Publications

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• Hamiltonian Truncation Effective Theory

  Timothy Cohen, Kara Farnsworth, Rachel Houtz, Markus A. Luty

  SciPost Phys. 13, 011 (2022) · published 4 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Hamiltonian truncation is a non-perturbative numerical method for calculating observables of a quantum field theory. The starting point for this method is to truncate the interacting Hamiltonian to a finite-dimensional space of states spanned by the eigenvectors of the free Hamiltonian $H_0$ with eigenvalues below some energy cutoff $E_\text{max}$. In this work, we show how to treat Hamiltonian truncation systematically using effective field theory methodology. We define the finite-dimensional effective Hamiltonian by integrating out the states above $E_\text{max}$. The effective Hamiltonian can be computed by matching a transition amplitude to the full theory, and gives corrections order by order as an expansion in powers of $1/E_\text{max}$. The effective Hamiltonian is non-local, with the non-locality controlled in an expansion in powers of $H_0/E_\text{max}$. The effective Hamiltonian is also non-Hermitian, and we discuss whether this is a necessary feature or an artifact of our definition. We apply our formalism to 2D $\lambda \phi^4$ theory, and compute the the leading $1/E_\text{max}^2$ corrections to the effective Hamiltonian. We show that these corrections non-trivially satisfy the crucial property of separation of scales. Numerical diagonalization of the effective Hamiltonian gives residual errors of order $1/E_\text{max}^3$, as expected by our power counting. We also present the power counting for 3D $\lambda \phi^4$ theory and perform calculations that demonstrate the separation of scales in this theory.

  5 citations

• Fractional magnetization plateaux of a spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice: effect of quantum XY interdimer coupling

  T. Verkholyak, J. Strecka

  SciPost Phys. 12, 056 (2022) · published 9 February 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice is considered within the many-body perturbation theory developed from the exactly solved spin-1/2 Ising-Heisenberg model with the Heisenberg intradimer and Ising interdimer interactions. The former model is widely used for a description of magnetic properties of the layered compound SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$, which exhibits a series of fractional magnetization plateaux at sufficiently low temperatures. Using the novel type of many-body perturbation theory we have found the effective model of interacting triplet excitations with the extended hard-core repulsion, which accurately recovers 1/8, 1/6 and 1/4 magnetization plateaux for moderate values of the interdimer coupling. A possible existence of a striking quantum phase of bound triplons is also revealed at low enough magnetic fields.

  5 citations

• The Return of the Singularities: Applications of the Smeared Null Energy Condition

  Ben Freivogel, Eleni-Alexandra Kontou, Dimitrios Krommydas

  SciPost Phys. 13, 001 (2022) · published 15 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The classic singularity theorems of General Relativity rely on energy conditions that can be violated in semiclassical gravity. Here, we provide motivation for an energy condition obeyed by semiclassical gravity: the smeared null energy condition (SNEC), a proposed bound on the weighted average of the null energy along a finite portion of a null geodesic. We then prove a semiclassical singularity theorem using SNEC as an assumption. This theorem extends the Penrose theorem to semiclassical gravity. We also apply our bound to evaporating black holes and the traversable wormhole of Maldacena-Milekhin-Popov, and comment on the relationship of our results to other proposed semiclassical singularity theorems.

  5 citations

• Emergent XY* transition driven by symmetry fractionalization and anyon condensation

  Michael Schuler, Louis-Paul Henry, Yuan-Ming Lu, Andreas M. Läuchli

  SciPost Phys. 14, 001 (2023) · published 11 January 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Anyons in a topologically ordered phase can carry fractional quantum numbers with respect to the symmetry group of the considered system, one example being the fractional charge of the quasiparticles and quasiholes in the fractional quantum Hall effect. When such symmetry-fractionalized anyons condense, the resulting phase must spontaneously break the symmetry and display a local order parameter. In this paper, we study the phase diagram and anyon condensation transitions of a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order perturbed by Ising interactions in the Toric Code. The interplay between the global (``onsite'') Ising ($\mathbb{Z}_2$) symmetry and the lattice space group symmetries results in a non-trivial symmetry fractionalization class for the anyons, and is shown to lead to two characteristically different confined, symmetry-broken phases. To understand the anyon condensation transitions, we use the recently introduced critical torus energy spectrum technique to identify a line of emergent 2+1D XY* transitions ending at a fine-tuned (Ising$^2$)* critical point. We provide numerical evidence for the occurrence of two symmetry breaking patterns predicted by the specific symmetry fractionalization class of the condensed anyons in the explored phase diagram. In combination with large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations we measure unusually large critical exponents $\eta$ for the scaling of the correlation function at the continuous anyon condensation transitions, and we further identify lines of (weakly) first order transitions in the phase diagram. As an important additional result, we discuss the phase diagram of a resulting 2+1D Ashkin-Teller model, where we demonstrate that torus spectroscopy is capable of identifying emergent XY/O(2) critical behaviour, thereby solving some longstanding open questions in the domain of the 3D Ashkin-Teller models. To establish the generality of our results, we propose a field theoretical description capturing the transition from a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order to either $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry broken phase, which is in excellent agreement with the numerical results.

  5 citations

• Parity effects and universal terms of $\mathcal{O}(1)$ in the entanglement near a boundary

  Henning Schlömer, Chunyu Tan, Stephan Haas, Hubert Saleur

  SciPost Phys. 13, 110 (2022) · published 17 November 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In the presence of boundaries, the entanglement entropy in lattice models is known to exhibit oscillations with the (parity of the) length of the subsystem, which however decay to zero with increasing distance from the edge. We point out in this article that, when the subsystem starts at the boundary and ends at an impurity, oscillations of the entanglement (as well as of charge fluctuations) appear which do not decay with distance, and which exhibit universal features. We study these oscillations in detail for the case of the XX chain with one modified link (a conformal defect) or two successive modified links (a relevant defect), both numerically and analytically. We then generalize our analysis to the case of extended (conformal) impurities, which we interpret as SSH models coupled to metallic leads. In this context, the parity effects can be interpreted in terms of the existence of non-trivial topological phases.

  5 citations

• Emulating twisted double bilayer graphene with a multiorbital optical lattice

  Junhyun Lee, J. H. Pixley

  SciPost Phys. 13, 033 (2022) · published 25 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This work theoretically explores how to emulate twisted double bilayer graphene with ultracold atoms in multiorbital optical lattices. In particular, the quadratic band touching of Bernal stacked bilayer graphene is emulated using a square optical lattice with $p_x$, $p_y$, and $d_{x^2−y^2}$ orbitals on each site, while the effects of a twist are captured through the application of an incommensurate potential. The quadratic band touching is stable until the system undergoes an Anderson like delocalization transition in momentum space, which occurs concomitantly with a strongly renormalized single particle spectrum inducing flat bands, which is a generalization of the magic-angle condition realized in Dirac semimetals. The band structure is described perturbatively in the quasiperiodic potential strength, which captures miniband formation and the existence of magic-angles that qualitatively agrees with the exact numerical results in the appropriate regime. We identify several magic-angle conditions that can either have part or all of the quadratic band touching point become flat. In each case, these are accompanied by a diverging density of states and the delocalization of plane wave eigenstates. It is discussed how these transitions and phases can be observed in ultracold atom experiments.

  5 citations

• Separability and entanglement of resonating valence-bond states

  Gilles Parez, Clément Berthiere, William Witczak-Krempa

  SciPost Phys. 15, 066 (2023) · published 21 August 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate separability and entanglement of Rokhsar-Kivelson (RK) states and resonating valence-bond (RVB) states. These states play a prominent role in condensed matter physics, as they can describe quantum spin liquids and quantum critical states of matter, depending on their underlying lattices. For dimer RK states on arbitrary tileable graphs, we prove the exact separability of the reduced density matrix of $k$ disconnected subsystems, implying the absence of bipartite and multipartite entanglement between the subsystems. For more general RK states with local constraints, we argue separability in the thermodynamic limit, and show that any local RK state has zero logarithmic negativity, even if the density matrix is not exactly separable. In the case of adjacent subsystems, we find an exact expression for the logarithmic negativity in terms of partition functions of the underlying statistical model. For RVB states, we show separability for disconnected subsystems up to exponentially small terms in the distance $d$ between the subsystems, and that the logarithmic negativity is exponentially suppressed with $d$. We argue that separability does hold in the scaling limit, even for arbitrarily small ratio $d/L$, where $L$ is the characteristic size of the subsystems. Our results hold for arbitrary lattices, and encompass a large class of RK and RVB states, which include certain gapped quantum spin liquids and gapless quantum critical systems.

  5 citations

• Improved pseudolikelihood regularization and decimation methods on non-linearly interacting systems with continuous variables

  Alessia Marruzzo, Payal Tyagi, Fabrizio Antenucci, Andrea Pagnani, Luca Leuzzi

  SciPost Phys. 5, 002 (2018) · published 17 July 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose and test improvements to state-of-the-art techniques of Bayeasian statistical inference based on pseudolikelihood maximization with $\ell_1$ regularization and with decimation. In particular, we present a method to determine the best value of the regularizer parameter starting from a hypothesis testing technique. Concerning the decimation, we also analyze the worst case scenario in which there is no sharp peak in the tilded-pseudolikelihood function, firstly defined as a criterion to stop the decimation. Techniques are applied to noisy systems with non-linear dynamics, mapped onto multi-variable interacting Hamiltonian effective models for waves and phasors. Results are analyzed varying the number of available samples and the externally tunable temperature-like parameter mimicing real data noise. Eventually the behavior of inference procedures described are tested against a wrong hypothesis: non-linearly generated data are analyzed with a pairwise interacting hypothesis. Our analysis shows that, looking at the behavior of the inverse graphical problem as data size increases, the methods exposed allow to rule out a wrong hypothesis.

  5 citations

• The forward-backward asymmetry and differences of partial moments in inclusive semileptonic $B$ decays

  Florian Herren

  SciPost Phys. 14, 020 (2023) · published 15 February 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Global fits to moments of kinematic distributions measured in inclusive semileptonic $B\rightarrow X_c l \nu_l$ enable the determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $\left|V_{cb}\right|$ together with non-perturbative matrix elements of the heavy quark expansion. In current fits, only two distinct kinematic distributions are employed and, as a consequence, higher moments of these distributions need to be taken into account to extract the relevant non-perturbative matrix elements. The moments of a given distribution are highly correlated and experimental uncertainties increase for higher moments. To address these issues, Turczyk suggested the inclusion of the charged lepton forward-backward asymmetry $\mathcal{A}_{FB}$ in global fits, since it provides information on non-perturbative parameters beyond the commonly used moments. It is possible to construct differences of partial moments of kinematic distributions, which can provide additional information on the non-perturbative parameters beyond $\mathcal{A}_{FB}$ and are studied in this work for the first time. Further, experimental cuts on the four-momentum transfer square are studied and are shown to preserve the shape of the angular distribution, in contrast to commonly used cuts on the lepton energy. Finally, the impact of final-state radiation and experimental lepton identification requirements on measurements of $\mathcal{A}_{FB}$ and differences of partial moments are discussed.

  5 citations

• Wormholes from averaging over states

  Ben Freivogel, Dora Nikolakopoulou, Antonio F. Rotundo

  SciPost Phys. 14, 026 (2023) · published 1 March 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  An important question about black holes is to what extent a typical pure state differs from the ensemble average. We show that this question can be answered within semi-classical gravity. We focus on the quantum deviation, which measures the fluctuations in the expectation value of an operator in an ensemble of pure states. For a large class of ensembles and observables, these fluctuations are calculated by a correlation function in the eternal black hole background, which can be reliably calculated within semi-classical gravity. This implements the idea of [arXiv:2002.02971] that wormholes can arise from averages over states rather than theories. As an application, we calculate the size of the long-time correlation function $\langle A(t) A(0)\rangle$.

  5 citations