Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Improved treatment of dark matter capture in compact stars

  Sandra Robles

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 057 (2023) · published 5 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Compact stellar objects are promising cosmic laboratories to test the nature of dark matter (DM). DM captured by the strong gravitational field of these stellar remnants transfers kinetic energy to the star during the collision. This can have various effects such as anomalous heating of old compact stars. The proper calculation of the DM capture rate is key to derive bounds on DM interactions in any scenario involving DM accretion in a star. We improve former calculations, which rely on approximations, for both white dwarfs (WDs) and neutron stars (NSs). We account for the stellar structure, gravitational focusing, relativistic kinematics, Pauli blocking, realistic form factors, and strong interactions (NSs). Considering DM capture by scattering off either ions or degenerate electrons in WDs, we show that old WDs in DM-rich environments could probe the elusive sub-GeV mass regime for both DM-nucleon and DM-electron scattering. In NSs, DM can be captured via collisions with strongly interacting baryons or relativistic leptons. We project the NS sensitivity to DM-nucleon and DM-lepton scattering cross sections which greatly exceeds that of direct detection experiments, especially for low mass DM.

• Spontaneous breaking of finite group symmetries at all temperatures

  Pedro Liendo, Junchen Rong, Haoyu Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 14, 168 (2023) · published 22 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study conformal field theories with finite group symmetries with spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) phases which persist at all temperatures. We work with two $\lambda \phi^4$ theories coupled through their mass terms. The two $\lambda \phi^4$ theories are chosen to preserve either the cubic symmetry group, or the tetrahedral symmetry group. A one-loop calculation in the $4-\epsilon$ expansion shows that there exist infinitely many fixed points that can host an all temperature SSB phase. An analysis of the renormalization group (RG) stability matrix of these fixed points, reveals that their spectrum contains at least three relevant operators. In other words, these fixed points are tetracritical points.

• CDMFT+HFD: An extension of dynamical mean field theory for nonlocal interactions applied to the single band extended Hubbard model

  Sarbajaya Kundu, David Sénéchal

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 033 (2024) · published 3 June 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We examine the phase diagram of the extended Hubbard model on a square lattice, for both attractive and repulsive nearest-neighbor interactions, using CDMFT+HFD, a combination of Cluster Dynamical Mean Field theory (CDMFT) and a Hartree-Fock mean-field decoupling of the inter-cluster extended interaction. For attractive non-local interactions, this model exhibits a region of phase separation near half-filling, in the vicinity of which we find islands of d-wave superconductivity, decaying rapidly as a function of doping, with disconnected regions of extended s-wave order at smaller (higher) electron densities. On the other hand, when the extended interaction is repulsive, a Mott insulating state at half-filling is destabilized by hole doping, in the strong-coupling limit, in favor of d-wave superconductivity. At the particle-hole invariant chemical potential, we find a first-order phase transition from antiferromagnetism (AF) to d-wave superconductivity as a function of the attractive nearest-neighbor interaction, along with a deviation of the density from the half-filled limit. A repulsive extended interaction instead favors charge-density wave (CDW) order at half-filling.

• Improvement and generalization of ABCD method with Bayesian inference

  Ezequiel Alvarez, Leandro Da Rold, Manuel Szewc, Alejandro Szynkman, Santiago A. Tanco, Tatiana Tarutina

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 043 (2024) · published 15 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  To find New Physics or to refine our knowledge of the Standard Model at the LHC is an enterprise that involves many factors, such as the capabilities and the performance of the accelerator and detectors, the use and exploitation of the available information, the design of search strategies and observables, as well as the proposal of new models. We focus on the use of the information and pour our effort in re-thinking the usual data-driven ABCD method to improve it and to generalize it using Bayesian Machine Learning techniques and tools. We propose that a dataset consisting of a signal and many backgrounds is well described through a mixture model. Signal, backgrounds and their relative fractions in the sample can be well extracted by exploiting the prior knowledge and the dependence between the different observables at the event-by-event level with Bayesian tools. We show how, in contrast to the ABCD method, one can take advantage of understanding some properties of the different backgrounds and of having more than two independent observables to measure in each event. In addition, instead of regions defined through hard cuts, the Bayesian framework uses the information of continuous distribution to obtain soft-assignments of the events which are statistically more robust. To compare both methods we use a toy problem inspired by $pp\to hh\to b\bar b b \bar b$, selecting a reduced and simplified number of processes and analysing the flavor of the four jets and the invariant mass of the jet-pairs, modeled with simplified distributions. Taking advantage of all this information, and starting from a combination of biased and agnostic priors, leads us to a very good posterior once we use the Bayesian framework to exploit the data and the mutual information of the observables at the event-by-event level. We show how, in this simplified model, the Bayesian framework outperforms the ABCD method sensitivity in obtaining the signal fraction in scenarios with 1% and 0.5% true signal fractions in the dataset. We also show that the method is robust against the absence of signal. We discuss potential prospects for taking this Bayesian data-driven paradigm into more realistic scenarios.

• Many bounded versions of undecidable problems are NP-hard

  Andreas Klingler, Mirte van der Eyden, Sebastian Stengele, Tobias Reinhart, Gemma de las Cuevas

  SciPost Phys. 14, 173 (2023) · published 29 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Several physically inspired problems have been proven undecidable; examples are the spectral gap problem and the membership problem for quantum correlations. Most of these results rely on reductions from a handful of undecidable problems, such as the halting problem, the tiling problem, the Post correspondence problem or the matrix mortality problem. All these problems have a common property: they have an NP-hard bounded version. This work establishes a relation between undecidable unbounded problems and their bounded NP-hard versions. Specifically, we show that NP-hardness of a bounded version follows easily from the reduction of the unbounded problems. This leads to new and simpler proofs of the NP-hardness of bounded version of the Post correspondence problem, the matrix mortality problem, the positivity of matrix product operators, the reachability problem, the tiling problem, and the ground state energy problem. This work sheds light on the intractability of problems in theoretical physics and on the computational consequences of bounding a parameter.

• Quantum state preparation of topological chiral spin liquids via Floquet engineering

  Matthieu Mambrini, Didier Poilblanc

  SciPost Phys. 17, 011 (2024) · published 11 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In condensed matter, Chiral Spin Liquids (CSL) are quantum spin analogs of electronic Fractional Quantum Hall states (in the continuum) or Fractional Chern Insulators (on the lattice). As the latter, CSL are remarkable states of matter, exhibiting topological order and chiral edge modes. Preparing CSL on quantum simulators like cold atom platforms is still an open challenge. Here we propose a simple setup on a finite cluster of spin-1/2 located at the sites of a square lattice. Using a Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) non-chiral spin liquid as initial state on which fast time-modulations of strong nearest-neighbor Heisenberg couplings are applied, following different protocols (out-of-equilibrium quench or semi-adiabatic ramping of the drive), we show the slow emergence of such a CSL phase. An effective Floquet dynamics, obtained from a high-frequency Magnus expansion of the drive Hamiltonian, provides a very accurate and simple framework fully capturing the out-of-equilibrium dynamics. An analysis of the resulting prepared states in term of Projected Entangled Pair states gives further insights on the topological nature of the chiral phase. Finally, we discuss possible applications to quantum computing.

• Position operators and interband matrix elements of scalar and vector potentials in the 8-band Kane model

  I. A. Ado, M. Titov, Rembert A. Duine, Arne Brataas

  SciPost Phys. 17, 009 (2024) · published 10 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We diagonalize the 8-band Kane Hamiltonian with a proper inclusion of the interband matrix elements of the scalar and vector potentials. This leads, among other results, to a modification of the conventional expression for the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) strength in narrow-gap semiconductors with the zinc blende symmetry. We find that in GaAs, at low temperatures, the correct expression for the SOC strength is actually twice as large as usually considered. In InSb it is $1.76$ times larger. We also provide a proper treatment of the interband matrix elements of the position operator. We show that the velocity operator in a crystal should be defined as a time-derivative of a fictitious position operator rather than the physical one. We compute the expressions for both these position operators projected to the conduction band of the 8-band Kane model. We also derive an expression for the projected velocity operator and demonstrate that the SOC strength in it differs from the SOC strength in the Hamiltonian. The ratio between them is not equal to $1$, as it is often assumed for the Rashba model. It does not equal $2$ either. The correct result for this ratio is given by a rational function of the parameters of the model. This function takes values between $4(23+3\sqrt{2})/73≈ 1.49$ and $2$. Our findings modify a vast number of research results obtained using the Rashba model and provide a path for consistent treatment of the latter in future applications.

• Exact Mazur bounds in the pair-flip model and beyond

  Oliver Hart

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 040 (2024) · published 4 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  By mapping the calculation of Mazur bounds to the enumeration of walks on fractal structures, we present exact bounds on the late-time behavior of spin autocorrelation functions in models exhibiting pair-flip dynamics and more general $p$-flip dynamics. While the pair-flip model is known to exhibit strong Hilbert space fragmentation, the effect of its nontrivial conservation laws on autocorrelation functions has, thus far, only been calculated numerically, which has led to incorrect conclusions about their thermodynamic behavior. Here, using exact results, we prove that infinite-temperature autocorrelation functions exhibit infinite coherence times at the boundary, and that bulk Mazur bounds decay asymptotically as $1/\sqrt{L}$, rather than $1/L$, as had previously been thought. This result implies that the nontrivial conserved operators implied by $p$-flip dynamics have an important qualitative impact on bulk thermalization properties beyond the constraints imposed by the simple global symmetries of the models.

• The fate of the spin polaron in the 1D antiferromagnets

  Piotr Wrzosek, Adam Kłosiński, Yao Wang, Mona Berciu, Cliò Efthimia Agrapidis, Krzysztof Wohlfeld

  SciPost Phys. 17, 018 (2024) · published 19 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The stability of the spin polaron quasiparticle, well established in studies of a single hole in the 2D antiferromagnets, is investigated in the 1D antiferromagnets using a $t$-$J$ model. We perform an exact slave fermion transformation to the holon-magnon basis, and diagonalize numerically the resulting model in the presence of a single hole. We demonstrate that the spin polaron collapses - and the spin-charge separation takes over - due to the specific role played by the magnon-magnon interactions and the magnon hard-core constraint in the 1D $t$-$J$ model. Moreover, we prove that the spin polaron is stable for any strength of the magnon-magnon interaction other than the unique value found in a 1D antiferromagnet with the continuous symmetry of the spin interactions. Fine-tuning to this unique value is extremely unlikely to occur in quasi-1D antiferromagnets, therefore the spin polaron is the stable quasiparticle of realistic 1D materials. Our results lead to a new interpretation of the ARPES spectra of quasi-1D antiferromagnets in the spin polaron language.

• Reference measurements for indirect dark matter searches with p+C collisions at the NA61/SHINE experiment

  Michał Naskręt on behalf of the NA61/SHINE Collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 068 (2023) · published 5 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  NA61/SHINE is a large-acceptance fixed-target experiment located at the CERN SPS, which studies final hadronic states in interactions of various particles and nuclei. It is unique in terms of providing data on a variety of collision systems at different collision energies. This allows for wide deuteron, antiproton and antideuteron production cross-section studies. The latter are currently considered a possible dark matter interaction signal with exceptionally small background. The measurements on carbon targets are important to reduce systematic experimental effects due to experiment-internal antideuteron production, as the most abundant element in the path of an incoming particle for the AMS-02 experiment is carbon. This manuscript will focus on analysis of NA61/SHINE data on p+C thin target collisions in the context of light (anti)nuclei production. A preliminary analysis of experimental data and the particle identification method as well as current deuteron and antideuteron yields will be described.