed by the underlying physical Hamiltonian of fixed-frequency transmon qubits. Through the successful experimental optimization of two and three qubit quantum gates the utility of the scheme for obtaining gates based on static effective Hamiltonians is demonstrated. The limits of such a strategy are investigated through the optimization of a time-dependent, Floquet-engineered gate, however parameter drift is identified as a key limiting factor preventing the implementation of such a scheme which the variational optimization protocol is unable to overcome.
Thouless pumping in Josephson junction arrays

Stavros Athanasiou, Ida Egholm Nielsen, Matteo M. Wauters, Michele Burrello

SciPost Phys. 16, 083 (2024) · published 22 March 2024 | · pdf

Recent advancements in fabrication techniques have enabled unprecedented clean interfaces and gate tunability in semiconductor-superconductor heterostructures. Inspired by these developments, we propose protocols to realize Thouless quantum pumping in electrically tunable Josephson junction arrays. We analyze, in particular, the implementation of the Rice-Mele and the Harper-Hofstadter pumping schemes, whose realization would validate these systems as flexible platforms for quantum simulations. We investigate numerically the long-time behavior of chains of controllable superconducting islands in the Coulomb-blockaded regime. Our findings provide new insights into the dynamics of periodically driven interacting systems and highlight the robustness of Thouless pumping with respect to boundary effects typical of superconducting circuits.
Anomalous Luttinger equivalence between temperature and curved spacetime: From black holes to thermal quenches

Baptiste Bermond, Maxim Nikolaevich Chernodub, Adolfo G. Grushin, David Carpentier

SciPost Phys. 16, 084 (2024) · published 25 March 2024 | · pdf

Building on the idea of Tolman and Ehrenfest that heat has weight, Luttinger established a deep connection between gravitational fields and thermal transport. However, this relation does not include anomalous quantum fluctuations that become paramount in strongly curved spacetime. In this work, we revisit the celebrated Tolman-Ehrenfest and Luttinger relations and show how to incorporate the quantum energy scales associated with these fluctuations, captured by gravitational anomalies of quantum field theories. We point out that such anomalous fluctuations naturally occur in the quantum atmosphere of a black hole. Our results reveal that analogous fluctuations are also observable in thermal conductors in flat-space time provided local temperature varies strongly. As a consequence, we establish that the gravitational anomalies manifest themselves naturally in non-linear thermal response of a quantum wire. In addition, we propose a systematic way to identify thermal analogues of black hole's anomalous quantum fluctuations associated to gravitational anomalies. We identify their signatures in propagating energy waves following a thermal quench, as well as in the energy density of heating Floquet states induced by repeated thermal quenches.
Quantum parameter estimation with many-body fermionic systems and application to the Hall effect

Olivier Giraud, Mark-Oliver Goerbig, Daniel Braun

SciPost Phys. 16, 085 (2024) · published 25 March 2024 | · pdf

We calculate the quantum Fisher information for a generic many-body fermionic system in a pure state depending on a parameter. We discuss the situations where the parameter is imprinted in the basis states, in the state coefficients, or both. In the case where the parameter dependence of coefficients results from a Hamiltonian evolution, we derive a particularly simple expression for the quantum Fisher information. We apply our findings to the quantum Hall effect, and evaluate the quantum Fisher information associated with the optimal measurement of the magnetic field for a system in the ground state of the effective Hamiltonian. The occupation of electron states with high momentum enforced by the Pauli principle leads to a "super-Heisenberg" scaling of the sensitivity with a power law that depends on the geometry of the sensor.
Beyond braid statistics: Constructing a lattice model for anyons with exchange statistics intrinsic to one dimension

Sebastian Nagies, Botao Wang, Adam C. Knapp, André Eckardt, Nathan L. Harshman

SciPost Phys. 16, 086 (2024) · published 26 March 2024 | · pdf

Anyons obeying fractional exchange statistics arise naturally in two dimensions: Hard-core two-body constraints make the configuration space of particles not simply-connected. The braid group describes how topologically-inequivalent exchange paths can be associated to non-trivial geometric phases for abelian anyons. Braid-anyon exchange statistics can also be found in one dimension (1D), but this requires broken Galilean invariance to distinguish different ways for two anyons to exchange. However, recently it was shown that an alternative form of exchange statistics can occur in 1D because hard-core three-body constraints also make the configuration space not simply-connected. Instead of the braid group, the topology of exchange paths and their associated non-trivial geometric phases are described by the traid group. In this article we propose a first concrete model realizing this alternative form of anyonic exchange statistics. Starting from a bosonic lattice model that implements the desired geometric phases with number-dependent Peierls phases, we then define anyonic operators so that the kinetic energy term in the Hamiltonian becomes local and quadratic with respect to them. The ground-state of this traid-anyon-Hubbard model exhibits several indications of exchange statistics intermediate between bosons and fermions, as well as signs of emergent approximate Haldane exclusion statistics. The continuum limit results in a Galilean invariant Hamiltonian with eigenstates that correspond to previously constructed continuum wave functions for traid anyons. This provides not only an a-posteriori justification of our lattice model, but also shows that our construction serves as an intuitive approach to traid anyons, i.e. anyons intrinsic to 1D.
Anomalies of generalized symmetries from solitonic defects

Lakshya Bhardwaj, Mathew Bullimore, Andrea E. V. Ferrari, Sakura Schäfer-Nameki

SciPost Phys. 16, 087 (2024) · published 26 March 2024 | · pdf

We propose the general idea that 't Hooft anomalies of generalized global symmetries can be understood in terms of the properties of solitonic defects, which generically are non-topological defects. The defining property of such defects is that they act as sources for background fields of generalized symmetries. 't Hooft anomalies arise when solitonic defects are charged under these generalized symmetries. We illustrate this idea for several kinds of anomalies in various spacetime dimensions. A systematic exploration is performed in 3d for 0-form, 1-form, and 2-group symmetries, whose 't Hooft anomalies are related to two special types of solitonic defects, namely vortex line defects and monopole operators. This analysis is supplemented with detailed computations of such anomalies in a large class of 3d gauge theories. Central to this computation is the determination of the gauge and 0-form charges of a variety of monopole operators: these involve standard gauge monopole operators, but also fractional gauge monopole operators, as well as monopole operators for 0-form symmetries. The charges of these monopole operators mainly receive contributions from Chern-Simons terms and fermions in the matter content. Along the way, we interpret the vanishing of the global gauge and ABJ anomalies, which are anomalies not captured by local anomaly polynomials, as the requirement that gauge monopole operators and mixed monopole operators for 0-form and gauge symmetries have non-fractional integer charges.
A coupling prescription for post-Newtonian corrections in quantum mechanics

Jelle Hartong, Emil Have, Niels A. Obers, Igor Pikovski

SciPost Phys. 16, 088 (2024) · published 27 March 2024 | · pdf

The interplay between quantum theory and general relativity remains one of the main challenges of modern physics. A renewed interest in the low-energy limit is driven by the prospect of new experiments that could probe this interface. Here we develop a covariant framework for expressing post-Newtonian corrections to Schrödinger's equation on arbitrary gravitational backgrounds based on a $1/c^2$ expansion of Lorentzian geometry, where $c$ is the speed of light. Our framework provides a generic coupling prescription of quantum systems to gravity that is valid in the intermediate regime between Newtonian gravity and General Relativity, and that retains the focus on geometry. At each order in $1/c^2$ this produces a nonrelativistic geometry to which quantum systems at that order couple. By considering the gauge symmetries of both the nonrelativistic geometries and the $1/c^2$ expansion of the complex Klein-Gordon field, we devise a prescription that allows us to derive the Schrödinger equation and its post-Newtonian corrections on a gravitational background order-by-order in $1/c^2$. We also demonstrate that these results can be obtained from a $1/c^2$ expansion of the complex Klein-Gordon Lagrangian. We illustrate our methods by performing the $1/c^2$ expansion of the Kerr metric up to $\mathcal{O}(c^{-2})$, which leads to a special case of the Hartle-Thorne metric. The associated Schrödinger equation captures novel and potentially measurable effects.