Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• BV formalism and partition functions

  Pietro Antonio Grassi, Ondrej Hulik

  SciPost Phys. 18, 202 (2025) · published 23 June 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The BV formalism is a well-established method for analyzing symmetries and quantizing field theories. In this paper, we use BV formalism to derive partition functions and the space of gauge invariant operators implementing the equations of motions and their redundancies for selected theories. We discuss various interpretations of the results, some dualities, and relation to the first quantized models.

• Non-linear photoconductivity of strongly driven graphene

  Lukas Broers, Ludwig Mathey

  SciPost Phys. 18, 199 (2025) · published 20 June 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present the non-linear DC photoconductivity of graphene under strong infra-red (IR) radiation. The photoconductivity is obtained as the response to a strong DC electric field, with field strengths outside of the linear-response regime, while the IR radiation is described by a strong AC electric field. The conductivity displays two distinct regimes in which either the DC or the AC field dominates. We explore these regimes and associate them with the dynamics of driven Landau-Zener quenches in the case of a large DC field. In the limit of a large AC field, we describe the conductivity in a Floquet picture and compare the results to the closely related Tien-Gordon effect. We present analytical calculations for the non-linear differential photoconductivity, for both regimes based on the corresponding mechanisms. As part of this discussion of the non-equilibrium state of graphene, we present analytical estimates of the conductivity of undriven graphene as a function of temperature and DC bias field strength that show very good agreement with our simulations.

• Deriving the non-perturbative gravitational dual of quantum Liouville theory from BCFT operator algebra

  Lin Chen, Ling-Yan Hung, Yikun Jiang, Bing-Xin Lao

  SciPost Phys. 19, 163 (2025) · published 23 December 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We demonstrate that, by utilizing the boundary conformal field theory (BCFT) operator algebra of the Liouville CFT, one can express its path-integral on any Riemann surface as a three dimensional path-integral with appropriate boundary conditions, generalising the recipe for rational CFTs. This serves as a constructive method for deriving the quantum holographic dual of the CFT, which reduces to Einstein gravity in the large central charge limit. As a byproduct, the framework provides an explicit discrete state-sum of a 3D non-chiral topological theory constructed from quantum $6j$ symbols of $\mathcal{U}_q(sl(2,\mathbb{R}))$ with non-trivial boundary conditions, representing a long-sought non-perturbative discrete formulation of 3D pure gravity with negative cosmological constant, at least within a class of three manifolds. This constitutes the first example of an exact holographic tensor network that reproduces a known irrational CFT with a precise quantum gravitational interpretation.

• Suppression of scattering from slow to fast subsystems and application to resonantly Floquet-driven impurities in strongly interacting systems

  Friedrich Hübner

  SciPost Phys. 16, 005 (2024) · published 5 January 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study solutions to the Lippmann-Schwinger equation in systems where a slow subsystem is coupled to a fast subsystem via an impurity. Such situations appear when a high-frequency Floquet-driven impurity is introduced into a low-energy system, but the driving frequency is at resonance with a high-energy band. In contrast to the case of resonant bulk driving, where the particles in the low-energy system are excited into the high-energy band, we surprisingly find that these excitations are suppressed for resonantly driven impurities. Still, the transmission through the impurity is strongly affected by the presence of the high-energy band in a universal way that does not depend on the details of the high-energy band. We apply our general result to two examples and show the suppression of excitations from the low-energy band into the high-energy band: a) bound pairs in a Fermi-Hubbard chain scattering at a driven impurity, which is at resonance with the Hubbard interaction and b) particles in a deep optical lattice described by the tight-binding approximation, which scatter at a driven impurity, whose driving frequency equals the band gap between the two lowest energy bands.

• Non-adiabatic linear response in open quantum systems

  Xiaotian Nie, Wei Zheng

  SciPost Phys. 19, 161 (2025) · published 19 December 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Adiabatic theorem and non-adiabatic corrections have been widely applied in modern quantum technology. Recently, non-adiabatic linear response theory has been developed to probe the many-body correlations in closed systems. In this work, we generalize the non-adiabatic linear response theory to open quantum many-body systems. We show that, similar to the closed case, the first-order deviation from the instantaneous steady state is memoryless—it depends only on the final parameters and not on the initial state or ramping path. When ramping the Hamiltonian, the linear response of observables is governed by the derivative of the retarded Green's function, as in closed systems. In contrast, ramping the dissipation gives rise to a different response, characterized by a high-order correlation function defined in the steady state. Our results offer a compact and physically transparent formulation of non-adiabatic response in open systems, and demonstrate that ramping dynamics can serve as a versatile tool for probing many-body correlations beyond equilibrium.

• Dynamical correlation functions in the Ising field theory

  István Csépányi, Márton Kormos

  SciPost Phys. 17, 162 (2024) · published 10 December 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study finite temperature dynamical correlation functions of the magnetization operator in the one-dimensional Ising quantum field theory. Our approach is based on a finite temperature form factor series and on a Fredholm determinant representation of the correlators. While for space-like separations the Fredholm determinant can be efficiently evaluated numerically, for the time-like region it has convergence issues inherited from the form factor series. We develop a method to compute the correlation functions at time-like separations based on the analytic continuation of the space-time coordinates to complex values. Using this numerical technique, we explore all space-time and temperature regimes in both the ordered and disordered phases including short, large, and near-light-cone separations at low and high temperatures. We confirm the existing analytic predictions for the asymptotic behavior of the correlations except in the case of space-like correlations in the paramagnetic phase. For this case we derive a new closed form expression for the correlation length that has some unusual properties: it is a non-analytic function of both the space-time direction and the temperature, and its temperature dependence is non-monotonic.

• Quasiperiodic quadrupole insulators

  Raul Liquito, Miguel Gonçalves, Eduardo V. Castro

  SciPost Phys. 18, 208 (2025) · published 26 June 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Higher-order topological insulators are an intriguing new family of topological states that host lower-dimensional boundary states. Concurrently, quasiperiodic systems have garnered significant interest due to their complex localization and topological properties. In this work we study the impact of chiral symmetry preserving quasiperiodic modulations on the paradigmatic Benalcazar-Bernevig-Hughes model, which hosts topological insulating phases with zero-energy sublattice-polarized modes. We find that the topological properties are not only robust to the quasiperiodic modulation, but can even be enriched. In particular, we unveil the first instance of a quasiperiodic induced second-order topological insulating phase. Furthermore, in contrast with disorder, we find that quasiperiodic modulations can induce multiple reentrant topological transitions, showing an intricate sequence of localization properties. Our results open a promising avenue for exploring the rich interplay between higher-order topology and quasiperiodicity.

• Exclusion process subject to conformational size changes

  Yvan Rousset, Luca Ciandrini, Norbert Kern

  SciPost Phys. 6, 077 (2019) · published 26 June 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We introduce a model for stochastic transport on a one-dimensional substrate with particles assuming different conformations during their stepping cycles. These conformations correspond to different footprints on the substrate: in order to advance, particles are subject to successive contraction and expansion steps with different characteristic rates. We thus extend the paradigmatic exclusion process, provide predictions for all regimes of these rates that are in excellent agreement with simulations, and show that the current-density relation may be affected considerably. Symmetries are discussed, and exploited. We discuss our results in the context of molecular motors, confronting a hand-over-hand and an inchworm stepping mechanism, as well as for ribosomes.

• 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 | Toggle abstract · 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.

• Topology-induced symmetry breaking demonstrated in antiferromagnetic magnons on a Möbius strip

  Kuangyin Deng, Ran Cheng

  SciPost Phys. 19, 048 (2025) · published 19 August 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a mechanism of topology-induced symmetry breaking, where certain local symmetry preserved by the Hamiltonian is explicitly broken in the eigenmodes of excitation due to nontrivial real-space topology. We demonstrate this phenomenon by studying magnonic excitations on a Möbius strip comprising two antiferromagnetically coupled spin chains. Even with a simple Hamiltonian respecting local rotational symmetry, with all local curvature effects ignored, magnons exhibit linear polarization of the Néel vector devoid of chirality, forming two non-degenerate branches that cannot be smoothly connected to nor globally decomposed into, the circularly-polarized magnons. Correspondingly, one branch undergoes a spectral shift and only admits standing waves of half-integer wavelength, whereas the other only affords standing waves of integer wavelength. Under the Möbius boundary condition, we further identify an exotic phase hosting spontaneous antiferromagnetic order whilst all exchange couplings are ferromagnetic. The suppression of chirality in the order parameter dynamics, hence the pattern of standing waves, can be generalized to other elementary excitations on non-orientable surfaces. Our findings showcase the profound influence of real-space topology on the physical nature of not just the ground state but also the quasiparticles.