Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Electronic excitations of the charged nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond obtained using time-independent variational density functional calculations

  Aleksei V. Ivanov, Yorick L. A. Schmerwitz, Gianluca Levi, Hannes Jónsson

  SciPost Phys. 15, 009 (2023) · published 13 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Elucidation of the mechanism for optical spin initialization of point defects in solids in the context of quantum applications requires an accurate description of the excited electronic states involved. While variational density functional calculations have been successful in describing the ground state of a great variety of systems, doubts have been expressed in the literature regarding the ability of such calculations to describe electronic excitations of point defects. A direct orbital optimization method is used here to perform time-independent, variational density functional calculations of a prototypical defect, the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. The calculations include up to 511 atoms subject to periodic boundary conditions and the excited state calculations require similar computational effort as ground state calculations. Contrary to some previous reports, the use of local and semilocal density functionals gives the correct ordering of the low-lying triplet and singlet states, namely ${}^{3}A_2 < {}^{1}E < {}^{1}A_1 < {}^{3}E$. Furthermore, the more advanced meta generalized gradient approximation functionals give results that are in remarkably good agreement with high-level, many-body calculations as well as available experimental estimates, even for the excited singlet state which is often referred to as having multireference character. The lowering of the energy in the triplet excited state as the atom coordinates are optimized in accordance with analytical forces is also close to the experimental estimate and the resulting zero-phonon line triplet excitation energy is underestimated by only 0.15 eV. The approach used here is found to be a promising tool for studying electronic excitations of point defects in, for example, systems relevant for quantum technologies.

  7 citations

• Hall viscosity and conductivity of two-dimensional chiral superconductors

  Félix Rose, Omri Golan, Sergej Moroz

  SciPost Phys. 9, 006 (2020) · published 14 July 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We compute the Hall viscosity and conductivity of non-relativistic two-dimensional chiral superconductors, where fermions pair due to a short-range attractive potential, e.g. $p+\mathrm{i}p$ pairing, and interact via a long-range repulsive Coulomb force. For a logarithmic Coulomb potential, the Hall viscosity tensor contains a contribution that is singular at low momentum, which encodes corrections to pressure induced by an external shear strain. Due to this contribution, the Hall viscosity cannot be extracted from the Hall conductivity in spite of Galilean symmetry. For mixed-dimensional chiral superconductors, where the Coulomb potential decays as inverse distance, we find an intermediate behavior between intrinsic two-dimensional superconductors and superfluids. These results are obtained by means of both effective and microscopic field theory.

  7 citations

• Extensive long-range entanglement in a nonequilibrium steady state

  Shachar Fraenkel, Moshe Goldstein

  SciPost Phys. 15, 134 (2023) · published 4 October 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Entanglement measures constitute powerful tools in the quantitative description of quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium. We study entanglement in the current-carrying steady state of a paradigmatic one-dimensional model of noninteracting fermions at zero temperature in the presence of a scatterer. We show that disjoint intervals located on opposite sides of the scatterer, and within similar distances from it, maintain volume-law entanglement regardless of their separation, as measured by their fermionic negativity and coherent information. The mutual information of the intervals, which quantifies the total correlations between them, follows a similar scaling. Interestingly, this scaling entails in particular that if the position of one of the intervals is kept fixed, then the correlation measures depend non-monotonically on the distance between the intervals. By deriving exact expressions for the extensive terms of these quantities, we prove their simple functional dependence on the scattering probabilities, and demonstrate that the strong long-range entanglement is generated by the coherence between the transmitted and reflected parts of propagating particles within the bias-voltage window. The generality and simplicity of the model suggest that this behavior should characterize a large class of nonequilibrium steady states.

  7 citations

• On the descriptive power of Neural-Networks as constrained Tensor Networks with exponentially large bond dimension

  Mario Collura, Luca Dell'Anna, Timo Felser, Simone Montangero

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 001 (2021) · published 2 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In many cases, Neural networks can be mapped into tensor networks with an exponentially large bond dimension. Here, we compare different sub-classes of neural network states, with their mapped tensor network counterpart for studying the ground state of short-range Hamiltonians. We show that when mapping a neural network, the resulting tensor network is highly constrained and thus the neural network states do in general not deliver the naive expected drastic improvement against the state-of-the-art tensor network methods. We explicitly show this result in two paradigmatic examples, the 1D ferromagnetic Ising model and the 2D antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, addressing the lack of a detailed comparison of the expressiveness of these increasingly popular, variational ans\"atze.

  6 citations

• Quantum eigenstates from classical Gibbs distributions

  Pieter W. Claeys, Anatoli Polkovnikov

  SciPost Phys. 10, 014 (2021) · published 22 January 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We discuss how the language of wave functions (state vectors) and associated non-commuting Hermitian operators naturally emerges from classical mechanics by applying the inverse Wigner-Weyl transform to the phase space probability distribution and observables. In this language, the Schr\"odinger equation follows from the Liouville equation, with $\hbar$ now a free parameter. Classical stationary distributions can be represented as sums over stationary states with discrete (quantized) energies, where these states directly correspond to quantum eigenstates. Interestingly, it is now classical mechanics which allows for apparent negative probabilities to occupy eigenstates, dual to the negative probabilities in Wigner's quasiprobability distribution. These negative probabilities are shown to disappear when allowing sufficient uncertainty in the classical distributions. We show that this correspondence is particularly pronounced for canonical Gibbs ensembles, where classical eigenstates satisfy an integral eigenvalue equation that reduces to the Schr\"odinger equation in a saddle-point approximation controlled by the inverse temperature. We illustrate this correspondence by showing that some paradigmatic examples such as tunneling, band structures, Berry phases, Landau levels, level statistics and quantum eigenstates in chaotic potentials can be reproduced to a surprising precision from a classical Gibbs ensemble, without any reference to quantum mechanics and with all parameters (including $\hbar$) on the order of unity.

  6 citations

• The seniority quantum number in Tensor Network States

  Klaas Gunst, Dimitri Van Neck, Peter Andreas Limacher, Stijn De Baerdemacker

  SciPost Chem. 1, 001 (2021) · published 15 January 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We employ tensor network methods for the study of the seniority quantum number -- defined as the number of unpaired electrons in a many-body wave function -- in molecular systems. Seniority-zero methods recently emerged as promising candidates to treat strong static correlations in molecular systems, but are prone to deficiencies related to dynamical correlation and dispersion. We systematically resolve these deficiencies by increasing the allowed seniority number using tensor network methods. In particular, we investigate the number of unpaired electrons needed to correctly describe the binding of the neon and nitrogen dimer and the $D_{6h}$ symmetry of benzene.

  6 citations

• Holonomic implementation of CNOT gate on topological Majorana qubits

  Alessio Calzona, Nicolas P. Bauer, Björn Trauzettel

  SciPost Phys. Core 3, 014 (2020) · published 3 December 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The CNOT gate is a two-qubit gate which is essential for universal quantum computation. A well-established approach to implement it within Majorana-based qubits relies on subsequent measurement of (joint) Majorana parities. We propose an alternative scheme which operates a protected CNOT gate via the holonomic control of a handful of system parameters, without requiring any measurement. We show how the adiabatic tuning of pair-wise couplings between Majoranas can robustly lead to the full entanglement of two qubits, insensitive with respect to small variations in the control of the parameters.

  6 citations

• Relaxation and entropy generation after quenching quantum spin chains

  Máté Lencses, Octavio Pomponio, Gabor Takacs

  SciPost Phys. 9, 011 (2020) · published 22 July 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This work considers entropy generation and relaxation in quantum quenches in the Ising and $3$-state Potts spin chains. In the absence of explicit symmetry breaking we find universal ratios involving R\'enyi entropy growth rates and magnetisation relaxation for small quenches. We also demonstrate that the magnetisation relaxation rate provides an observable signature for the "dynamical Gibbs effect" which is a recently discovered characteristic non-monotonous behaviour of entropy growth linked to changes in the quasi-particle spectrum.

  6 citations

• Covariant entanglement wedge cross-section, balanced partial entanglement and gravitational anomalies

  Qiang Wen, Haocheng Zhong

  SciPost Phys. 13, 056 (2022) · published 9 September 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The balanced partial entanglement (BPE) was observed to give the reflected entropy and the entanglement wedge cross-section (EWCS) for various mixed states in different theories \cite{Wen:2021qgx,Camargo:2022mme}. It can be calculated in different purifications, and is conjectured to be independent from purifications. In this paper we calculate the BPE and the EWCS in generic covariant scenarios in two-dimensional CFTs with and without gravitational anomalies, and find that they coincide with the reflected entropy. In covariant configurations we determine the partition for the purifying system with the help of the gravitational anomalies, and we extend our discussion to topological massive gravity (TMG). We give the first prescription to evaluate the entropy quantity associated to the EWCS beyond Einstein gravity, i.e. the correction to the EWCS from the Chern-Simons term in TMG. Apart from the gravity theory and geometry, further input from the mixed state should be taken into account.

  6 citations

• Traffic models and traffic-jam transition in quantum (N+1)-level systems

  Andrea Nava, Domenico Giuliano, Alessandro Papa, Marco Rossi

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 022 (2022) · published 19 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a model to implement and simulate different traffic-flow conditions in terms of quantum graphs hosting an (N+1)-level dot at each site, which allows us to keep track of the type and of the destination of each vehicle. By implementing proper Lindbladian local dissipators, we derive the master equations that describe the traffic flow in our system. To show the versatility and the reliability of our technique, we employ it to model different types of traffic flow (the symmetric three-way roundabout and the three-road intersection). Eventually, we successfully compare our predictions with results from classical models.

  6 citations