Publications

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• Two-point boundary correlation functions of dense loop models

  Alexi Morin-Duchesne, Jesper Lykke Jacobsen

  SciPost Phys. 4, 034 (2018) · published 19 June 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate six types of two-point boundary correlation functions in the dense loop model. These are defined as ratios $Z/Z^0$ of partition functions on the $m\times n$ square lattice, with the boundary condition for $Z$ depending on two points $x$ and $y$. We consider: the insertion of an isolated defect (a) and a pair of defects (b) in a Dirichlet boundary condition, the transition (c) between Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, and the connectivity of clusters (d), loops (e) and boundary segments (f) in a Neumann boundary condition. For the model of critical dense polymers, corresponding to a vanishing loop weight ($\beta = 0$), we find determinant and pfaffian expressions for these correlators. We extract the conformal weights of the underlying conformal fields and find $\Delta = -\frac18$, $0$, $-\frac3{32}$, $\frac38$, $1$, $\tfrac \theta \pi (1+\tfrac{2\theta}\pi)$, where $\theta$ encodes the weight of one class of loops for the correlator of type f. These results are obtained by analysing the asymptotics of the exact expressions, and by using the Cardy-Peschel formula in the case where $x$ and $y$ are set to the corners. For type b, we find a $\log|x-y|$ dependence from the asymptotics, and a $\ln (\ln n)$ term in the corner free energy. This is consistent with the interpretation of the boundary condition of type b as the insertion of a logarithmic field belonging to a rank two Jordan cell. For the other values of $\beta = 2 \cos \lambda$, we use the hypothesis of conformal invariance to predict the conformal weights and find $\Delta = \Delta_{1,2}$, $\Delta_{1,3}$, $\Delta_{0,\frac12}$, $\Delta_{1,0}$, $\Delta_{1,-1}$ and $\Delta_{\frac{2\theta}\lambda+1,\frac{2\theta}\lambda+1}$, extending the results of critical dense polymers. With the results for type f, we reproduce a Coulomb gas prediction for the valence bond entanglement entropy of Jacobsen and Saleur.

  3 citations

• Transitions in Xenes between excitonic, topological and trivial insulator phases: Influence of screening, band dispersion and external electric field

  Olivia Pulci, Paola Gori, Davide Grassano, Marco D'Alessandro, Friedhelm Bechstedt

  SciPost Phys. 15, 025 (2023) · published 24 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Using a variational approach, the binding energies $E_b$ of the lowest bound excitons in Xenes under varying electric field are investigated. The internal exciton motion is described both by Dirac electron dispersion and in effective-mass approximation, while the screened electron-hole attraction is modeled by a Rytova-Keldysh potential with a 2D electronic polarizability $\alpha_{2D}$. The most important parameters as spin-orbit-induced gap $E_g$, Fermi velocity $v_F$ and $\alpha_{2D}$ are taken from ab initio density functional theory calculations. In addition, $\alpha_{2D}$ is approximated in two different ways. The relation of $E_b$ and $E_g$ is ruled by the screening. The existence of an excitonic insulator phase with $E_b>E_g$ sensitively depends on the chosen $\alpha_{2D}$. The values of $E_g$ and $\alpha_{2D}$ are strongly modified by a vertical external electric bias $U$, which defines a transition from the topological into a trivial insulator at $U=E_g/2$, with the exception of plumbene. Within the Dirac approximation, but also within the effective mass description of the kinetic energy, the treatment of screening dominates the appearance or non-appearance of an excitonic insulator phase. Gating does not change the results: the prediction done at zero electric field is confirmed when a vertical electric field is applied. Finally, Many-Body perturbation theory approaches based on the Green's function method, applied to stanene, confirm the absence of an excitonic insulator phase, thus validating our results obtained by ab initio modeling of $\alpha_{2D}$.

  3 citations

• The friction of tilted skates on ice

  J. M. J. van Leeuwen

  SciPost Phys. 8, 059 (2020) · published 16 April 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The friction felt by a speed skater is calculated as function of the velocity and tilt angle of the skate. This calculation is an extension of the more common theory of friction of upright skates. Not only in rounding a curve the skate has to be tilted, but also in straightforward skating small tilt angles occur, which turn out to be of noticeable influence on the friction. As for the upright skate the friction remains fairly insensitive of the velocities occurring in speed skating.

  3 citations

• Quantum collider probes of the fermionic Higgs portal

  Ulrich Haisch, Maximilian Ruhdorfer, Konstantin Schmid, Andreas Weiler

  SciPost Phys. 16, 112 (2024) · published 25 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We explore the sensitivity of future hadron colliders to constrain the fermionic Higgs portal, with a focus on scenarios where the new fermions cannot be directly observed in exotic Higgs decays. This portal emerges in various models including twin-Higgs scenarios and dark matter models, posing significant challenges for collider tests. Working in an effective field theory (EFT), we determine the reach of the high-luminosity option of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), the high-energy upgrade of the LHC (HE-LHC) and a proposed Future Circular Collider (FCC) in probing the fermionic Higgs portal through off-shell and double-Higgs production. Notably, we find that quantum-enhanced indirect probes offer a better sensitivity than other direct Higgs measurements. We argue that this finding is valid in a wide class of ultraviolet realisations of the EFT. Our study presents a roadmap of a multifaceted search strategy for exploring the fermionic Higgs portal at forthcoming hadron machines.

  3 citations

• Muonium-Antimuonium Conversion

  Lorenz Willmann, Klaus Jungmann

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 5, 009 (2021) · published 6 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The MACS experiment performed at PSI in the 1990s provided an yet unchallenged upper bound on the probability for a spontaneous conversion of the muonium atom, ${\rm M=}$($\rm{\mu^+e^-}$) , into its antiatom, antimuonium ${\overline{\rm{M}} = }$($\rm{\mu^-e^+})$. It comprises the culmination of a series of measurements at various accelerator laboratories worldwide. The experimental limits on the process have provided input and steering for the further development of a variety of theoretical models beyond the standard theory, in particular for models which address lepton number violating processes and matter-antimatter oscillations. Several models beyond the standard theory could be strongly disfavored. There is interest in a new measurement and improved sensitivity could be reached by exploiting the time evolution of the conversion process, e.g., at intense pulsed muonium sources.

  3 citations

• Real-space approach for the Euler class and fragile topology in quasicrystals and amorphous lattices

  Dexin Li, Citian Wang, Huaqing Huang

  SciPost Phys. 17, 086 (2024) · published 20 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a real-space formalism of the topological Euler class, which characterizes the fragile topology of two-dimensional systems with real wave functions. This real-space description is characterized by local Euler markers whose macroscopic average coincides with the Euler number, and it applies equally well to periodic and open boundary conditions for both crystals and noncrystalline systems. We validate this by diagnosing topological phase transitions in clean and disordered crystalline systems with the reality endowed by the space-time inversion symmetry $\mathcal{I}_{ST}$. Furthermore, we demonstrated the topological Euler phases in quasicrystals and even in amorphous lattices lacking any spatial symmetries. Our work not only provides a local characterization of the fragile topology but also significantly extends its territory beyond $\mathcal{I}_{ST}$-symmetric crystalline materials.

  3 citations

• Asymmetric Bethe Ansatz

  Steven G. Jackson, Hélène Perrin, Gregory E. Astrakharchik, Maxim Olshanii

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 062 (2024) · published 12 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The recently proposed exact quantum solution for two $\delta$-function-interacting particles with a mass-ratio $3\!:\!1$ in a hard-wall box [Y. Liu, F. Qi, Y. Zhang and S. Chen, iScience 22, 181 (2019)] violates the conventional necessary condition for a Bethe Ansatz integrability, the condition being that the system must be reducible to a superposition of semi-transparent mirrors that is invariant under all the reflections it generates. In this article, we found a way to relax this condition: some of the semi-transparent mirrors of a known self-invariant mirror superposition can be replaced by the perfectly reflecting ones, thus breaking the self-invariance. The proposed name for the method is asymmetric Bethe Ansatz (asymmetric BA). As a worked example, we study in detail the bound states of the nominally non-integrable system comprised of a bosonic dimer in a $\delta$-well. Finally, we show that the exact solution of the Liu-Qi-Zhang-Chen problem is a particular instance of the the asymmetric BA.

  3 citations

• Future Physics Prospects with the CMS Detector at the High-Luminosity LHC

  Conor Henderson

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 111 (2022) · published 13 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider is expected to deliver up to 3000 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at 14 TeV center-of-mass energy. We present prospects for selected heavy-ion, Standard Model and Higgs sector measurements with the CMS detector at the HL-LHC, and discuss potential sensitivity to several beyond-Standard Model new physics scenarios.

  3 citations

• Can we really detect relic neutrinos?

  Yevheniia Cheipesh, Ivan Ridkokasha, Vadim Cheianov, Alexey Boyarsky

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 042 (2023) · published 4 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Detecting relic neutrinos is a longstanding goal in fundamental physics. Experimentally, this goal is extremely challenging as the required energy resolution is defined by the tiny neutrino masses ($\sim$ 10 meV). The current consensus is that sufficient statistics together with a clean spectrum could only be achieved if beta decayers are attached to a solid state substrate. However, this inevitably imposes irreducible intrinsic limitations on the energy resolution coming from Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. This limitation appears to be critical for the currently accepted decayer - Tritium. Here, we analyze the state of the art approaches to mitigate this limitation and conclude that the most promising solution is to change Tritium for a heavier emitter. We find that the two suitable candidates are $^{171}$Tm, $^{63}$Ni.

  3 citations

• Probing chaos in the spherical p-spin glass model

  Lorenzo Correale, Anatoli Polkovnikov, Marco Schirò, Alessandro Silva

  SciPost Phys. 15, 190 (2023) · published 13 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the dynamics of a quantum $p$-spin glass model starting from initial states defined in microcanonical shells, in a classical regime. We compute different chaos estimators, such as the Lyapunov exponent and the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, and find a marked maximum as a function of the energy of the initial state. By studying the relaxation dynamics and the properties of the energy landscape we show that the maximal chaos emerges in correspondence with the fastest spin relaxation and the maximum complexity, thus suggesting a qualitative picture where chaos emerges as the trajectories are scattered over the exponentially many saddles of the underlying landscape. We also observe hints of ergodicity breaking at low energies, indicated by the correlation function and a maximum of the fidelity susceptibility.

  3 citations