Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• 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.

• Electric conductivity in non-Hermitian holography

  Zhuo-Yu Xian, David Rodríguez Fernández, Zhaohui Chen, Yang Liu, René Meyer

  SciPost Phys. 16, 004 (2024) · published 5 January 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the phase structure and charge transport at finite temperature and chemical potential in the non-Hermitian $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric holographic model of [SciPost Phys. 9, 032 (2020)]. The non-Hermitian $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric deformation is realized by promoting the parameter of a global U(1) symmetry to a complex number. Depending on the strength of the deformation, we find three phases: stable $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phase, unstable $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phase, and an unstable $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry broken phase. In the three phases, the square of the condensate and also the spectral weight of the AC conductivity at zero frequency are, respectively, positive, negative, and complex. We check that the Ferrell-Glover-Tinkham sum rule for the AC conductivity holds in all the three phases. We also investigate a complexified U(1) rotor model with $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric deformation, derive its phase structure and condensation pattern, and find a zero frequency spectral weight analogous to the holographic model.

• On correlation functions in models related to the Temperley-Lieb algebra

  Kohei Fukai, Raphael Kleinemühl, Balázs Pozsgay, Eric Vernier

  SciPost Phys. 16, 003 (2024) · published 5 January 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We deal with quantum spin chains whose Hamiltonian arises from a representation of the Temperley-Lieb algebra, and we consider the mean values of those local operators which are generated by the Temperley-Lieb algebra. We present two key conjectures which relate these mean values to existing literature about factorized correlation functions in the XXZ spin chain. The first conjecture states that the finite volume mean values of the current and generalized current operators are given by the same simple formulas as in the case of the XXZ chain. The second conjecture states that the mean values of products of Temperley-Lieb generators can be factorized: they can expressed as sums of products of current mean values, such that the coefficients in the factorization depend neither on the eigenstate in question, nor on the selected representation of the algebra. The coefficients can be extracted from existing work on factorized correlation functions in the XXZ model. The conjectures should hold for all eigenstates that are non-degenerate with respect to the local charges of the models. We consider concrete representations, where we check the conjectures: the so-called golden chain, the $Q$-state Potts model, and the trace representation. We also explain how to derive the generalized current operators from concrete expressions for the local charges.

• Observation of non-local impedance response in a passive electrical circuit

  Xiao Zhang, Boxue Zhang, Weihong Zhao, Ching Hua Lee

  SciPost Phys. 16, 002 (2024) · published 4 January 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In media with only short-ranged couplings and interactions, it is natural to assume that physical responses must be local. Yet, we discover that this is not necessarily true, even in a system as commonplace as an electric circuit array. This work reports the experimental observation of non-local impedance response in a designed circuit network consisting exclusively of passive elements such as resistors, inductors and capacitors (RLC). Measurements reveal that the removal of boundary connections dramatically affects the two-point impedance between certain distant nodes, even in the absence of any amplification mechanism for the voltage signal. This non-local impedance response is distinct from the reciprocal non-Hermitian skin effect, affecting only selected pairs of nodes even as the circuit Laplacian exhibits universally broken spectral bulk-boundary correspondence. Surprisingly, not only are component parasitic resistances unable to erode the non-local response, but they in fact give rise to novel loss-induced topological modes at sufficiently large system sizes, constituting a new manifestation of the critical non-Hermitian skin effect. Our findings chart a new route towards attaining non-local responses in photonic or electrical metamaterials without involving non-linear, non-local, active or amplificative elements.

• Arrangement of nearby minima and saddles in the mixed spherical energy landscapes

  Jaron Kent-Dobias

  SciPost Phys. 16, 001 (2024) · published 4 January 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The mixed spherical models were recently found to violate long-held assumptions about mean-field glassy dynamics. In particular, the threshold energy, where most stationary points are marginal and that in the simpler pure models attracts long-time dynamics, seems to lose significance. Here, we compute the typical distribution of stationary points relative to each other in mixed models with a replica symmetric complexity. We examine the stability of nearby points, accounting for the presence of an isolated eigenvalue in their spectrum due to their proximity. Despite finding rich structure not present in the pure models, we find nothing that distinguishes the points that do attract the dynamics. Instead, we find new geometric significance of the old threshold energy, and invalidate pictures of the arrangement of most marginal inherent states into a continuous manifold.

  1 citation

• Gaining insights on anyon condensation and 1-form symmetry breaking across a topological phase transition in a deformed toric code model

  Joe Huxford, Dung Xuan Nguyen, Yong Baek Kim

  SciPost Phys. 15, 253 (2023) · published 22 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We examine the condensation and confinement mechanisms exhibited by a deformed toric code model proposed in [Castelnovo and Chamon, Phys. Rev. B 77, 054433 (2008)]. The model describes both sides of a phase transition from a topological phase to a trivial phase. Our findings reveal an unconventional confinement mechanism that governs the behavior of the toric code excitations within the trivial phase. Specifically, the confined magnetic charge can still be displaced without any energy cost, albeit only via the application of non-unitary operators that reduce the norm of the state. This peculiar phenomenon can be attributed to a previously known feature of the model: It maintains the non-trivial ground state degeneracy of the toric code throughout the transition. We describe how this degeneracy arises in both phases in terms of spontaneous symmetry breaking of a generalized (1-form) symmetry and explain why such symmetry breaking is compatible with the trivial phase. The present study implies the existence of subtle considerations that must be addressed in the context of recently posited connections between topological phases and broken higher-form symmetries.

  4 citations

• Vacuum-field-induced state mixing

  Diego Fernández de la Pradilla, Esteban Moreno, Johannes Feist

  SciPost Phys. 15, 252 (2023) · published 22 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  By engineering the electromagnetic vacuum field, the induced Casimir-Polder shift (also known as Lamb shift) and spontaneous emission rates of individual atomic levels can be controlled. When the strength of these effects becomes comparable to the energy difference between two previously uncoupled atomic states, an environment-induced interaction between these states appears after tracing over the environment. This interaction has been previously studied for degenerate levels and simple geometries involving infinite, perfectly conducting half-spaces or free space. Here, we generalize these studies by developing a convenient description that permits the analysis of these non-diagonal perturbations to the atomic Hamiltonian in terms of an accurate non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. Applying this theory to a hydrogen atom close to a dielectric nanoparticle, we show strong vacuum-field-induced state mixing that leads to drastic modifications in both the energies and decay rates compared to conventional diagonal perturbation theory. In particular, contrary to the expected Purcell enhancement, we find a surprising decrease of decay rates within a considerable range of atom-nanoparticle separations. Furthermore, we quantify the large degree of mixing of the unperturbed eigenstates due to the non-diagonal perturbation. Our work opens new quantum state manipulation possibilities in emitters with closely spaced energy levels.

• Beyond Fermi's golden rule with the statistical Jacobi approximation

  David M. Long, Dominik Hahn, Marin Bukov, Anushya Chandran

  SciPost Phys. 15, 251 (2023) · published 22 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Many problems in quantum dynamics can be cast as the decay of a single quantum state into a continuum. The time-dependent overlap with the initial state, called the fidelity, characterizes this decay. We derive an analytic expression for the fidelity after a quench to an ergodic Hamiltonian. The expression is valid for both weak and strong quenches, and timescales before finiteness of the Hilbert space limits the fidelity. It reproduces initial quadratic decay and asymptotic exponential decay with a rate which, for strong quenches, differs from Fermi's golden rule. The analysis relies on the statistical Jacobi approximation (SJA), which was originally applied in nearly localized systems, and which we here adapt to well-thermalizing systems. Our results demonstrate that the SJA is predictive in disparate regimes of quantum dynamics.

• Coherence requirements for quantum communication from hybrid circuit dynamics

  Shane P. Kelly, Ulrich Poschinger, Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler, Matthew P. A. Fisher, Jamir Marino

  SciPost Phys. 15, 250 (2023) · published 22 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The coherent superposition of quantum states is an important resource for quantum information processing which distinguishes quantum dynamics and information from their classical counterparts. In this article we determine the coherence requirements to communicate quantum information in a broad setting encompassing monitored quantum dynamics and quantum error correction codes. We determine these requirements by considering hybrid circuits that are generated by a quantum information game played between two opponents, Alice and Eve, who compete by applying unitaries and measurements on a fixed number of qubits. Alice applies unitaries in an attempt to maintain quantum channel capacity, while Eve applies measurements in an attempt to destroy it. By limiting the coherence generating or destroying operations available to each opponent, we determine Alice's coherence requirements. When Alice plays a random strategy aimed at mimicking generic monitored quantum dynamics, we discover a coherence-tuned phase transitions in entanglement and quantum channel capacity. We then derive a theorem giving the minimum coherence required by Alice in any successful strategy, and conclude by proving that coherence sets an upper bound on the code distance in any stabelizer quantum error correction code. Such bounds provide a rigorous quantification of the coherence resource requirements for quantum communication and error correction.

  8 citations

• Generalized real-space Chern number formula and entanglement hamiltonian

  Ruihua Fan, Pengfei Zhang, Yingfei Gu

  SciPost Phys. 15, 249 (2023) · published 20 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We generalize a real-space Chern number formula for gapped free fermions to higher orders. Using the generalized formula, we prove recent proposals for extracting thermal and electric Hall conductance from the ground state via the entanglement Hamiltonian in the special case of non-interacting fermions, providing a concrete example of the connection between entanglement and topology in quantum phases of matter.