Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Fusion rules in a Majorana single-charge transistor

  Rubén Seoane Souto, Martin Leijnse

  SciPost Phys. 12, 161 (2022) · published 16 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A demonstration of the theoretically predicted non-abelian properties of Majorana bound states (MBSs) would constitute a definite proof of a topological superconducting phase. Alongside the nontrivial braiding statistics, the fusion rules are fundamental properties of all non-abelian anyons. In this work, we propose and theoretically analyze a way to demonstrate MBS fusion rules in a Majorana single-charge transistor. Our proposal reduces both the number of operations and the device complexity compared to previous designs. Furthermore, we show that the fusion protocol can be adapted to pump a quantized amount of charge in each cycle, providing a straightforward method to detect fusion rules through a DC current measurement. We analyze the protocol numerically and analytically and show that the required operational timescales and expected measurement signals are within experimental capabilities in various superconductor-semiconductor hybrid platforms.

  17 citations

• Assessment of Quantum Annealing for the Construction of Satisfiability Filters

  Marlon Azinović, Daniel Herr, Bettina Heim, Ethan Brown, Matthias Troyer

  SciPost Phys. 2, 013 (2017) · published 7 April 2017 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Satisfiability filters, introduced by S. A. Weaver et al. in 2014, are a new and promising type of filters to address set membership testing. In order to construct satisfiability filters, it is necessary to find disparate solutions to hard random $k$-SAT problems. This paper compares simulated annealing, simulated quantum annealing and walkSAT, an open-source SAT solver, in terms of their ability to find such solutions. The results indicate that solutions found by simulated quantum annealing are generally less disparate than solutions found by the other solvers and therefore less useful for the construction of satisfiability filters.

  17 citations

• Abelian and non-abelian symmetries in infinite projected entangled pair states

  Claudius Hubig

  SciPost Phys. 5, 047 (2018) · published 9 November 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We explore in detail the implementation of arbitrary abelian and non-abelian symmetries in the setting of infinite projected entangled pair states on the two-dimensional square lattice. We observe a large computational speed-up; easily allowing bond dimensions $D = 10$ in the square lattice Heisenberg model at computational effort comparable to calculations at $D = 6$ without symmetries. We also find that implementing an unbroken symmetry does not negatively affect the representative power of the state and leads to identical or improved ground-state energies. Finally, we point out how to use symmetry implementations to detect spontaneous symmetry breaking.

  17 citations

• Multipole theory of optical spatial dispersion in crystals

  Óscar Pozo Ocaña, Ivo Souza

  SciPost Phys. 14, 118 (2023) · published 17 May 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Natural optical activity is the paradigmatic example of an effect originating in the weak spatial inhomogeneity of the electromagnetic field on the atomic scale. In molecules, such effects are well described by the multipole theory of electromagnetism, where the coupling to light is treated semiclassically beyond the electric-dipole approximation. That theory has two shortcomings: it is limited to bounded systems, and its building blocks -the multipole transition moments- are origin dependent. In this work, we recast the multipole theory in a translationally-invariant form that remains valid for crystals. Working in the independent-particle approximation, we introduce "intrinsic" multipole transition moments that are origin independent and transform covariantly under gauge transformations of the Bloch eigenstates. Electric-dipole transitions are given by the interband Berry connection, while magnetic-dipole and electric-quadrupole transitions are described by matrix generalizations of the intrinsic magnetic moment and quantum metric. In addition to multipole-like terms, the response of crystals at first order in the wavevector of light contains band-dispersion terms that have no counterpart in molecular theories. The full response is broken down into magnetoelectric and quadrupolar parts, which can be isolated in the static limit where electric and magnetic fields become decoupled. The rotatory-strength sum rule for crystals is found to be equivalent to the topological constraint for a vanishing chiral magnetic effect in equilibrium, and the formalism is validated by numerical tight-binding calculations.

  17 citations

• Electrical detection of the Majorana fusion rule for chiral edge vortices in a topological superconductor

  C. W. J. Beenakker, A. Grabsch, Y. Herasymenko

  SciPost Phys. 6, 022 (2019) · published 11 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Majorana zero-modes bound to vortices in a topological superconductor have a non-Abelian exchange statistics expressed by a non-deterministic fusion rule: When two vortices merge they may or they may not produce an unpaired fermion with equal probability. Building on a recent proposal to inject edge vortices in a chiral mode by means of a Josephson junction, we show how the fusion rule manifests itself in an electrical measurement. A $2\pi$ phase shift at a pair of Josephson junctions creates a topological qubit in a state of even-even fermion parity, which is transformed by the chiral motion of the edge vortices into an equal-weight superposition of even-even and odd-odd fermion parity. Fusion of the edge vortices at a second pair of Josephson junctions results in a correlated charge transfer of zero or one electron per cycle, such that the current at each junction exhibits shot noise, but the difference of the currents is nearly noiseless.

  17 citations

• Artificial event horizons in Weyl semimetal heterostructures and their non-equilibrium signatures

  Christophe De Beule, Solofo Groenendijk, Tobias Meng, Thomas L. Schmidt

  SciPost Phys. 11, 095 (2021) · published 23 November 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate transport in type-I/type-II Weyl semimetal heterostructures that realize effective black- or white-hole event horizons. We provide an exact solution to the scattering problem at normal incidence and low energies, both for a sharp and a slowly-varying Weyl cone tilt profile. In the latter case, we find two channels with transmission amplitudes analogue to those of Hawking radiation. Whereas the Hawking-like signatures of these two channels cancel in equilibrium, we demonstrate that one can favor the contribution of either channel using a non-equilibrium state, either by irradiating the type-II region or by coupling it to a magnetic lead. This in turn gives rise to a peak in the two-terminal differential conductance which can serve as an experimental indicator of the artificial event horizon.

  17 citations

• Reweighting Lefschetz Thimbles

  Stefan Bluecher, Jan M. Pawlowski, Manuel Scherzer, Mike Schlosser, Ion-Olimpiu Stamatescu, Sebastian Syrkowski, Felix P. G. Ziegler

  SciPost Phys. 5, 044 (2018) · published 5 November 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  One of the main challenges in simulations on Lefschetz thimbles is the computation of the relative weights of contributing thimbles. In this paper we propose a solution to that problem by means of computing those weights using a reweighting procedure. Besides we present recipes for finding parametrizations of thimbles and anti-thimbles for a given theory. Moreover, we study some approaches to combine the Lefschetz thimble method with the Complex Langevin evolution. Our numerical investigations are carried out by using toy models among which we consider a one-site z^4 model as well as a U(1) one-link model.

  17 citations

• Rotating 5D black holes: Interactions and deformations near extremality

  Alejandra Castro, Juan F. Pedraza, Chiara Toldo, Evita Verheijden

  SciPost Phys. 11, 102 (2021) · published 7 December 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study a two-dimensional theory of gravity coupled to matter that is relevant to describe holographic properties of black holes with two equal angular momenta in five dimensions (with or without cosmological constant). We focus on the near-horizon geometry of the near-extremal black hole, where the effective theory reduces to Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity coupled to a massive scalar field. We compute the corrections to correlation functions due to cubic interactions present in this theory. A novel feature is that these corrections do not have a definite sign: for AdS$_5$ black holes the sign depends on the mass of the extremal solution. We discuss possible interpretations of these corrections from a gravitational and holographic perspective. We also quantify the imprint of the JT sector on the UV region, i.e. how these degrees of freedom, characteristic for the near-horizon region, influence the asymptotically far region of the black hole. This gives an interesting insight on how to interpret the IR modes in the context of their UV completion, which depends on the environment that contains the black hole.

  17 citations

• 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ Gauge Theories on an Elliptic Curve

  Mathew Bullimore, Daniel Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 13, 005 (2022) · published 22 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This paper studies $3d$ $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric gauge theories on an elliptic curve, with the aim to provide a physical realisation of recent constructions in equivariant elliptic cohomology of symplectic resolutions. We first study the Berry connection for supersymmetric ground states in the presence of mass parameters and flat connections for flavour symmetries, which results in a natural construction of the equivariant elliptic cohomology variety of the Higgs branch. We then investigate supersymmetric boundary conditions and show from an analysis of boundary 't Hooft anomalies that their boundary amplitudes represent equivariant elliptic cohomology classes. We analyse two distinguished classes of boundary conditions known as exceptional Dirichlet and enriched Neumann, which are exchanged under mirror symmetry. We show that the boundary amplitudes of the latter reproduce elliptic stable envelopes introduced by Aganagic-Okounkov, and relate boundary amplitudes of the mirror symmetry interface to the mother function in equivariant elliptic cohomology. Finally, we consider correlation functions of Janus interfaces for varying mass parameters, recovering the chamber R-matrices of elliptic integrable systems.

  17 citations

• From the XXZ chain to the integrable Rydberg-blockade ladder via non-invertible duality defects

  Luisa Eck, Paul Fendley

  SciPost Phys. 16, 127 (2024) · published 21 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Strongly interacting models often possess "dualities" subtler than a one-to-one mapping of energy levels. The maps can be non-invertible, as apparent in the canonical example of Kramers and Wannier. We analyse an algebraic structure common to the XXZ spin chain and three other models: Rydberg-blockade bosons with one particle per square of a ladder, a three-state antiferromagnet, and two Ising chains coupled in a zigzag fashion. The structure yields non-invertible maps between the four models while also guaranteeing all are integrable. We construct these maps explicitly utilising topological defects coming from fusion categories and the lattice version of the orbifold construction, and use them to give explicit conformal-field-theory partition functions describing their critical regions. The Rydberg and Ising ladders also possess interesting non-invertible symmetries, with the spontaneous breaking of one in the former resulting in an unusual ground-state degeneracy.

  17 citations