Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Smoothly vanishing density in the contact process by an interplay of disorder and long-distance dispersal

  Róbert Juhász, István A. Kovács

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 044 (2024) · published 16 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Realistic modeling of ecological population dynamics requires spatially explicit descriptions that can take into account spatial heterogeneity as well as long-distance dispersal. Here, we present Monte Carlo simulations and numerical renormalization group results for the paradigmatic model, the contact process, in the combined presence of these factors in both one and two-dimensional systems. Our results confirm our analytic arguments stating that the density vanishes smoothly at the extinction threshold, in a way characteristic of infinite-order transitions. This extremely smooth vanishing of the global density entails an enhanced exposure of the population to extinction events. At the same time, a reverse order parameter, the local persistence displays a discontinuity characteristic of mixed-order transitions, as it approaches a non-universal critical value algebraically with an exponent $\beta_p'<1$.

• Proposal for realizing anomalous Floquet insulators via Chern band annihilation

  Carolyn Zhang, Tobias Holder, Netanel H. Lindner, Mark Rudner, Erez Berg

  SciPost Phys. 12, 124 (2022) · published 11 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Two-dimensional periodically driven systems can host an unconventional topological phase unattainable for equilibrium systems, termed the Anomalous Floquet-Anderson insulator (AFAI). The AFAI features a quasi-energy spectrum with chiral edge modes and a fully localized bulk, leading to non-adiabatic but quantized charge pumping. Here, we show how such a Floquet phase can be realized in a driven, disordered Quantum Anomalous Hall insulator, which is assumed to have two critical energies where the localization length diverges, carrying states with opposite Chern numbers. Driving the system at a frequency close to resonance between these two energies localizes the critical states and annihilates the Chern bands, giving rise to an AFAI phase. We exemplify this principle by studying a model for a driven, magnetically doped topological insulator film, where the annihilation of the Chern bands and the formation of the AFAI phase is demonstrated using the rotating wave approximation. This is complemented by a scaling analysis of the localization length for two copies of a quantum Hall network model with a tunable coupling between them. We find that by tuning the frequency of the driving close to resonance, the driving strength required to stabilize the AFAI phase can be made arbitrarily small.

• Chaos enhancement in large-spin chains

  Yael Lebel, Lea F. Santos, Yevgeny Bar Lev

  SciPost Phys. 15, 022 (2023) · published 21 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the chaotic properties of a large-spin XXZ chain with onsite disorder and a small number of excitations above the fully polarized state. We show that while the classical limit, which is reached for large spins, is chaotic, enlarging the spin suppresses quantum chaos features. We examine ways to facilitate chaos by introducing additional terms to the Hamiltonian. Interestingly, perturbations that are diagonal in the basis of product states in the $z$-direction do not lead to significant enhancement of chaos, while off-diagonal perturbations restore chaoticity for large spins, so that only three excitations are required to achieve strong level repulsion and ergodic eigenstates.

• Two infinite families of facets of the holographic entropy cone

  Bartlomiej Czech, Yu Liu, Bo Yu

  SciPost Phys. 17, 084 (2024) · published 19 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We verify that the recently proven infinite families of holographic entropy inequalities are maximally tight, i.e. they are facets of the holographic entropy cone. The proof is technical but it offers some heuristic insight. On star graphs, both families of inequalities quantify how concentrated/spread information is with respect to a dihedral symmetry acting on subsystems. In addition, toric inequalities viewed in the K-basis show an interesting interplay between four-party and six-party perfect tensors.

• On a $\mathbb{Z}_3$-valued discrete topological term in 10d heterotic string theories

  Yuji Tachikawa, Hao Y. Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 17, 077 (2024) · published 11 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that the low-energy effective actions of two ten-dimensional supersymmetric heterotic strings are different by a $\mathbb{Z}_3$-valued discrete topological term even after we turn off the $E_8×E_8$ and $Spin(32)/\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge fields. This will be demonstrated by considering the inflow of normal bundle anomaly to the respective NS5-branes from the bulk. This result will be used to show further that the $Spin(16)×Spin(16)$ non-tachyonic non-supersymmetric heterotic string has the same non-zero $\mathbb{Z}_3$-valued discrete topological term. We will also explain the relation of our findings to the theory of topological modular forms. The paper is written as a string theory paper, except for an appendix translating the content in mathematical terms. We will explain there that our finding identifies a representative of the $\mathbb{Z}/3$-torsion element of $\pi_{-32}\mathrm{TMF}$ as a particular self-dual vertex operator superalgebra of $c=16$ and how we utilize string duality to arrive at this statement.

• Probing a leptophobic top-colour model with cross section measurements and precise signal and background predictions: A case study

  Mohammad Mahdi Altakach, Jonathan Mark Butterworth, Tomáš Ježo, Michael Klasen, Ingo Schienbein

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 014 (2023) · published 17 March 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The sensitivity of particle-level fiducial cross section measurements from ATLAS, CMS and LHCb to a leptophobic top-colour model is studied. The model has previously been the subject of resonance searches. Here we compare it directly to state-of-the-art predictions for Standard Model top quark production and also take into account next-to-leading order predictions for the new physics signal. We make use of the Contur framework to evaluate the sensitivity of the current measurements, first under the default Contur assumption that the measurement and the SM exactly coincide, and then using the full SM theory calculation for $t\bar{t}$ at next-to-leading and next-to-next-to-leading order as the background model. We derive exclusion limits, discuss the differences between these approaches, and compare to the limits from resonance searches by ATLAS and CMS.

• Catalogue of phonon modes in several cuprate high-temperature superconductors from density functional theory

  Noah J. Jabusch, Pavan Dayal, Alexander F. Kemper

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 018 (2023) · published 23 March 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Cuprates are promising candidates for study in developing higher temperature superconductors. A thorough understanding of a material's phonon modes enables further investigation of its emergent properties, however, no complete reference of the phonon modes exists. Here, using density functional theory, we evaluate the phonon frequencies and atomic displacements for $\text{La}_2\text{CuO}_4$, $\text{Bi}_2\text{Sr}_2\text{CuO}_6$, and $\text{Bi}_2\text{Sr}_2\text{CaCu}_2\text{O}_8$, in their tetragonal structures. The phonon modes for all materials agree with those expected from space group symmetry and display instabilities corresponding to known low-temperature structural phase transitions.

• Cavity-induced bifurcation in classical rate theory

  Kalle Sulo Ukko Kansanen, Tero Tapio Heikkilä

  SciPost Phys. 16, 025 (2024) · published 23 January 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show how coupling an ensemble of bistable systems to a common cavity field affects the collective stochastic behavior of this ensemble. In particular, the cavity provides an effective interaction between the systems, and parametrically modifies the transition rates between the metastable states. We predict that the cavity induces a phase transition at a critical temperature which depends linearly on the number of systems. It shows up as a spontaneous symmetry breaking where the stationary states of the bistable system bifurcate. We observe that the transition rates slow down independently of the phase transition, but the rate modification vanishes for alternating signs of the system-cavity couplings, corresponding to a disordered ensemble of dipoles. Our results are of particular relevance in polaritonic chemistry where the presence of a cavity has been suggested to affect chemical reactions.

• Flux-tunable Kitaev chain in a quantum dot array

  Juan Daniel Torres Luna, A. Mert Bozkurt, Michael Wimmer, Chun-Xiao Liu

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 065 (2024) · published 18 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Connecting quantum dots through Andreev bound states in a semiconductor-superconductor hybrid provides a platform to create a Kitaev chain. Interestingly, in a double quantum dot, a pair of poor man's Majorana zero modes can emerge when the system is fine-tuned to a sweet spot, where superconducting and normal couplings are equal in magnitude. Control of the Andreev bound states is crucial for achieving this, usually implemented by varying its chemical potential. In this work, we propose using Andreev bound states in a short Josephson junction to mediate both types of couplings, with the ratio tunable by the phase difference across the junction. Now a minimal Kitaev chain can be easily tuned into the strong coupling regime by varying the phase and junction asymmetry, even without changing the dot-hybrid coupling strength. Furthermore, we identify an optimal sweet spot at $\pi$ phase, enhancing the excitation gap and robustness against phase fluctuations. Our proposal introduces a new device platform and a new tuning method for realizing quantum-dot-based Kitaev chains.

• Modified rational six vertex model on the rectangular lattice

  Samuel Belliard, Rodrigo Alves Pimenta, Nikita A. Slavnov

  SciPost Phys. 16, 009 (2024) · published 9 January 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider a rational six vertex model on a rectangular lattice with boundary conditions that generalize the usual domain wall type. We find that the partition function of the inhomogeneous version of this model is given by a modified Izergin determinant. The proofs are based on the quantum inverse scattering method and its representation theory together with elementary linear algebra.