Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Flow equations for disordered Floquet systems

  Steven J. Thomson, Duarte Magano, Marco Schirò

  SciPost Phys. 11, 028 (2021) · published 10 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this work, we present a new approach to disordered, periodically driven (Floquet) quantum many-body systems based on flow equations. Specifically, we introduce a continuous unitary flow of Floquet operators in an extended Hilbert space, whose fixed point is both diagonal and time-independent, allowing us to directly obtain the Floquet modes. We first apply this method to a periodically driven Anderson insulator, for which it is exact, and then extend it to driven many-body localized systems within a truncated flow equation ansatz. In particular we compute the emergent Floquet local integrals of motion that characterise a periodically driven many-body localized phase. We demonstrate that the method remains well-controlled in the weakly-interacting regime, and allows us to access larger system sizes than accessible by numerically exact methods, paving the way for studies of two-dimensional driven many-body systems.

  13 citations

• Magnetic impurity in a one-dimensional few-fermion system

  Lukas Rammelmüller, David Huber, Matija Čufar, Joachim Brand, Hans-Werner Hammer, Artem G. Volosniev

  SciPost Phys. 14, 006 (2023) · published 24 January 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present a numerical analysis of spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ fermions in a one-dimensional harmonic potential in the presence of a magnetic point-like impurity at the center of the trap. The model represents a few-body analogue of a magnetic impurity in the vicinity of an $s$-wave superconductor. Already for a few particles we find a ground-state level crossing between sectors with different fermion parities. We interpret this crossing as a few-body precursor of a quantum phase transition, which occurs when the impurity "breaks" a Cooper pair. This picture is further corroborated by analyzing density-density correlations in momentum space. Finally, we discuss how the system may be realized with existing cold-atoms platforms.

  13 citations

• Higher-group symmetry of (3+1)D fermionic $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory: Logical CCZ, CS, and T gates from higher symmetry

  Maissam Barkeshli, Po-Shen Hsin, Ryohei Kobayashi

  SciPost Phys. 16, 122 (2024) · published 7 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  It has recently been understood that the complete global symmetry of finite group topological gauge theories contains the structure of a higher-group. Here we study the higher-group structure in (3+1)D $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory with an emergent fermion, and point out that pumping chiral $p+ip$ topological states gives rise to a $\mathbb{Z}_{8}$ 0-form symmetry with mixed gravitational anomaly. This ordinary symmetry mixes with the other higher symmetries to form a 3-group structure, which we examine in detail. We then show that in the context of stabilizer quantum codes, one can obtain logical CCZ and CS gates by placing the code on a discretization of $T^3$ (3-torus) and $T^2 \rtimes_{C_2} S^1$ (2-torus bundle over the circle) respectively, and pumping $p+ip$ states. Our considerations also imply the possibility of a logical $T$ gate by placing the code on $\mathbb{RP}^3$ and pumping a $p+ip$ topological state.

  13 citations

• On a class of selection rules without group actions in field theory and string theory

  Justin Kaidi, Yuji Tachikawa, Hao Y. Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 17, 169 (2024) · published 19 December 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We discuss a class of selection rules which i) do not come from group actions on fields, ii) are exact at tree level in perturbation theory, iii) are increasingly violated as the loop order is raised, and iv) eventually reduce to selection rules associated with an ordinary group symmetry. We start from basic field-theoretical examples in which fields are labeled by conjugacy classes rather than representations of a group, and discuss generalizations using fusion algebras or hypergroups. We also discuss how such selection rules arise naturally in string theory, such as for non-Abelian orbifolds or other cases with non-invertible worldsheet symmetries.

  13 citations

• Candidate phases for SU(2) adjoint QCD$_4$ with two flavors from $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory

  Clay Córdova, Thomas T. Dumitrescu

  SciPost Phys. 16, 139 (2024) · published 29 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study four-dimensional adjoint QCD with gauge group $SU(2)$ and two Weyl fermion flavors, which has an $SU(2)_R$ chiral symmetry. The infrared behavior of this theory is not firmly established. We explore candidate infrared phases by embedding adjoint QCD into ${\mathcal N}=2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory deformed by a supersymmetry-breaking scalar mass $M$ that preserves all global symmetries and 't Hooft anomalies. This includes 't Hooft anomalies that are only visible when the theory is placed on manifolds that do not admit a spin structure. The consistency of this procedure is guaranteed by a nonabelian spin-charge relation involving the $SU(2)_R$ symmetry that is familiar from topologically twisted ${\mathcal N}=2$ theories. Since every vacuum on the Coulomb branch of the ${\mathcal N}=2$ theory necessarily matches all 't Hooft anomalies, we can generate candidate phases for adjoint QCD by deforming the theories in these vacua while preserving all symmetries and 't Hooft anomalies. One such deformation is the supersymmetry-breaking scalar mass $M$ itself, which can be reliably analyzed when $M$ is small. In this regime it gives rise to an exotic Coulomb phase without chiral symmetry breaking. By contrast, the theory near the monopole and dyon points can be deformed to realize a candidate phase with monopole-induced confinement and chiral symmetry breaking. The low-energy theory consists of two copies of a $\mathbb{CP}^1$ sigma model, which we analyze in detail. Certain topological couplings that are likely to be present in this $\mathbb{CP}^1$ model turn the confining solitonic string of the model into a topological insulator. We also examine the behavior of various candidate phases under fermion mass deformations. We speculate on the possible large-$M$ behavior of the deformed ${\mathcal N}=2$ theory and conjecture that the $\mathbb{CP}^1$ phase eventually becomes dominant.

  13 citations

• Correlations of zero-entropy critical states in the XXZ model: integrability and Luttinger theory far from the ground state

  R. Vlijm, I. S. Eliëns, J. -S. Caux

  SciPost Phys. 1, 008 (2016) · published 25 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Pumping a finite energy density into a quantum system typically leads to `melted' states characterized by exponentially-decaying correlations, as is the case for finite-temperature equilibrium situations. An important exception to this rule are states which, while being at high energy, maintain a low entropy. Such states can interestingly still display features of quantum criticality, especially in one dimension. Here, we consider high-energy states in anisotropic Heisenberg quantum spin chains obtained by splitting the ground state's magnon Fermi sea into separate pieces. Using methods based on integrability, we provide a detailed study of static and dynamical spin-spin correlations. These carry distinctive signatures of the Fermi sea splittings, which would be observable in eventual experimental realizations. Going further, we employ a multi-component Tomonaga-Luttinger model in order to predict the asymptotics of static correlations. For this effective field theory, we fix all universal exponents from energetics, and all non-universal correlation prefactors using finite-size scaling of matrix elements. The correlations obtained directly from integrability and those emerging from the Luttinger field theory description are shown to be in extremely good correspondence, as expected, for the large distance asymptotics, but surprisingly also for the short distance behavior. Finally, we discuss the description of dynamical correlations from a mobile impurity model, and clarify the relation of the effective field theory parameters to the Bethe Ansatz solution.

  13 citations

• Connecting quasinormal modes and heat kernels in 1-loop determinants

  Cynthia Keeler, Victoria L. Martin, Andrew Svesko

  SciPost Phys. 8, 017 (2020) · published 3 February 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We connect two different approaches for calculating functional determinants on quotients of hyperbolic spacetime: the heat kernel method and the quasinormal mode method. For the example of a rotating BTZ background, we show how the image sum in the heat kernel method builds up the logarithms in the quasinormal mode method, while the thermal sum in the quasinormal mode method builds up the integrand of the heat kernel. More formally, we demonstrate how the heat kernel and quasinormal mode methods are linked via the Selberg zeta function. We show that a 1-loop partition function computed using the heat kernel method may be cast as a Selberg zeta function whose zeros encode quasinormal modes. We discuss how our work may be used to predict quasinormal modes on more complicated spacetimes.

  13 citations

• Superflow decay in a toroidal Bose gas: The effect of quantum and thermal fluctuations

  Zain Mehdi, Ashton S. Bradley, Joseph J. Hope, Stuart S. Szigeti

  SciPost Phys. 11, 080 (2021) · published 21 October 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We theoretically investigate the stochastic decay of persistent currents in a toroidal ultracold atomic superfluid caused by a perturbing barrier. Specifically, we perform detailed three-dimensional simulations to model the experiment of Kumar et al. in [Phys. Rev. A 95 021602 (2017)], which observed a strong temperature dependence in the timescale of superflow decay in an ultracold Bose gas. Our ab initio numerical approach exploits a classical-field framework that includes thermal fluctuations due to interactions between the superfluid and a thermal cloud, as well as the intrinsic quantum fluctuations of the Bose gas. In the low-temperature regime our simulations provide a quantitative description of the experimental decay timescales, improving on previous numerical and analytical approaches. At higher temperatures, our simulations give decay timescales that range over the same orders of magnitude observed in the experiment, however, there are some quantitative discrepancies that are not captured by any of the mechanisms we explore. Our results suggest a need for further experimental and theoretical studies into superflow stability.

  13 citations

• Active particles driven by competing spatially dependent self-propulsion and external force

  Lorenzo Caprini, Umberto Marini Bettolo Marconi, René Wittmann , Hartmut Löwen

  SciPost Phys. 13, 065 (2022) · published 23 September 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate how the competing presence of a nonuniform motility landscape and an external confining field affects the properties of active particles. We employ the active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck particle (AOUP) model with a periodic swim-velocity profile to derive analytical approximations for the steady-state probability distribution of position and velocity, encompassing both the Unified Colored Noise Approximation and the theory of potential-free active particles with spatially dependent swim velocity recently developed. We test the theory by confining an active particle in a harmonic trap, which gives rise to interesting properties, such as a transition from a unimodal to a bimodal (and, eventually multimodal) spatial density, induced by decreasing the spatial period of the self propulsion. Correspondingly, the velocity distribution shows pronounced deviations from the Gaussian shape, even displaying a bimodal profile in the high-motility regions. We thus show that the interplay of two relatively simple physical fields can be employed to generate complex emerging behavior.

  13 citations

• Exotic criticality in the dimerized spin-1 $XXZ$ chain with single-ion anisotropy

  Satoshi Ejima, Tomoki Yamaguchi, Fabian H. L. Essler, Florian Lange, Yukinori Ohta, Holger Fehske

  SciPost Phys. 5, 059 (2018) · published 7 December 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the dimerized spin-1 $XXZ$ chain with single-ion anisotropy $D$. In absence of an explicit dimerization there are three phases: a large-$D$, an antiferromagnetically ordered and a Haldane phase. This phase structure persists up to a critical dimerization, above which the Haldane phase disappears. We show that for weak dimerization the phases are separated by Gaussian and Ising quantum phase transitions. One of the Ising transitions terminates in a critical point in the universality class of the dilute Ising model. We comment on the relevance of our results to experiments on quasi-one-dimensional anisotropic spin-1 quantum magnets.

  13 citations