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SciPost Physics

SciPost Physics Vol. 5 issue 5 (November 2018)

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Modular invariance faces precision neutrino data

Juan Carlos Criado, Ferruccio Feruglio

SciPost Phys. 5, 042 (2018) · published 1 November 2018 | · pdf

We analyze a modular invariant model of lepton masses, with neutrino masses originating either from the Weinberg operator or from the seesaw. The constraint provided by modular invariance is so strong that neutrino mass ratios, lepton mixing angles and Dirac/Majorana phases do not depend on any Lagrangian parameter. They only depend on the vacuum of the theory, parametrized in terms of a complex modulus and a real field. Thus eight measurable quantities are described by the three vacuum parameters, whose optimization provides an excellent fit to data for the Weinberg operator and a good fit for the seesaw case. Neutrino masses from the Weinberg operator (seesaw) have inverted (normal) ordering. Several sources of potential corrections, such as higher dimensional operators, renormalization group evolution and supersymmetry breaking effects, are carefully discussed and shown not to affect the predictions under reasonable conditions.
Cooling phonon modes of a Bose condensate with uniform few body losses

Isabelle Bouchoule, Max Schemmer, Carsten Henkel

SciPost Phys. 5, 043 (2018) · published 2 November 2018 | · pdf

We present a general analysis of the cooling produced by losses on condensates or quasi-condensates. We study how the occupations of the collective phonon modes evolve in time, assuming that the loss process is slow enough so that each mode adiabatically follows the decrease of the mean density. The theory is valid for any loss process whose rate is proportional to the $j$th power of the density, but otherwise spatially uniform. We cover both homogeneous gases and systems confined in a smooth potential. For a low-dimensional gas, we can take into account the modified equation of state due to the broadening of the cloud width along the tightly confined directions, which occurs for large interactions. We find that at large times, the temperature decreases proportionally to the energy scale $mc^2$, where $m$ is the mass of the particles and $c$ the sound velocity. We compute the asymptotic ratio of these two quantities for different limiting cases: a homogeneous gas in any dimension and a one-dimensional gas in a harmonic trap.
Reweighting Lefschetz Thimbles

Stefan Bluecher, Jan M. Pawlowski, Manuel Scherzer, Mike Schlosser, Ion-Olimpiu Stamatescu, Sebastian Syrkowski, Felix P. G. Ziegler

SciPost Phys. 5, 044 (2018) · published 5 November 2018 | · pdf

One of the main challenges in simulations on Lefschetz thimbles is the computation of the relative weights of contributing thimbles. In this paper we propose a solution to that problem by means of computing those weights using a reweighting procedure. Besides we present recipes for finding parametrizations of thimbles and anti-thimbles for a given theory. Moreover, we study some approaches to combine the Lefschetz thimble method with the Complex Langevin evolution. Our numerical investigations are carried out by using toy models among which we consider a one-site z^4 model as well as a U(1) one-link model.
Shift-invert diagonalization of large many-body localizing spin chains

Francesca Pietracaprina, Nicolas Macé, David J. Luitz, Fabien Alet

SciPost Phys. 5, 045 (2018) · published 6 November 2018 | · pdf

We provide a pedagogical review on the calculation of highly excited eigenstates of disordered interacting quantum systems which can undergo a many-body localization (MBL) transition, using shift-invert exact diagonalization. We also provide an example code at https://bitbucket.org/dluitz/sinvert_mbl/. Through a detailed analysis of the simulational parameters of the random field Heisenberg spin chain, we provide a practical guide on how to perform efficient computations. We present data for mid-spectrum eigenstates of spin chains of sizes up to $L=26$. This work is also geared towards readers with interest in efficiency of parallel sparse linear algebra techniques that will find a challenging application in the MBL problem.
Projective phase measurements in one-dimensional Bose gases

Yuri D. van Nieuwkerk, Jörg Schmiedmayer, Fabian H. L. Essler

SciPost Phys. 5, 046 (2018) · published 8 November 2018 | · pdf

We consider time-of-flight measurements in split one-dimensional Bose gases. It is well known that the low-energy sector of such systems can be described in terms of two compact phase fields $\hat{\phi}_{a,s}(x)$. Building on existing results in the literature we discuss how a single projective measurement of the particle density after trap release is in a certain limit related to the eigenvalues of the vertex operator $e^{i\hat{\phi}_a(x)}$. We emphasize the theoretical assumptions underlying the analysis of "single-shot" interference patterns and show that such measurements give direct access to multi-point correlation functions of $e^{i\hat{\phi}_a(x)}$ in a substantial parameter regime. For experimentally relevant situations, we derive an expression for the measured particle density after trap release in terms of convolutions of the eigenvalues of vertex operators involving both sectors of the two-component Luttinger liquid that describes the low-energy regime of the split condensate. This opens the door to accessing properties of the symmetric sector via an appropriate analysis of existing experimental data.
Abelian and non-abelian symmetries in infinite projected entangled pair states

Claudius Hubig

SciPost Phys. 5, 047 (2018) · published 9 November 2018 | · pdf

We explore in detail the implementation of arbitrary abelian and non-abelian symmetries in the setting of infinite projected entangled pair states on the two-dimensional square lattice. We observe a large computational speed-up; easily allowing bond dimensions $D = 10$ in the square lattice Heisenberg model at computational effort comparable to calculations at $D = 6$ without symmetries. We also find that implementing an unbroken symmetry does not negatively affect the representative power of the state and leads to identical or improved ground-state energies. Finally, we point out how to use symmetry implementations to detect spontaneous symmetry breaking.
An integrable Lorentz-breaking deformation of two-dimensional CFTs

Monica Guica

SciPost Phys. 5, 048 (2018) · published 12 November 2018 | · pdf

It has been recently shown that the deformation of an arbitrary two-dimensional conformal field theory by the composite irrelevant operator $T \bar T$, built from the components of the stress tensor, is solvable; in particular, the finite-size spectrum of the deformed theory can be obtained from that of the original CFT through a universal formula. We study a similarly universal, Lorentz-breaking deformation of two-dimensional CFTs that posess a conserved $U(1)$ current, $J$. The deformation takes the schematic form $J \bar T$ and is interesting because it preserves an $SL(2,\mathbb{R}) \times U(1)$ subgroup of the original global conformal symmetries. For the case of a purely (anti)chiral current, we find the finite-size spectrum of the deformed theory and study its thermodynamic properties. We test our predictions in a simple example involving deformed free fermions.
Absence of Luttinger's theorem for fermions with power-law Green functions

Kridsanaphong Limtragool, Zhidong Leong, Philip W. Phillips

SciPost Phys. 5, 049 (2018) · published 16 November 2018 | · pdf

We investigate the validity of Luttinger's theorem (or Luttinger sum rule) in two scale-invariant fermionic models. We find that, in general, Luttinger's theorem does not hold in a system of fermions with power-law Green functions which do not necessarily preserve particle-hole symmetry. However, Ref. \cite{Blagoev1997,Yamanaka1997} showed that Luttinger liquids, another scale-invariant fermionic model, respect Luttinger's theorem. To understand the difference, we examine the spinless Luttinger liquid model. We find two properties which make the Luttinger sum rule valid in this model: particle-hole symmetry and $\mathrm{Im} G(\omega=0,-\infty)=0$. We conjecture that these two properties represent sufficient, but not necessary, conditions for the validity of the Luttinger sum rule in condensed matter systems.
Walking, Weak first-order transitions, and Complex CFTs II. Two-dimensional Potts model at $Q>4$

Victor Gorbenko, Slava Rychkov, Bernardo Zan

SciPost Phys. 5, 050 (2018) · published 22 November 2018 | · pdf

We study complex CFTs describing fixed points of the two-dimensional $Q$-state Potts model with $Q>4$. Their existence is closely related to the weak first-order phase transition and walking RG behavior present in the real Potts model at $Q>4$. The Potts model, apart from its own significance, serves as an ideal playground for testing this very general relation. Cluster formulation provides nonperturbative definition for a continuous range of parameter $Q$, while Coulomb gas description and connection to minimal models provide some conformal data of the complex CFTs. We use one and two-loop conformal perturbation theory around complex CFTs to compute various properties of the real walking RG flow. These properties, such as drifting scaling dimensions, appear to be common features of the QFTs with walking RG flows, and can serve as a smoking gun for detecting walking in Monte Carlo simulations. The complex CFTs discussed in this work are perfectly well defined, and can in principle be seen in Monte Carlo simulations with complexified coupling constants. In particular, we predict a pair of $S_5$-symmetric complex CFTs with central charges $c\approx 1.138 \pm 0.021 i$ describing the fixed points of a 5-state dilute Potts model with complexified temperature and vacancy fugacity.
The geometry of Casimir W-algebras

Raphaël Belliard, Bertrand Eynard, Sylvain Ribault

SciPost Phys. 5, 051 (2018) · published 23 November 2018 | · pdf

Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a simply laced Lie algebra, $\widehat{\mathfrak{g}}_1$ the corresponding affine Lie algebra at level one, and $\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{g})$ the corresponding Casimir W-algebra. We consider $\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{g})$-symmetric conformal field theory on the Riemann sphere. To a number of $\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{g})$-primary fields, we associate a Fuchsian differential system. We compute correlation functions of $\widehat{\mathfrak{g}}_1$-currents in terms of solutions of that system, and construct the bundle where these objects live. We argue that cycles on that bundle correspond to parameters of the conformal blocks of the W-algebra, equivalently to moduli of the Fuchsian system.
Analysis of the buildup of spatiotemporal correlations and their bounds outside of the light cone

Nils O. Abeling, Lorenzo Cevolani, Stefan Kehrein

SciPost Phys. 5, 052 (2018) · published 26 November 2018 | · pdf

In non-relativistic quantum theories the Lieb-Robinson bound defines an effective light cone with exponentially small tails outside of it. In this work we use it to derive a bound for the time evolution of the correlation function of two local disjoint observables if the initial state has a power-law decay. We show that the exponent of the power-law of the bound is identical to the initial (equilibrium) decay. We explicitly verify this result by studying the full dynamics of the susceptibilities and correlations in the exactly solvable Luttinger model after a sudden quench from the non-interacting to the interacting model.
A panoply of Schwinger-Keldysh transport

Kristan Jensen, Raja Marjieh, Natalia Pinzani-Fokeeva, Amos Yarom

SciPost Phys. 5, 053 (2018) · published 27 November 2018 | · pdf

We classify all possible allowed constitutive relations of relativistic fluids in a statistical mechanical limit using the Schwinger-Keldysh effective action for hydrodynamics. We find that microscopic unitarity enforces genuinely new constraints on the allowed transport coefficients that are invisible in the classical hydrodynamic description; they are not implied by the second law or the Onsager relations. We term these conditions Schwinger-Keldysh positivity and provide explicit examples of the various allowed terms.
Exact large-scale correlations in integrable systems out of equilibrium

Benjamin Doyon

SciPost Phys. 5, 054 (2018) · published 28 November 2018 | · pdf

Using the theory of generalized hydrodynamics (GHD), we derive exact Euler-scale dynamical two-point correlation functions of conserved densities and currents in inhomogeneous, non-stationary states of many-body integrable systems with weak space-time variations. This extends previous works to inhomogeneous and non-stationary situations. Using GHD projection operators, we further derive formulae for Euler-scale two-point functions of arbitrary local fields, purely from the data of their homogeneous one-point functions. These are new also in homogeneous generalized Gibbs ensembles. The technique is based on combining a fluctuation-dissipation principle along with the exact solution by characteristics of GHD, and gives a recursive procedure able to generate $n$-point correlation functions. Owing to the universality of GHD, the results are expected to apply to quantum and classical integrable field theory such as the sinh-Gordon model and the Lieb-Liniger model, spin chains such as the XXZ and Hubbard models, and solvable classical gases such as the hard rod gas and soliton gases. In particular, we find Leclair-Mussardo-type infinite form-factor series in integrable quantum field theory, and exact Euler-scale two-point functions of exponential fields in the sinh-Gordon model and of powers of the density field in the Lieb-Liniger model. We also analyze correlations in the partitioning protocol, extract large-time asymptotics, and, in free models, derive all Euler-scale $n$-point functions.
Mott-insulator-aided detection of ultra-narrow Feshbach resonances

Manfred J. Mark, Florian Meinert, Katharina Lauber, Hanns-Christoph Nägerl

SciPost Phys. 5, 055 (2018) · published 29 November 2018 | · pdf

We report on the detection of extremely narrow Feshbach resonances by employing a Mott-insulating state for cesium atoms in a three-dimensional optical lattice. The Mott insulator protects the atomic ensemble from high background three-body losses in a magnetic field region where a broad Efimov resonance otherwise dominates the atom loss in bulk samples. Our technique reveals three ultra-narrow and previously unobserved Feshbach resonances in this region with widths below $\approx 10\,\mu$G, measured via Landau-Zener-type molecule formation and confirmed by theoretical predictions. For comparatively broader resonances we find a lattice-induced substructure in the respective atom-loss feature due to the interplay of tunneling and strong particle interactions. Our results provide a powerful tool to identify and characterize narrow scattering resonances, particularly in systems with complex Feshbach spectra. The observed ultra-narrow Feshbach resonances could be interesting candidates for precision measurements.
Anisotropic Zeeman Splitting in YbNi4P2

Sara Karbassi, Saman Ghannadzadeh, Kristin Kliemt, Manuel Brando, Cornelius Krellner, Sven Friedemann

SciPost Phys. 5, 056 (2018) · published 30 November 2018 | · pdf

The electronic structure of heavy-fermion materials is highly renormalised at low temperatures with localised moments contributing to the electronic excitation spectrum via the Kondo effect. Thus, heavy-fermion materials are very susceptible to Lifshitz transitions due to the small effective Fermi energy arising on parts of the renormalised Fermi surface. Here, we study Lifshitz transitions that have been discovered in YbNi4P2 in high magnetic fields. We measure the angular dependence of the critical fields necessary to induce a number of Lifshitz transitions and find it to follow a simple Zeeman-shift model with anisotropic g-factor. This highlights the coherent nature of the heavy quasiparticles forming a renormalised Fermi surface. We extract information on the orientation of the Fermi surface parts giving rise to the Lifshitz transitions and we determine the anisotropy of the effective g-factor to be $\eta \approx 3.8$ in good agreement with the crystal field scheme of YbNi4P2.