Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Nonlocal order parameter of pair superfluids

  Nitya Cuzzuol, Luca Barbiero, Arianna Montorsi

  SciPost Phys. Core 8, 020 (2025) · published 11 February 2025 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Order parameters represent a fundamental resource to characterize quantum matter. We show that pair superfluids can be rigorously defined in terms of a nonlocal order parameter, named odd parity, which derivation is experimentally accessible by local density measurements. As a case of study, we first investigate a constrained Bose-Hubbard model at different densities, both in one and two spatial dimensions. Here, our analysis finds pair superfluidity for relatively strong attractive interactions. The odd parity operator acts as the unique order parameter for such phase irrespectively to the density of the system and its dimensionality in regimes of total particle number conservation. In order to enforce our finding, we confirm the generality of our approach also on a two-component Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, which experimental realization represents a timely topic in ultracold atomic systems. Our results shed new light on the role of correlated density fluctuations in pair superfluids. In addition, they provide a powerful tool for the experimental detection of such exotic phases and the characterization of their transition to the atomic superfluid phase.

• Generating the electro-weak scale by vector-like quark condensation

  Sophie Klett, Manfred Lindner, Andreas Trautner

  SciPost Phys. 14, 076 (2023) · published 19 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that vector-like quarks in the fundamental or higher-dimensional representations of QCD can generate the electro-weak scale in a phenomenologically viable way by chiral symmetry breaking condensates. The thereby generated scales are determined by numerically solving the Dyson-Schwinger equation and these scales are sizable, because they grow with the hard vector-like mass. Communicating such a scale to the Standard Model via a conformally invariant scalar sector can dynamically generate the electro-weak scale without a naturalness problem, because all non-dynamical mass scales are protected by chiral symmetry. We present a minimal setup which requires only a new neutral scalar with mass not too far above the electro-weak scale, as well as vector-like quarks at the (multi-)TeV scale. Both are consistent with current bounds and are attractive for future experimental searches at the LHC and future colliders. Depending on the hypercharge of the vector-like quarks, hadrons made of them are color-neutral bound states which would be interesting Dark Matter candidates.

• Interpolating between the gauge and Schrödinger pictures of quantum dynamics

  Sayak Guha Roy, Kevin Slagle

  SciPost Phys. Core 6, 081 (2023) · published 24 November 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Although spatial locality is explicit in the Heisenberg picture of quantum dynamics, spatial locality is not explicit in the Schrödinger picture equations of motion. The gauge picture is a modification of Schrödinger's picture such that locality is explicit in the equations of motion. In order to achieve this explicit locality, the gauge picture utilizes (1) a distinct wavefunction associated with each patch of space, and (2) time-dependent unitary connections to relate the Hilbert spaces associated with nearby patches. In this work, we show that by adding an additional spatially-local term to the gauge picture equations of motion, we can effectively interpolate between the gauge and Schrödinger pictures, such that when this additional term has a large coefficient, all of the gauge picture wavefunctions approach the Schrödginer picture wavefunction (and the connections approach the identity).

• Locality of topological dynamics in Chern insulators

  Anton Markov, Diana Golovanova, Alexander Yavorsky, Alexey Rubtsov

  SciPost Phys. 17, 152 (2024) · published 5 December 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A system having macroscopic patches in different topological phases has no well-defined global topological invariant. To treat such a case, the quantities labeling different areas of the sample according to their topological state are used, dubbed local topological markers. Here we study their dynamics. We concentrate on two quantities, namely the local Chern marker and the on-site charge induced by an applied magnetic field. The first one provides the correct information about the system's topological properties, the second can be readily measured in experiment. We demonstrate that the time-dependent local Chern marker is a much more non-local object than the equilibrium one. Surprisingly, large samples driven out of equilibrium lead to a simple description of the local Chern marker's dynamics by a local continuity equation. Also, we argue that the connection between the local Chern marker and magnetic-field induced charge known in static holds out of equilibrium in some experimentally relevant systems as well. This gives a clear physical description of the marker's evolution and provides a simple recipe for experimental estimation of the topological marker's value.

• Conformal maps and superfluid vortex dynamics on curved and bounded surfaces: The case of an elliptical boundary

  Matteo Caldara, Andrea Richaud, Pietro Massignan, Alexander L. Fetter

  SciPost Phys. 17, 039 (2024) · published 8 August 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Recent advances in cold-atom platforms have made real-time dynamics accessible, renewing interest in the motion of superfluid vortices in two-dimensional domains. Here we show that the energy and the trajectories of arbitrary vortex configurations may be computed on a complicated (curved or bounded) surface, provided that one knows a conformal map that links the latter to a simpler domain (like the full plane, or a circular boundary). We also prove that Hamilton's equations based on the vortex energy agree with the complex dynamical equations for the vortex dynamics, demonstrating that the vortex trajectories are constant-energy curves. We use these ideas to study the dynamics of vortices in a two-dimensional incompressible superfluid with an elliptical boundary, and we derive an analytical expression for the complex potential describing the hydrodynamic flow throughout the fluid. For a vortex inside an elliptical boundary, the orbits are nearly self-similar ellipses.

• Ionization efficiency at sub-keV energies for crystals and noble liquids

  Youssef Sarkis, Alexis A. Aguilar-Arevalo, Juan Carlos D'Olivo

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 12, 008 (2023) · published 3 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the ionization and light yields produced by nuclear recoils at low energies in pure crystals and noble liquids in the context of Lindhard's integral equation, incorporating the effects of binding energy, improved modeling of the electronic stopping, and electronic straggling. We consider three different models for the electronic stopping power that incorporate Coulomb repulsion effects at low energies, and Bohr electronic stripping for high energies. Finally, we discuss possible new effects near threshold.

• MEG final results and progress towards MEG II

  Toshiyuki Iwamoto on behalf of the MEG II collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 040 (2019) · published 21 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The MEG experiment, which is to search for lepton flavor violating muon decay, had been successfully finished in 2013. The final sensitivity of the experiment was 5.3 × 10−13, and since the experiment did not find any signal, the upper limit of the branching ratio of the μ+ → e+γ was set to be 4.2 × 10−13 at 90% CL. The MEG II experiment will improve the sensitivity by an order of magnitude with three years data taking, and the target sensitivity is 6×10−14. In 2018 after the detector integration, the muon beam data taking will be planned with limited number of readout channels. In 2019, the engineering run and the physics run will be started.

• Leading fermionic three-loop corrections to W-boson mass and Z-pole observables

  Lisong Chen, Ayres Freitas

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 7, 019 (2022) · published 21 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this proceeding, we highlight the computation of leading fermionic three-loop corrections to electroweak precision observables (EWPOs) accomplished recently. We summarize the numerical analysis and provide an outlook.

• Intrinsic charm in the nucleon and forward production of charm: a new constrain from IceCube Neutrino Observatory

  Rafał Maciuła, Victor P. Goncalves, Antoni Szczurek

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 8, 124 (2022) · published 13 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The predictions for the atmospheric neutrino flux at high energies strongly depend on the contribution of prompt neutrinos, which are determined by the production of charmed meson in the atmosphere at very forward rapidities. Here we estimate the related cross sections taking into account the presence of an intrinsic charm (IC) component in the proton wave function. The impact on the predictions for the prompt neutrino flux is investigated assuming different values for the probability to find the IC in the nucleon.

• The Mu3e experiment at PSI

  Alessandro Bravar on behalf of the Mu3e Collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 037 (2019) · published 21 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Mu3e will search for charged Lepton Flavor Violation in the neutrinoless muon decay $\mu^+ \rightarrow e^+ e^- e^+$ with a sensitivity down to $10^{-16}$ (90\% C.L.) using the world most intense continuous muon beam at PSI. This search requires a large acceptance detector capable of coping with rates of up to $2 \times 10^9$ stopped muons per second with excellent momentum, spatial, and time resolution. The Mu3e detector is based on thin monolithic active silicon pixel sensors for tracking in conjunction with scintillating fibers and tiles for timing measurements. The Mu3e apparatus is under constructions and first data is expected in 2020.