Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Simulating Floquet topological phases in static systems

  Selma Franca, Fabian Hassler, Ion Cosma Fulga

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 007 (2021) · published 15 April 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that scattering from the boundary of static, higher-order topological insulators (HOTIs) can be used to simulate the behavior of (time-periodic) Floquet topological insulators. We consider D-dimensional HOTIs with gapless corner states which are weakly probed by external waves in a scattering setup. We find that the unitary reflection matrix describing back-scattering from the boundary of the HOTI is topologically equivalent to a (D-1)-dimensional nontrivial Floquet operator. To characterize the topology of the reflection matrix, we introduce the concept of `nested' scattering matrices. Our results provide a route to engineer topological Floquet systems in the lab without the need for external driving. As benefit, the topological system does not to suffer from decoherence and heating.

  7 citations

• Multi-centered black holes, scaling solutions and pure-Higgs indices from localization

  Guillaume Beaujard, Swapnamay Mondal, Boris Pioline

  SciPost Phys. 11, 023 (2021) · published 6 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Coulomb Branch Formula conjecturally expresses the refined Witten index for $N=4$ Quiver Quantum Mechanics as a sum over multi-centered collinear black hole solutions, weighted by so-called `single-centered' or `pure-Higgs' indices, and suitably modified when the quiver has oriented cycles. On the other hand, localization expresses the same index as an integral over the complexified Cartan torus and auxiliary fields, which by Stokes' theorem leads to the famous Jeffrey-Kirwan residue formula. Here, by evaluating the same integral using steepest descent methods, we show the index is in fact given by a sum over deformed multi-centered collinear solutions, which encompasses both regular and scaling collinear solutions. As a result, we confirm the Coulomb Branch Formula for Abelian quivers in the presence of oriented cycles, and identify the origin of the pure-Higgs and minimal modification terms as coming from collinear scaling solutions. For cyclic Abelian quivers, we observe that part of the scaling contributions reproduce the stacky invariants for trivial stability, a mathematically well-defined notion whose physics significance had remained obscure.

  7 citations

• Resolving the nonequilibrium Kondo singlet in energy- and position-space using quantum measurements

  Andre Erpenbeck, Guy Cohen

  SciPost Phys. 10, 142 (2021) · published 11 June 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Kondo effect, a hallmark of strong correlation physics, is characterized by the formation of an extended cloud of singlet states around magnetic impurities at low temperatures. While many implications of the Kondo cloud's existence have been verified, the existence of the singlet cloud itself has not been directly demonstrated. We suggest a route for such a demonstration by considering an observable that has no classical analog, but is still experimentally measurable: ``singlet weights'', or projections onto particular entangled two-particle states. Using approximate theoretical arguments, we show that it is possible to construct highly specific energy- and position-resolved probes of Kondo correlations. Furthermore, we consider a quantum transport setup that can be driven away from equilibrium by a bias voltage. There, we show that singlet weights are enhanced by voltage even as the Kondo effect is weakened by it. This exposes a patently nonequilibrium mechanism for the generation of Kondo-like entanglement that is inherently different from its equilibrium counterpart.

  7 citations

• Marginal deformations from type IIA supergravity

  Nikolay Bobev, Pieter Bomans, Fridrik Freyr Gautason, Vincent S. Min

  SciPost Phys. 10, 140 (2021) · published 10 June 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study marginal deformations of a class of three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs that admit a holographic dual description in massive type IIA supergravity. We compute the dimension of the conformal manifold in these SCFTs and identify a special submanifold with enhanced flavor symmetry. We show how to apply the TsT transformation of Lunin-Maldacena to construct explicit supersymmetric AdS$_4$ solutions of massive type IIA supergravity with non-trivial internal fluxes that are the holographic dual of these marginal deformations. Finally, we also briefly comment on a class of RG flows between some of these SCFTs that also admit a holographic realization.

  7 citations

• Hilbert space fragmentation and slow dynamics in particle-conserving quantum East models

  Pietro Brighi, Marko Ljubotina, Maksym Serbyn

  SciPost Phys. 15, 093 (2023) · published 13 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quantum kinetically constrained models have recently attracted significant attention due to their anomalous dynamics and thermalization. In this work, we introduce a hitherto unexplored family of kinetically constrained models featuring conserved particle number and strong inversion-symmetry breaking due to facilitated hopping. We demonstrate that these models provide a generic example of so-called quantum Hilbert space fragmentation, that is manifested in disconnected sectors in the Hilbert space that are not apparent in the computational basis. Quantum Hilbert space fragmentation leads to an exponential in system size number of eigenstates with exactly zero entanglement entropy across several bipartite cuts. These eigenstates can be probed dynamically using quenches from simple initial product states. In addition, we study the particle spreading under unitary dynamics launched from the domain wall state, and find faster than diffusive dynamics at high particle densities, that crosses over into logarithmically slow relaxation at smaller densities. Using a classically simulable cellular automaton, we reproduce the logarithmic dynamics observed in the quantum case. Our work suggests that particle conserving constrained models with inversion symmetry breaking realize so far unexplored dynamical behavior and invite their further theoretical and experimental studies.

  7 citations

• DCore: Integrated DMFT software for correlated electrons

  Hiroshi Shinaoka, Junya Otsuki, Mitsuaki Kawamura, Nayuta Takemori, Kazuyoshi Yoshimi

  SciPost Phys. 10, 117 (2021) · published 27 May 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present a new open-source program, DCore, that implements dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). DCore features a user-friendly interface based on text and HDF5 files. It allows DMFT calculations of tight-binding models to be performed on predefined lattices as well as \textit{ab initio} models constructed by external density functional theory codes through the Wannier90 package. Furthermore, DCore provides interfaces to many advanced quantum impurity solvers such as quantum Monte Carlo and exact diagonalization solvers. This paper details the structure and usage of DCore and shows some applications.

  7 citations

• Sixfold fermion near the Fermi level in cubic PtBi2

  S. Thirupathaiah, Y. S. Kushnirenk, K. Koepernik, B. R. Piening, B. Buechner, S. Aswartham, J. van den Brink, S. V. Borisenko, I. C. Fulga

  SciPost Phys. 10, 004 (2021) · published 11 January 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that the cubic compound PtBi2, is a topological semimetal hosting a sixfold band touching point in close proximity to the Fermi level. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we map the bandstructure of the system, which is in good agreement with results from density functional theory. Further, by employing a low energy effective Hamiltonian valid close to the crossing point, we study the effect of a magnetic field on the sixfold fermion. The latter splits into a total of twenty Weyl cones for a Zeeman field oriented in the diagonal, [111] direction. Our results mark cubic PtBi2, as an ideal candidate to study the transport properties of gapless topological systems beyond Dirac and Weyl semimetals.

  7 citations

• Generating dense packings of hard spheres by soft interaction design

  Thibaud Maimbourg, Mauro Sellitto, Guilhem Semerjian, Francesco Zamponi

  SciPost Phys. 4, 039 (2018) · published 26 June 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Packing spheres efficiently in large dimension $d$ is a particularly difficult optimization problem. In this paper we add an isotropic interaction potential to the pure hard-core repulsion, and show that one can tune it in order to maximize a lower bound on packing density. Our results suggest that exponentially many (in the number of particles) distinct disordered sphere packings can be effectively constructed by this method, up to a packing fraction close to $7\, d\, 2^{-d}$. The latter is determined by solving the inverse problem of maximizing the dynamical glass transition over the space of the interaction potentials. Our method crucially exploits a recent exact formulation of the thermodynamics and the dynamics of simple liquids in infinite dimension.

  7 citations

• Extreme boundary conditions and random tilings

  Jean-Marie Stéphan

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 26 (2021) · published 12 March 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Standard statistical mechanical or condensed matter arguments tell us that bulk properties of a physical system do not depend too much on boundary conditions. Random tilings of large regions provide counterexamples to such intuition, as illustrated by the famous 'arctic circle theorem' for dimer coverings in two dimensions. In these notes, I discuss such examples in the context of critical phenomena, and their relation to 1+1d quantum particle models. All those turn out to share a common feature: they are inhomogeneous, in the sense that local densities now depend on position in the bulk. I explain how such problems may be understood using variational (or hydrodynamic) arguments, how to treat long range correlations, and how non trivial edge behavior can occur. While all this is done on the example of the dimer model, the results presented here have much greater generality. In that sense the dimer model serves as an opportunity to discuss broader methods and results. [These notes require only a basic knowledge of statistical mechanics.]

  6 citations

• An effective field theory of magneto-elasticity

  Shashin Pavaskar, Riccardo Penco, Ira Z. Rothstein

  SciPost Phys. 12, 155 (2022) · published 11 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We utilize the coset construction to derive the effective field theory of magnon-phonon interactions in (anti)-ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic insulating materials. The action is used to calculate the equations of motion which generalize the Landau-Lifshitz and stress equations to allow for magneto-acoustic couplings to all orders in the fields at lowest order in the derivative expansion. We also include the symmetry breaking effects due to Zeeman, and Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interactions. This effective theory is a toolbox for the study of magneto-elastic phenomena from first principles. As an example we use this theory to calculate the leading order contribution to the magnon decay width due to its the decay into phonons.

  6 citations