Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• The mass of the $\pi^-$

  M. Daum, D. Gotta

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 5, 010 (2021) · published 6 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The most precise values of the mass of the negatively charged pion have been determined from several measurements of X-ray wavelengths for transitions in pionic atoms at PSI. The Particle Data Group gives the average $m_{\pi^-}= (139.570 61 \pm 0.000 24) MeV/c^2$.

  5 citations

• Detecting nematic order in STM/STS data with artificial intelligence

  Jeremy B. Goetz, Yi Zhang, Michael J. Lawler

  SciPost Phys. 8, 087 (2020) · published 15 June 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Detecting the subtle yet phase defining features in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy data remains an important challenge in quantum materials. We meet the challenge of detecting nematic order from local density of states data with supervised machine learning and artificial neural networks for the difficult scenario without sharp features such as visible lattice Bragg peaks or Friedel oscillation signatures in the Fourier transform spectrum. We train the artificial neural networks to classify simulated data of isotropic and anisotropic two-dimensional metals in the presence of disorder. The supervised machine learning succeeds only with at least one hidden layer in the ANN architecture, demonstrating it is a higher level of complexity than nematic order detected from Bragg peaks which requires just two neurons. We apply the finalized ANN to experimental STM data on CaFe2As2, and it predicts nematic symmetry breaking with 99% confidence (probability 0.99), in agreement with previous analysis. Our results suggest ANNs could be a useful tool for the detection of nematic order in STM data and a variety of other forms of symmetry breaking.

  5 citations

• Dark Matter EFT, the Third -- Neutrino WIMPs

  Ingolf Bischer, Tilman Plehn, Werner Rodejohann

  SciPost Phys. 10, 039 (2021) · published 17 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Sterile neutrinos coupling only to third-generation fermions are attractive dark matter candidates. In an EFT approach we demonstrate that they can generate the observed relic density without violating constraints from direct and indirect detection. Such an EFT represents a gauged third-generation $B-L$ model, as well as third-generation scalar or vector leptoquarks. LHC measurements naturally distinguish the different underlying models.

  5 citations

• High temperature series expansions of S = 1/2 Heisenberg spin models: Algorithm to include the magnetic field with optimized complexity

  Laurent Pierre, Bernard Bernu, Laura Messio

  SciPost Phys. 17, 105 (2024) · published 7 October 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This work presents an algorithm for calculating high temperature series expansions (HTSE) of Heisenberg spin models with spin $S=1/2$ in the thermodynamic limit. This algorithm accounts for the presence of a magnetic field. The paper begins with a comprehensive introduction to HTSE and then focuses on identifying the bottlenecks that limit the computation of higher order coefficients. HTSE calculations involve two key steps: graph enumeration on the lattice and trace calculations for each graph. The introduction of a non-zero magnetic field adds complexity to the expansion because previously irrelevant graphs must now be considered: bridged graphs. We present an efficient method to deduce the contribution of these graphs from the contribution of sub-graphs, that drastically reduces the time of calculation for the last order coefficient (in practice increasing by one the order of the series at almost no cost). Previous articles of the authors have utilized HTSE calculations based on this algorithm, but without providing detailed explanations. The complete algorithm is publicly available, as well as the series on many lattice and for various interactions.

  5 citations

• Free fermions with dephasing and boundary driving: Bethe Ansatz results

  Vincenzo Alba

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 011 (2025) · published 30 January 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  By employing the Lindblad equation, we derive the evolution of the two-point correlator for a free-fermion chain of length $L$ subject to bulk dephasing and boundary losses. We use the Bethe Ansatz to diagonalize the Liouvillian $\mathcal{L}^{(2)}$ governing the dynamics of the correlator. The majority of its eigenvalues are complex. Precisely, $L(L-1)/2$ complex eigenvalues do not depend on dephasing, apart from a trivial shift. The remaining complex levels are perturbatively related to the dephasing-independent ones for large $L$. The long-time dynamics is governed by a band of real eigenvalues, which contains an extensive number of levels. They give rise to diffusive scaling at intermediate times, when boundaries can be neglected. Moreover, they encode the breaking of diffusion at asymptotically long times. Interestingly, for large loss rate two boundary modes appear in the spectrum. The real eigenvalues correspond to string solutions of the Bethe equations, and can be treated effectively for large chains. This allows us to derive compact formulas for the dynamics of the fermionic density. We check our results against exact diagonalization, finding perfect agreement.

  5 citations

• Excitons under strain: light absorption and emission in strained hexagonal boron nitride

  Pierre Lechifflart, Fulvio Paleari, Claudio Attaccalite

  SciPost Phys. 12, 145 (2022) · published 4 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Hexagonal boron nitride is an indirect band gap material with a strong luminescence in the ultraviolet. This luminescence originates from bound excitons recombination assisted by different phonon modes. The coupling between excitons and phonons is so strong that the resulting light emission is as efficient as the one of direct band gap materials. In this manuscript we investigate how uniaxial strain modifies the electronic and optical properties of this material, and in particular how it affects the exciton-phonon coupling. Using a formulation of this coupling based on finite-difference displacements, recently developed by some of us, we investigate how phonon-assisted transitions change under strain. Our results open the way to the study of phonon-assisted luminescence in strained materials from first principles. Our findings are important both for experiments that directly probe \hbn under strain or for those in which it is used as substrate for other 2D material with a lattice mismatch.

  5 citations

• Quantum dynamics in 1D lattice models with synthetic horizons

  Corentin Morice, Dmitry Chernyavsky, Jasper van Wezel, Jeroen van den Brink, Ali G. Moghaddam

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 042 (2022) · published 29 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the wave packet dynamics and eigenstate localization in recently proposed generalized lattice models whose low-energy dynamics mimic a quantum field theory in (1+1)D curved spacetime with the aim of creating systems analogous to black holes. We identify a critical slowdown of zero-energy wave packets in a family of 1D tight-binding models with power-law variation of the hopping parameter, indicating the presence of a horizon. Remarkably, wave packets with non-zero energies bounce back and reverse direction before reaching the horizon. We additionally observe a power-law localization of all eigenstates, each bordering a region of exponential suppression. These forbidden regions dictate the closest possible approach to the horizon of states with any given energy. These numerical findings are supported by a semiclassical description of the wave packet trajectories, which are shown to coincide with the geodesics expected for the effective metric emerging from the considered lattice models in the continuum limit.

  5 citations

• Concentration of quantum equilibration and an estimate of the recurrence time

  Jonathon Riddell, Nathan J. Pagliaroli, Álvaro M. Alhambra

  SciPost Phys. 15, 165 (2023) · published 16 October 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that the dynamics of generic quantum systems concentrate around their equilibrium value when measuring at arbitrary times. This means that the probability of finding such values away from that equilibrium is exponentially suppressed, with a decay rate given by the effective dimension. Our result allows us to place a lower bound on the recurrence time of quantum systems, since recurrences corresponds to the rare events of finding a state away from equilibrium. In many-body systems, this bound is doubly exponential in system size. We also show corresponding results for free fermions, which display a weaker concentration and earlier recurrences.

  5 citations

• Crystalline Weyl semimetal phase in Quantum Spin Hall systems under magnetic fields

  Fernando Dominguez, Benedikt Scharf, Ewelina M. Hankiewicz

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 024 (2022) · published 28 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate an unconventional topological phase transition that occurs in quantum spin Hall (QSH) systems when applying an external in-plane magnetic field. We show that this transition between QSH and trivial insulator phases is separated by a stable topological gapless phase, which is protected by the combination of particle-hole and reflection symmetries, and thus, we dub it as crystalline Weyl semimetal. We explore the stability of this new phase when particle-hole symmetry breaking terms are present. Especially, we predict a robust unconventional topological phase transition to be visible for materials described by Kane and Mele model even if particle-hole symmetry is significantly broken.

  5 citations

• Axion Mie theory of electron energy loss spectroscopy in topological insulators

  Johannes Schultz, Flavio S. Nogueira, Bernd Büchner, Jeroen van den Brink, Axel Lubk

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 023 (2021) · published 14 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Electronic topological states of matter exhibit novel types of responses to electromagnetic fields. The response of strong topological insulators, for instance, is characterized by a so-called axion term in the electromagnetic Lagrangian which is ultimately due to the presence of topological surface states. Here we develop the axion Mie theory for the electromagnetic response of spherical particles including arbitrary sources of fields, i.e., charge and current distributions. We derive an axion induced mixing of transverse magnetic and transverse electric modes which are experimentally detectable through small induced rotations of the field vectors. Our results extend upon previous analyses of the problem. Our main focus is on the experimentally relevant problem of electron energy loss spectroscopy in topological insulators, a technique that has so far not yet been used to detect the axion electromagnetic response in these materials.

  5 citations