Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Gaussian state approximation of quantum many-body scars

  Wouter Buijsman, Yevgeny Bar Lev

  SciPost Phys. 17, 055 (2024) · published 15 August 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quantum many-body scars are atypical, highly nonthermal eigenstates embedded in a sea of thermal eigenstates that have been observed in, for example, kinetically constrained quantum many-body models. These special eigenstates are characterized by a bipartite entanglement entropy that scales as most logarithmically with the subsystem size. We use numerical optimization techniques to investigate if quantum many-body scars of the experimentally relevant PXP model can be well approximated by Gaussian states. Gaussian states are described by a number of parameters that scales quadratically with system size, thereby having a much lower complexity than generic quantum many-body states, for which this number scales exponentially. We find that while quantum many-body scars can typically be well approximated by (symmetrized) Gaussian states, this is not the case for ergodic (thermal) eigenstates. This observation suggests that the non-ergodic part of the PXP Hamiltonian is related to certain quadratic parent Hamiltonians, thereby hinting on the origin of the quantum many-body scars.

• Entanglement-enabled symmetry-breaking orders

  Cheng-Ju Lin, Liujun Zou

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 010 (2024) · published 11 March 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A spontaneous symmetry-breaking order is conventionally described by a tensor-product wavefunction of some few-body clusters; some standard examples include the simplest ferromagnets and valence bond solids. We discuss a type of symmetry-breaking orders, dubbed entanglement-enabled symmetry-breaking orders, which cannot be realized by any such tensor-product state. Given a symmetry breaking pattern, we propose a criterion to diagnose if the symmetry-breaking order is entanglement-enabled, by examining the compatibility between the symmetries and the tensor-product description. For concreteness, we present an infinite family of exactly solvable gapped models on one-dimensional lattices with nearest-neighbor interactions, whose ground states exhibit entanglement-enabled symmetry-breaking orders from a discrete symmetry breaking. In addition, these ground states have gapless edge modes protected by the unbroken symmetries. We also propose a construction to realize entanglement-enabled symmetry-breaking orders with spontaneously broken continuous symmetries. Under the unbroken symmetries, some of our examples can be viewed as symmetry-protected topological states that are beyond the conventional classifications.

• Irreducible representations of $\mathbb{Z}_2^2$-graded supersymmetry algebra and their applications

  Naruhiko Aizawa

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 14, 016 (2023) · published 23 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We give a brief review on recent developments of $\mathbb{Z}_2^n$-graded symmetry in physics in which hidden $\mathbb{Z}_2^n$-graded symmetries and $\mathbb{Z}_2^n$-graded extensions of known systems are discussed. This elucidates physical relevance of the $\mathbb{Z}_2^n$-graded algebras. As an example of physically interesting algebra, we take $\mathbb{Z}_2^2$-graded supersymmetry (SUSY) algebras and consider their irreducible representations (irreps). A list of irreps for ${\cal N} = 1, 2$ algebras is presented and as an application of the irreps, $\mathbb{Z}_2^2$-graded SUSY classical actions are constructed.

• Line operators in 4d Chern-Simons theory and Cherkis bows

  Nafiz Ishtiaque, Yehao Zhou

  SciPost Phys. 16, 052 (2024) · published 22 February 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that the phase spaces of a large family of line operators in 4d Chern-Simons theory with GL$_n$ gauge group are given by Cherkis bow varieties with $n$ crosses. These line operators are characterized by Hanany-Witten type brane constructions involving D3, D5, and NS5 branes in an $\Omega$-background. Linking numbers of the five-branes and mass parameters for the D3 brane theories determine the phase spaces and in special cases they correspond to vacuum moduli spaces of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ quiver theories. Examples include line operators that conjecturally create T, Q, and L-operators in integrable spin chains.

• Generalisation of affine Lie algebras on compact real manifolds

  Rutwig Campoamor-Stursberg, Marc de Montigny, Michel Rausch de Traubenberg

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 14, 022 (2023) · published 23 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We report on recent work concerning a new type of generalised Kac-Moody algebras based on the spaces of differentiable mappings from compact manifolds or homogeneous spaces onto compact Lie groups.

• Topological aspects of brane fields: Solitons and higher-form symmetries

  Salvatore D. Pace, Yu Leon Liu

  SciPost Phys. 16, 128 (2024) · published 21 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this note, we classify topological solitons of $n$-brane fields, which are nonlocal fields that describe $n$-dimensional extended objects. We consider a class of $n$-brane fields that formally define a homomorphism from the $n$-fold loop space $\Omega^n X_D$ of spacetime $X_D$ to a space $\mathcal{E}_n$. Examples of such $n$-brane fields are Wilson operators in $n$-form gauge theories. The solitons are singularities of the $n$-brane field, and we classify them using the homotopy theory of ${\mathbb{E}_n}$-algebras. We find that the classification of codimension ${k+1}$ topological solitons with ${k≥ n}$ can be understood using homotopy groups of $\mathcal{E}_n$. In particular, they are classified by ${\pi_{k-n}(\mathcal{E}_n)}$ when ${n>1}$ and by ${\pi_{k-n}(\mathcal{E}_n)}$ modulo a ${\pi_{1-n}(\mathcal{E}_n)}$ action when ${n=0}$ or ${1}$. However, for ${n>2}$, their classification goes beyond the homotopy groups of $\mathcal{E}_n$ when ${k< n}$, which we explore through examples. We compare this classification to $n$-form $\mathcal{E}_n$ gauge theory. We then apply this classification and consider an ${n}$-form symmetry described by the abelian group ${G^{(n)}}$ that is spontaneously broken to ${H^{(n)}\subset G^{(n)}}$, for which the order parameter characterizing this symmetry breaking pattern is an ${n}$-brane field with target space ${\mathcal{E}_n = G^{(n)}/H^{(n)}}$. We discuss this classification in the context of many examples, both with and without 't Hooft anomalies.

• The quantum cartpole: A benchmark environment for non-linear reinforcement learning

  Kai Meinerz, Simon Trebst, Mark Rudner, Evert van Nieuwenburg

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 026 (2024) · published 7 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Feedback-based control is the de-facto standard when it comes to controlling classical stochastic systems and processes. However, standard feedback-based control methods are challenged by quantum systems due to measurement induced backaction and partial observability. Here we remedy this by using weak quantum measurements and model-free reinforcement learning agents to perform quantum control. By comparing control algorithms with and without state estimators to stabilize a quantum particle in an unstable state near a local potential energy maximum, we show how a trade-off between state estimation and controllability arises. For the scenario where the classical analogue is highly nonlinear, the reinforcement learned controller has an advantage over the standard controller. Additionally, we demonstrate the feasibility of using transfer learning to develop a quantum control agent trained via reinforcement learning on a classical surrogate of the quantum control problem. Finally, we present results showing how the reinforcement learning control strategy differs from the classical controller in the non-linear scenarios.

• Searching for wave-like dark matter with QSHS

  Ian Bailey, Bhaswati Chakraborty, Gemma Chapman, Edward J. Daw, John Gallop, Gianluca Gregori, Edward Hardy, Ling Hao, Edward Laird, Peter Leek, John March-Russell, Phil Meeson, Seaárbhan Ó Peatáin, Yuri Pashkin, Mitchell G. Perry, Michele Piscitelli, Edward Romans, Subir Sarkar, Paul J. Smith, Ningqiang Song, Mahesh Soni, Boon K. Tan, Stephen West, Stafford Withington

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 040 (2023) · published 4 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In 2021 the Quantum Sensors for the Hidden Sector (QSHS) collaboration was founded in the UK and received funding to develop and demonstrate quantum devices with the potential to detect hidden sector particles in the $\mu$eV to 100 $\mu$eV mass window. The collaboration has been developing a range of devices. It is building a high-field, low-temperature facility at the University of Sheffield to characterise and test the devices in a haloscope geometry. This paper introduces the collaboration's motivation, aims, and progress.

• A general approach to noncommutative spaces from Poisson homogeneous spaces: Applications to (A)dS and Poincaré

  Angel Ballesteros, Ivan Guitérrez-Sagredo, Francisco J. Herranz

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 14, 017 (2023) · published 23 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this contribution we present a general procedure that allows the construction of noncommutative spaces with quantum group invariance as the quantization of their associated coisotropic Poisson homogeneous spaces coming from a coboundary Lie bialgebra structure. The approach is illustrated by obtaining in an explicit form several noncommutative spaces from (3+1)D (A)dS and Poincaré coisotropic Lie bialgebras. In particular, we review the construction of the $\kappa$-Minkowski and $\kappa$-(A)dS spacetimes in terms of the cosmological constant L. Furthermore, we present all noncommutative Minkowski and (A)dS spacetimes that preserve a quantum Lorentz subgroup. Finally, it is also shown that the same setting can be used to construct the three possible 6D $\kappa$-Poincaré spaces of time-like worldlines. Some open problems are also addressed.

• New 2- and 3-loop heavy flavor corrections to unpolarized and polarized deep-inelastic scattering

  Jakob Ablinger, Johannes Blümlein, Abilio De Freitas, Marco Saragnese, Carsten Schneider, Kay Schoenwald

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 137 (2022) · published 14 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A survey is given on the new 2– and 3–loop results for the heavy flavor contributions to deep–inelastic scattering in the unpolarized and the polarized case. We also discuss related new mathematical aspects applied in these calculations.