Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Solvable models for 2+1D quantum critical points: Loop soups of 1+1D conformal field theories

  Amin Moharramipour, Dan Sehayek, Thomas Scaffidi

  SciPost Phys. 16, 061 (2024) · published 28 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We construct a class of solvable models for 2+1D quantum critical points by attaching 1+1D conformal field theories (CFTs) to fluctuating domain walls forming a "loop soup". Specifically, our local Hamiltonian attaches gapless spin chains to the domain walls of a triangular lattice Ising antiferromagnet. The macroscopic degeneracy between antiferromagnetic configurations is split by the Casimir energy of each decorating CFT, which is usually negative and thus favors a short loop phase with a finite gap. However, we found a set of 1D CFT Hamiltonians for which the Casimir energy is effectively positive, making it favorable for domain walls to coalesce into a single "snake" which is macroscopically long and thus hosts a CFT with a vanishing gap. The snake configurations are geometrical objects also known as fully-packed self-avoiding walks or Hamiltonian walks which are described by an $\mathrm{O}$(n=0) loop ensemble with a non-unitary 2+0D CFT description. Combining this description with the 1+1D decoration CFT, we obtain a 2+1D theory with unusual critical exponents and entanglement properties. Regarding the latter, we show that the log contributions from the decoration CFTs conspire with the spatial distribution of loops crossing the entanglement cut to generate a "non-local area law". Our predictions are verified by Monte Carlo simulations.

  1 citation

• Measurement of Target Spin (in)dependent Asymmetries in Dimuon Production in Pion-Nucleon Collisions at COMPASS

  Yu-Hsiang Lien, Alexandr Chumakov

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 028 (2022) · published 11 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The exploration of the transverse spin structure of the nucleon is one of the main topics of the COMPASS phase-II experiment. In 2015 and 2018 COMPASS performed Drell–Yan (DY) measurements using a 190 GeV π− beam interacting with a transversely polarized NH3 target and unpolarized W target. The azimuthal asymmetries in DY with trans- versely polarized NH3 target are sensitive to various transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions. Preliminary results on the Sivers asymmetry are consis- tent with the QCD prediction for a sign-change of Sivers functions in DY. The angular coefficients λ, μ and ν that describe the unpolarized part of the DY cross section have been extracted from the data collected with W target. The preliminary results on the angular coefficients indicate the violation of the Lam–Tung relation, consistent with the observation in earlier DY experiments with pion beams.

  1 citation

• Gate-defined Kondo lattices with valley-helical quantum dot arrays

  Antonio L. R. Manesco

  SciPost Phys. 19, 024 (2025) · published 18 July 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Kondo physics and heavy-fermion behavior has been predicted and observed in moiré materials. The electric tunability of moiré materials allows an in-situ study of Kondo lattices' phase diagrams, which is not possible with their intermetallic counterparts. However, moiré platforms rely on twisting, which introduces twisting angle disorder and undesired buckling. Here we propose device layouts for one- and two-dimensional gate-defined superlattices in Bernal bilayer graphene where localized states couple to dispersive valley-helical modes. We show that, under electronic interactions, these superlattices are described by an electrically-tunable Kondo-Heisenberg model.

  1 citation

• Time reversal-odd effects in QCD and beyond

  Dylan Manna, Andrea Signori, Christine Aidala

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 169 (2022) · published 14 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this paper we will describe a parallel between phenomenological and symmetry-based descriptions of the process dependence of the time-reversal-odd phenomena in QCD, such as the Sivers effect, with the goal of defining the essential elements that lead to such process dependence in QCD. This will then serve as a starting point to explore possible generalizations in a different gauge theory.

  1 citation

• Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations and integrable hyperbolic Landau-Zener models

  Suvendu Barik, Lieuwe Bakker, Vladimir Gritsev, Emil A. Yuzbashyan

  SciPost Phys. 18, 212 (2025) · published 27 June 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the relationship between integrable Landau-Zener (LZ) models and Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov (KZ) equations. The latter are originally equations for the correlation functions of two-dimensional conformal field theories, but can also be interpreted as multi-time Schrödinger equations. The general LZ problem is to find probabilities of tunneling from eigenstates at $t=t_\text{in}$ to eigenstates at $t\to+∞$ for an $N× N$ time-dependent Hamiltonian $\hat H(t)$. A number of such problems are exactly solvable in the sense that their tunneling probabilities are elementary functions of Hamiltonian parameters. Recently, it has been proposed that exactly solvable LZ models of this type map to KZ equations. Here we use this connection to identify and solve a class of integrable LZ models with hyperbolic time dependence, $\hat H(t)=\hat A+\hat B/t$, for $N=2, 3$, and $4$, where $\hat A$ and $\hat B$ are time-independent matrices.

  1 citation

• Gluon pseudo-distributions at short distances

  I. Balitsky, W. Morris, A. Radyushkin

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 161 (2022) · published 14 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present the results that are necessary in the ongoing lattice calculations of the gluon parton distribution functions (PDFs) within the pseudo-PDF approach. We identify the two-gluon correlator functions that contain the invariant amplitude determining the gluon PDF in the light-cone $z^2 \to 0$ limit, and perform one-loop calculations in the coordinate representation in an explicitly gauge-invariant form. Ultraviolet (UV) terms, which contain $\ln (-z^2)$-dependence cancel in the reduced Ioffe-time distribution (ITD), and we obtain the matching relation between the reduced ITD and the light-cone ITD. Using a kernel form, we get a direct connection between lattice data for the reduced ITD and the normalized gluon PDF.

  1 citation

• DIS physics at the EIC and LHeC and connections to the future LHC and $\nu$A programs

  T. J. Hobbs

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 155 (2022) · published 14 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Deeply-inelastic scattering (DIS) stands to enter a golden age with the prospect of precision programs at the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) and Large Hadron-electron Collider (LHeC). While these programs will be of considerable importance to resolving longstanding issues in (non)perturbative QCD as well as hadronic and nuclear structure, they will also have valuable implications for a wider range of physics at the Energy and Intensity Frontiers, including at the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) and future $\nu A$ facilities. In this plenary contribution, we highlight a number of salient examples of the potential HEP impact from the complementary EIC and LHeC programs drawn from their respective Yellow Report and Whitepaper. Interested readers are encouraged to consult the extensive studies and literature from which these examples are taken for more detail.

  1 citation

• Topological insulators and geometry of vector bundles

  Alexander S. Sergeev

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 67 (2023) · published 12 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  For a long time, band theory of solids has focused on the energy spectrum, or Hamiltonian eigenvalues. Recently, it was realized that the collection of eigenvectors also contains important physical information. The local geometry of eigenspaces determines the electric polarization, while their global twisting gives rise to the metallic surface states in topological insulators. These phenomena are central topics of the present notes. The shape of eigenspaces is also responsible for many intriguing physical analogies, which have their roots in the theory of vector bundles. We give an informal introduction to the geometry and topology of vector bundles and describe various physical models from this mathematical perspective.

  1 citation

• Line operators in 4d Chern-Simons theory and Cherkis bows

  Nafiz Ishtiaque, Yehao Zhou

  SciPost Phys. 16, 052 (2024) · published 22 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that the phase spaces of a large family of line operators in 4d Chern-Simons theory with GL$_n$ gauge group are given by Cherkis bow varieties with $n$ crosses. These line operators are characterized by Hanany-Witten type brane constructions involving D3, D5, and NS5 branes in an $\Omega$-background. Linking numbers of the five-branes and mass parameters for the D3 brane theories determine the phase spaces and in special cases they correspond to vacuum moduli spaces of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ quiver theories. Examples include line operators that conjecturally create T, Q, and L-operators in integrable spin chains.

  1 citation

• Missing odd-order Shapiro steps do not uniquely indicate fractional Josephson effect

  P. Zhang, S. Mudi, M. Pendharkar, J. S. Lee, C. P. Dempsey, A. P. McFadden, S. D. Harrington, J. T. Dong, H. Wu, A. -H. Chen, M. Hocevar, C. J. Palmstrøm, S. M. Frolov

  SciPost Phys. 18, 203 (2025) · published 23 June 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Topological superconductivity is expected to spur Majorana zero modes-exotic states that are also considered a quantum technology asset. Fractional Josephson effect is their manifestation in electronic transport measurements, often under microwave irradiation. A fraction of induced resonances, known as Shapiro steps, should vanish, in a pattern that signifies the presence of Majorana modes. Here we report patterns of Shapiro steps expected in topological Josephson junctions, such as the missing first Shapiro step, or several missing odd-order steps. But our junctions, which are InAs quantum wells with Al contacts, are studied near zero magnetic field, meaning that they are not in the topological regime. We also observe other patterns such as missing even steps and several missing steps in a row, not relevant to topological superconductivity. Potentially responsible for our observations is rounding of not fully developed steps superimposed on non-monotonic resistance versus voltage curves, but several origins may be at play. Our results demonstrate that any single pattern, even striking, cannot uniquely identify topological superconductivity, and a multifactor approach is necessary to unambiguously establish this important phenomenon.

  1 citation