Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Josephson junctions of topological nodal superconductors

  Ranjani Seshadri, Maxim Khodas, Dganit Meidan

  SciPost Phys. 12, 197 (2022) · published 23 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offer a unique platform to study unconventional superconductivity, owing to the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling and a remarkable stability to an in-plane magnetic field. A recent study found that when an in-plane field applied to a superconducting monolayer TMD is increased beyond the Pauli critical limit, a quantum phase transition occurs into a topological nodal superconducting phase which hosts Majorana flat bands. We study the current-phase relation of this nodal superconductor in a Josephson junction geometry. We find that the nodal superconductivity is associated with an energy-phase relation that depends on the momentum transverse to the current direction, with a $4\pi$ periodicity in between pairs of nodal points. We interpret this response as a result of a series of quantum phase transitions, driven by the transverse momentum, which separate a topological trivial phase and two distinct topologically non-trivial phases characterized by different winding invariants. This analysis sheds light on the stability of the Majorana flat bands to symmetry-breaking perturbations.

  3 citations

• Thermodynamic limit of the two-spinon form factors for the zero field XXX chain

  Nikolai Kitanine, Giridhar Kulkarni

  SciPost Phys. 6, 076 (2019) · published 25 June 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this paper we propose a method based on the algebraic Bethe ansatz leading to explicit results for the form factors of quantum spin chains in the thermodynamic limit. Starting from the determinant representations we retrieve in particular the formula for the two-spinon form factors for the isotropic XXX Heisenberg chain obtained initially in the framework of the $q$-vertex operator approach.

  3 citations

• The inheritance of energy conditions: Revisiting no-go theorems in string compactifications

  Heliudson Bernardo, Suddhasattwa Brahma, Mir Mehedi Faruk

  SciPost Phys. 15, 225 (2023) · published 5 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  One of the fundamental challenges in string theory is to derive realistic four-dimensional cosmological backgrounds from it despite strict consistency conditions that constrain its possible low-energy backgrounds. In this work, we focus on energy conditions as covariant and background-independent consistency requirements in order to classify possible backgrounds coming from low-energy string theory in two steps. Firstly, we show how supergravity actions obey many relevant energy conditions under some reasonable assumptions. Remarkably, we find that the energy conditions are satisfied even in the presence of objects which individually violate them due to the tadpole cancellation condition. Thereafter, we list a set of conditions for a higher-dimensional energy condition to imply the corresponding lower-dimensional one, thereby categorizing the allowed low-energy solutions. As for any no-go theorem, our aim is to highlight the assumptions that must be circumvented for deriving four-dimensional spacetimes that necessarily violate these energy conditions, with emphasis on cosmological backgrounds.

  3 citations

• Pfaffian invariant identifies magnetic obstructed atomic insulators

  Isidora Araya Day, Anastasiia Varentcova, Daniel Varjas, Anton R. Akhmerov

  SciPost Phys. 15, 114 (2023) · published 25 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive a $\mathbb{Z}_4$ topological invariant that extends beyond symmetry eigenvalues and Wilson loops and classifies two-dimensional insulators with a $C_4 \mathcal{T}$ symmetry. To formulate this invariant, we consider an irreducible Brillouin zone and constrain the spectrum of the open Wilson lines that compose its boundary. We fix the gauge ambiguity of the Wilson lines by using the Pfaffian at high symmetry momenta. As a result, we distinguish the four $C_4 \mathcal{T}$-protected atomic insulators, each of which is adiabatically connected to a different atomic limit. We establish the correspondence between the invariant and the obstructed phases by constructing both the atomic limit Hamiltonians and a $C_4 \mathcal{T}$-symmetric model that interpolates between them. The phase diagram shows that $C_4 \mathcal{T}$ insulators allow $\pm 1$ and $2$ changes of the invariant, where the latter is overlooked by symmetry indicators.

  3 citations

• Viability of rotation sensing using phonon interferometry in Bose-Einstein condensates

  Charles W. Woffinden, Andrew J. Groszek, Guillaume Gauthier, Bradley J. Mommers, Michael. W. J. Bromley, Simon A. Haine, Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Matthew J. Davis, Tyler W. Neely, Mark Baker

  SciPost Phys. 15, 128 (2023) · published 2 October 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We demonstrate the use of a ring-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate as a rotation sensor by measuring the interference between two counter-propagating phonon modes imprinted azimuthally around the ring. We observe rapid decay of the excitations, quantified by quality factors of at most Q ≈ 27. We numerically model our experiment using the c-field methodology, allowing us to estimate the parameters that maximise the performance of our sensor. We explore the damping mechanisms underlying the observed phonon decay, and identify two distinct Landau scattering processes that each dominate at different driving amplitudes and temperatures. Our simulations reveal that Q is limited by strong damping of phonons even in the zero temperature limit. We perform an experimental proof-of-principle rotation measurement using persistent currents imprinted around the ring. We demonstrate a rotation sensitivity of up to $\Delta \Omega ≈ 0.3 rad s^{-1}$ from a single image, with a theoretically achievable value of $\Delta \Omega ≈ 0.04 rad s^{-1}$ in the atomic shot-noise limit. This is a significant improvement over the shot-noise-limited $\Delta \Omega ≈ 1 rad s^{-1}$ sensitivity obtained by Marti et al. [Phys. Rev. A 91, 013602 (2015)] for a similar setup.

  3 citations

• Engineering a pure Dirac regime in ZrTe$_5$

  Jorge I. Facio, Elisabetta Nocerino, Ion Cosma Fulga, Rafal Wawrzynczak, Joanna Brown, Genda Gu, Qiang Li, Martin Mansson, Yasmine Sassa, Oleh Ivashko, Martin v. Zimmermann, Felix Mende, Johannes Gooth, Stanislaw Galeski, Jeroen van den Brink, Tobias Meng

  SciPost Phys. 14, 066 (2023) · published 11 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Real-world topological semimetals typically exhibit Dirac and Weyl nodes that coexist with trivial Fermi pockets. This tends to mask the physics of the relativistic quasiparticles. Using the example of ZrTe$_5$, we show that strain provides a powerful tool for in-situ tuning of the band structure such that all trivial pockets are pushed far away from the Fermi energy, but only for a certain range of Van der Waals gaps. Our results naturally reconcile contradicting reports on the presence or absence of additional pockets in ZrTe$_5$, and provide a clear map of where to find a pure three-dimensional Dirac semimetallic phase in the structural parameter space of the material.

  3 citations

• A note on the identity module in $c=0$ CFTs

  Yifei He, Hubert Saleur

  SciPost Phys. 12, 100 (2022) · published 21 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  It has long been understood that non-trivial Conformal Field Theories (CFTs) with vanishing central charge ($c=0$) are logarithmic. So far however, the structure of the identity module -- the (left and right) Virasoro descendants of the identity field -- had not been elucidated beyond the stress-energy tensor $T$ and its logarithmic partner $t$ (the solution of the "$c\to 0$ catastrophe"). In this paper, we determine this structure together with the associated OPE of primary fields up to level $h=\bar{h}=2$ for polymers and percolation CFTs. This is done by taking the $c\to 0$ limit of $O(n)$ and Potts models and combining recent results from the bootstrap with arguments based on conformal invariance and self-duality. We find that the structure contains a rank-3 Jordan cell involving the field $T\bar{T}$, and is identical for polymers and percolation. It is characterized in part by the common value of a non-chiral logarithmic coupling $a_0=-{25\over 48}$.

  3 citations

• Emergence of generalized hydrodynamics in the non-local Luttinger model

  Per Moosavi

  SciPost Phys. 9, 037 (2020) · published 11 September 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose the Luttinger model with finite-range interactions as a simple tractable example in 1+1 dimensions to analytically study the emergence of Euler-scale hydrodynamics in a quantum many-body system. This non-local Luttinger model is an exactly solvable quantum field theory somewhere between conformal and Bethe-ansatz integrable models. Applying the recent proposal of generalized hydrodynamics, we show that the model allows for fully explicit yet non-trivial solutions of the resulting Euler-scale hydrodynamic equations. Comparing with exact analytical non-equilibrium results valid at all time and length scales, we show perfect agreement at the Euler scale when the interactions are short range. A formal proof of the emergence of generalized hydrodynamics in the non-local Luttinger model is also given, and effects of long-range interactions are briefly discussed.

  3 citations

• Open string stub as an auxiliary string field

  Harold Erbin, Atakan Hilmi Firat

  SciPost Phys. 17, 044 (2024) · published 9 August 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Witten's open string field theory with a generalized version of stubs is reformulated as a cubic string field theory using an auxiliary string field. The gauge symmetries and equations of motion as well as the associative algebra of the resulting theory are investigated. Integrating out either the original or auxiliary field is shown to recover the conventional cubic theory. Our analysis demonstrates that deformations due to the stubs can be described as a homotopy transfer purely in the context of strong deformation retract. We also discuss to what extent the vertex regions resulting from stubs provide a model for the elementary interactions of closed string field theory.

  3 citations

• Supersymmetry and multicriticality in a ladder of constrained fermions

  Natalia Chepiga, Jiří Minář, Kareljan Schoutens

  SciPost Phys. 11, 059 (2021) · published 16 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Supersymmetric lattice models of constrained fermions are known to feature exotic phenomena such as superfrustration, with an extensive degeneracy of ground states, the nature of which is however generally unknown. Here we address this issue by considering a superfrustrated model, which we deform from the supersymetric point. By numerically studying its two-parameter phase diagram, we reveal a rich phenomenology. The vicinity of the supersymmetric point features period-4 and period-5 density waves which are connected by a floating phase (incommensurate Luttinger liquid) with smoothly varying density. The supersymmetric point emerges as a multicritical point between these three phases. Inside the period-4 phase we report a valence-bond solid type ground state that persists up to the supersymmetric point. Our numerical data for transitions out of density-wave phases are consistent with the Pokrovsky-Talapov universality class. Furthermore, our analysis unveiled a period-3 phase with a boundary determined by a competition between single and two-particle instabilities accompanied by a doubling of the wavevector of the density profiles along a line in the phase diagram.

  3 citations