Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• MuSun - Muon Capture on the Deuteron

  P. Kammel on behalf of the MuSun collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 5, 018 (2021) · published 6 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The MuSun experiment is a precision measurement of the rate for nuclear muon capture on the deuteron, designed to resolve a long-standing disagreement between experiment and theory, and to determine an important low-energy constant relevant for a variety of weak and strong dynamics. The experiment is based on a novel active target method employing a pure deuterium cryogenic time-projection chamber. The data taking was completed in two main campaigns and the analysis is well advanced. The unique chal- lenges and corresponding strategy of the experiment as well as the status of the analysis are presented.

  5 citations

• Maximum entanglement of mixed symmetric states under unitary transformations

  Eduardo Serrano-Ensástiga, John Martin

  SciPost Phys. 15, 120 (2023) · published 28 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the maximum entanglement that can be produced by a global unitary transformation for systems of two and three qubits constrained to the fully symmetric states. This restriction to the symmetric subspace appears naturally in the context of bosonic or collective spin systems. We also study the symmetric states that remain separable after any global unitary transformation, called symmetric absolutely separable (SAS) states, or absolutely classical for spin states. The results for the two-qubit system are deduced analytically. In particular, we determine the maximal radius of a ball of SAS states around the maximally mixed state in the symmetric sector, and the minimal radius of a ball that contains the set of SAS states. As an application of our results, we also analyse the temperature dependence of the maximum entanglement that can be obtained from the thermal state of a spin-1 system with a spin-squeezing Hamiltonian. For the symmetric three-qubit case, our results are mostly numerical, and we conjecture a 3-parameter family of states that achieves the maximum negativity in the unitary orbit of any mixed state. In addition, we derive upper bounds, apparently tight, on the radii of balls containing only/all SAS states.

  5 citations

• Lorentzian contours for tree-level string amplitudes

  Lorenz Eberhardt, Sebastian Mizera

  SciPost Phys. 17, 078 (2024) · published 11 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We engineer compact contours on the moduli spaces of genus-zero Riemann surfaces that achieve analytic continuation from Euclidean to Lorentzian worldsheets. These generalized Pochhammer contours are based on the combinatorics of associahedra and make the analytic properties of tree-level amplitudes entirely manifest for any number and type of external strings. We use them in practice to perform first numerical computations of open and closed string amplitudes directly in the physical kinematics for $n=4,5,6,7,8,9$. We provide a code that allows anyone to do such computations.

  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

• Quasi-particle functional Renormalisation Group calculations in the two-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model at finite temperatures

  Daniel Rohe, Carsten Honerkamp

  SciPost Phys. 9, 084 (2020) · published 7 December 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present a highly parallelisable scheme for treating functional Renormalisation Group equations which incorporates a quasi-particle-based feedback on the flow and provides direct access to real-frequency self-energy data. This allows to map out the boundaries of Fermi-liquid regimes and to study the effect of quasi-particle degradation near Fermi liquid instabilities. As a first application, selected results for the two-dimensional half-filled perfectly nested Hubbard model are shown.

  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

• Many-body quantum dynamics with MCTDH-X

  Paolo Molignini, Sunayana Dutta, Elke Fasshauer

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 94 (2025) · published 26 March 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The lecture notes on "Many-body Quantum Dynamics with MCTDH-X", adapted from the 2023 Heidelberg MCTDH Summer School, provide an in-depth exploration of the Multiconfigurational Time-Dependent Hartree approach for indistinguishable particles. They serve as a comprehensive guide for understanding and utilizing the MCTDH-X software for both bosonic and fermionic systems. The tutorial begins with an introduction to the MCTDH-X software, highlighting its capability to handle various quantum systems, including those with internal degrees of freedom and long-range interactions. The theoretical foundation is then laid out on how to solve the time-dependent and time-independent Schrödinger equations for many-body systems. The workflow section provides practical instructions on setting up and executing simulations using MCTDH-X. Detailed benchmarks against exact solutions are presented, showcasing the accuracy and reliability of the software in ground-state and dynamic simulations. The notes then delve into the dynamics of quantum systems, covering relaxation processes, time evolution, and the analysis of propagation for both bosonic and fermionic particles. The discussion includes the interpretation of various physical quantities such as energy, density distributions, and orbital occupations. Advanced features of MCTDH-X are also explored in the last section, including the calculation of correlation functions and the creation of visualizations through video tutorials. The notes conclude with a Linux/UNIX command cheat sheet, facilitating ease of use for users operating the software on different systems. Overall, these lecture notes provide a valuable resource for researchers and students in the field of quantum dynamics, offering both theoretical insights and practical guidance on the use of MCTDH-X for studying complex many-body systems.

  5 citations

• Improved treatment of dark matter capture in compact stars

  Sandra Robles

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 057 (2023) · published 5 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Compact stellar objects are promising cosmic laboratories to test the nature of dark matter (DM). DM captured by the strong gravitational field of these stellar remnants transfers kinetic energy to the star during the collision. This can have various effects such as anomalous heating of old compact stars. The proper calculation of the DM capture rate is key to derive bounds on DM interactions in any scenario involving DM accretion in a star. We improve former calculations, which rely on approximations, for both white dwarfs (WDs) and neutron stars (NSs). We account for the stellar structure, gravitational focusing, relativistic kinematics, Pauli blocking, realistic form factors, and strong interactions (NSs). Considering DM capture by scattering off either ions or degenerate electrons in WDs, we show that old WDs in DM-rich environments could probe the elusive sub-GeV mass regime for both DM-nucleon and DM-electron scattering. In NSs, DM can be captured via collisions with strongly interacting baryons or relativistic leptons. We project the NS sensitivity to DM-nucleon and DM-lepton scattering cross sections which greatly exceeds that of direct detection experiments, especially for low mass DM.

  5 citations

• Entanglement gap, corners, and symmetry breaking

  Vincenzo Alba

  SciPost Phys. 10, 056 (2021) · published 8 March 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the finite-size scaling of the lowest entanglement gap $\delta\xi$ in the ordered phase of the two-dimensional quantum spherical model (QSM). The entanglement gap decays as $\delta\xi=\Omega/\sqrt{L\ln(L)}$. This is in contrast with the purely logarithmic behaviour as $\delta\xi=\pi^2/\ln(L)$ at the critical point. The faster decay in the ordered phase reflects the presence of magnetic order. We analytically determine the constant $\Omega$, which depends on the low-energy part of the model dispersion and on the geometry of the bipartition. In particular, we are able to compute the corner contribution to $\Omega$, at least for the case of a square corner.

  5 citations

• Heat and charge transport in interacting nanoconductors driven by time-modulated temperatures

  Rosa López, Pascal Simon, Minchul Lee

  SciPost Phys. 16, 094 (2024) · published 5 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the quantum transport of the heat and the charge through a quantum dot coupled to fermionic contacts under the influence of time modulation of temperatures. We derive, within the nonequilibrium Keldysh Green's function formalism, generic formulas for the charge and heat currents by extending the concept of gravitational field introduced by Luttinger to the dynamically driven system and by identifying the correct form of dynamical contact energy. In linear response regime our formalism is validated from satisfying the Onsager reciprocity relations and demonstrates its utility to reveal nontrivial dynamical effects of the Coulomb interaction on charge and energy relaxations.

  5 citations