Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Normal modes in thermal AdS via the Selberg zeta function

  Victoria L. Martin, Andrew Svesko

  SciPost Phys. 9, 009 (2020) · published 21 July 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The heat kernel and quasinormal mode methods of computing 1-loop partition functions of spin $s$ fields on hyperbolic quotient spacetimes $\mathbb{H}^{3}/\mathbb{Z}$ are related via the Selberg zeta function. We extend that analysis to thermal $\text{AdS}_{2n+1}$ backgrounds, with quotient structure $\mathbb{H}^{2n+1}/\mathbb{Z}$. Specifically, we demonstrate the zeros of the Selberg function encode the normal mode frequencies of spin fields upon removal of non-square-integrable modes. With this information we construct the 1-loop partition functions for symmetric transverse traceless tensors in terms of the Selberg zeta function and find exact agreement with the heat kernel method.

  8 citations

• The Meson Production Targets in the high energy beamline of HIPA at PSI

  Daniela Kiselev, Pierre-André Duperrex, Sven Jollet, Stefan Joray, Daniel Laube, Davide Reggiani, Raffaello Sobbia, Vadim Talanov

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 5, 003 (2021) · published 6 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Two target stations in the 590 MeV proton beamline of the High Intensity Proton Accelerator (HIPA) at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) produce pions and muons for seven secondary beamlines, leading to several experimental stations. The two target stations are 18m apart. Target M is a graphite target with an effective thickness of 5mm, Target E is a graphite wheel with a thickness of 40 mm or 60 mm. Due to the spreading of the beam in the thick target, a high power collimator system is needed to shape the beam for further transport. The beam is then transported to either the SINQ target, a neutron spallation source, or stopped in the beam dump, where about 450 kW beam power is dissipated. In the following, the targets, collimators and beam dumps are further described.

  8 citations

• Quantum current and holographic categorical symmetry

  Tian Lan, Jing-Ren Zhou

  SciPost Phys. 16, 053 (2024) · published 23 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We establish the formulation for quantum current. Given a symmetry group G, let $\mathcal{C}$:=Rep G be its representation category. Physically, symmetry charges are objects of $\mathcal{C}$ and symmetric operators are morphisms in $\mathcal{C}$. The addition of charges is given by the tensor product of representations. For any symmetric operator O crossing two subsystems, the exact symmetry charge transported by O can be extracted. The quantum current is defined as symmetric operators that can transport symmetry charges over an arbitrary long distance. A quantum current exactly corresponds to an object in the Drinfeld center $Z_1(\mathcal{C})$. The condition for quantum currents to be superconducting is also specified, which corresponds to condensation of anyons in one higher dimension. To express the local conservation, the internal hom must be used to compute the charge difference, and the framework of enriched category is inevitable. To illustrate these ideas, we develop a rigorous scheme of renormalization in one-dimensional lattice systems and analyse the fixed-point models. It is proved that in the fixed-point models, superconducting quantum currents form a Lagrangian algebra in $Z_1(\mathcal{C})$ and the boundary-bulk correspondence is verified in the enriched setting. Overall, the quantum current provides a natural physical interpretation to the holographic categorical symmetry.

  8 citations

• Notes on 8 Majorana Fermions

  David Tong, Carl Turner

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 14 (2020) · published 30 March 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Eight Majorana fermions in $d=1+1$ dimensions enjoy a triality that permutes the representation of the $SO(8)$ global symmetry in which the fermions transform. This triality plays an important role in the quantization of the superstring, and in the analysis of interacting topological insulators and the associated phenomenon of symmetric mass generation. The purpose of these notes is to provide an introduction to the triality and its applications, with careful attention paid to various ${\bf Z}_2$ global and gauge symmetries and their coupling to background spin structures.

  8 citations

• Entanglement entropy with Lifshitz fermions

  Dion Hartmann, Kevin Kavanagh, Stefan Vandoren

  SciPost Phys. 11, 031 (2021) · published 17 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate fermions with Lifshitz scaling symmetry and study their entanglement entropy in 1+1 dimensions as a function of the scaling exponent $z$. Remarkably, in the ground state the entanglement entropy vanishes for even values of $z$, whereas for odd values it is independent of $z$ and equal to the relativistic case with $z=1$. We show this using the correlation method on the lattice, and also using a holographic cMERA approach. The entanglement entropy in a thermal state is a more detailed function of $z$ and $T$ which we plot using the lattice correlation method. The dependence on the even- or oddness of $z$ still shows for small temperatures, but is washed out for large temperatures or large values of $z$.

  8 citations

• Decays of a bino-like particle in the low-mass regime

  Florian Domingo, Herbi K. Dreiner

  SciPost Phys. 14, 134 (2023) · published 30 May 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the phenomenology associated with a light bino-like neutralino with mass under the tau mass in the context of the R-parity violating Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. This is a well-motivated example of scenarios producing potentially light and long-lived exotic particles, which might be testable in far-detector experiments, such as the FASER experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. A quantitative assessment of the discovery potential or the extraction of limits run through a detailed understanding of the interactions of the light exotic fermion with Standard Model matter, in particular, the hadronic sector. Here, we propose a systematic analysis of the decays of such a particle and proceed to a model-independent derivation of the low-energy effects, so that this formalism may be transposed to other UV-completions or even stand as an independent effective field theory. We then stress the diversity of the possible phenomenology and more specifically discuss the features associated with the R-parity violating supersymmetric framework, for example neutron-antineutron oscillations.

  8 citations

• Bound impurities in a one-dimensional Bose lattice gas: Low-energy properties and quench-induced dynamics

  Felipe Isaule, Abel Rojo-Francàs, Bruno Juliá-Díaz

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 049 (2024) · published 31 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study two mobile bosonic impurities immersed in a one-dimensional optical lattice and interacting with a bosonic bath. We employ the exact diagonalization method for small periodic lattices to study stationary properties and dynamics. We consider the branch of repulsive interactions that induce the formation of bound impurities, akin to the bipolaron problem. A comprehensive study of ground-state and low-energy properties is presented, including an examination of the interaction strengths which induce the formation of a bound dimer of impurities. We also study the dynamics induced after an interaction quench to examine the stability of the bound dimers. We reveal that after large interaction quenches from strong to weak interactions the system can show large oscillations over time with revivals of the dimer states. We find that the oscillations are driven by selected eigenstates with phase-separated configurations.

  8 citations

• Collective Monte Carlo updates through tensor network renormalization

  Miguel Frías-Pérez, Michael Mariën, David Pérez García, Mari Carmen Bañuls, Sofyan Iblisdir

  SciPost Phys. 14, 123 (2023) · published 22 May 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We introduce a Metropolis-Hastings Markov chain for Boltzmann distributions of classical spin systems. It relies on approximate tensor network contractions to propose correlated collective updates at each step of the evolution. We present benchmark computations for a wide variety of instances of the two-dimensional Ising model, including ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, (fully) frustrated and Edwards-Anderson spin glass instances, and we show that, with modest computational effort, our Markov chain achieves sizeable acceptance rates, even in the vicinity of critical points. In each of the situations we have considered, the Markov chain compares well with other Monte Carlo schemes such as the Metropolis or Wolff's algorithm: equilibration times appear to be reduced by a factor that varies between $40$ and $2000$, depending on the model and the observable being monitored. We also present an extension to three spatial dimensions, and demonstrate that it exhibits fast equilibration for finite ferro- and antiferromagnetic instances. Additionally, and although it is originally designed for a square lattice of finite degrees of freedom with open boundary conditions, the proposed scheme can be used as such, or with slight modifications, to study triangular lattices, systems with continuous degrees of freedom, matrix models, a confined gas of hard spheres, or to deal with arbitrary boundary conditions.

  8 citations

• Creating better superconductors by periodic nanopatterning

  Milan P. Allan, Mark H. Fischer, Oliver Ostojic, Arjo Andringa

  SciPost Phys. 3, 010 (2017) · published 10 August 2017 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The quest to create superconductors with higher transition temperatures is as old as superconductivity itself. One strategy, popular after the realization that (conventional) superconductivity is mediated by phonons, is to chemically combine different elements within the crystalline unit cell to maximize the electron-phonon coupling. This led to the discovery of NbTi and Nb3Sn, to name just the most technologically relevant examples. Here, we propose a radically different approach to transform a `pristine' material into a better (meta-) superconductor by making use of modern fabrication techniques: designing and engineering the electronic properties of thin films via periodic patterning on the nanoscale. We present a model calculation to explore the key effects of different supercells that could be fabricated using nanofabrication or deliberate lattice mismatch, and demonstrate that specific pattern will enhance the coupling and the transition temperature. We also discuss how numerical methods could predict the correct design parameters to improve superconductivity in materials including Al, NbTi, and MgB2

  8 citations

• Out of time ordered effective dynamics of a quartic oscillator

  Bidisha Chakrabarty, Soumyadeep Chaudhuri

  SciPost Phys. 7, 013 (2019) · published 29 July 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the dynamics of a quantum Brownian particle weakly coupled to a thermal bath. Working in the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, we develop an effective action of the particle up to quartic terms. We demonstrate that this quartic effective theory is dual to a stochastic dynamics governed by a non-linear Langevin equation. The Schwinger-Keldysh effective theory, or the equivalent non-linear Langevin dynamics, is insufficient to determine the out of time order correlators (OTOCs) of the particle. To overcome this limitation, we construct an extended effective action in a generalised Schwinger-Keldysh framework. We determine the additional quartic couplings in this OTO effective action and show their dependence on the bath's 4-point OTOCs. We analyse the constraints imposed on the OTO effective theory by microscopic reversibility and thermality of the bath. We show that these constraints lead to a generalised fluctuation-dissipation relation between the non-Gaussianity in the distribution of the thermal noise experienced by the particle and the thermal jitter in its damping coefficient. The quartic effective theory developed in this work provides extension of several results previously obtained for the cubic OTO dynamics of a Brownian particle.

  8 citations