Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Stochastic dissipative quantum spin chains (I) : Quantum fluctuating discrete hydrodynamics

  Michel Bauer, Denis Bernard, Tony Jin

  SciPost Phys. 3, 033 (2017) · published 4 November 2017 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Motivated by the search for a quantum analogue of the macroscopic fluctuation theory, we study quantum spin chains dissipatively coupled to quantum noise. The dynamical processes are encoded in quantum stochastic differential equations. They induce dissipative friction on the spin chain currents. We show that, as the friction becomes stronger, the noise induced dissipative effects localize the spin chain states on a slow mode manifold, and we determine the effective stochastic quantum dynamics of these slow modes. We illustrate this approach by studying the quantum stochastic Heisenberg spin chain.

  40 citations

• General continuum model for twisted bilayer graphene and arbitrary smooth deformations

  Leon Balents

  SciPost Phys. 7, 048 (2019) · published 10 October 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present a simple derivation of a continuum Hamiltonian for bilayer graphene with an arbitrary smooth lattice deformation -- technically in a fashion parametrized by displacement fields with small gradients. We show that this subsumes the continuum model of Bistritzer and Macdonald for twisted bilayer graphene as well as many generalizations and extensions of it. The derivation is carried out entirely in real space.

  40 citations

• General properties of multiscalar RG Flows in $d=4-\varepsilon$

  Slava Rychkov, Andreas Stergiou

  SciPost Phys. 6, 008 (2019) · published 17 January 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Fixed points of scalar field theories with quartic interactions in $d=4-\varepsilon$ dimensions are considered in full generality. For such theories it is known that there exists a scalar function $A$ of the couplings through which the leading-order beta-function can be expressed as a gradient. It is here proved that the fixed-point value of $A$ is bounded from below by a simple expression linear in the dimension of the vector order parameter, $N$. Saturation of the bound requires a marginal deformation, and is shown to arise when fixed points with the same global symmetry coincide in coupling space. Several general results about scalar CFTs are discussed, and a review of known fixed points is given.

  40 citations

• Mutually attracting spin waves in the square-lattice quantum antiferromagnet

  Michael Powalski, Kai P. Schmidt, Götz S. Uhrig

  SciPost Phys. 4, 001 (2018) · published 17 January 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Heisenberg model for S=1/2 describes the interacting spins of electrons localized on lattice sites due to strong repulsion. It is the simplest strong-coupling model in condensed matter physics with wide-spread applications. Its relevance has been boosted further by the discovery of curate high-temperature superconductors. In leading order, their undoped parent compounds realize the Heisenberg model on square-lattices. Much is known about the model, but mostly at small wave vectors, i.e., for long-range processes, where the physics is governed by spin waves (magnons), the Goldstone bosons of the long-range ordered antiferromagnetic phase. Much less, however, is known for short-range processes, i.e., at large wave vectors. Yet these processes are decisive for understanding high-temperature superconductivity. Recent reports suggest that one has to resort to qualitatively different fractional excitations, spinons. By contrast, we present a comprehensive picture in terms of dressed magnons with strong mutual attraction on short length scales. The resulting spectral signatures agree strikingly with experimental data.

  40 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

• 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.

  40 citations

• 2-Group symmetries in class S

  Lakshya Bhardwaj

  SciPost Phys. 12, 152 (2022) · published 9 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  2-group symmetries are generalized symmetries that arise when 1-form and 0-form symmetries mix with each other. We uncover the existence of a class of 2-group symmetries in general 4d N=2 theories of Class S that can be constructed by compactifying 6d N=(2,0) SCFTs on Riemann surfaces carrying arbitrary regular punctures and outer-automorphism twist lines. The 2-group structure can be captured in terms of equivalence classes of line defects plus flavor Wilson lines, which can be thought of as accounting for screening of line defects while keeping track of flavor charges. We describe a method for computing these equivalence classes for a general Class S theory using the data on the Riemman surface used for compactifying its parent 6d N=(2,0) theory.

  40 citations

• Entanglement spreading in non-equilibrium integrable systems

  Pasquale Calabrese

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 20 (2020) · published 1 December 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  These are lecture notes for a short course given at the Les Houches Summer School on ``Integrability in Atomic and Condensed Matter Physics'', in summer 2018. Here, I pedagogically discuss recent advances in the study of the entanglement spreading during the non-equilibrium dynamics of isolated integrable quantum systems. I first introduce the idea that the stationary thermodynamic entropy is the entanglement accumulated during the non-equilibrium dynamics and then join such an idea with the quasiparticle picture for the entanglement spreading to provide quantitive predictions for the time evolution of the entanglement entropy in arbitrary integrable models, regardless of the interaction strength.

  39 citations

• Why are fractional charges of orientifolds compatible with Dirac quantization?

  Yuji Tachikawa, Kazuya Yonekura

  SciPost Phys. 7, 058 (2019) · published 1 November 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Orientifold $p$-planes with $p\le4$ have fractional D$p$-charges, and therefore appear inconsistent with Dirac quantization with respect to D$(6-p)$-branes. We explain in detail how this issue is resolved by taking into account the anomaly of the worldvolume fermions using the $\eta$ invariants. We also point out relationships to the classification of interacting fermionic symmetry protected topological phases. In an appendix, we point out that the duality group of type IIB string theory is the pin+ version of the double cover of $GL(2,\mathbb{Z})$.

  39 citations

• Dark matter, fine-tuning and $(g-2)_{\mu}$ in the pMSSM

  Melissa van Beekveld, Wim Beenakker, Marrit Schutten, Jeremy De Wit

  SciPost Phys. 11, 049 (2021) · published 7 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this paper we perform for the first time an in-depth analysis of the spectra in the phenomenological supersymmetric Standard Model that simultaneously offer an explanation for the $(g-2)_{\mu}$ discrepancy $\Delta a_{\mu}$, result in the right dark-matter relic density $\Omega_{\rm DM} h^2$ and are minimally fine-tuned. The resulting spectra may be obtained from [1]. To discuss the experimental exclusion potential for our models, we analyse the resulting LHC phenomenology as well as the sensitivity of dark-matter direct detection experiments to these spectra. We find that the latter type of experiments with sensitivity to the spin-dependent dark-matter\,--\,nucleon scattering cross section $\sigma_{\rm SD,p}$ will probe all of our found solutions.

  39 citations