Qi-Feng Wu

SciPost Phys. Core 6, 063 (2023) · published 15 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

In this work, multipartite entanglement is classified by polynomials. I show that the operator size is closely related to the entanglement structure. Given a generic quantum state, I define a series of subspaces generated by operators of different sizes acting on it. The information about the entanglement is encoded into these subspaces. With the dimension of these subspaces as coefficients, I define a polynomial which I call the entanglement polynomial. The entanglement polynomial induces a homomorphism from quantum states to polynomials. It implies that we can characterize and find the building blocks of entanglement by polynomial factorization. Two states share the same entanglement polynomial if they are equivalent under the stochastic local operations and classical communication. To calculate the entanglement polynomial practically, I construct a series of states, called renormalized states, whose ranks are related to the coefficients of the entanglement polynomial.

Chang-Tse Hsieh, Po-Yao Chang

SciPost Phys. Core 6, 062 (2023) · published 12 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

We demonstrate three types of transformations that establish connections between Hermitian and non-Hermitian quantum systems at criticality, which can be described by conformal field theories (CFTs). For the transformation preserving both the energy and the entanglement spectra, the corresponding central charges obtained from the logarithmic scaling of the entanglement entropy are identical for both Hermitian and non-Hermitian systems. The second transformation, while preserving the energy spectrum, does not perserve the entanglement spectrum. This leads to different entanglement entropy scalings and results in different central charges for the two types of systems. We demonstrate this transformation using the dilation method applied to the free fermion case. Through this method, we show that a non-Hermitian system with central charge $c = -4$ can be mapped to a Hermitian system with central charge $c = 2$. Lastly, we investigate the Galois conjugation in the Fibonacci model with the parameter $\phi \to - 1/\phi$, in which the transformation does not preserve both energy and entanglement spectra. We demonstrate the Fibonacci model and its Galois conjugation relate the tricritical Ising model/3-state Potts model and the Lee-Yang model with negative central charges from the scaling property of the entanglement entropy.

Jens Braun, Yong-rui Chen, Wei-jie Fu, Andreas Geißel, Jan Horak, Chuang Huang, Friederike Ihssen, Jan M. Pawlowski, Manuel Reichert, Fabian Rennecke, Yang-yang Tan, Sebastian Töpfel, Jonas Wessely, Nicolas Wink

SciPost Phys. Core 6, 061 (2023) · published 4 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

We derive renormalised finite functional flow equations for quantum field theories in real and imaginary time that incorporate scale transformations of the renormalisation conditions, hence implementing a flowing renormalisation. The flows are manifestly finite in general non-perturbative truncation schemes also for regularisation schemes that do not implement an infrared suppression of the loops in the flow. Specifically, this formulation includes finite functional flows for the effective action with a spectral Callan-Symanzik cutoff, and therefore gives access to Lorentz invariant spectral flows. The functional setup is fully non-perturbative and allows for the spectral treatment of general theories. In particular, this includes theories that do not admit a perturbative renormalisation such as asymptotically safe theories. Finally, the application of the Lorentz invariant spectral functional renormalisation group is briefly discussed for theories ranging from real scalar and Yukawa theories to gauge theories and quantum gravity.

Virgile Dandoy, Valerie Domcke, Fabrizio Rompineve

SciPost Phys. Core 6, 060 (2023) · published 30 August 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

We perform a Bayesian search in the latest Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) datasets for a stochastic gravitational wave (GW) background sourced by curvature perturbations at scales $10^5$ Mpc$^{-1}\lesssim$ k$\lesssim 10^8$ Mpc$^{-1}$. These re-enter the Hubble horizon at temperatures around and below the QCD crossover phase transition in the early Universe. We include a stochastic background of astrophysical origin in our search and properly account for constraints on the curvature power spectrum from the overproduction of primordial black holes (PBHs). We find that the International PTA Data Release 2 significantly favors the astrophysical model for its reported common-spectrum process, over the curvature-induced background. On the other hand, the two interpretations fit the NANOgrav 12.5 years dataset equally well. We then set new upper limits on the amplitude of the curvature power spectrum at small scales. These are independent from, and competitive with, indirect astrophysical bounds from the abundance of PBH dark matter. Upcoming PTA data releases will provide the strongest probe of the curvature power spectrum around the QCD epoch.

Paolo Molignini, Bastien Lapierre, Ramasubramanian Chitra, Wei Chen

SciPost Phys. Core 6, 059 (2023) · published 29 August 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

In 2D semiconductors and insulators, the Chern number of the valence band Bloch state is an important quantity that has been linked to various material properties, such as the topological order. We elaborate that the opacity of 2D materials to circularly polarized light over a wide range of frequencies, measured in units of the fine structure constant, can be used to extract a spectral function that frequency-integrates to the Chern number, offering a simple optical experiment to measure it. This method is subsequently generalized to finite temperature and locally on every lattice site by a linear response theory, which helps to extract the Chern marker that maps the Chern number to lattice sites. The long range response in our theory corresponds to a Chern correlator that acts like the internal fluctuation of the Chern marker, and is found to be enhanced in the topologically nontrivial phase. Finally, from the Fourier transform of the valence band Berry curvature, a nonlocal Chern marker is further introduced, whose decay length diverges at topological phase transitions and therefore serves as a faithful indicator of the transitions, and moreover can be interpreted as a Wannier state correlation function. The concepts discussed in this work explore multi-faceted aspects of topology and should help address the impact of system inhomogeneities.