Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Tails of Instability and Decay: a Hydrodynamic Perspective

  Olalla A. Castro-Alvaredo, Cecilia De Fazio, Benjamin Doyon, Aleksandra A. Ziółkowska

  SciPost Phys. 12, 115 (2022) · published 31 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In the context of quantum field theory (QFT), unstable particles are associated with complex-valued poles of two-body scattering matrices in the unphysical sheet of rapidity space. The Breit-Wigner formula relates this pole to the mass and life-time of the particle, observed in scattering events. In this paper, we uncover new, dynamical signatures of unstable excitations and show that they have a strong effect on the non-equilibrium properties of QFT. Focusing on a 1+1D integrable model, and using the theory of Generalized Hydrodynamics, we study the formation and decay of unstable particles by analysing the release of hot matter into a low-temperature environment. We observe the formation of tails and the decay of the emitted nonlinear waves, in sharp contrast to the situation without unstable excitations. We also uncover a new phenomenon by which a wave of a stable population of unstable particles may persist without decay for long times. We expect these signatures of the presence of unstable particles to have a large degree of universality. Our study shows that the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of many-body systems can be strongly affected not only by the spectrum, but also by excitations with finite life-times.

  4 citations

• Robust semi-Dirac points and unconventional topological phase transitions in doped superconducting Sr2IrO4 tunnel coupled to t2g electron systems

  Mats Horsdal, Timo Hyart

  SciPost Phys. 3, 041 (2017) · published 22 December 2017 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Semi-Dirac fermions are known to exist at the critical points of topological phase transitions requiring fine-tuning of the parameters. We show that robust semi-Dirac points can appear in a heterostructure consisting of superconducting Sr2IrO4 and a t2g electron system (t2g-ES) without fine-tuning. They are topologically stable in the presence of the symmetries of the model, metallic t2g-ES and a single active band in Sr2IrO4. If the t2g metal is coupled to two different layers of Sr2IrO4 (effectively a multiband superconductor) in a three-layer-structure the semi-Dirac points can split into two stable Dirac points with opposite chiralities. A similar transition can be achieved if the t2g-ES supports intrinsic triplet superconductivity. By considering Sr2RuO4 as an example of a t2g-ES we predict a rich topological phase diagram as a function of various parameters.

  4 citations

• Robust extended states in Anderson model on partially disordered random regular graphs

  Daniil Kochergin, Ivan M. Khaymovich, Olga Valba, Alexander Gorsky

  SciPost Phys. 16, 106 (2024) · published 19 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this work we analytically explain the origin of the mobility edge in the partially disordered random regular graphs of degree d, i.e., with a fraction $\beta$ of the sites being disordered, while the rest remain clean. It is shown that the mobility edge in the spectrum survives in a certain range of parameters (d,$\beta$) at infinitely large uniformly distributed disorder. The critical curve separating extended and localized states is derived analytically and confirmed numerically. The duality in the localization properties between the sparse and extremely dense RRG has been found and understood.

  4 citations

• Fingerprints of hot-phonon physics in time-resolved correlated quantum lattice dynamics

  Emmanuele Cappelluti, Dino Novko

  SciPost Phys. 12, 173 (2022) · published 24 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The time dynamics of the energy flow from electronic to lattice degrees of freedom in pump-probe setups could be strongly affected by the presence of a hot-phonon bottleneck, which can sustain longer coherence of the optically excited electronic states. Recently, hot-phonon physics has been experimentally observed and theoretically described in MgB$_2$, the electron-phonon based superconductor with $T_{\rm c}\approx 39$ K. By employing a combined ab-initio and quantum-field-theory approach and by taking MgB$_2$ as an example, here we propose a novel path for revealing the presence and characterizing the properties of hot phonons through a direct analysis of the information encoded in the lattice inter-atomic correlations. Such method exploits the underlying symmetry of the $E_{2g}$ hot modes characterized by a out-of-phase in-plane motion of the two boron atoms. Since hot phonons occur typically at high-symmetry points of the Brillouin zone, with specific symmetries of the lattice displacements, the present analysis is quite general and it could aid in revealing the hot-phonon physics in other promising materials, such as graphene, boron nitride, or black phosphorus.

  4 citations

• Yukawa-Lorentz symmetry of interacting non-Hermitian birefringent Dirac fermions

  Sk Asrap Murshed, Bitan Roy

  SciPost Phys. 18, 073 (2025) · published 27 February 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The energy spectra of linearly dispersing gapless spin-3/2 Dirac fermions display birefringence, featuring two effective Fermi velocities, thus breaking the space-time Lorentz symmetry. Here, we consider a non-Hermitian (NH) generalization of this scenario by introducing a masslike anti-Hermitian birefringent Dirac operator to its Hermitian counterpart. The resulting NH operator shows real eigenvalue spectra over an extended NH parameter regime, and a combination of non-spatial and discrete rotational symmetries protects the gapless nature of such quasiparticles. However, at the brink of dynamic mass generation, triggered by Hubbardlike local interactions, the birefringent parameter always vanishes under coarse grain due to the Yukawa-type interactions with scalar bosonic order-parameter fluctuations. The resulting quantum critical state is, therefore, described by two decoupled copies of spin-1/2 Dirac fermions with a unique terminal Fermi velocity, which is equal to the bosonic order-parameter velocity, thereby fostering an emergent space-time Lorentz symmetry. Furthermore, depending on the internal algebra between the anti-Hermitian birefringent Dirac operator and the candidate mass order, the system achieves the emergent Yukawa-Lorentz symmetry either by maintaining its non-Hermiticity or by recovering a full Hermiticity. We discuss the resulting quantum critical phenomena and possible microscopic realizations of the proposed scenarios.

  4 citations

• Out-of-equilibrium dynamics of the Kitaev model on the Bethe lattice via coupled Heisenberg equations

  Oleksandr Gamayun, Oleg Lychkovskiy

  SciPost Phys. 12, 175 (2022) · published 25 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Kitaev model on the honeycomb lattice, while being integrable via the spin-fermion mapping, has generally resisted an analytical treatment of the far-from-equilibrium dynamics due to the extensive number of relevant configurations of conserved charges. Here we study a close proxy of this model, the isotropic Kitaev spin-$1/2$ model on the Bethe lattice. Instead of relying on the spin-fermion mapping, we take a straightforward approach of solving Heisenberg equations for a tailored subset of spin operators. The simplest operator in this subset corresponds to the energy contribution of a single bond direction. As an example, we calculate the time-dependent expectation value of this observable for a factorized translation-invariant (or staggered-translation-invariant) initial state with arbitrary initial (staggered) polarization.

  4 citations

• Lectures on bulk reconstruction

  Nirmalya Kajuri

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 22 (2021) · published 2 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  If the AdS/CFT conjecture holds, every question about bulk physics can be answered by the boundary CFT. But we still don't know how to translate all the questions about bulk physics to questions about the boundary CFT. Completing this bulk-boundary dictionary is the aim of the bulk reconstruction program, which we review in these lectures. We cover the HKLL construction, bulk reconstruction in AdS/Rindler, mirror operator construction of Papadodimas and Raju and the Marolf-Wall paradox. These notes are based on lectures given at ST4 2018.

  4 citations

• Dipole symmetries from the topology of the phase space and the constraints on the low-energy spectrum

  Tomáš Brauner, Naoki Yamamoto, Ryo Yokokura

  SciPost Phys. 16, 051 (2024) · published 20 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We demonstrate the general existence of a local dipole conservation law in bosonic field theory. The scalar charge density arises from the symplectic form of the system, whereas the tensor current descends from its stress tensor. The algebra of spatial translations becomes centrally extended in presence of field configurations with a finite nonzero charge. Furthermore, when the symplectic form is closed but not exact, the system may, surprisingly, lack a well-defined momentum density. This leads to a theorem for the presence of additional light modes in the system whenever the short-distance physics is governed by a translationally invariant local field theory. We also illustrate this mechanism for axion electrodynamics as an example of a system with Nambu-Goldstone modes of higher-form symmetries.

  4 citations

• 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 | Toggle abstract · 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.

  4 citations

• Detect axial gauge fields with a calorimeter

  Matteo Baggioli, Maxim N. Chernodub, Karl Landsteiner, Maria A. H. Vozmediano

  SciPost Phys. Core 3, 013 (2020) · published 2 December 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Torsional strain in Weyl semimetals excites a unidirectional chiral density wave propagating in the direction of the torsional vector. This gapless excitation, named the chiral sound wave, is generated by a particular realization of the axial anomaly via the triple-axial (AAA) anomalous diagram. We show that the presence of the torsion-generated chiral sound leads to a linear behavior of the specific heat of a Weyl semimetal and to an enhancement of the thermal conductivty at experimentally accessible temperatures. We also demonstrate that such an elastic twist lowers the temperature of the sample, thus generating a new, anomalous type of elasto-calorific effect. Measurements of these thermodynamical effects will provide experimental verification of the exotic triple-axial anomaly as well as the reality of the elastic pseudomagnetic fields in Weyl semimetals.

  4 citations