Publications

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Universal aspects of high-temperature relaxation dynamics in random spin models

Tian-Gang Zhou, Wei Zheng, Pengfei Zhang

SciPost Phys. 18, 120 (2025) · published 8 April 2025 | · pdf

Universality is a crucial concept in modern physics, allowing us to capture the essential features of a system's behavior using a small set of parameters. In this work, we unveil universal spin relaxation dynamics in anisotropic random Heisenberg models with infinite-range interactions at high temperatures. Starting from a polarized state, the total magnetization can relax monotonically or decay with long-lived oscillations, determined by the sign of a universal single function $A=-\xi_1^2+\xi_2^2-4\xi_2\xi_3+\xi_3^2$. Here $(\xi_1,\xi_3,\xi_3)$ characterizes the anisotropy of the Heisenberg interaction. Furthermore, the oscillation shows up only for $A>0$, with frequency $\Omega \propto \sqrt{A}$. This result is derived from the Kadanoff-Baym equation under the melon diagram approximation, which is consistent with numerical solutions. Furthermore, we verify our theory and approximation using exact diagonalization, albeit for a small system size of $N=8$. Our study sheds light on the universal aspect of quantum many-body dynamics beyond low energy limit.
The origin of the period-$2T/7$ quasi-breathing in disk-shaped Gross-Pitaevskii breathers

Jordi Torrents, Vanja Dunjko, Marina Gonchenko, Gregory E. Astrakharchik, Maxim Olshanii

SciPost Phys. 12, 092 (2022) · published 14 March 2022 | · pdf

We address the origins of the quasi-periodic breathing observed in [Phys. Rev.\ X vol. 9, 021035 (2019)] in disk-shaped harmonically trapped two-dimensional Bose condensates, where the quasi-period $T_{\text{quasi-breathing}}\sim$~$2T/7$ and $T$ is the period of the harmonic trap. We show that, due to an unexplained coincidence, the first instance of the collapse of the hydrodynamic description, at $t^{*} = \arctan(\sqrt{2})/(2\pi) T \approx T/7$, emerges as a `skillful impostor' of the quasi-breathing half-period $T_{\text{quasi-breathing}}/2$. At the time $t^{*}$, the velocity field almost vanishes, supporting the requisite time-reversal invariance. We find that this phenomenon persists for scale-invariant gases in all spatial dimensions, being exact in one dimension and, likely, approximate in all others. In $\bm{d}$ dimensions, the quasi-breathing half-period assumes the form $T_{\text{quasi-breathing}}/2 \equiv t^{*} = \arctan(\sqrt{d})/(2\pi) T$. Remaining unresolved is the origin of the period-$2T$ breathing, reported in the same experiment.
Quantum parameter estimation with many-body fermionic systems and application to the Hall effect

Olivier Giraud, Mark-Oliver Goerbig, Daniel Braun

SciPost Phys. 16, 085 (2024) · published 25 March 2024 | · pdf

We calculate the quantum Fisher information for a generic many-body fermionic system in a pure state depending on a parameter. We discuss the situations where the parameter is imprinted in the basis states, in the state coefficients, or both. In the case where the parameter dependence of coefficients results from a Hamiltonian evolution, we derive a particularly simple expression for the quantum Fisher information. We apply our findings to the quantum Hall effect, and evaluate the quantum Fisher information associated with the optimal measurement of the magnetic field for a system in the ground state of the effective Hamiltonian. The occupation of electron states with high momentum enforced by the Pauli principle leads to a "super-Heisenberg" scaling of the sensitivity with a power law that depends on the geometry of the sensor.
Conformal geometry from entanglement

Isaac H. Kim, Xiang Li, Ting-Chun Lin, John McGreevy, Bowen Shi

SciPost Phys. 18, 102 (2025) · published 19 March 2025 | · pdf

In a physical system with conformal symmetry, observables depend on cross-ratios, measures of distance invariant under global conformal transformations (conformal geometry for short). We identify a quantum information-theoretic mechanism by which the conformal geometry emerges at the gapless edge of a 2+1D quantum many-body system with a bulk energy gap. We introduce a novel pair of information-theoretic quantities $(\mathfrak{c}_{\textrm{tot}}, \eta)$ that can be defined locally on the edge from the wavefunction of the many-body system, without prior knowledge of any distance measure. We posit that, for a topological groundstate, the quantity $\mathfrak{c}_{\textrm{tot}}$ is stationary under arbitrary variations of the quantum state, and study the logical consequences. We show that stationarity, modulo an entanglement-based assumption about the bulk, implies (i) $\mathfrak{c}_{\textrm{tot}}$ is a non-negative constant that can be interpreted as the total central charge of the edge theory. (ii) $\eta$ is a cross-ratio, obeying the full set of mathematical consistency rules, which further indicates the existence of a distance measure of the edge with global conformal invariance. Thus, the conformal geometry emerges from a simple assumption on groundstate entanglement. We show that stationarity of $\mathfrak{c}_{\textrm{tot}}$ is equivalent to a vector fixed-point equation involving $\eta$, making our assumption locally checkable. We also derive similar results for 1+1D systems under a suitable set of assumptions.
Quasiparticle disintegration in fermionic superfluids

Senne Van Loon, Jacques Tempere, Hadrien Kurkjian

SciPost Phys. 12, 108 (2022) · published 28 March 2022 | · pdf

We study the fermionic quasiparticle spectrum in a zero-temperature superfluid Fermi gas, and in particular how it is modified by different disintegration processes. On top of the disintegration by emission of a collective boson ($1\to2$, subject of a previous study, PRL 124, 073404), we consider here disintegration events where three quasiparticles are emitted ($1\to3$). We show that both disintegration processes are described by a $t$-matrix self-energy (as well as some highly off-resonant vacuum processes), and we characterize the associated disintegration continua. At strong coupling, we show that the quasiparticle spectrum is heavily distorted near the $1\to3$ disintegration threshold. Near the dispersion minimum, where the quasiparticles remain well-defined, the main effect of the off-shell disintegration processes is to shift the location of the minimum by a value that corresponds to the Hartree shift in the BCS limit. With our approximation of the self-energy, the correction to the energy gap with respect to the mean-field result however remains small, in contrast with experimental measurements.
Real-time ab initio description of the photon-echo mechanisms in extended systems: the case study of bulk GaAs

Marco D'Alessandro, Davide Sangalli

SciPost Phys. 12, 193 (2022) · published 13 June 2022 | · pdf

In this paper we present an ab initio real-time analysis of free polarization decay and photon echo in extended systems. As a prototype material, we study bulk GaAs driven by ultra-short laser pulses of 10 fs (energy spread of 0.4 eV), with frequency tuned in the continuum of the optical spectrum. We compute the electronic polarization P(t), and define a computational procedure to extract the echo signal in the dipole approximation. Results are obtained in both the low and high field regime, and compared with a two-levels system (TLS) model, with parameters extracted from the ab initio simulations. ab initio results are in optimal agreement with the TLS in the low-field case, whereas some differences are observed in the high-field regime where the multi-band nature of GaAs becomes relevant. In the high field regime we compute the pulse area, and look for fluences with pulse area close to {\pi}. We highlight that such fluences are well below the damage threshold of GaAs. However a unique value of the area cannot be defined, due to the strong dependence of the transition dipoles in the energy window excited by the laser pulse.
The role of atomic interactions in cavity-induced continuous time crystals

Christian Høj Johansen, Johannes Lang, Francesco Piazza

SciPost Phys. 17, 089 (2024) · published 24 September 2024 | · pdf

We consider continuous time-crystalline phases in dissipative many-body systems of atoms in cavities, focusing on the role of short-range interatomic interactions. First, we show that the latter can alter the nature of the time crystal by changing the type of the underlying critical bifurcation. Second, we characterize the heating mechanism and dynamics resulting from the short-range interactions and demonstrate that they make the time crystal inherently metastable. We argue this is generic for the broader class of dissipative time crystals in atom-cavity systems whenever the cavity loss rate is comparable to the atomic recoil energy. We observe that such a scenario for heating has several similarities to the one proposed for preheating in the early universe, where the oscillating coherent inflation field decays into a cascade of exponentially growing fluctuations. By extending approaches for dissipative dynamical systems to our many-body problem, we obtain analytical predictions for the parameters describing the phase transition and the heating rate inside the time-crystalline phase. We underpin and extend the analytical predictions of the heating rates with numerical simulations, which also show that the metastable regime exists when the inherent stochastic nature is taken into account.
Multiscale response of ionic systems to a spatially varying electric field

Jesper Schmidt Hansen

SciPost Phys. 2, 017 (2017) · published 27 May 2017 | · pdf

In this paper the response of ionic systems subjected to a spatially varying electric field is studied. Following the Nernst-Planck equation, two forces driving the mass flux are present, namely, the concentration gradient and the electric potential gradient. The mass flux due to the concentration gradient is modelled through Fick's law, and a new constitutive relation for the mass flux due to the potential gradient is proposed. In the regime of low screening the response function due to the potential gradient is closely related to the ionic conductivity. In the large screening regime, on the other hand, the response function is governed by the charge-charge structure. Molecular dynamics simulations are conducted and the two wave vector dependent response functions are evaluated for models of a molten salt and an ionic liquid. In the low screening regime the response functions show same wave vector dependency, indicating that it is the same underlying physical processes that govern the response. In the screening regime the wave vector dependency is very different and, thus, the overall response is determined by different processes. This is in agreement with the observed failure of the Nernst-Einstein relation.
The droplet formation-dissolution transition in different ensembles: Finite-size scaling from two perspectives

Franz Paul Spitzner, Johannes Zierenberg, Wolfhard Janke

SciPost Phys. 5, 062 (2018) · published 13 December 2018 | · pdf

The formation and dissolution of a droplet is an important mechanism related to various nucleation phenomena. Here, we address the droplet formation-dissolution transition in a two-dimensional Lennard-Jones gas to demonstrate a consistent finite-size scaling approach from two perspectives using orthogonal control parameters. For the canonical ensemble, this means that we fix the temperature while varying the density and vice versa. Using specialised parallel multicanonical methods for both cases, we confirm analytical predictions at fixed temperature (rigorously only proven for lattice systems) and corresponding scaling predictions from expansions at fixed density. Importantly, our methodological approach provides us with reference quantities from the grand canonical ensemble that enter the analytical predictions. Our orthogonal finite-size scaling setup can be exploited for theoretical and experimental investigations of general nucleation phenomena - if one identifies the corresponding reference ensemble and adapts the theory accordingly. In this case, our numerical approach can be readily translated to the corresponding ensembles and thereby proves very useful for numerical studies of equilibrium droplet formation, in general.
Quantum robustness of the toric code in a parallel field on the honeycomb and triangular lattice

Viktor Kott, Matthias Mühlhauser, Jan Alexander Koziol, Kai Phillip Schmidt

SciPost Phys. 17, 053 (2024) · published 15 August 2024 | · pdf

We investigate the quantum robustness of the topological order in the toric code on the honeycomb lattice in the presence of a uniform parallel field. For a field in $z$-direction, the low-energy physics is in the flux-free sector and can be mapped to the transverse-field Ising model on the honeycomb lattice. One finds a second-order quantum phase transition in the 3D Ising$^\star$ universality class for both signs of the field. The same is true for a postive field in $x$-direction where an analogue mapping in the charge-free sector yields a ferromagnetic transverse-field Ising model on the triangular lattice and the phase transition is still 3D Ising$^\star$. In contrast, for negative $x$-field, the charge-free sector is mapped to the highly frustrated antiferromagnetic transverse-field Ising model on the triangular lattice which is known to host a quantum phase transition in the 3D XY$^\star$ universality class. Further, the charge-free sector does not always contain the low-energy physics for negative $x$-fields and a first-order phase transition to the polarized phase in the charge-full sector takes place at larger negative field values. We quantify the location of this transition by comparing quantum Monte Carlo simulations and high-field series expansions. The full extension of the topological phase in the presence of $x$- and $z$-fields is determined by perturbative linked-cluster expansions using a full graph decomposition. Extrapolating the high-order series of the charge and the flux gap allows to estimate critical exponents of the gap closing. This analysis indicates that the topological order breaks down by critical lines of 3D Ising$^\star$ and 3D XY$^\star$ type with interesting potential multi-critical crossing points. All findings for the toric code on the honeycomb lattice can be transferred exactly to the toric code on the triangular lattice.

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