Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Conformal dispersion relations for defects and boundaries

  Lorenzo Bianchi, Davide Bonomi

  SciPost Phys. 15, 055 (2023) · published 8 August 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive a dispersion relation for two-point correlation functions in defect conformal field theories. The correlator is expressed as an integral over a (single) discontinuity that is controlled by the bulk channel operator product expansion (OPE). This very simple relation is particularly useful in perturbative settings where the discontinuity is determined by a subset of bulk operators. In particular, we apply it to holographic correlators of two chiral primary operators in $\mathcal{N}=4$ Super Yang-Mills theory in the presence of a supersymmetric Wilson line. With a very simple computation, we are able to reproduce and extend existing results. We also propose a second relation, which reconstructs the correlator from a double discontinuity, and is controlled by the defect channel OPE. Finally, for the case of codimension-one defects (boundaries and interfaces) we derive a dispersion relation which receives contributions from both OPE channels and we apply it to the boundary correlator in the O(N) critical model. We reproduce the order $\epsilon^2$ result in the $\epsilon$-expansion using as input a finite number of boundary CFT data.

  7 citations

• Marginal deformations from type IIA supergravity

  Nikolay Bobev, Pieter Bomans, Fridrik Freyr Gautason, Vincent S. Min

  SciPost Phys. 10, 140 (2021) · published 10 June 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study marginal deformations of a class of three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs that admit a holographic dual description in massive type IIA supergravity. We compute the dimension of the conformal manifold in these SCFTs and identify a special submanifold with enhanced flavor symmetry. We show how to apply the TsT transformation of Lunin-Maldacena to construct explicit supersymmetric AdS$_4$ solutions of massive type IIA supergravity with non-trivial internal fluxes that are the holographic dual of these marginal deformations. Finally, we also briefly comment on a class of RG flows between some of these SCFTs that also admit a holographic realization.

  7 citations

• An effective field theory of magneto-elasticity

  Shashin Pavaskar, Riccardo Penco, Ira Z. Rothstein

  SciPost Phys. 12, 155 (2022) · published 11 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We utilize the coset construction to derive the effective field theory of magnon-phonon interactions in (anti)-ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic insulating materials. The action is used to calculate the equations of motion which generalize the Landau-Lifshitz and stress equations to allow for magneto-acoustic couplings to all orders in the fields at lowest order in the derivative expansion. We also include the symmetry breaking effects due to Zeeman, and Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interactions. This effective theory is a toolbox for the study of magneto-elastic phenomena from first principles. As an example we use this theory to calculate the leading order contribution to the magnon decay width due to its the decay into phonons.

  7 citations

• Strong Hilbert space fragmentation via emergent quantum drums in two dimensions

  Anwesha Chattopadhyay, Bhaskar Mukherjee, Krishnendu Sengupta, Arnab Sen

  SciPost Phys. 14, 146 (2023) · published 7 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We introduce a disorder-free model of $S=1/2$ spins on the square lattice in a constrained Hilbert space where two up-spins are not allowed simultaneously on any two neighboring sites of the lattice. The interactions are given by ring-exchange terms on elementary plaquettes that conserve both the total magnetization as well as dipole moment. We show that this model provides a tractable example of strong Hilbert space fragmentation in two dimensions with typical initial states evading thermalization with respect to the full Hilbert space. Given any product state, the system can be decomposed into disjoint spatial regions made of edge and/or vertex sharing plaquettes that we dub as "quantum drums". These quantum drums come in many shapes and sizes and specifying the plaquettes that belong to a drum fixes its spectrum. The spectra of some small drums is calculated analytically. We study two bigger quasi-one-dimensional drums numerically, dubbed "wire" and a "junction of two wires" respectively. We find that these possess a chaotic spectrum but also support distinct families of quantum many-body scars that cause periodic revivals from different initial states. The wire is shown to be equivalent to the one-dimensional PXP chain with open boundaries, a paradigmatic model for quantum many-body scarring; while the junction of two wires represents a distinct constrained model.

  7 citations

• Many-body chaos near a thermal phase transition

  Alexander Schuckert, Michael Knap

  SciPost Phys. 7, 022 (2019) · published 19 August 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study many-body chaos in a (2+1)D relativistic scalar field theory at high temperatures in the classical statistical approximation, which captures the quantum critical regime and the thermal phase transition from an ordered to a disordered phase. We evaluate out-of-time ordered correlation functions (OTOCs) and find that the associated Lyapunov exponent increases linearly with temperature in the quantum critical regime, and approaches the non-interacting limit algebraically in terms of a fluctuation parameter. OTOCs spread ballistically in all regimes, also at the thermal phase transition, where the butterfly velocity is maximal. Our work contributes to the understanding of the relation between quantum and classical many-body chaos and our method can be applied to other field theories dominated by classical modes at long wavelengths.

  7 citations

• Topological field theory approach to intermediate statistics

  Ward L. Vleeshouwers, Vladimir Gritsev

  SciPost Phys. 10, 146 (2021) · published 16 June 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Random matrix models provide a phenomenological description of a vast variety of physical phenomena. Prominent examples include the eigenvalue statistics of quantum (chaotic) systems, which are characterized by the spectral form factor (SFF). Here, we calculate the SFF of unitary matrix ensembles of infinite order with the weight function satisfying the assumptions of Szegö’s limit theorem. We then consider a parameter-dependent critical ensemble which has intermediate statistics characteristic of ergodic-to-nonergodic transitions such as the Anderson localization transition. This same ensemble is the matrix model of $U(N)$ Chern-Simons theory on $S^3$ , and the SFF of this ensemble is proportional to the HOMFLY invariant of (2n,2)-torus links with one component in the fundamental and one in the antifundamental representation. This is one example of a large class of ensembles with intermediate statistics arising from topological field and string theories. Indeed, the absence of a local order parameter suggests that it is natural to characterize ergodic-to-nonergodic transitions using topological tools, such as we have done here.

  7 citations

• A no-go theorem for non-standard explanations of the $\tau\to K_S\pi\nu_\tau$ CP asymmetry

  Vincenzo Cirigliano, Andreas Crivellin, Martin Hoferichter

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 007 (2019) · published 18 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A new tensor interaction is the only possibility to explain the $2.8\sigma$ tension observed by the BaBar collaboration in the CP asymmetry in $\tau\to K_S\pi\nu_\tau$ with physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) realized above the electroweak scale. However, the strong phase generated by the interference between vector and tensor phases is suppressed by at least two orders of magnitude due to Watson's final-state-interaction theorem, and the strength of the CP-violating tensor interaction is strongly constrained by bounds from the neutron electric dipole moment and $D$-$\bar{D}$ mixing. As a result, a confirmation of the tension at Belle II would point to light BSM physics.

  7 citations

• $m^*$ of two-dimensional electron gas: A neural canonical transformation study

  Hao Xie, Linfeng Zhang, Lei Wang

  SciPost Phys. 14, 154 (2023) · published 14 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The quasiparticle effective mass $m^\ast$ of interacting electrons is a fundamental quantity in the Fermi liquid theory. However, the precise value of the effective mass of uniform electron gas is still elusive after decades of research. The newly developed neural canonical transformation approach [Xie et al., J. Mach. Learn. 1, (2022)] offers a principled way to extract the effective mass of electron gas by directly calculating the thermal entropy at low temperature. The approach models a variational many-electron density matrix using two generative neural networks: an autoregressive model for momentum occupation and a normalizing flow for electron coordinates. Our calculation reveals a suppression of effective mass in the two-dimensional spin-polarized electron gas, which is more pronounced than previous reports in the low-density strong-coupling region. This prediction calls for verification in two-dimensional electron gas experiments.

  7 citations

• Supersymmetric Ground States of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ Gauge Theories on a Riemann Surface

  Mathew Bullimore, Andrea Ferrari, Heeyeon Kim

  SciPost Phys. 12, 072 (2022) · published 23 February 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This paper studies supersymmetric ground states of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric gauge theories on a Riemann surface of genus $g$. There are two distinct spaces of supersymmetric ground states arising from the $A$ and $B$ type twists on the Riemann surface, which lead to effective supersymmetric quantum mechanics with four supercharges and supermultiplets of type $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ and $\mathcal{N}=(0,4)$ respectively. We compute the space of supersymmetric ground states in each case, graded by flavour and R-symmetries and in different chambers for real mass and FI parameters, for a large class of supersymmetric gauge theories. The results are formulated geometrically in terms of the Higgs branch geometry. We perform extensive checks of compatibility with the twisted index and mirror symmetry.

  7 citations

• Learning lattice quantum field theories with equivariant continuous flows

  Mathis Gerdes, Pim de Haan, Corrado Rainone, Roberto Bondesan, Miranda C. N. Cheng

  SciPost Phys. 15, 238 (2023) · published 13 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a novel machine learning method for sampling from the high-dimensional probability distributions of Lattice Field Theories, which is based on a single neural ODE layer and incorporates the full symmetries of the problem. We test our model on the $\phi^4$ theory, showing that it systematically outperforms previously proposed flow-based methods in sampling efficiency, and the improvement is especially pronounced for larger lattices. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our model can learn a continuous family of theories at once, and the results of learning can be transferred to larger lattices. Such generalizations further accentuate the advantages of machine learning methods.

  7 citations