Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Dipole symmetry breaking and fractonic Nambu-Goldstone mode

  Evangelos Afxonidis, Alessio Caddeo, Carlos Hoyos, Daniele Musso

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 082 (2023) · published 28 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We introduce a family of quantum field theories for fields carrying monopole and dipole charges. In contrast to previous realizations, fields have quadratic two-derivative kinetic terms. The dipole symmetry algebra is realized in a discretized internal space and connected to the physical space through a background gauge field. We study spontaneous symmetry breaking of dipole symmetry in 1+1 dimensions in a large-$N$ limit. The trivial classical vacuum is lifted by quantum corrections into a vacuum which breaks dipole symmetry while preserving monopole charge. By means of a Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation, heat-kernel and large-$N$ techniques, we compute the effective action for the low-energy modes. We encounter a fractonic immobile Nambu-Goldstone mode whose dispersion characteristics avoid Coleman-Hohenberg-Mermin-Wagner theorem independently of the large-$N$ limit.

  5 citations

• Tau polarimetry in B meson decays

  Rodrigo Alonso, Jorge Martin Camalich, Susanne Westhoff

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 012 (2019) · published 19 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This article summarizes recent developments in $B\to D^{(\ast)}\tau\nu$ decays. We explain how to extract the tau lepton's production properties from the kinematics of its decay products. The focus is on hadronic tau decays, which are most sensitive to the tau polarizations. We present new results for effects of new physics in tau polarization observables and quantify the observation prospects at BELLE II.

  5 citations

• How SU(2)$_4$ Anyons are Z$_3$ Parafermions

  Richard Fern, Johannes Kombe, Steven H. Simon

  SciPost Phys. 3, 037 (2017) · published 9 December 2017 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the braid group representation which describes the non-abelian braiding statistics of the spin $1/2$ particle world lines of an SU(2)$_4$ Chern-Simons theory. Up to an abelian phase, this is the same as the non-Abelian statistics of the elementary quasiparticles of the $k=4$ Read-Rezayi quantum Hall state. We show that these braiding properties can be represented exactly using $\mathbb{Z}_3$ parafermion operators.

  5 citations

• A non-unitary bulk-boundary correspondence: Non-unitary Haagerup RCFTs from S-fold SCFTs

  Dongmin Gang, Dongyeob Kim, Sungjay Lee

  SciPost Phys. 17, 064 (2024) · published 23 August 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We introduce a novel class of two-dimensional non-unitary rational conformal field theories (RCFTs) whose modular data are identical to the generalized Haagerup-Izumi modular data. Via the bulk-boundary correspondence, they are related to the three-dimensional non-unitary Haagerup topological field theories, recently constructed by a topological twisting of three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ rank-zero superconformal field theories (SCFTs), called S-fold SCFTs. We propose that, up to the overall factors, the half-indices of the rank-zero SCFTs give the explicit Nahm representation of four conformal characters of the RCFTs including the vacuum character. Using the theory of Bantay-Gannon, we can successfully complete them into the full admissible conformal characters of the RCFTs.

  5 citations

• Pymablock: An algorithm and a package for quasi-degenerate perturbation theory

  Isidora Araya Day, Sebastian Miles, Hugo K. Kerstens, Daniel Varjas, Anton R. Akhmerov

  SciPost Phys. Codebases 50 (2025) · published 12 February 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A common technique in the study of complex quantum-mechanical systems is to reduce the number of degrees of freedom in the Hamiltonian by using quasi-degenerate perturbation theory. While the Schrieffer-Wolff transformation achieves this and constructs an effective Hamiltonian, its scaling is suboptimal, it is limited to two subspaces, and implementing it efficiently is both challenging and error-prone. We introduce an algorithm for constructing an equivalent effective Hamiltonian as well as a Python package, Pymablock, that implements it. Our algorithm combines an optimal asymptotic scaling and the ability to handle any number of subspaces with a range of other improvements. The package supports numerical and analytical calculations of any order and it is designed to be interoperable with any other packages for specifying the Hamiltonian. We demonstrate how the package handles constructing a k.p model, analyses a superconducting qubit, and computes the low-energy spectrum of a large tight-binding model. We also compare its performance with reference calculations and demonstrate its efficiency.

  5 citations

• Thermodynamic Casimir forces in strongly anisotropic systems within the $N\to \infty$ class

  Maciej Łebek, Paweł Jakubczyk

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 016 (2021) · published 7 June 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We analyze the thermodynamic Casimir effect in strongly anizotropic systems from the vectorial $N\to\infty$ class in a slab geometry. Employing the imperfect (mean-field) Bose gas as a representative example, we demonstrate the key role of spatial dimensionality $d$ in determining the character of the effective fluctuation-mediated interaction between the confining walls. For a particular, physically conceivable choice of anisotropic dispersion and periodic boundary conditions, we show that the Casimir force at criticality as well as within the low-temperature phase is repulsive for dimensionality $d\in (\frac{5}{2},4)\cup (6,8)\cup (10,12)\cup\dots$ and attractive for $d\in (4,6)\cup (8,10)\cup \dots$. We argue, that for $d\in\{4,6,8\dots\}$ the Casimir interaction entirely vanishes in the scaling limit. We discuss implications of our results for systems characterized by $1/N>0$ and possible realizations in the context of quantum phase transitions.

  5 citations

• Mechanisms for the emergence of Gaussian correlations

  Marek Gluza, Thomas Schweigler, Mohammadamin Tajik, João Sabino, Federica Cataldini, Frederik S. Møller, Si-Cong Ji, Bernhard Rauer, Jörg Schmiedmayer, Jens Eisert, Spyros Sotiriadis

  SciPost Phys. 12, 113 (2022) · published 30 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We comprehensively investigate two distinct mechanisms leading to memory loss of non-Gaussian correlations after switching off the interactions in an isolated quantum system undergoing out-of-equilibrium dynamics. The first mechanism is based on spatial scrambling and results in the emergence of locally Gaussian steady states in large systems evolving over long times. The second mechanism, characterized as `canonical transmutation', is based on the mixing of a pair of canonically conjugate fields, one of which initially exhibits non-Gaussian fluctuations while the other is Gaussian and dominates the dynamics, resulting in the emergence of relative Gaussianity even at finite system sizes and times. We evaluate signatures of the occurrence of the two candidate mechanisms in a recent experiment that has observed Gaussification in an atom-chip controlled ultracold gas and elucidate evidence that it is canonical transmutation rather than spatial scrambling that is responsible for Gaussification in the experiment. Both mechanisms are shown to share the common feature that the Gaussian correlations revealed dynamically by the quench are already present though practically inaccessible at the initial time. On the way, we present novel observations based on the experimental data, demonstrating clustering of equilibrium correlations, analyzing the dynamics of full counting statistics, and utilizing tomographic reconstructions of quantum field states. Our work aims at providing an accessible presentation of the potential of atom-chip experiments to explore fundamental aspects of quantum field theories in quantum simulations.

  5 citations

• Microcanonical and canonical fluctuations in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates – Fock state sampling approach

  Maciej Bartłomiej Kruk, Dawid Hryniuk, Mick Kristensen, Toke Vibel, Krzysztof Pawłowski, Jan Arlt, Kazimierz Rzążewski

  SciPost Phys. 14, 036 (2023) · published 16 March 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The fluctuations of the atom number between a Bose-Einstein condensate and the surrounding thermal gas have been the subject of a long standing theoretical debate. This discussion is centered around the appropriate thermodynamic ensemble to be used for theoretical predictions and the effect of interactions on the observed fluctuations. Here we introduce the so-called Fock state sampling method to solve this classic problem of current experimental interest for weakly interacting gases. A suppression of the predicted peak fluctuations is observed when using a microcanonical with respect to a canonical ensemble. Moreover, interactions lead to a shift of the temperature of peak fluctuations for harmonically trapped gases. The absolute size of the fluctuations furthermore depends on the total number of atoms and the aspect ratio of the trapping potential. Due to the interplay of these effect, there is no universal suppression or enhancement of fluctuations.

  5 citations

• Multimode-polariton superradiance via Floquet engineering

  Christian Høj Johansen, Johannes Lang, Andrea Morales, Alexander Baumgärtner, Tobias Donner, Francesco Piazza

  SciPost Phys. 12, 094 (2022) · published 16 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider an ensemble of ultracold bosonic atoms within a near-planar cavity, driven by a far detuned laser whose phase is modulated at a frequency comparable to the transverse cavity mode spacing. We show that a strong, dispersive atom-photon coupling can be reached for many transverse cavity modes at once. The resulting Floquet polaritons involve a superposition of a set of cavity modes with a density excitation of the atomic cloud. The mutual interactions between these modes lead to distinct avoided crossings between the polaritons. Increasing the laser drive intensity, a low-lying multimode Floquet polariton softens and eventually becomes undamped, corresponding to the transition to a superradiant, self-organized phase. We demonstrate the stability of the stationary state for a broad range of parameters.

  5 citations

• Excitonic Bloch equations from first principles

  Gianluca Stefanucci, Enrico Perfetto

  SciPost Phys. 18, 009 (2025) · published 9 January 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The ultrafast conversion of coherent excitons into incoherent excitons, as well as the subsequent exciton diffusion and thermalization, are central topics in current scientific research due to their relevance in optoelectronics, photovoltaics and photocatalysis. Current approaches to the exciton dynamics rely on model Hamiltonians that depend on already screened electron-electron and electron-phonon couplings. In this work, we subject the state-of-the-art methods to scrutiny using the ab initio Hamiltonian for electrons and phonons. We offer a rigorous and intuitive proof demonstrating that the exciton dynamics governed by model Hamiltonians is affected by an overscreening of the electron-phonon interaction. The introduction of an auxiliary exciton species, termed the irreducible exciton, enables us to formulate a theory free from overscreening and derive the excitonic Bloch equations. These equations describe the time-evolution of coherent, irreducible, and incoherent excitons during and after the optical excitation. They are applicable beyond the linear regime, and predict that the total number of excitons is preserved when the external fields are switched off.

  5 citations