Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Thermalization and hydrodynamics of two-dimensional quantum field theories

  Luca V. Delacretaz, A. Liam Fitzpatrick, Emanuel Katz, Matthew T. Walters

  SciPost Phys. 12, 119 (2022) · published 7 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider 2d QFTs as relevant deformations of CFTs in the thermodynamic limit. Using causality and KPZ universality, we place a lower bound on the timescale characterizing the onset of hydrodynamics. The bound is determined parametrically in terms of the temperature and the scale associated with the relevant deformation. This bound is typically much stronger than $\frac{1}{T}$, the expected quantum equilibration time. Subluminality of sound further allows us to define a thermodynamic $C$-function, and constrain the sign of the $\mathcal T\bar{\mathcal T}$ term in EFTs.

  20 citations

• Non-equilibrium quasiparticles in superconducting circuits: photons vs. phonons

  Gianluigi Catelani, Denis M. Basko

  SciPost Phys. 6, 013 (2019) · published 29 January 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the effect of non-equilibrium quasiparticles on the operation of a superconducting device (a qubit or a resonator), including heating of the quasiparticles by the device operation. Focusing on the competition between heating via low-frequency photon absorption and cooling via photon and phonon emission, we obtain a remarkably simple non-thermal stationary solution of the kinetic equation for the quasiparticle distribution function. We estimate the influence of quasiparticles on relaxation and excitation rates for transmon qubits, and relate our findings to recent experiments.

  20 citations

• Coexistence of valence-bond formation and topological order in the Frustrated Ferromagnetic $J_1$-$J_2$ Chain

  Cliò Efthimia Agrapidis, Stefan-Ludwig Drechsler, Jeroen van den Brink, Satoshi Nishimoto

  SciPost Phys. 6, 019 (2019) · published 6 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Frustrated one-dimensional (1D) magnets are known as ideal playgrounds for new exotic quantum phenomena to emerge. We consider an elementary frustrated 1D system: the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ ferromagnetic ($J_1$) Heisenberg chain with next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic ($J_2$) interactions. On the basis of density-matrix renormalization group calculations we show the existence of a finite spin gap at $J_2/|J_1|>1/4$ and we find the ground state in this region to be a valence bond solid (VBS) with spin-singlet dimerization between third-neighbor sites. The VBS is the consequence of spontaneous symmetry breaking through order by disorder. Quite interestingly, this VBS state has a Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki-type topological order. This is the first example of a frustrated spin chain in which quantum fluctuations induce gapped topological order.

  20 citations

• Nonadiabatic nonlinear optics and quantum geometry — Application to the twisted Schwinger effect

  Shintaro Takayoshi, Jianda Wu, Takashi Oka

  SciPost Phys. 11, 075 (2021) · published 12 October 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the tunneling mechanism of nonlinear optical processes in solids induced by strong coherent laser fields. The theory is based on an extension of the Landau-Zener model with nonadiabatic geometric effects. In addition to the rectification effect known previously, we find two effects, namely perfect tunneling and counterdiabaticity at fast sweep speed. We apply this theory to the twisted Schwinger effect, i.e., nonadiabatic pair production of particles by rotating electric fields, and find a nonperturbative generation mechanism of the opto-valley polarization and photo-current in Dirac and Weyl fermions.

  20 citations

• Generating lattice non-invertible symmetries

  Weiguang Cao, Linhao Li, Masahito Yamazaki

  SciPost Phys. 17, 104 (2024) · published 4 October 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Lattice non-invertible symmetries have rich fusion structures and play important roles in understanding various exotic topological phases. In this paper, we explore methods to generate new lattice non-invertible transformations/symmetries from a given non-invertible seed transformation/symmetry. The new lattice non-invertible symmetry is constructed by composing the seed transformations on different sites or sandwiching a unitary transformation between the transformations on the same sites. In addition to known non-invertible symmetries with fusion algebras of Tambara-Yamagami $\mathbb Z_N×\mathbb Z_N$ type, we obtain a new non-invertible symmetry in models with $\mathbb Z_N$ dipole symmetries. We name the latter the dipole Kramers-Wannier symmetry because it arises from gauging the dipole symmetry. We further study the dipole Kramers-Wannier symmetry in depth, including its topological defect, its anomaly and its associated generalized Kennedy-Tasaki transformation.

  20 citations

• Assessing the role of interatomic position matrix elements in tight-binding calculations of optical properties

  Julen Ibañez-Azpiroz, Fernando de Juan, Ivo Souza

  SciPost Phys. 12, 070 (2022) · published 22 February 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the role of hopping matrix elements of the position operator $\mathbf{\hat{r}}$ in tight-binding calculations of linear and nonlinear optical properties of solids. Our analysis relies on a Wannier-interpolation scheme based on ab initio calculations, which automatically includes matrix elements of $\mathbf{\hat{r}}$ between different Wannier orbitals. A common approximation, both in empirical tight-binding and in Wannier-interpolation calculations, is to discard those matrix elements, in which case the optical response only depends on the on-site energies, Hamiltonian hoppings, and orbital centers. We find that interatomic $\mathbf{\hat{r}}$-hopping terms make a sizeable contribution to the shift photocurrent in monolayer BC$_2$N, a covalent acentric crystal. If a minimal basis of $p_z$ orbitals on the carbon atoms is used to model the band-edge response, even the dielectric function becomes strongly dependent on those terms.

  19 citations

• Josephson oscillations in split one-dimensional Bose gases

  Yuri D. van Nieuwkerk, Jörg Schmiedmayer, Fabian H.L. Essler

  SciPost Phys. 10, 090 (2021) · published 26 April 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the non-equilibrium dynamics of a weakly interacting Bose gas tightly confined to a highly elongated double well potential. We use a self-consistent time-dependent Hartree–Fock approximation in combination with a projection of the full three-dimensional theory to several coupled one-dimensional channels. This allows us to model the time-dependent splitting and phase imprinting of a gas initially confined to a single quasi one-dimensional potential well and obtain a microscopic description of the ensuing damped Josephson oscillations.

  19 citations

• Conformal bootstrap bounds for the $U(1)$ Dirac spin liquid and $N=7$ Stiefel liquid

  Yin-Chen He, Junchen Rong, Ning Su

  SciPost Phys. 13, 014 (2022) · published 8 August 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We apply the conformal bootstrap technique to study the $U(1)$ Dirac spin liquid (i.e. $N_f=4$ QED$_3$) and the newly proposed $N=7$ Stiefel liquid (i.e. a conjectured 3d non-Lagrangian CFT without supersymmetry). For the $N_f=4$ QED$_3$, we focus on the monopole operator and ($SU(4)$ adjoint) fermion bilinear operator. We bootstrap their single correlators as well as the mixed correlators between them. We first discuss the bootstrap kinks from single correlators. Some exponents of these bootstrap kinks are close to the expected values of QED$_3$, but we provide clear evidence that they should not be identified as the QED$_3$. By requiring the critical phase to be stable on the triangular and the kagome lattice, we obtain rigorous numerical bounds for the $U(1)$ Dirac spin liquid and the Stiefel liquid. For the triangular and kagome Dirac spin liquid, the rigorous lower bounds of the monopole operator's scaling dimension are $1.046$ and $1.105$, respectively. These bounds are consistent with the latest Monte Carlo results.

  19 citations

• Gapless chiral spin liquid from coupled chains on the kagome lattice

  Rodrigo G. Pereira, Samuel Bieri

  SciPost Phys. 4, 004 (2018) · published 24 January 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Using a perturbative renormalization group approach, we show that the extended ($J_1$-$J_2$-$J_d$) Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice with a staggered chiral interaction ($J_\chi$) can exhibit a gapless chiral quantum spin liquid phase. Within a coupled-chains construction, this phase can be understood as a chiral sliding Luttinger liquid with algebraic decay of spin correlations along the chain directions. We calculate the low-energy properties of this gapless chiral spin liquid using the effective field theory and show that they are compatible with the predictions from parton mean-field theories with symmetry-protected line Fermi surfaces. These results may be relevant to the state observed in the kapellasite material.

  19 citations

• Traveling skyrmions in chiral antiferromagnets

  Stavros Komineas, Nikos Papanicolaou

  SciPost Phys. 8, 086 (2020) · published 9 June 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Skyrmions in antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction are expected to exist for essentially the same reasons as in DM ferromagnets (FM). It is shown that skyrmions in antiferromagnets with the DM interaction can be traveling as solitary waves with velocities up to a maximum value that depends on the DM parameter. Their configuration is found numerically. The energy and the linear momentum of an AFM skyrmion lead to a proper definition of its mass. We give the details of the energy-momentum dispersion of traveling skyrmions and explore their particle-like character based on exact relations. The skyrmion number, known to be linked to the dynamics of topological solitons in FM, is, here, unrelated to the dynamical behavior. As a result, the solitonic behavior of skyrmions in AFM is in stark contrast to the dynamical behavior of their FM counterparts

  19 citations