Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• A plane defect in the 3d O(N) model

  Abijith Krishnan, Max A. Metlitski

  SciPost Phys. 15, 090 (2023) · published 12 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  It was recently found that the classical 3d O$(N)$ model in the semi-infinite geometry can exhibit an "extraordinary-log" boundary universality class, where the spin-spin correlation function on the boundary falls off as $\langle \vec{S}(x) \cdot \vec{S}(0)\rangle \sim \frac{1}{(\log x)^q}$. This universality class exists for a range $2 ≤ N < N_c$ {and Monte-Carlo simulations and conformal bootstrap} indicate $N_c > 3$. In this work, we extend this {result} to the 3d O$(N)$ model in an infinite geometry with a plane defect. We use renormalization group (RG) to show that in this case the extraordinary-log universality class is present for any finite $N ≥ 2$. We additionally show, {in agreement with our RG analysis}, that the line of defect fixed points which is present at $N = ∞$ is lifted to the ordinary, special (no defect) and extraordinary-log universality classes by $1/N$ corrections. We study the "central charge" $a$ for the $O(N)$ model in the boundary and interface geometries and provide a non-trivial detailed check of an $a$-theorem by Jensen and O'Bannon. Finally, we revisit the problem of the O$(N)$ model in the semi-infinite geometry. We find evidence that at $N = N_c$ the extraordinary and special fixed points annihilate and only the ordinary fixed point is left for $N > N_c$.

  3 citations

• Diffraction of strongly interacting molecular Bose-Einstein condensate from standing wave light pulses

  Qi Liang, Chen Li, Sebastian Erne, Pradyumna Paranjape, RuGway Wu, Jörg Schmiedmayer

  SciPost Phys. 12, 154 (2022) · published 10 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the effects of strong inter-particle interaction on diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate of $^6Li_2$ molecules from a periodic potential created by pulses of a far detuned optical standing wave. For short pulses we observe the standard Kapitza-Dirac diffraction, with the contrast of the diffraction pattern strongly reduced for very large interactions due to interaction dependent loss processes. For longer pulses diffraction shows the characteristic for matter waves impinging on an array of tubes and coherent channeling transport. We observe a slowing down of the time evolution governing the population of the momentum modes caused by the strong atom interaction. A simple physical explanation of that slowing down is the phase shift caused by the self-interaction of the forming matter wave patterns inside the standing light wave. Simple 1D mean field simulations qualitatively capture the phenomenon, however to quantitatively reproduce the experimental results the molecular scattering length has to be multiplied by factor of 4.2. In addition, two contributions to interaction-dependent degradation of the coherent diffraction patterns were identified: (i) in-trap loss of molecules during the lattice pulse, which involves dissociation of Feshbach molecules into free atoms, as confirmed by radio-frequency spectroscopy and (ii) collisions between different momentum modes during separation. This was confirmed by interferometrically recombining the diffracted momenta into the zero-momentum peak, which consequently removed the scattering background.

  3 citations

• 3D Ising CFT and exact diagonalization on icosahedron: The power of conformal perturbation theory

  Bing-Xin Lao, Slava Rychkov

  SciPost Phys. 15, 243 (2023) · published 18 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the transverse field Ising model in (2+1)D, putting 12 spins at the vertices of the regular icosahedron. The model is tiny by the exact diagonalization standards, and breaks rotation invariance. Yet we show that it allows a meaningful comparison to the 3D Ising CFT on $\mathbb{R}× S^2$, by including effective perturbations of the CFT Hamiltonian with a handful of local operators. This extreme example shows the power of conformal perturbation theory in understanding finite N effects in models on regularized $S^2$. Its ideal arena of application should be the recently proposed models of fuzzy sphere regularization.

  3 citations

• Monte Carlo matrix-product-state approach to the false vacuum decay in the monitored quantum Ising chain

  Jeffrey Allan Maki, Anna Berti, Iacopo Carusotto, Alberto Biella

  SciPost Phys. 15, 152 (2023) · published 11 October 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this work we characterize the false vacuum decay in the ferromagnetic quantum Ising chain with a weak longitudinal field subject to continuous monitoring of the local magnetization. Initializing the system in a metastable state, the false vacuum, we study the competition between coherent dynamics, which tends to create resonant bubbles of the true vacuum, and measurements which induce heating and reduce the amount of quantum correlations. To this end we exploit a numerical approach based on the combination of matrix product states with stochastic quantum trajectories which allows for the simulation of the trajectory-resolved non-equilibrium dynamics of interacting many-body systems in the presence of continuous measurements. We show how the presence of measurements affects the false vacuum decay: At short times the departure from the local minimum is accelerated while at long times the system thermalizes to an infinite-temperature incoherent mixture. For large measurement rates the system enters a quantum Zeno regime. The false vacuum decay and the thermalization physics are characterized in terms of the magnetization, connected correlation function, and the trajectory-resolved entanglement entropy.

  3 citations

• Symmetries and topological operators, on average

  Andrea Antinucci, Giovanni Galati, Giovanni Rizi, Marco Serone

  SciPost Phys. 15, 125 (2023) · published 29 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study Ward identities and selection rules for local correlators in disordered theories where a 0-form global symmetry of a QFT is explicitly broken by a random coupling $h$ but it re-emerges after quenched average. We consider $h$ space-dependent or constant. In both cases we construct the symmetry operator implementing the group action, topological after average. In the first case, relevant in statistical systems with random impurities, such symmetries can be coupled to external backgrounds and can be gauged, like ordinary symmetries in QFTs. We also determine exotic selection rules arising when symmetries emerge after average in the IR, explaining the origin of LogCFTs from symmetry considerations. In the second case, relevant in AdS/CFT to describe the dual boundary theory of certain bulk gravitational theories, the charge operator is not purely codimension-1, it can be defined only on homologically trivial cycles and on connected spaces. Selection rules for average correlators exist, yet such symmetries cannot be coupled to background gauge fields in ordinary ways and cannot be gauged. When the space is disconnected, in each connected component charge violation occurs, as expected from Euclidean wormholes in the bulk theory. Our findings show the obstruction to interpret symmetries emergent after average as gauged in the bulk.

  3 citations

• Scale-free non-Hermitian skin effect in a boundary-dissipated spin chain

  He-Ran Wang, Bo Li, Fei Song, Zhong Wang

  SciPost Phys. 15, 191 (2023) · published 13 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the open XXZ spin chain with a $PT$-symmetric non-Hermitian boundary field. We find an interaction-induced scale-free non-Hermitian skin effect by using the coordinate Bethe Ansatz. The steady-state and the ground state in the $PT$ broken phase are constructed, and the formulas of their eigen-energies in the thermodynamic limit are obtained. The differences between the many-body scale-free states and the boundary string states are explored, and the transition between the two at the isotropic point is investigated. We also discuss an experimental scheme to verify our results.

  3 citations

• Evaluating one-loop string amplitudes

  Lorenz Eberhardt, Sebastian Mizera

  SciPost Phys. 15, 119 (2023) · published 27 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We evaluate one-loop open-string amplitudes at finite $\alpha'$ for the first time. Our method involves a deformation of the integration contour over the modular parameter $\tau$ to a fractal contour introduced by Rademacher in the context of analytic number theory. This procedure leads to explicit and practical formulas for the one-loop four-point amplitudes in type-I superstring theory, amenable to numerical evaluation. We plot the amplitudes as a function of the Mandelstam invariants $s$ and $t$ and directly verify long-standing conjectures about their behaviour at high energies.

  3 citations

• Revealing the finite-frequency response of a bosonic quantum impurity

  Sébastien Léger, Théo Sépulcre, Dorian Fraudet, Olivier Buisson, Cécile Naud, Wiebke Hasch-Guichard, Serge Florens, Izak Snyman, Denis M. Basko, Nicolas Roch

  SciPost Phys. 14, 130 (2023) · published 25 May 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quantum impurities are ubiquitous in condensed matter physics and constitute the most stripped-down realization of many-body problems. While measuring their finite-frequency response could give access to key characteristics such as excitations spectra or dynamical properties, this goal has remained elusive despite over two decades of studies in nanoelectronic quantum dots. Conflicting experimental constraints of very strong coupling and large measurement bandwidths must be met simultaneously. We get around this problem using cQED tools, and build a precisely characterized quantum simulator of the boundary sine-Gordon model, a non-trivial bosonic impurity problem. We succeeded to fully map out the finite frequency linear response of this system. Its reactive part evidences a strong renormalisation of the nonlinearity at the boundary in agreement with non-perturbative calculations. Its dissipative part reveals a striking many-body broadening caused by multi-photon conversion. The experimental results are matched quantitatively to a perturbative calculation based on a microscopically calibrated model. Furthermore, we push the device into a regime where perturbative calculations break down, which calls for more advanced theoretical tools to model many-body quantum circuits. We also critically examine the technological limitations of cQED platforms to reach universal scaling laws. This work opens exciting perspectives for the future such as quantifying quantum entanglement in the vicinity of a quantum critical point or accessing the dynamical properties of non-trivial many-body problems.

  3 citations

• Non-supersymmetric AdS from string theory

  Zihni Kaan Baykara, Daniel Robbins, Savdeep Sethi

  SciPost Phys. 15, 224 (2023) · published 4 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We construct non-supersymmetric $AdS_3$ solutions of the $\mathrm O(16)× \mathrm O(16)$ heterotic string. Most of the backgrounds have a classical worldsheet definition but are quantum string vacua in the sense that string loop corrections change the curvature of spacetime. At one-loop, the change in the cosmological constant is positive but never sufficient to uplift to de Sitter space. By computing the spectrum of spacetime scalars, we show that there are no tachyons below the BF bound. We also show that there is a solution with no spacetime NS-NS flux. This background has no classical string limit. Surprisingly, there appears to be parametric control over these constructions, which provide a framework for exploring quantum gravity and holography without supersymmetry.

  3 citations

• On the dynamic distinguishability of nodal quasi-particles in overdoped cuprates

  Kamran Behnia

  SciPost Phys. 12, 200 (2022) · published 24 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  La$_{1.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$CuO$_4$ is not a superconductor and its resistivity follows a purely T$^2$ temperature dependence at very low temperatures. La$_{1.71}$Sr$_{0.29}$CuO$_4$, on the other hand, has a superconducting ground state together with a T-Linear term in its resistivity. The concomitant emergence of these two features below a critical doping is mystifying. Here, I notice that the electron-electron collision rate in the Fermi liquid above the doping threshold is unusually large. The scattering time of nodal quasi-particles expressed in a dimensionless parameter $\zeta$ is very close to what has been found in liquid $^3$He at its melting pressure. In the latter case, fermionic particles become dynamically distinguishable by excess of interaction. Ceasing to be dynamically indistinguishable, nodal electrons will be excluded from the Fermi sea. Such non-degenerate carriers will then scatter the degenerate ones within a phase space growing linearly with temperature.

  3 citations