Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Probing a leptophobic top-colour model with cross section measurements and precise signal and background predictions: A case study

  Mohammad Mahdi Altakach, Jonathan Mark Butterworth, Tomáš Ježo, Michael Klasen, Ingo Schienbein

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 014 (2023) · published 17 March 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The sensitivity of particle-level fiducial cross section measurements from ATLAS, CMS and LHCb to a leptophobic top-colour model is studied. The model has previously been the subject of resonance searches. Here we compare it directly to state-of-the-art predictions for Standard Model top quark production and also take into account next-to-leading order predictions for the new physics signal. We make use of the Contur framework to evaluate the sensitivity of the current measurements, first under the default Contur assumption that the measurement and the SM exactly coincide, and then using the full SM theory calculation for $t\bar{t}$ at next-to-leading and next-to-next-to-leading order as the background model. We derive exclusion limits, discuss the differences between these approaches, and compare to the limits from resonance searches by ATLAS and CMS.

• Thermalization of long range Ising model in different dynamical regimes: A full counting statistics approach

  Nishan Ranabhat, Mario Collura

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 017 (2024) · published 5 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the thermalization of the transverse field Ising chain with a power law decaying interaction $\sim 1/r^{\alpha}$ following a global quantum quench of the transverse field in two different dynamical regimes. The thermalization behavior is quantified by comparing the full probability distribution function (PDF) of the evolving states with the corresponding thermal state given by the canonical Gibbs ensemble (CGE). To this end, we used the matrix product state (MPS)-based Time Dependent Variational Principle (TDVP) algorithm to simulate both real time evolution following a global quantum quench and the finite temperature density operator. We observe that thermalization is strongly suppressed in the region with strong confinement for all interaction strengths $\alpha$, whereas thermalization occurs in the region with weak confinement.

• Noise-induced transport in the Aubry-André-Harper model

  Devendra Singh Bhakuni, Talía L. M. Lezama, Yevgeny Bar Lev

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 023 (2024) · published 26 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study quantum transport in a quasiperiodic Aubry-André-Harper (AAH) model induced by the coupling of the system to a Markovian heat bath. We find that coupling the heat bath locally does not affect transport in the delocalized and critical phases, while it induces logarithmic transport in the localized phase. Increasing the number of coupled sites at the central region introduces a transient diffusive regime, which crosses over to logarithmic transport in the localized phase and in the delocalized regime to ballistic transport. On the other hand, when the heat bath is coupled to equally spaced sites of the system, we observe a crossover from ballistic and logarithmic transport to diffusion in the delocalized and localized regimes, respectively. We propose a classical master equation, which in the localized phase, captures our numerical observations for both coupling configurations on a qualitative level and for some parameters, even on a quantitative level. Using the classical picture, we show that the crossover to diffusion occurs at a time that increases exponentially with the spacing between the coupled sites, and the resulting diffusion constant decreases exponentially with the spacing.

• Floquet engineering of axion and high-Chern number phases in a topological insulator under illumination

  Mohammad Shafiei, Farhad Fazileh, François M. Peeters, Milorad V. Milošević

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 024 (2024) · published 1 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quantum anomalous Hall, high-Chern number, and axion phases in topological insulators are characterized by its Chern invariant C (respectively, C=1, integer C>1, and C=0 with half-quantized Hall conductance of opposite signs on top and bottom surfaces). They are of recent interest because of novel fundamental physics and prospective applications, but identifying and controlling these phases has been challenging in practice. Here we show that these states can be created and switched between in thin films of Bi$_2$Se$_3$ by Floquet engineering, using irradiation by circularly polarized light. We present the calculated phase diagrams of encountered topological phases in Bi$_2$Se$_3$, as a function of wavelength and amplitude of light, as well as sample thickness, after properly taking into account the penetration depth of light and the variation of the gap in the surface states. These findings open pathways towards energy-efficient optoelectronics, advanced sensing, quantum information processing and metrology.

• Topological-insulator nanocylinders

  Michele Governale, Fabio Taddei

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 032 (2023) · published 21 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Nanostructures, such a quantum dots or nanoparticles, made of three-dimensional topological insulators (3DTIs) have been recently attracting increasing interest, especially for their optical properties. In this paper we calculate the energy spectrum, the surface states and the dipole matrix elements for optical transitions with in-plane polarization of 3DTI nanocylinders of finite height $L$ and radius $R$. We first derive an effective 2D Hamiltonian by exploiting the cylindrical symmetry of the problem. We develop two approaches: the first one is an exact numerical tight-binding model obtained by discretising the Hamiltonian. The second one, which allows us to obtain analytical results, is an approximated model based on a large-$R$ expansion and on an effective boundary condition to account for the finite height of the nanocylinder. We find that the agreement between the two models, as far as eigenenergies and eigenfunctions are concerned, is excellent for the lowest absolute value of the longitudinal component of the angular momentum. Finally, we derive analytical expressions for the dipole matrix elements by first considering the lateral surface alone and the bases alone, and then for the whole nanocylinder. In particular, we focus on the two limiting cases of tall and squat nanocylinders. The latter case is compared with the numerical results finding a good agreement.

• Catalogue of phonon modes in several cuprate high-temperature superconductors from density functional theory

  Noah J. Jabusch, Pavan Dayal, Alexander F. Kemper

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 018 (2023) · published 23 March 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Cuprates are promising candidates for study in developing higher temperature superconductors. A thorough understanding of a material's phonon modes enables further investigation of its emergent properties, however, no complete reference of the phonon modes exists. Here, using density functional theory, we evaluate the phonon frequencies and atomic displacements for $\text{La}_2\text{CuO}_4$, $\text{Bi}_2\text{Sr}_2\text{CuO}_6$, and $\text{Bi}_2\text{Sr}_2\text{CaCu}_2\text{O}_8$, in their tetragonal structures. The phonon modes for all materials agree with those expected from space group symmetry and display instabilities corresponding to known low-temperature structural phase transitions.

• Entanglement-enabled symmetry-breaking orders

  Cheng-Ju Lin, Liujun Zou

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 010 (2024) · published 11 March 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A spontaneous symmetry-breaking order is conventionally described by a tensor-product wavefunction of some few-body clusters; some standard examples include the simplest ferromagnets and valence bond solids. We discuss a type of symmetry-breaking orders, dubbed entanglement-enabled symmetry-breaking orders, which cannot be realized by any such tensor-product state. Given a symmetry breaking pattern, we propose a criterion to diagnose if the symmetry-breaking order is entanglement-enabled, by examining the compatibility between the symmetries and the tensor-product description. For concreteness, we present an infinite family of exactly solvable gapped models on one-dimensional lattices with nearest-neighbor interactions, whose ground states exhibit entanglement-enabled symmetry-breaking orders from a discrete symmetry breaking. In addition, these ground states have gapless edge modes protected by the unbroken symmetries. We also propose a construction to realize entanglement-enabled symmetry-breaking orders with spontaneously broken continuous symmetries. Under the unbroken symmetries, some of our examples can be viewed as symmetry-protected topological states that are beyond the conventional classifications.

• The resistance of quantum entanglement to temperature in the Kugel-Khomskii model

  Valerii E. Valiulin, Andrey V. Mikheyenkov, Nikolay M. Chtchelkatchev, Kliment I. Kugel

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 025 (2023) · published 4 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Kugel-Khomskii model with entangled spin and orbital degrees of freedom is a good testing ground for many important features in quantum information processing, such as robust gaps in the entanglement spectra. Here, we demonstrate that the entanglement can be also robust under effect of temperature within a wide range of parameters. It is shown, in particular, that the temperature dependence of entanglement often exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior. Namely, there turn out to be ranges of the model parameters, where entanglement is absent at zero temperature, but then, with an increase in temperature, it appears, passes through a maximum, and again vanishes.

• Quantum revivals in HgTe/CdTe quantum wells and topological phase transitions

  Alberto Mayorgas, Manuel Calixto, Nicolás A. Cordero, Elvira Romera, Octavio Héctor Castaños Garza

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 029 (2024) · published 13 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The time evolution of a wave packet is a tool to detect topological phase transitions in two-dimensional Dirac materials, such as graphene and silicene. Here we extend the analysis to HgTe/CdTe quantum wells and study the evolution of their electron current wave packet, using 2D effective Dirac Hamiltonians and different layer thicknesses. We show that the two different periodicities that appear in this temporal evolution reach a minimum near the critical thickness, where the system goes from normal to inverted regime. Moreover, the maximum of the electron current amplitude changes with the layer thickness, identifying that current maxima reach their higher value at the critical thickness. Thus, we can characterize the topological phase transitions in terms of the periodicity and amplitude of the electron currents.

• An unfolding method based on conditional invertible neural networks (cINN) using iterative training

  Mathias Backes, Anja Butter, Monica Dunford, Bogdan Malaescu

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 007 (2024) · published 21 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The unfolding of detector effects is crucial for the comparison of data to theory predictions. While traditional methods are limited to representing the data in a low number of dimensions, machine learning has enabled new unfolding techniques while retaining the full dimensionality. Generative networks like invertible neural networks~(INN) enable a probabilistic unfolding, which map individual data events to their corresponding unfolded probability distribution. The accuracy of such methods is however limited by how well simulated training samples model the actual data that is unfolded. We introduce the iterative conditional INN (IcINN) for unfolding that adjusts for deviations between simulated training samples and data. The IcINN unfolding is first validated on toy data and then applied to pseudo-data for the $pp \to Z \gamma \gamma$ process.