Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• The Inhomogeneous Gaussian Free Field, with application to ground state correlations of trapped 1d Bose gases

  Yannis Brun, Jérôme Dubail

  SciPost Phys. 4, 037 (2018) · published 25 June 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Motivated by the calculation of correlation functions in inhomogeneous one-dimensional (1d) quantum systems, the 2d Inhomogeneous Gaussian Free Field (IGFF) is studied and solved. The IGFF is defined in a domain $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^2$ equipped with a conformal class of metrics $[{\rm g}]$ and with a real positive coupling constant $K: \Omega \rightarrow \mathbb{R}_{>0}$ by the action $\mathcal{S}[h] = \frac{1}{8\pi } \int_\Omega \frac{\sqrt{{\rm g}} d^2 {\rm x}}{K({\rm x})} \, {\rm g}^{i j} (\partial_i h)(\partial_j h)$. All correlations functions of the IGFF are expressible in terms of the Green's functions of generalized Poisson operators that are familiar from 2d electrostatics in media with spatially varying dielectric constants. This formalism is then applied to the study of ground state correlations of the Lieb-Liniger gas trapped in an external potential $V(x)$. Relations with previous works on inhomogeneous Luttinger liquids are discussed. The main innovation here is in the identification of local observables $\hat{O} (x)$ in the microscopic model with their field theory counterparts $\partial_x h, e^{i h(x)}, e^{-i h(x)}$, etc., which involve non-universal coefficients that themselves depend on position --- a fact that, to the best of our knowledge, was overlooked in previous works on correlation functions of inhomogeneous Luttinger liquids ---, and that can be calculated thanks to Bethe Ansatz form factors formulae available for the homogeneous Lieb-Liniger model. Combining those position-dependent coefficients with the correlation functions of the IGFF, ground state correlation functions of the trapped gas are obtained. Numerical checks from DMRG are provided for density-density correlations and for the one-particle density matrix, showing excellent agreement.

  40 citations

• 1-form symmetries of 4d N=2 class S theories

  Lakshya Bhardwaj, Max Hübner, Sakura Schäfer-Nameki

  SciPost Phys. 11, 096 (2021) · published 24 November 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We determine the 1-form symmetry group for any 4d N = 2 class S theory constructed by compactifying a 6d N=(2,0) SCFT on a Riemann surface with arbitrary regular untwisted and twisted punctures. The 6d theory has a group of mutually non-local dimension-2 surface operators, modulo screening. Compactifying these surface operators leads to a group of mutually non-local line operators in 4d, modulo screening and flavor charges. Complete specification of a 4d theory arising from such a compactification requires a choice of a maximal subgroup of mutually local line operators, and the 1-form symmetry group of the chosen 4d theory is identified as the Pontryagin dual of this maximal subgroup. We also comment on how to generalize our results to compactifications involving irregular punctures. Finally, to complement the analysis from 6d, we derive the 1-form symmetry from a Type IIB realization of class S theories.

  40 citations

• A conformal bootstrap approach to critical percolation in two dimensions

  Marco Picco, Sylvain Ribault, Raoul Santachiara

  SciPost Phys. 1, 009 (2016) · published 27 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study four-point functions of critical percolation in two dimensions, and more generally of the Potts model. We propose an exact ansatz for the spectrum: an infinite, discrete and non-diagonal combination of representations of the Virasoro algebra. Based on this ansatz, we compute four-point functions using a numerical conformal bootstrap approach. The results agree with Monte-Carlo computations of connectivities of random clusters.

  40 citations

• Exact correlations in the Lieb-Liniger model and detailed balance out-of-equilibrium

  Jacopo De Nardis, Miłosz Panfil

  SciPost Phys. 1, 015 (2016) · published 30 December 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the density-density correlation function of the 1D Lieb-Liniger model and obtain an exact expression for the small momentum limit of the static correlator in the thermodynamic limit. We achieve this by summing exactly over the relevant form factors of the density operator in the small momentum limit. The result is valid for any eigenstate, including thermal and non-thermal states. We also show that the small momentum limit of the dynamic structure factors obeys a generalized detailed balance relation valid for any equilibrium state.

  40 citations

• Learning the ground state of a non-stoquastic quantum Hamiltonian in a rugged neural network landscape

  Marin Bukov, Markus Schmitt, Maxime Dupont

  SciPost Phys. 10, 147 (2021) · published 17 June 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Strongly interacting quantum systems described by non-stoquastic Hamiltonians exhibit rich low-temperature physics. Yet, their study poses a formidable challenge, even for state-of-the-art numerical techniques. Here, we investigate systematically the performance of a class of universal variational wave-functions based on artificial neural networks, by considering the frustrated spin-$1/2$ $J_1-J_2$ Heisenberg model on the square lattice. Focusing on neural network architectures without physics-informed input, we argue in favor of using an ansatz consisting of two decoupled real-valued networks, one for the amplitude and the other for the phase of the variational wavefunction. By introducing concrete mitigation strategies against inherent numerical instabilities in the stochastic reconfiguration algorithm we obtain a variational energy comparable to that reported recently with neural networks that incorporate knowledge about the physical system. Through a detailed analysis of the individual components of the algorithm, we conclude that the rugged nature of the energy landscape constitutes the major obstacle in finding a satisfactory approximation to the ground state wavefunction, and prevents learning the correct sign structure. In particular, we show that in the present setup the neural network expressivity and Monte Carlo sampling are not primary limiting factors.

  39 citations

• Absence of dynamical localization in interacting driven systems

  David J. Luitz, Yevgeny Bar Lev, Achilleas Lazarides

  SciPost Phys. 3, 029 (2017) · published 25 October 2017 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Using a numerically exact method we study the stability of dynamical localization to the addition of interactions in a periodically driven isolated quantum system which conserves only the total number of particles. We find that while even infinitesimally small interactions destroy dynamical localization, for weak interactions density transport is significantly suppressed and is asymptotically diffusive, with a diffusion coefficient proportional to the interaction strength. For systems tuned away from the dynamical localization point, even slightly, transport is dramatically enhanced and within the largest accessible systems sizes a diffusive regime is only pronounced for sufficiently small detunings.

  39 citations

• Time evolution during and after finite-time quantum quenches in the transverse-field Ising chain

  Tatjana Puskarov, Dirk Schuricht

  SciPost Phys. 1, 003 (2016) · published 23 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the time evolution in the transverse-field Ising chain subject to quantum quenches of finite duration, ie, a continuous change in the transverse magnetic field over a finite time. Specifically, we consider the dynamics of the total energy, one- and two-point correlation functions and Loschmidt echo during and after the quench as well as their stationary behaviour at late times. We investigate how different quench protocols affect the dynamics and identify universal properties of the relaxation.

  39 citations

• Emergence of PT-symmetry breaking in open quantum systems

  Julian Huber, Peter Kirton, Stefan Rotter, Peter Rabl

  SciPost Phys. 9, 052 (2020) · published 19 October 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The effect of PT-symmetry breaking in coupled systems with balanced gain and loss has recently attracted considerable attention and has been demonstrated in various photonic, electrical and mechanical systems in the classical regime. Here we generalize the definition of PT symmetry to finite-dimensional open quantum systems, which are described by a Markovian master equation. Specifically, we show that the invariance of this master equation under a certain symmetry transformation implies the existence of stationary states with preserved and broken parity symmetry. As the dimension of the Hilbert space grows, the transition between these two limiting phases becomes increasingly sharp and the classically expected PT-symmetry breaking transition is recovered. This quantum-to-classical correspondence allows us to establish a common theoretical framework to identify and accurately describe PT-symmetry breaking effects in a large variety of physical systems, operated both in the classical and quantum regimes.

  39 citations

• Classification of out-of-time-order correlators

  Felix M. Haehl, R. Loganayagam, Prithvi Narayan, Mukund Rangamani

  SciPost Phys. 6, 001 (2019) · published 7 January 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The space of n-point correlation functions, for all possible time-orderings of operators, can be computed by a non-trivial path integral contour, which depends on how many time-ordering violations are present in the correlator. These contours, which have come to be known as timefolds, or out-of-time-order (OTO) contours, are a natural generalization of the Schwinger-Keldysh contour (which computes singly out-of-time-ordered correlation functions). We provide a detailed discussion of such higher OTO functional integrals, explaining their general structure, and the myriad ways in which a particular correlation function may be encoded in such contours. Our discussion may be seen as a natural generalization of the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism to higher OTO correlation functions. We provide explicit illustration for low point correlators (n=2,3,4) to exemplify the general statements.

  39 citations

• Superfluids as higher-form anomalies

  Luca V. Delacrétaz, Diego M. Hofman, Grégoire Mathys

  SciPost Phys. 8, 047 (2020) · published 26 March 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We recast superfluid hydrodynamics as the hydrodynamic theory of a system with an emergent anomalous higher-form symmetry. The higher-form charge counts the winding planes of the superfluid — its constitutive relation replaces the Josephson relation of conventional superfluid hydrodynamics. This formulation puts all hydrodynamic equations on equal footing. The anomalous Ward identity can be used as an alternative starting point to prove the existence of a Goldstone boson, without reference to spontaneous symmetry breaking. This provides an alternative characterization of Landau phase transitions in terms of higher-form symmetries and their anomalies instead of how the symmetries are realized. This treatment is more general and, in particular, includes the case of BKT transitions. As an application of this formalism we construct the hydrodynamic theories of conventional (0-form) and 1-form superfluids.

  39 citations